"I wish it was that simple. Unfortunately, data can be interpreted however the reader chooses. I see a need for more genomes. My father sees a need to change our genome genetically.”
"I thought you were a prince. Is your father some kind of king?"
"I am a Gol-Vett, a child of a Coalition member. A prince, I believe, is the child of a monarch. We have no such system here. We have the Coalition. All the powerful families that come together to rule for the people."
She remembered the classes going over that. Again, she didn't pay enough attention to it at the time, and now she hated her choice. She should have made herself focus more. "Yet you found a way to bring me and the Galactic Alliance's program here?"
"I got special permission from the Coalition to explore this option. I was tasked to see if there was a way to make it work while my father attempts to work on his plan."
The way he said it, she felt like there was a lot on his shoulders for this project to work. "It's a race, then, to see who saves your people?"
"From a certain perspective."
"Families can be the most vicious in competition." She had seen enough competition from family members in her life. "I do not envy your task, and I am glad it is not my fight."
"You already are. We are in Courtship."
She sighed. She missed that day of training, and while she knew, in essence, she was his mate and that it was for life, she didn't remember the nuances of how they proceeded with their mating rituals. After all, she thought he'd just tie her to a bed and have his way with her until she was pregnant.
This might be a good time to get all the details understood. "Would you please explain the aspects of Courtship to me again? I feel like I'm missing some important data."
"Of course," this made him smile. A weary smile, but she didn't think it was because of her, as much as it was because of the circumstances. "It is an agreement that we bind ourselves together. During Courtship, we spend this time getting to know one another."
"It's like dating, then?"
"Dating implies no commitment. Courtship is more than that. It is an official step in the agreement of two to come together and mate."
"That's another part I didn't understand. I'm here to see if you can produce a child with me, and I'm not sure when we're supposed to start? Is that like a right-away thing? Do we have to complete Courtship first?"
She felt like a moron for even asking. She hated that she skipped out of most of this stuff, though. She just hadn't cared at the time to pay any attention to it. Instead, she just spent her time savoring her simple life treasures—a warm place to sleep and food and clean clothing.
"That varies. It is up to the couple to decide when Courtship is over and when physical mating starts. It can be immediate if the draw is that powerful or can take months. Even years to move through Courtship."
"Years?"
"If that is what it takes. It truly is a matter of what works best for each couple."
"Well," she said after she took another bite of stew. "I would like to request that we not have any physical mating until after we figure out what happened today. There have been far too many explosions for my liking.”
And while she’d heard that many of the passengers on the vessel were okay, some were not, and she couldn’t help worrying about them.
The last thing she wanted to do was enjoy mating of any kind while she worried about the others.
No matter how cute Khalzin was.
She couldn’t get her friends out of her mind.
Graecey. Adryel. Even Roemary and Sereya. Had any of them gone over the side? What about his friend, Fiviel? Did they live? Die? Float away in a bubble?
She had more questions than answers, which was starting to exhaust her.
"Your requests are not irrational," Khalzin said. Then he leaned toward her just a bit, a twinkle of delight in his eyes. "Even if they were, I probably would have agreed to them, considering our first few hours of Courtship."
"I think I will take that as a compliment," she replied.
She glanced around this new place. And like his other place, it didn't seem lived in. There were no personal touches. Nothing made the area feel like it was a home. It only seemed like a space.
Perhaps that was the purpose of a safe location. But if so, then why was his home so sparse and unadorned?
