Chapter 10
Ursula retreated to her studio to throw pottery.
Zul joined Bran and Gil in the library. He sat in a comfortable chair and alternated gazing out the tall window, thinking, and reading.
The freedom he experienced in his new home felt fragile and precious.
His former prime had treated him more or less as a dangerous animal: to be both respected and restrained for his unpredictable savagery.
Effective ventilation systems kept the bright sunlight streaming through the windows from overheating the room. After collecting his thoughts, he said, “I want to know more about Ursula.”
Bran looked up from the ledgers he was reviewing, and Gil set down the book he was reading. The triad’s Second gave him a considering look and replied, “What would you like to know?”
Zul decided to start with the difficult questions first. “What are her expectations of us? Of me?”
Gil chuckled and slowly shook his head. “You must bear in mind at all times that our beloved mate is not from Uribern. In her country—”
“Country?” Zul echoed.
“Ah, first a quick lesson,” Gil said. “Earth, the planet Ursula is from, is divided into many nations and peoples who are further divided by a multitude of languages and cultures. Even people within the same nation are divided by regional customs, religious beliefs, and political preferences.”
Zul blinked at the complexity of Earth’s human population. “How backward.”
“Indeed,” Gil agreed. “However, humanity has a plethora of females, and those females are—with some genetic conversion—biologically compatible with Urib males. As you are well aware, Uribern suffers a desperate paucity of females in general and breeding females in specific.”
Zul nodded. That much he already knew.
Gil continued. “The culture in which our elska’adir lived guaranteed females many privileges and responsibilities that her people call rights.
From my research, I have concluded this has created both many advantages and disadvantages for both the males and females in her culture.
For instance, females are expected to carry and fulfill the same responsibilities as males, such as securing employment to earn wages to cover living expenses, and still bear their young and maintain their households.
Many, if not most, males in her homeland expect and rely on the income earned by their females. ”
“Foolish,” Zul muttered.
“Ursula came to Uribern for employment, although she did not realize she was being sent here from Earth.” Bran frowned. “Humans are often duplicitous, especially their politicians.”
“For employment?” Zul shook his head in disapproval, thinking that human politicians had much in common with politicians on any planet, including Uribern.
Overall, they were loathsome, dishonest, self-serving, and utterly lacking in honor.
The broad sweep of his horns narrowly missed knocking over a lamp.
Gil nodded and continued, “Females in Ursula’s homeland may go about as they please. They may go anywhere and do whatever they wish without a male’s protection.”
“Is Earth so safe then that females need not worry about being attacked?”
Gil chuckled and shook his head. “Many of the males in Earth’s cultures consider females their prey. I have made a brief study of this. Too few males act to protect them.”
Zul was appalled. “Do the males of Earth have no honor?”
Gil shrugged. “The males of Earth are puny compared to us, but still larger, stronger, and faster than the females. Most are neither warriors themselves nor affluent enough to purchase protection for their females.” He leaned forward, his expression twisting with disapproval.
“I have read that, oftentimes, females carry weapons and learn to fight to protect themselves.”
Zul blinked at this astonishing revelation. He shared Gil’s disapproval.
“You’re getting off-track,” Bran murmured from where he sat at his desk.
“Right,” Gil said. “In short, Ursula demands many of the same rights here that she had on Earth. It pleases us to indulge her as long as she does not act foolishly. Except for the attack by the rosvoi—for which she is not to be blamed—she has demonstrated good sense and has not betrayed our trust.”
“And if it does not please you to indulge her?” Zul asked. “Do you simply forbid her what she wants, and does she accept it?”
Bran snorted.
Grinning, Gil said, “We often compromise. We do not wish to crush her spirit; that is a good part of why we love her. We will listen to her arguments and decide accordingly.”
“She is not obedient then.”
“She is often obedient because we do not abuse our authority,” Bran commented.
“We do not make unreasonable demands of her, and we always listen to her objections.” He aimed a pointed look at Zul.
“She is not a mindless animal or irrational child who needs to be controlled to prevent her from harming herself and others.”
Gil nodded in agreement. “We were not best pleased to allow her to have her little shop in the village, but when we realized how proud she is of her work and how well she runs her small business, we understood how important it is to her. What is important to her is important to us.”
“So,” Zul voiced his questions again, “what will she expect of us? Of me?”
“Ursula will expect your respect as well as your affection,” Gil replied.
“Respect?”
“Treat her as an equal, even though she is small and weak compared to any Urib female. She is smart and resourceful, and you would be wise to respect those qualities.”
Zul snorted. “She has no claws and blunt teeth. She cannot harm me if I make her angry.”
“But she can withhold access to her body,” Bran said. The base of Zul’s horns itched at the idea of being denied access to his mate’s lovely, luscious body. “We do not and will not force intimacy upon her. We fuck her only if and when she is willing.”
Zul nodded and replied, “To do otherwise is dishonorable.”
Gil grinned again, his eyes shining with amusement. “Luckily, our elska’adir is nearly always willing and receives us with joy.”
Zul cocked his head to one side, musing on that statement. “She does not know about our pheromones, does she?”
“We have not discussed it,” Bran admitted.
“But our mating pheromones facilitate intimacy, both physical and emotional, with her. If she were to believe she was being manipulated…” He shuddered.
“Ursula has mostly settled into acceptance of Urib ways, and we wish to keep her happy, so we do that through compromise, as Gil said.”
“What does Ursula like?” Zul asked, thinking of ways to not lose her favor and be denied access to her body.
“Anything sweet,” Gil answered with a laugh.
“We import a viscous liquid from Earth called honey,” Bran admitted with a sheepish grin. “She drizzles it over almost everything.”
“She especially likes it on her breakfast foods,” Gil added.
Bran nodded. “I tasted it once. It is very sweet.”
“And then there’s cake,” Gil added.
“Cake?”
Gil explained, “A confection from Earth. It comes in different flavors and varies in texture. Ursula prefers one flavor called chocolate. She says it makes her happy.”
Zul was skeptical. “Does it really?”
“She certainly enjoys it, so Gil ensures we import it,” Bran said. “Such treats are small enough indulgences to help keep her content with her exile.”
“Exile?” Zul echoed.
“Humans have barely ventured into space,” Gil explained. “They are bound to their planet. Coming here, for her, was a terrible banishment from home that she did nothing to deserve. We wish to make her life here pleasant and preferable to returning to Earth.”
“Even though she cannot return?”
“Even though she cannot return,” Bran said. “An unhappy mate would make for a miserable existence.”
Zul could understand the logic of that and wondered if Ursula understood the vast power she wielded over them.
Catching the unvoiced thought through their mental connection, Bran answered, “If she does, she does not abuse that power, just as we do not abuse our authority over her.”
“That balance is crucial to her well-being and ours,” Gil said.
“This is a good discussion,” Bran said, laying his hands flat on the desk. “Gil and I must depart the day after tomorrow, so we will be leaving our mate in your care.”
Gil ran a palm along the curl of one silvery horn. “We should refresh ourselves. It is nearly time for supper.”
Zul took the hint and rose from the chair.
He shut the book and returned it to the shelf, careful not to damage it with his claws or through rough handling.
Musing on what he’d learned about their hybrid mate as he followed Bran and Gil from the room, he realized he had more in common with Ursula than he originally thought and vowed to allow her all the freedoms he had never been granted until his Prime and Second had perished in battle.
Ursula, he understood, had gone from freedom to captivity—luxurious and gentle captivity, but captivity nonetheless.
Having been a captive, figuratively speaking, with few freedoms and little luxury, he had no desire to impose that burden upon his mate.