Ursula visibly shuddered at the memory of the quick and brutal fight against the huge lizard that had stalked her as its prey the night she’d escaped from the embassy. She pointed hertwo-tined fork at Bran and said, “You’d already put in a bid for me, hadn’t you?”
He nodded and replied, “Of course. We knew you were ours the moment we saw you.”
“And being claimed by us has not ended so ill, has it?” Gil inquired, his expression worried.
Ursula sighed and let go of her lingering resentment. “No. No, I love you, all three of you.” She sighed again. “It’s that my own government was trafficking women that still makes me angry. We didn’t agree to be sent to a distant planet. We didn’t agree to be married off to strangers.” She took another deep breath to compose herself. “There’s a lot to be said forconsent, you know.”
“I have heard that Ahn’hudin discovered some human skulduggery in the trade for brides,” Zul said.
“Oh?” Ursula shot a speaking look at her other two mates. “I don’t get much news about Earth here.”
Gil had the grace to look guilty. Bran met her glare with inscrutable calm.
“What happened?” she asked.
“The human females were being sterilized before being mated,” Zul answered. He glanced at Bran and Gil. “Did you not hear of this?”
“We had,” Bran admitted. “The Ahn’hudi are rectifying Earth’s duplicity.”
“Sterilizing?” Ursula echoed, her voice squeaking.
Bran met her gaze again and said, “Officials on Earth directed officials at their embassy on Ahn’hudin to render human brides incapable of breeding. The brides themselves discovered this treachery and brought it to the attention of their mates. The emperor of Ahn’hudin was rightfully outraged. Sanctions have been imposed upon Earth by all planets of the Triune Alliance, and the treaties are being renegotiated.”
Ursula looked at her plate, not seeing the remains of her breakfast as she pondered what she heard. Lifting her head, she asked, “And what about the brides?”
“The ones who were sterilized?”
She nodded.
“Those females are mated. They will not be cast aside,” Bran answered. “No honorable male would allow that.”
“Earth will continue to send brides to allied planets, more brides than before,” Gil added.
“And are they being trafficked?”
Gil shook his head. “Do not fret so,elska’adir. The new brides will be fully informed and must consent to being transported to Uribern, Ahn’hudin, or Kaan.”
Ursula nodded and said nothing about the human government’s propensity to engage in underhanded, dirty dealings. If there was a way to muck this up, the government would find it and capitalize on it to the detriment of those caught in its web of deceit.
Zul caught the tenor of her thoughts through the bond linking them all and commented, “You do not trust the government of your homeland?”
Ursula snorted. “Nobody with any sense trusts the government.”
Gil reached across the table to pat her hand. “You are safe from their machinations now.”
Bran blinked slowly at her and gave her a small grin. “In fact, we need to discuss your own machinations. The mayor and sheriff are in an uproar.”
“Fusty old curmudgeons,” she muttered under her breath. “Male chauvinist pigs, all of ’em.”
“Yes, Ursula, I would hear more of this festival you are organizing,” Gil said.
Ursula grinned. “Those misogynists in the village will soon realize that we women aren’t incompetent idiots. Wecando things that take organization and planning.”
“Of course, you can,” Bran said. “Art and music require great skill and perception. This is why they are the purview of females.” He took a drink ofti’chal. “Were males left to our own devices, Urib culture would have no beauty or refinement.”
“If I recall correctly, you sing beautifully,” Gil added. His expression turned sad. “I have not heard you sing since Crow died.”
“You sing?” Zul echoed. His expression turned hopeful. “Would you, some day perhaps, consent to sing for me? It has been long since I heard singing—any singing.”
