“You bastard!” She punched his arm.
He nodded. “Well, it is true that my parents were overcome with passion for each other before the mating ceremony officially took place.”
“Ewww, I do not want to picture your parents having sex. Also, you know what I meant,” she muttered.
“Yes, I did,” he admitted with a grin. “The translator works quite well.”
A short while later, they were being hustled into an enormous ballroom, where several tables were set. The tables ran the length of the room. Metal serv-bots, humanoid in form, glided around the room serving drinks.
The tables and chairs were made of the same elegantly twisted branches Rosamund remembered from Kodran’s quarters on his ship. Fires roared in enormous stone fireplaces on either side of the room. Some kind of animal was turning on a spit above each fire. Perhaps it was considered bad manners to charbroil your own dinner at the table by breathing on it. The table was decorated with garlands of sweet-smelling flowers, and the walls were hung with tapestries of red-scaled dragons soaring through the skies.
Dot-R was standing across the room, talking eagerly to one of the male serv-bots.
Rosamund tapped Kodran on the shoulder. “She is underage and needs a chaperone assigned to her when she’s not with me,” she informed him. Kodran spoke to a female serv-bot, who nodded and moved across the room with surprising speed. When she reached Dot-R and spoke to her, the male serv-bot hurried off, leaving Dot-R standing there with her hands on her metal hips, glaring at Rosamund.
Kodran led Rosamund to the two throne-like chairs at the head of the table, just as his parents rushed up to greet them. He introduced them as Nelka and Ferenc. They were accompanied by a tall, regal young woman, whom Kodran introduced as his sister, Lina. Like her mother, Lina had waist-length black hair, with elaborate braids and ropes of glittering jewels woven into it.
His parents looked her up and down as Kodran led her to her seat.
“I approve,” said his mother, Nelka. “She looks very fertile.”
“Mother!” Kodran glared at her. The air around him shimmered with heat, and Rosamund covered her mouth to stifle a laugh.
“What?” his mother said, looking innocent. “Is it so wrong that I am looking forward to having grand-eggs?”
“I imagine they will be fierce fighters, defenders of the realm,” Kodran’s father said approvingly. “She will have many young. Ten, maybe?”
Lina glanced at Rosamund with amused sympathy. “Welcome to my world,” she said. “I have not yet met my heart’s fire, but my parents have been pushing me to give them grand-eggs since I was a hatchling.”
Nelka blinked innocently. “What is the harm in wishing for my daughter’s happiness?”
“You were trying to arrange for my betrothal in fledgling school. It was creepy,” Lina scoffed.
Nelka did not look the least bit ashamed.
As Rosamund settled into her chair, she saw Kodran looking across the room in annoyance. Prenzal was sitting at a table, scowling at them.
“I’ll be right back,” Kodran said. He stalked across the room.
Lina sat down in Kodran’s chair. “We must start planning your fitting for your wedding gown,” she said. She glanced at her parents, who were still standing there, checking out Rosamund’s rack, but not in a sexual way – more like an “Oh good, she’ll be able to nurse them babies” way. A note of urgency crept into her voice. “Really.We must.”
“No pressure there,” Rosamund said.
“Well, there’s also the fact that you would be the first human female to have mated with a Draell, and if it succeeds, it will help bring our race back from extinction.” Lina smiled at her encouragingly. “But no pressure at all, really. Oh, here comes my darling brother. I can see you look a bit overwhelmed. Please agree to mate with him – I would consider it a personal favor. Did I mention how handsome and charming he is? I mean, of course I don’t think he is, but plenty of other women tell me that.”
“What other women?” Rosamund spat out before she could stop herself. She felt a sudden surge of fury like nothing she’d ever experienced before, and was halfway out of her chair before she even realized it..
Lina gave her a triumphant smile. “Got you,” she said. “He is indeed your heart’s fire.” And she stood up to make room for her brother.
