Alien Notions
The party of eight delegates from the frigid planet of Hassina, seven males and one female, arrived without fanfare on Vejiitasei in the depths of that planet's cold-season. The Hassinans had been invited to visit Vejiitasei by the Saiya-jin-no-Ou, in the hopes of swiftly concluding the treaty 'talks'. The delegates in particular were hoping for a speedy end to the negotiations: Hassina had its own pressing reasons for wanting to come under the protection of the Empire.
On their arrival planetside, a group of Saiyan diplomats, headed by Manzano, had greeted them in the name of the king and personally shown them to the large suite they would occupy while they waited for an audience. Manzano had been apologetic, or as apologetic as a Saiyan could get, as he outlined the unfortunately necessary restrictions that would be placed on the aliens' movements. The diplomat had also expressed his hope that they would view the Saiyan warriors, standing attentively outside the suite, as an honour guard. Distilling the diplomatic wordage down to basics - the Hassinan were confined to their quarters, and under constant surveillance.
Speaking softly in their native language, Marldus, the Lead Speaker of the delegation, had counselled his companions to patience and no outward show of disquiet. There had been rumours of recent internal 'troubles' and this caution on the part of the Saiya-jin-no-Ou was likely to be the fallout from that. He asked the rest of the delegates, in a voice so soft now they had to strain to hear him, to guard their tongues always, as there was no guarantee that their quarters hadn't been bugged. It could be worse, he'd said with a smile, at least the suite they had been given was large and as easily luxurious as their own dwellings on Hassina: even if the Saiyans' idea of décor was a little stark compared to their own, the massive windows that looked out over the palace grounds and on to the vista of the capital city beyond made up for that.
The day after their arrival, the Hassinan were escorted by four of the brawny warriors to the formal audience chamber and admitted to the august presence of King Vejiita.
The Hassinan were tall, fine-boned and angular, with flattish faces and uniformly tawny skin. Their hair ranged from white, through to silver and gold, and if their eyes could've been seen - all of the delegates bar Marldus, had their heads lowered respectfully - it would have been obvious they were similarly startling shades of silver and gold. All of them had patterns of small bumps across their faces.
The delegates wore the formal, all-encompassing, felted robes of their people, heavily embroidered with threads of precious metals and with beads of glittering stones worked into the symmetrical, stylised patterns. Each delegate's robe was a different colour and they all wore an extensive selection of jewellery. The effect could be likened to a garden of tall, delicate and brightly coloured flowers set aglitter by the morning sun on the dew. All in all, the Hassinan stood out as a distinctly different people from the mostly dark-haired, dark-eyed and physically powerful Saiyans.
The delegation presented gifts to the King; mounds of furs from animals native to their planet, dense, soft and luxurious in a myriad of colours from a glistening white to a lustrous purple tipped with red. There were fur garments; robes, long hooded jackets and even more garments made from the dyed, felted fur or hair of other creatures and richly decorated with an exquisite assortment of patterns. There was a small fortune in jewellery and body ornaments made from bright metals and shining stones with more of the complex patterning. Bottles, bowls and drinking vessels fashioned from a brittle but hard and translucent material, delicately shaded in a range of colours that seemed to run the gamut of nature, and shaped somehow into rippling, sensuous forms.
The final offerings, though, were the most appreciated in a society of warriors. Unwrapped with reverence from their felt coverings, came a variety of beautifully wrought, and deadly, weaponry. Knives, big and small, thin as a stylus or as wide as a wrist; and swords and spears to suit every taste. All were made from the same bright metals, some almost plain and some so heavily decorated it was doubtful they could actually be used as weapons, but all with edges so sharp they could raise a smile on the grimmest Saiyan.
Mahrayne, the lone female Hassinan, had been placed very deliberately right at the back of the group. This wasn't entirely a bad thing, in her opinion; the last thing she wanted was to draw the attention of any of the intimidating Saiyans, and screened as she was by the taller Hassinan males, it gave her a sly opportunity to look around. Occasionally, feeling very brave, Mahrayne lifted her head a fraction and dared a quick look through her eyelashes. The audience chamber was huge, and to the eyes of a people who immersed themselves in patterns and colours, it was shockingly devoid of decoration. Peeping between the two males in front of her, Mahrayne caught a glimpse of the Saiya-jin-no-Ou, Vejiita. He was seated firmly on his throne, scowling. She was a little concerned at first, wondering if he was displeased with them for some reason, until she remembered all the Saiyans they'd encountered so far only seemed to have two expressions - a scowl or a sneer. She relaxed a little; for all she knew that scowl could indicate extreme pleasure. The King's hair was black as a flehru stone and seemed to stand straight up from his scalp like a - like a - flame, that was the only word adequate. Mahrayne's gaze wandered down from his compelling/forbidding face to the starburst insignia resting against his chest, the only ornamentation he was wearing. She looked closely at his clothes - the unadorned dark-blue garment he was wearing seemed to be form-fitting...
Mahrayne looked a little harder and found herself coming over all peculiar when it became apparent that the garment outlined every curve, every contour of the King's well muscled body. Mahrayne was deeply discomfited by the shocking impropriety! On Hassina, adult males and females did not reveal their bodies to the other unless they were - intimate. She glared fixedly at the folds in her sky-blue robe while she waited for her blush to recede. Forcing herself to breathe deeply and evenly, she firmly reminded herself that these people weren't Hassinan and so couldn't be judged by her own standards. When she felt her composure had made its shaky way back, Mahrayne risked another peek. She studiously avoided looking at the King this time, and shifted herself infinitesimally to see if she could catch a glimpse of someone else in the court. She found herself instead locked in a stare with the auburn maned female standing to the right of the King. Caught out, mortified and in full blush again, Mahrayne froze. The female smiled a hard, half-smile and Mahrayne had the uncomfortable feeling she'd been watching her for quite a while. Thoroughly cowed now, the Hassinan lowered her eyes again and didn't attempt to look anywhere but at the floor for the remainder of the audience.
The audience was ended. King Vejiita thanked the Hassinan for the gifts and said he would give some thought to their Council's proposal, then dismissed them, and they were escorted back to their quarters by more of the fearsome warriors.
Once there, Mahrayne left the rest of the delegation dissecting and analysing every twitch the Saiya-jin-no-Ou had made, and retreated miserably to the small room that had been given over to her exclusive use. The realisation of just how hopelessly unprepared she was for what had, at first, seemed like such an adventure, came crashing in on her and she desperately wanted to go home; back to the safety of what was known, where her making a fool of herself was tolerated with affection. She removed all her jewellery and unclipped the bands of bright metal that confined her long, thick white hair into a single rope down her back. She exchanged her stiff, formal robe for a softer one with coloured thread decoration, that smelt comfortingly of home. She missed, with a deep-seated ache, the easy affection of the other females in her household. She had never felt so alone in her life - she'd never been so alone in her life. Mahrayne used her favourite carved bone comb to smooth out her hair - even that simple action highlighting her isolation. When was the last time she'd had to comb her hair herself? There was always someone there, her mother, her 'aunts' or siblings to make even the most basic of tasks a shared comfort. Mahrayne crawled under the covers on her sleeping platform and pretended to be asleep when her father called through the door to see if she was hungry.
Despite going to bed feeling despondent and miserable, the sleep had done her good and allowed her natural optimism to be rekindled. She'd woken up with a determination to make the most of her unexpected trip offworld and find out as much as she could about as many things as possible; the question was - how was she going to do it? She wasn't going to be able to indulge her inquisitiveness stuck in the suite with the rest of the delegation. As she breakfasted a little self-consciously with the males, Mahrayne remembered this thing the Saiyans had, called a 'library'. Apparently it was some sort of central data storage similar to the archives on her homeworld. Mahrayne's eyes gleamed at the thought of all that new knowledge, just waiting there to be discovered! Right, she knew what she was going to do with her time while they were on Vejiitasei, now she just had to convince the others...
It was easier than she'd anticipated. Her addition to the delegation had been a last minute thing, and with her being female, the males didn't really feel comfortable having her around. So when she diffidently suggested to Marldus that she could use her research and language skills to find out more about the Saiyans, he'd not only agreed, he'd gone out of his way to get permission for her to leave the suite. Mahrayne's father, Astolan, wasn't pleased, but he deferred to Marldus's authority. When the servant came to escort her to the library, Astolan admonished her sharply to be on her best behaviour and not embarrass them.
Mahrayne was supremely happy. Not only was she away from the restrictive presence of the Hassinan males, where everything she did or said was bound about by precise rules of behaviour, but, once she'd gotten used to the Saiyans slightly archaic methods of data retrieval, there were worlds worth of information dancing at her fingertips. The librarian had been a pleasant surprise too. Mahrayne had quailed at first when the Saiyan in charge greeted her, but only moments later she'd realised this Saiyan was somehow different from the others. Ubi was a pleasant looking female, with a shoulder length dark-brown mane and wide-set dark eyes in a broad, strong face. Unlike the other Saiyans she didn't radiate an aggressive intensity; in fact, she seemed to be quite relaxed. Surrounded by information and in the presence of a non-threatening alien, Mahrayne felt at ease for the first time since leaving Hassina. She settled in for a protracted information gathering session.
"Excuse me." A female voice broke into her abstraction. Mahrayne glanced up from the screen and found herself looking at the same auburn-maned Saiyan female that had caught her out yesterday in the audience chamber; quite unwillingly, Mahrayne felt herself blushing again.
"'Mahrayne', isn't it?" the surprisingly small female asked, a slight, but not unpleasant smile on her face. "Your Lead Speaker told me where to find you."
"Yes?" Mahrayne almost squeaked, all the tension she'd only recently forgotten creeping back over her shoulders, and strangling her voice-box.
"I was wondering if I could ask you for some information?"
"I'd be happy to help. My Lady." The honorific was belatedly tacked on as a couple of pieces of random information about the royal household finally clumped together in Mahrayne's brain. Saiyan female, standing beside the King = King's Companion, Leteetza.
"Just Leteetza, please." The Saiyan studied the Hassinan from cool, dark-green eyes, "Can I call you Mahrayne?"
"O-of course."
Leteetza cocked her head to one side, frowning a little. "Are you always this nervous?"
To her horror, Mahrayne blurted out the first thing that came to her mind. "Only when it feels like I'm talking to someone who'd have my throat out at the first wrong word."
She waited for the Saiyan's - probably violent - reaction and jumped, startled when the small female simply burst out laughing.
"I promise you I won't kill you - without provocation anyway." Leteetza grinned. "Look, it's almost midday and I'm starved. Will you join me and we can talk while we eat?"
"It's that late already?" Mahrayne was surprised; having been happily submerged in the mountains of information, she hadn't noticed the time passing. She smiled a little weakly at the Saiyan.
"Lunch would be fine, I guess." Mahrayne slipped off her stool and looked down at Leteetza. The Saiyan only came up to her chin, but somehow, having the advantage of height didn't make Mahrayne feel any less intimidated.
"I'd better let my people know where I am." Mahrayne said hesitantly.
"No problem." Leteetza called over to the female Thinker at the main terminal, "Ubi, if any of the Hassinan come looking for Mahrayne, tell them she's with me."
Ubi nodded without looking away from the screen. "Will do, my Lady."
Leteetza took them to one of the serveries, and soon, plates piled with food - meat and fresh fruit for Leteetza, just meat for Mahrayne - they settled in a quiet corner of the communal dining hall.
"Would you mind, Leteetza, if we spoke Saiyago?" Mahrayne asked shyly, "I'd really like to practise with a native speaker."
"You speak Saiyago?" Leteetza paused, eyebrows raised in surprise, before popping a slice of barely singed meat into her mouth. Mahrayne nodded.
"Yes, some, and Common; that's the main reason I was included on this trip."
"Is this your first trip off-world?" Leteetza asked her, switching to Saiyago. Mahrayne blinked and mentally changed the language chips in her mind.
"Yes, I am here by accident really. One of the delegates got sick at the last minute and they needed someone quickly who could speak common and Saiyago." Mahrayne paused, Leteetza was looking at her oddly. "Did I say something wrong?"
Leteetza shook her head. "No, you speak very precisely, it's just your accent's a little strange."
"That will get better with practise, no doubt." Mahrayne smiled, just a little; the combination of food and not being in imminent danger of being hurt was letting her feel more comfortable. Leteetza took a swig from her beaker of fruit juice; she pointed at the fruit sections on her plate.
"Have you tried some?"
"I did try a small piece when we first arrived, thank you, but it played havoc with my digestion."
"Allergic reaction?"
"No, but we're basically meat-eaters. We just can't digest plant fibre." Mahrayne sipped her water and said with vast understatement, "It was a bit uncomfortable."
With the initial hunger pangs dealt with, the pace of eating slowed down. Leteetza sat back and regarded Mahrayne again.
"I'd like to know more about your people. We don't have much information about you."
"What would you like to know?"
"What's Hassina like?"
"Huge. Dense. And cold." Mahrayne smiled, "Our gravity is slightly higher than yours and our year is nearly two and a half of yours; for most of that we can't live on the surface."
"Too cold?"
"Too cold. And windy. Even during the warmer season the winds are fierce."
Leteetza nodded encouragement for her to continue. "There are two other inhabited planets in our system," Mahrayne went on, "both much closer to the sun. We've been trading with them for quite a while now, but mostly we've kept to ourselves."
"You live underground when it's too cold on the surface?"
"Most of the time. The planet's crust is riddled with caves."
"What's it like living in a cave?"
Mahrayne chuckled. "The caves have been occupied for millennia so they're wonderfully comfortable now. They are big and airy, and well lit and ventilated. The walls and floors have long since been smoothed out and the connecting corridors are easily traveled." Mahrayne stopped and swallowed a pang of homesickness for the comforting images invoked. "During the warmer months we can live on the surface - that's when the caves are cleaned and aired."
"How long is your warm season?"
Mahrayne frowned in concentration as she converted to the Saiyan calendar. "About a fifth of our year - that's equivalent, I think, to half a Vejiitasei year."
"That's a long time to be cooped up." Leteetza said doubtfully.
"It can drag a bit at times, even though there's plenty to do. But everyone is very glad to
get out by the end of it. The warmer season is so short, though, and so busy, that time just flies then."
"What do you do when you're above ground?"
Mahrayne grinned. "That is the time the plants are growing again, so the animals come out of hibernation and go into a breeding frenzy. There is lots of hunting done, and a lot of time spent preserving the meat for the cold months."
"You can't get fresh meat in the cold season?"
"We can get fresh meat all year round, there's some monstrous big things live in the underground lakes. They're not very pretty, and they're a bit hard to catch, but they certainly taste good. The preserved meat is there as a reserve, just in case - and it's delicious." Mahrayne laughed. "There's always insects too. One of the best ways to keep the children entertained is to send them to catch their own snacks." Leteetza chuckled too, and Mahrayne found herself warming to the little female.
"How do you keep warm when it's so cold?"
"The caves are naturally insulated, and our planet is so dense the core is mostly molten rock. We channel the heat up from deep down in the crust; that's where we get our energy from. The old stories explaining where the hot springs and heat comes from are a lot more colourful. Would you like a quick summary?" Mahrayne was warming to her subject and it didn't look like the Saiyan was losing interest yet.
"Sure."
"Well, supposedly, there are two huge creatures that live in the heart of the planet, Etute and Etats. They're two immense - " she dropped back into Common, her Saiyago vocabulary not up to the challenge - "snakey things, with arms, and triple forked tails. All of their activities have repercussions for the surface." Mahrayne switched back to Saiyago. "Even though we know the heat isn't generated by these creatures, there's still a lot of charm in the old stories, and Etute and Etats are popular themes in our decorations. Like this - " Mahrayne indicated the front of her robe. She'd embroidered the curling and curving creatures with the interwoven tails just last year.
"Am I boring you yet?" she asked Leteetza, suddenly anxious.
Leteetza smiled. "Takes a lot to bore me. I have another question though."
"Please..."
"As I've said, we don't have a lot of information about you, but I found an old report on Hassina that suggested you have a greater number of males than females?"
Mahrayne's eyebrows shot up in surprise. "How did they reach that conclusion?" she muttered almost to herself. "Of course, an off-worlder wouldn't have been shown the females' quarters." She spoke directly to the Saiyan again. "No, it's quite the opposite in fact, we've got far more females than males, and the sexes are segregated. Whoever wrote that report probably only saw the small areas of our community where the sexes can overlap."
It was Leteetza's turn to be surprised.
"Why are your males and females kept separated?"
Mahrayne hesitated, chewing her lip; how much should she say? "There was probably a good reason for it eons ago, but it's calcified into tradition now."
"That's bizarre." Leteetza was wide-eyed with fascination, "How do you pair up?"
"'Pair up'?" Mahrayne frowned.
"Mate - for breeding."
"Ah! I see. The males invariably have more than one female, that have been 'gifted' to them from other households. The wealthier and more powerful the male is, the more females he has under his protection."
"'Protection'?"
"An old-fashioned word," Mahrayne said dismissively, "there's nothing really to 'protect' us from nowadays, no inter-household warfare, no 'female stealing'; it just means that he's responsible for their care."
"Do you come under a male's 'protection'?" Leteetza grinned and Mahrayne felt herself warming even more to her - or was she just blushing again?
"Sadly no, I'm still part of my father's household."
"How many females does he 'protect'?"
"Twelve."
Leteetza stared. "Twelve?"
"Yes, but my father is only minor nobility. The heads of the Households can have a lot more."
"How many more?"
"For example, Marldus, our Lead Speaker, has sixty-five females."
"Sixty-five?! And he's expected to mate with all of them?
"More or less." Mahrayne hedged.
Leteetza digested this, then frowned. "How many children does your father have?"
"Nine. Two boys, seven girls."
"Only nine children from twelve females?"
Mahrayne shrugged. "We breed slowly, we mature slowly."
"Wait a second." Leteetza was frowning in concentration, "You said your 'father's household' and then talked about Marldus as 'head of the household'? Is there a difference?"
Mahrayne took a deep breath. "Our society is divided into 'Households'," she made a grand gesture with her arms, "these major Households have smaller households attached to them. Astolan, my father, is head of his smallish household, and he holds allegiance to Marldus's Household, which is one of the major ones. And just to obscure it a bit more, a 'household' also includes all the servitors, staff and guards - everyone and their children. There's a definite ranking system though - one of my father's females would not be expected to perform the same sorts of tasks as one of the servant females."
"So Hassina doesn't have a single, ultimate ruler? Like our King?"
Mahrayne grimaced as she tried to work out a way to explain it without it getting confusing.
"We don't have a single family that holds all the power, no, that's spread out over the twenty-three major Households. The heads of the major Households serve on the High Council, which is our ruling body, they make all decisions. 'Head of Household' is a hereditary thing. My father was his father's eldest son, and Marldus was the eldest son of his father's line. Does that make sense?"
"Yes it does. R'ren'nkh'ia-jin society is organised in much the same way, except they have an 'over-ruler', a High King. The clan chiefs - the equivalent of your Heads of Household - defer to him." Leteetza looked thoughtful. "Have there ever been female heads of Households?"
"Rarely, but it has happened."
Leteetza continued picking at the remains of her meal, looking at Mahrayne with that appraising gaze again.
"So you've spent all your life surrounded by females and children? I'm assuming that the care of the children falls to the females?"
Mahrayne nodded. "Once the boys are old enough they go to live with the males."
"It must be hard for you, then," Leteetza said softly, "you're essentially here by yourself."
Mahrayne felt her eyes prickle and she lowered her face, unwilling for the Saiyan to see her emotion. She nodded and said in a voice little above a whisper. "This is the first time I've ever slept alone."
"I don't suppose you could ask any of the males...?"
Mahrayne looked at her in genuine shock; the idea was unthinkable. "No! I couldn't! It - it just wouldn't be appropriate."
"Even only for comfort?"
Mahrayne was gaping. "No! It's just - no!"
Leteetza almost looked amused at the outburst and started to say something, only to fall silent with a distracted air. Mahrayne was not so upset by Leteetza's suggestion that she failed to notice the interesting play of emotions crossing her companion's face - resignation, a tightening of weariness, and yet something else, unaccountably soft. Leteetza sighed.
"I'm sorry, Mahrayne, I'm going to have to go," she said apologetically, "my children are demanding my company."
"You have children?" Mahrayne asked eagerly, all discomfort forgotten.
"Hn. Twins. Little monsters." But Leteetza couldn't disguise the affection she felt.
"Oh, that's lovely!"
Leteetza regarded Mahrayne silently for a moment. "Would you like to meet them?"
"I'd love to!" Mahrayne knew she was burbling, but didn't give a damn.
"Come on then. But don't say you haven't been warned." Leteetza led the way quickly out of the dining room and across to the South wing of the palace. Two particularly vicious looking Saiyan Warriors flanked the door that Leteetza stopped in front of. The small female nodded abstractedly at them and paused, hand on the door handle.
"You're not intimidated by children are you?" she solemnly asked Mahrayne.
"Not usually, why?"
Leteetza opened the door onto chaos.
Mahrayne stood in the doorway, stunned.
Her initial impression of the room was a dissonance of colour and movement, noise and heat. After a second or so she was able to break the confusion up into its components and work out what was actually going on.
First, it was damned hot in there; she could feel the sweat beginning to prickle under her robes already, and she hadn't actually got into the room yet. Second, it sounded like there were several households worth of fretful babies squalling away; and last of all there were numerous small bodies hurtling around like random, brightly coloured comets - literally! They were flying - playing a fast, and noisy, game of tag. Mahrayne stepped into the room and closed the door behind her, taking deep breaths to counter the stifling atmosphere. She took one look at the frazzled adults in the room - five, if you included the two reptilian ones - and did the kindest thing she could think of.
She clapped her hands twice, loudly and sharply. The older children stopped, in mid-air, and looked at her in astonishment, the noise level in the room dropped considerably.
"What is all that noise for? Hmm? It's not helping, you know." Mahrayne spoke pleasantly, but firmly, in Common. "Come here, please." She motioned them towards her, not missing the questioning glances the children directed at the adults. Mahrayne didn't see how the adults responded, but the five children warily formed a loose cluster in front of her. Mahrayne knew, when it came to children, that it didn't take a lot to charm her, but these were just exquisite. All were blue-skinned and green-haired, and very, very pretty; she reckoned them to be developmentally the equivalent of three Hassinan years.
"Hello," she said in a low-pitched, gentle voice, "my name's Mahrayne. What are yours?" One by one, they told her their names; Mahrayne repeated them carefully, deliberately and grossly mispronouncing a couple of them, prompting the children to correct her while they produced a sort of giggling hiss of amusement. Mahrayne leant down to the youngsters standing in front of her and was pleased - no, delighted - when they nearly all leaned forwards to her.
"Babies need a lot of attention don't they?" she said softly, there was a round of solemn nods. "Shall we see if we can help?"
A short time later the elder children were occupied, quietly, with helping to feed the little ones. Mahrayne sat on the edge of the bed and looked a little sheepishly at Leteetza, who was staring at her, lips parted, eyes wide, simply astounded.
"I'm sorry about stepping in like that, but you all looked so harried - "
"I'm not complaining!" the smaller Saiyan blinked, shook herself and grinned. "But how did you get the little monsters to do what you wanted?"
"Years of experience." Mahrayne grinned widely enough to reveal her sharp, double eye-teeth. "One of my duties at home is 'child distracter'." She smiled. "I'm an educator of sorts."
Mahrayne hadn't been far off in her guess of how many babies were there - nine all told, including Leteetza's twins - the largest number of infants her household had at any one time was four. Seven of the babies were blue-skinned, with fuzzes of green hair, while Leteetza's twins were, surprisingly, a pale mauve with black manes and - oh how cute! - little Saiyan tails! Mahrayne knew she was grinning like an idiot, but all these children were just so - so...
She dragged her attention away from the captivating lot and had a closer look at the other adults, twitching a little when she realised belatedly one of them was a Saiyan male. She avoided looking at him, even though his mane was a most intriguing colour, sort of like the embers of the combustible rocks the Hassinan used. Leteetza introduced everyone to her; the male was Hijau, the smooth-headed reptilian one was Zh'leet, the other one was Gh'veen, and the last one was Zha'haarak. Mahrayne stopped herself staring with an effort - he? No, that wasn't right. She? Nor that - was obviously the same species as the children, except he (Mahrayne decided to call him that for the sake of convenience) was green skinned. And he showed all the beauty that the children promised. Zha'haarak's long hair was a marvellously vibrant shade of green, jewel-like and shimmering. It was a little tangled though; the poor thing probably hadn't had time to comb it, what with having all these children to look after. Mahrayne's fingers itched to get a comb, and she'd brought some of her favourite hair ornaments with her to Vejiitasei - they would look stunning wound into his hair...
"Would you like a drink, Mahrayne?" Zh'leet asked her a little concernedly, "you look like you're about to faint."
"Sorry," Mahrayne blinked at her, wondering how long she'd been sitting there gazing into space while her brain broiled, "It's just a bit hot in here." She surreptitiously arranged her robe to allow more air-flow to her skin.
"The R'ren'nkh'ia-jin homeworld is much warmer than Vejiitasei. We need to keep the temperature high so they don't get too cold." Leteetza explained, and there was a thread of pain in her voice.
"Interesting." Mahrayne smiled in relief when Zh'leet handed her a beaker of blissfully cool water. "My planet is much, much colder."
"How does our weather compare with yours?" Leteetza asked, adding helpfully, "This is our cold season."
Mahrayne considered, sipping the water gratefully. "This would be almost the height of our warm season, only not as windy."
There were various noises of disbelief and discomfort.
"Remind me never to visit you at home, then!" Zh'leet snorted indelicately.
Mahrayne laughed, feeling quite at home now amongst children and what could be considered females - except for Hijau of course.
"Are these all yours?" Mahrayne asked Zha'haarak, indicating the children.
"Not all of them." he replied softly, shyly. "The five eldest, and three of the... babies are Ti'aasaan's by Zha'haabron; the other four are mine by Zha'haabron - "
"- and," Leteetza cut in, smiling down at her children "these two are mine by Ti'aasaan."
"Fascinating." Was all Mahrayne could think of to say as her brain slowly ticked over in the heat... Something wasn't adding up...
"Hold on." Mahrayne focused with difficulty on what had just been said, "Zha'haarak, didn't you just say some of the children were Ti'aasaan's by someone - which would make her their mother?" Zha'haarak nodded, his luminous golden eyes twinkling up at her through a curtain of emerald. "And Leteetza said her children were by Ti'aasaan, making him their father? How - ?"
Zha'haarak was quiet so Leteetza answered.
"They're hermaphroditic."
Mahrayne shook her head. "I'm not familiar with that word..."
"They have male and female sex-organs."
"Really!?" Mahrayne was gob-smacked, not to mention intrigued, but she did manage to snap her mouth shut on the 'can I see?' comment that almost slipped out. Mahrayne knew that as soon as she was out of the suite she'd be scuttling back to the library to find out what she could about these - admittedly gorgeous, if Zha'haarak and the children were typical - people. And he was gorgeous! Mahrayne finally noticed, in a sort of daze, how inexplicably drawn she was to his grace and beauty.
"Mahrayne? Are you all right?" Zh'leet was sounding concerned again, and the Hassinan snapped back to herself.
"I'm just a little overwhelmed by the heat. Do you mind if I step outside for a moment?"
Leteetza pointed to a set of glass doors. "There's a balcony out there."
Mahrayne stood on the balcony, taking in great, deep breaths of refreshing cold air, thoroughly enjoying the frigid breeze blowing through the cloth of her robe and drying the sweat. Soon, she felt cool enough to face going back into the stifling room.
"I'm sorry about that," she said, carefully closing the doors behind her. Mahrayne seated herself on a cushion on the floor, but almost as soon as she was settled one of the elder children plopped himself down bonelessly in front of her, as only the young can do, and looked intently at her face.
"What are those bumps on your face?"
Mahrayne cast about for the closest Common translation. "'Skin-beads' - would you like to see what they feel like?"
The child nodded and reached up to trace the symmetrical pattern of bumps that started on the bridge of Mahrayne's nose, curved gracefully under her eyes, swept up to almost her eyebrows then curled back down to delicate spirals under her high cheek-bones. Zha'leesaan - Mahrayne was almost certain that was the child's name - prodded firmly at one of the beads.
"Gently, precious." Mahrayne said softly, "they're attached."
Curiosity satisfied for the moment, the young one scrambled up and went back to playing. Mahrayne watched them, an enormous smile on her face, then turned back to the adults to find herself being watched almost cautiously. She was surprised - Did they think she'd hurt the child? Leteetza smiled apologetically and relaxed a little.
"Zha'leesaan can be very thorough in his investigations."
Mahrayne shrugged, "It's how they learn. It didn't hurt."
Leteetza leaned her head to one side, frowning. "What are the 'skin-beads' made of?"
"Small pieces of polished bone pushed under the skin through small incisions."
"Doesn't that hurt?" she asked.
"Yes." Mahrayne laughed.
"So why do it?"
"We have to decorate everything. We can't bear blank surfaces, it offends our aesthetic sensibilities," she grinned at them, "and it gives us something to do during the long, cold months."
"Self-mutilation is one way of passing the time I suppose." Leteetza was grinning too.
The infants were all fed and settled by now, the older children were playing, quietly for the moment, in another corner. Mahrayne finally plucked up the courage to ask for something she'd wanted to do since she first stepped into the room.
"May I see your children?" she asked Leteetza gently.
Leteetza nodded assent, but she watched Mahrayne closely as she approached. Mahrayne looked down at the two contented bundles of loveliness.
"Ooh, they're just beautiful." she cooed.
"This is Le'leen," Leteetza gently stroked the mane of one, "and this - " she passed the other child to her, " - is Ti'ani." Mahrayne was very aware of the Saiyan female tensing even as she handed her the baby, and made sure her movements were slow and gentle. She cradled the child in her arms, looked into wide, golden eyes, and was lost...
"Oh my," Mahrayne breathed out. She tickled the child's face with her hair and laughed delightedly when Ti'ani giggled and went to grab it; Mahrayne was hardly aware of the dopey, fatuous grin on her face. Hijau was smiling at the Hassinan's delight.
"You'd like children of your own?" he asked.
"Oh, yes," Mahrayne smiled, not taking her eyes off the infant, and barely registering that she was being addressed by a scary Saiyan male, "but it's not likely to happen so I try not to think about it." she said unguardedly.
"What prevents you from breeding?" Zh'leet asked, and Mahrayne hesitated, chewing her lip. What could she say? What the Hassinan saw as a stigma, these people might not - but still...
"I'm a surplus daughter, one of many." Mahrayne opted for a partial truth. "There's no need for me to have a mate."
"That's hardly fair," Zh'leet said indignantly, and Mahrayne sighed.
"If some good could come of gifting to someone the plain daughter of a minor household, then no doubt I'd be mated faster than night-fall."
Leteetza was looking askance at her. "You're considered plain?"
Mahrayne gave her a small smile. "Yes, I am too short, too round, and my hair is merely white."
"But... you are not 'plain'..." Zha'haarak said quietly.
"Thank you." she beamed at him, "but you should see one of my sisters..."
"What happens to you if you aren't 'gifted'?" Leteetza asked.
"I stay in my father's household and help look after the children. It should be enough..." she added with a sigh.
At that moment someone tall and exotic, and obviously another one of Zha'haarak's people strode into the room. Mahrayne saw two things happen simultaneously; the elder children flung themselves at the figure, hissing happily; and Hijau stood up, and bowed deeply. Completely at a loss, Mahrayne looked at Leteetza for instruction.
"That's Zha'haabron," Leteetza murmured, "High King of R'ren'nkh'ia."
Mahrayne cursed herself roundly as she hastily struggled up out of the bed, arms full of a sleeping Ti'ani, and lowered her head. R'ren'nkh'ia was the planetary partner in the Alliance with Vejiitasei. How could she forget something as basic as that? Being amidst all these children in this frightful heat must have turned her brains to mush.
King Zha'haabron was talking to his children, soothingly: from the tone of the hissing language it sounded like he was reassuring them. He turned to the rest.
"Hijau." she heard the king acknowledge the Saiyan. "And this is...?"
"Mahrayne, my Ssii'iin, she's part of the Hassinan delegation," Leteetza answered, "she's been helping with the hostlings."
"Be welcome, Mahrayne." he said pleasantly and Mahrayne lifted her head to look at him. Yes, the odds were definitely in favour of this race being mesmerizing; Zha'haabron was blue-skinned, and green-haired, like his children. His hair was just a shade lighter than Zha'haarak's - and like Zha'haarak, the King looked tired.
"Thank you, your Majesty." Mahrayne said quietly then sat back down and tried to make herself inconspicuous.
"How is he?" Zha'haarak asked the king as he slid onto the bed next to him, swiftly followed by the elder children.
"No change." the king said heavily. "At least he's not getting any worse. Vinas is still trying to find out if there's some way to regenerate the damaged tissue."
"Maybe the G'geckans could help?" Mahrayne had spoken without thinking and now found herself the centre of attention.
"Who are the G'geckans?" Zha'haabron asked levelly, "And how could they help?"
She cleared her throat nervously. "The G'geckans are one of the races in our system, your Majesty, they're skilled in medical matters - my people often consult with them when we are ill or injured."
Zha'haabron was deep in thought for a moment. "How do we contact these people?"
"Contact Hassina," Mahrayne answered promptly, "and we'll re-route the call." The High King briefly hugged Zha'haarak, then slid from the bed.
"Thank you." he said simply to Mahrayne then cuddled the children quickly before leaving.
"Who's ill?" Mahrayne asked quietly - and perhaps a little belatedly - when the King had left.
"Ti'aasaan." Leteetza said shortly. "He... got too cold, for too long... His lungs are - dying - he can't breathe properly."
"Oh no!" Mahrayne could see the distress this was causing everyone. And Ti'aasaan was a parent, of some type, to most of the children here - no wonder the elder children were being unruly. She frowned in thought.
"I don't know if this could be any help, but lung disease is something we get a lot of..." Mahrayne said diffidently, and once again found herself the centre of attention. "It's a technique that might help him breathe. It's rough, and painful - " she warned them, "and it depends on how strong he is whether you can use it or not."
"We're listening."
"You'll need to invert him, onto his front - you know, put his head lower than his hips? The sharper the angle the better - and then you - " Mahrayne couldn't find the right word, "here, give me your arm, I'll show you." Leteetza held out her arm and Mahrayne rhythmically, with rapid, forceful beats, pummelled her arm with cupped palms. "You do this over his back, where his lungs are."
"What does that do?" Zh'leet asked.
"It dislodges - foreign matter - from the lungs, and the angle he'll be at will help him cough it out." Mahrayne shrugged. "It might help his breathing."
Leteetza and Zh'leet looked at each other.
"It might be worth a try?" Zh'leet suggested.
"But what if it causes more pain than he can cope with?" Zha'haarak was almost in tears and Mahrayne's heart went out to him.
"I'll check with Vinas, tell him what you've said. He'll be able to tell us if he thinks it might help, and if Ti'aasaan's strong enough."
Leteetza was already getting up to leave. "Mahrayne, would you mind staying here and helping out with the hostlings for a little while? If
that's all right with the rest of you?" she asked the other adults, and got confirming nods from them.
"I'd be delighted." Mahrayne smiled.
In the end, Leteetza was away for a couple of hours. Not that Mahrayne had the leisure, or energy to notice, because the babies had woken up...
The little darlings were all active, and curious, and fast. More than once, while Mahrayne was seated on the floor with the older children, playing 'follow-me' clapping games, a small body would go scuttling past - or more usually, try to climb her or one of its older siblings. At one stage she had three of them crowded into her lap, and they'd managed to undo several of her metal hair-bands. Mahrayne was hot, sweaty, and dishevelled, but she was having a great time.
Some time later...
The elder children were off playing a game by themselves, everyone had had another feed and Zha'haarak had even managed to get a short nap. Mahrayne was lying flat on her back on the sleeping platform, softly jiggling one of the infants at arm's length above the bed, and happily holding a nonsense conversation with the child. She was also acutely aware of Hijau's appraisal. Hard not to be - he was sitting cross-legged on the floor nearby. Then the door to the suite opened and a couple of people came in. One was Leteetza, and the other...
Mahrayne gaped at the size, the sheer physical presence of the Saiyan male, who was swarmed by happily hissing children as soon as he set foot in the room. This Saiyan was tall, taller even than Virga, another one of the delegation and the tallest Hassinan Mahrayne had ever seen. And he was wide, and stupifyingly muscled. He radiated the same sort of solid immovability as a stone pillar, except - stone pillars generally didn't have manes of thick, black hair that flowed down to their knees.
The Saiyan greeted Hijau, and Zh'leet and Gh'veen, then hugged Zha'haarak - who had thoughtfully come to him, rather than force the big man to wade through the children. Mahrayne sat up and unconsciously tried to hide behind the baby she was still holding. The Saiyan had disentangled himself enough from the children to be able to move, and was now standing in front of her. Mahrayne looked up - and up - into a face that, Hassinan aesthetics notwithstanding, she was still moved to acknowledge had a rough kind of beauty. Especially that mane... what must it be like being wrapped in that blanket of hair?
"You're Mahrayne?"
She thought he sounded exactly like a talking stone pillar.
"Leteetza told me about you. I hope the brats haven't been too much of a trial?"
"No. They've been wonderful." she said in a smaller voice than she'd intended.
He held out his hands, big hands, for the infant she was holding. She wasn't sure about that, but the baby was wriggling, obviously happy to go to him. Mahrayne handed the child over and felt ridiculously exposed without the small body clasped in front of her.
"Radittsu, you've met Mahrayne I see?" Leteetza had reclaimed her twins, and settled onto the bed with them. "She's been a great help. She even managed to get the older monsters to play quietly." Radittsu smiled at her, obviously impressed; Mahrayne blushed and looked at her knees. Fortunately, he went to talk to Zh'leet then and Mahrayne was spared the indignity of being tongue-tied.
Radittsu couldn't stay long, much to the disappointment of the children, and the secret relief of Mahrayne. His presence was - disturbing. Lust was an old, old friend of Mahrayne's, but the last thing she expected to feel it for was an alien male. She shivered, feeling the pressing need to get out into the fresh air again. Both Hijau and Leteetza were grinning at her, their nostrils twitching, and Mahrayne wondered if they could smell something.
"Don't worry," Leteetza said with a knowing smile, "he has that effect on a lot of people."
Mahrayne wasn't quite sure what the small female was saying, but she did know she didn't want to look too closely at it.
"He's just so big." Mahrayne said wonderingly.
"Your males tend to be tall, don't they?" Leteetza asked.
"Yes, but ours don't - " Mahrayne gestured expressively with her hands, " - bulge quite so much." She looked down at Leteetza, who had collapsed laughing on the bed.
"Now what have I said?" Mahrayne asked a bit crossly.
"Nothing, nothing." Leteetza was wiping her eyes.
"I think you're - over-tired." Mahrayne was going to say 'hysterical', but thought better of it. "You should get some sleep."
"Sleep? I remember sleep." Leteetza said tiredly, but still chuckling. "I'll think about it later, when Radittsu and Zha'haabron get back."
The mention of the big Saiyan's name made Mahrayne flush again.
"I'm just going to get some fresh air." she said hastily, leaping off the bed and going straight to the balcony. Behind her, Hijau and Leteetza exchanged wicked grins.
© 2002 January 22nd Amanda Mullane
