Carmen’s rich laughter filled the room. “Oh, they knewexactlywhat I was doing, but the big bad warriors’ inability to endure a few crocodile tears gave them the excuse they needed to indulge me.”
Ursula leaned forward. “And did that indulgence…”
“Oh, you know it did,” Carmen crowed while the light caramel color of her cheeks turned rosy. She leaned forward, too. “And I’m pregnant again.”
“That’s wonderful. Are you still able to dance?”
“I’mable. The question was whether I’mallowed,” Carmen admitted. She leaned back and took a sip of lemonade. “But as I’m not yet showingandbecause I’ve delivered two children without any issues before, my triad agreed to let me fulfill my commitment to you.” She grinned. “I had to remind them that exercise is good for pregnant women.”
Ursula pressed her hand against her own abdomen and wondered when she might next conceive. Since the Rite of First Union, all three of her mates had been most assiduous in their attentions, singly and together. She was healthy and still young. Surely, she’d conceive soon. “So, how is Mosk at dancing?”
“Adequate.” Carmen’s eyes twinkled and she grinned. “He likes the stomping parts.”
“Well, heisyour berserker.”
“Indeed he is.” Carmen popped a pastry into her mouth and chewed. “We were hoping to avail ourselves of your Suvesh to watch our sons during our performance.”
“Of course, although Zul volunteered for babysitting duty,” Ursula said. “You know, I offered Suvesh the day off, but he absolutely refused to accept it. I’ve got to admit, Crow minds no one else as well as he does Suvesh, and Suvesh really is good with him. So is Zul.”
“Zul is that hunk-a-licious berserker who’s your new Third?” Carmen grinned.
“He is a beautiful brute of a male, isn’t he?” Ursula held out her hands to display the heavy, bejeweled bracelets encircling her wrists. “And generous, too. Yesterday’s gifts, just because. He has a crazy need to drape me in jewelry.”
“But you’re not complaining.”
“No, I’m not. He has exquisite taste. And, of course, Gil and Bran feel compelled to match his generosity. My jewelry chest isoverflowing. If I ever have a daughter, her mates will never need to buy her anything sparkly. I’ll just give her half my stuff.”
“So, tell me the schedule,” Carmen said, switching the subject while she ran her fingertips over the heavy, intricate links of the bejeweled necklace draped across her own collarbones. The sparkling clip in her thick black hair matched. Her own triad enjoyed bedecking her in arachnasilk and gemstones, too. She subtly wriggled in her seat, feeling the movement of the gold plug buried within her ass. Luckily, the guest quarters were located a good distance from her hostess’ suite, and the walls and doors of the manse were thick and insulating, so she wouldn’t have to fret over her hostess and her mates overhearing the loud sounds of vigorous and enthusiastic fornication.
Ursula let her friend steer the conversation to the festival being held the day after next. After several minutes of detailed discussion, she asked, “Will your triad be helping with setup?”
Carmen shook her head. “No, I do believe they’ll be sequestered withyourtriad in finalizing whatever sneaky plans they’ve been discussing on the sly.”
Ursula’s eyes narrowed. “So, the Omari Triad is in cahoots with the Fangrys Triad?”
Carmen nodded. “You bet.”
“Do you know what it’s about?”
Carmen shook her head. “Not a clue. I can usually tease out what I want to know from my men, but not this time, not about this topic—whatever that topic is.”
“Same here. It’s frustrating.”
“I know. I don’t like it when they keep secrets from me.”
“Especially when I’m not allowed to keep secrets from them.”
“Fucking double standards,” Carmen muttered under her breath.
The two women munched on confections and tiny pastries and sipped at their beverages in companionable quiet for a moment before restarting their conversation.
Meanwhile, comfortably gathered in the manse’s conference room, the Fangrys and Omari Triads met via virtual video and audio connections with their co-conspirators to discuss treason.Their seditious conversation was not recorded; Bran made sure of that. Soon, they promised themselves,soona new government—a new Council Supreme elected by the very people they governed—would represent the will of the Urib people and serve their best interests. All that was left was to ensure the right people were in place, the right weapons were in place, and the right date and time were set.
Bran and Gil looked forward to the day when broken triads were not deployed away from their mates in not-so-covert attempts to kill them off—and the high caste survivors of broken dyads were not assassinated—so their brides could be reassigned to new mates to produce more offspring. They also wanted to open access to imported brides for the lower castes as well, for those folk were just as crucial to the well-ordered operation of Urib society and commerce as were the high castes.
“Ursula would be astonished to hear of our egalitarian ambitions,” Bran commented when the brief meeting concluded.
“Egalitarian does not preclude authoritarian,” Pako pointed out. “Our ambitions do not include giving our females the freedoms they used to have on Earth.”
