Free B00CH3ARG0 EBOK by Christie Meierz

for that uncharacteristic interference of
hers, though he was deeply grateful for it. And now, his beloved’s moods had
finally settled and smoothed, returning to something only a little more
volatile than her pre-increase state. And her abdomen was swelling, much to her
delight.
    He had not expected it to delight him as well.
    She stirred and sighed, beginning to wake. A few moments
later, he sensed her communing with her child. He touched them again with his
senses, mother and child, giving a gentle caress to the contented little glow
within her, but the contact was of necessity brief. His morning was a hectic
one. He returned to his reports, hoping to get another out of the way before
escorting Marianne to the morning meal. Running a province, ruling a planet,
and taking care of a gravid bond-partner during the busiest season of the year
left him little time for much else, but he would not have it any other way.
    The next report drew an exasperated snort from him: a human
ship lurked at the fringes of the cometary belt around Tolar’s star. He
wondered what the humans hoped to accomplish. They had already lost some
respect from a number of the space-faring races in the sector for their
harassment of the Tolari. Certainly no other race would dare attempt the
abduction of the bonded partner of Tolar’s ruler, however primitive they believed
the Tolari to be, and none faulted the Sural for cutting off diplomatic
relations with Earth over it.
    He shook his head, and then allowed himself a crooked grin. The
more superstitious humans believed the whispers in the Trade Alliance that his
people were protected by powerful, advanced beings. He did nothing to disabuse
them of the notion, and he occasionally came just short of dishonor by not quite reinforcing it. Still grinning, he sent an order to his head guard to transmit
a shrouded signal to the trespassers with an invitation to leave Tolari space
and never return.
    Marianne appeared in the doorway with a sleepy smile, already
bathed and dressed and running a brush through her hair. She crossed the room
to drop onto the divan beside him. He put an arm around her and brought up the
next report as she nestled into him. Flooding caused by volcanic activity under
Vedelar’s glaciers was threatening to create a natural disaster; the Vedelia
was requesting aid. He marked it as a priority and transmitted it to the logistician
in charge of Suralia’s emergency management.
    Marianne murmured something incoherent.
    He looked down at her. “Are you ready for your morning meal,
beloved?” he asked.
    Slow to wake, she murmured again, as she buried her face in
his shoulder.
    He chuckled and stood, pulling her up with him.
    * * *
    By the time Marianne reached the refectory, the walk had
cleared her head, but it wasn’t until she’d already taken a seat at the high
table that she realized her mistake in coming there at all. A large number of
science teams were in the stronghold, having some kind of conference on the
planetary weather control system, and it looked like all of them were taking
their morning meal at once.
    Worse, a number of the visiting climatologists were of
sufficiently high rank that the Sural invited them to eat at his table, where
they regaled him with their theories. It was all very confusing, and she ate in
silence while they discussed arcane details of climate management with
vocabulary she didn’t recognize even after more than eight standard years on
Tolar.
    The Sural, annoyingly, was amused to see her out of
her element. She gave him a stare, which to her further annoyance only amused
him the more, and retreated to the library in the family wing, her omnipresent
aide trailing behind her.
    Kyza was deep in a discussion with her maths tutor when
Marianne arrived in the library. Storaas welcomed her with a lecture delivered
in Old Tolari, and gave her a treatise in Middle Suralian to read. She studied
the treatise until it was time for her morning visit to her