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  Commander Druin made a small motion with his hand, and his men paired off, flipping each other through the air before the commanders and their assistants had made it into the building.

  Avvel shooed the servants out of the way as they walked to Wester’s private office.

  Wester sat behind his desk, Avvel stood at his side and Druin and Lash took their seats in front of the carved wood.

  Wester leaned forward. “What are you suggesting?”

  “I am suggesting that you accept Private Lash as bodyguard and occasional lover if you so choose, and I will wed Avvel.”

  Lash grinned and flexed his impressive arms.

  Avvel was suspicious. “Why would you have Private Lash ready to offer if you didn’t know that I was here?”

  Druin grimaced. “Oh. You caught that. I was going to offer Lash in an effort to gain Wester’s agreement on trading staff. Your techniques are truly astonishing.”

  Wester was intrigued. “Lash, you have agreed to this?”

  “Of course. I have studied your public speeches, the policies on slavery and the motion to restrict time as bondservants. You are a very progressive leader for your people, and you have policies that can effect great change if you just keep with them.” Private Lash was very calm and self-possessed. “You also have a great body, so that doesn’t hurt either.”

  Avvel’s lips twisted in the smile that she always fought when men admired Wester, but there was something sincere in Lash’s eyes. He genuinely had a crush on Wester, and it might be what made him a good option as bodyguard should she be unavailable.

  Wester asked, “Why do you want Avvel?”

  Druin looked at her, and she knew that she was grubby, spattered with blood and bruises. “I have never met a woman so exceptional and that is what I want for my children.”

  Avvel’s eyes widened. “What?”

  “I am looking at you as a breeding partner. You have many attributes that I believe will be useful in the next generation of the Velu family.”

  Wester whistled. “Well, that was frank. I am not sure that handing Avvel over to you as a brood mare is my best bet for survival. What about if you have one child with her and then return her to me.”

  Avvel reached out and slapped his shoulder. “I would never leave my child. What are you thinking?”

  He looked up at her. “I am thinking that I don’t want to lose you, but I am also thinking that it is past time for you to have a life of your own.”

  Avvel looked into his features, and there was a bittersweet expression that she had never seen before. Panic began to set in. “You are not—”

  His tone was firm. “Commander Druin, I accept your terms, providing that you can assure me that she will be cared for and have free access to exercise and education.”

  Commander Druin nodded. “Of course. She will have full access to any information that the Asku can obtain. As for exercise, if she is willing, she can assist in training our troops until she is with child. After that, I am afraid her routine would be rather restricted by our customs.”

  Wester smiled slowly, and there was a tear in his eye. “I have always thought Avvel would make a good mother. I certainly have given her enough practice.”

  The commander beckoned to Lash, and the private moved swiftly out the way they had come.

  Avvel felt grey with shock. She swayed in place and reached out to hold onto Wester’s chair.

  Commander Druin looked closely at her. “You don’t look well.”

  She opened and closed her mouth as spots danced in front of her eyes. Sound roared in her ears as Wester got to his feet, and the world slipped away for the first time in her life. She had just been sold.

  * * * *

  Druin moved quickly and caught his woman before she hit the floor. “I will carry her. Does she do this often?”

  Lord Wester shook his head, his concern obvious. “Never. Even when she was a child, she had a self-possession about her that I admired. I have never seen her faint.”

  Druin nodded and lifted her, taking her to the couch in the office and placing her gently on its leather surface. She was more solid than she looked. A pleasant layer of softness hid her muscle and he looked forward to having that lithe form under him.

  For now, he was concerned at her shock. “How long has she been with you?”

  Wester shifted nearby. “Fifteen years or so. My parents bought her when she was around the same age that I was so that I would have a suitable companion. I believe that they hoped she would spur some urge for the female form, but as she went her way, I went another.”

  “Where did they buy her?”

  Wester shrugged. “I didn’t ask, and she didn’t say. Her people never came in search of her, so it was assumed that the mountain people had cut her loose. They reject many of their female offspring and send them into slavery.”

  Druin looked at the dark honey hair and the closed lids hiding brilliant blue eyes. “So, you think she is Whichan?”

  Wester blinked. “I…What else could she be?”

  “What else indeed.” Druin checked her pulse and nodded when it slowed and began to take up a more predictable thud.

  Lash returned with Lieutenant Arcoth. Arcoth took Avvel’s hand in his and took a blood, skin and bacterial sample with the ease of long practice.

  Arcoth took a second blood sample and placed it in a small vial, cracking a small chemical tube within and shaking it violently. It turned a brilliant purple, and Arcoth nodded. “Compatible and clean.”

  Lord Wester frowned. “You weren’t sure that she was compatible?”

  Druin shrugged. “It has happened before that an Asku was attracted to a woman he could not reproduce with. We simply stand by our mates, but it will be easier knowing that I will be able to confirm the match and register it immediately.”

  “Will you take her with you when you leave?” Wester looked worried.

  Private Lash answered. “She will go where the commander goes, but I am confident that he will allow you to keep in touch with her.”

  Druin nodded. “Once the first two months have passed and she has adjusted to life as an Asku, she will have full access to all communications.”

  Wester frowned. “Why two months?”

  “You need to get used to being without her and she without you. You will both have adjusting to do.” Druin watched as Avvel began to shift. “We will leave as soon as we have done the personnel exchange.”

  “Wait. You can’t just take her. If you are going to claim her as your mate, you will do so by Whichan law.”

  Druin frowned. “What?”

  “You will get married and have a few days together at one of my country estates. I do not want her thinking for a moment that I did not care enough to support her as her only family.”

  Druin looked at the smaller man and saw that he was vibrating with emotion. “Lieutenant Arcoth, tell the crew that we will be here for a few days while my mate gets proper acknowledgement from her home world.”

  “Yes, Commander.” He nodded and left the office.

  Avvel moved again and her eyes fluttered.

  Druin asked a question that was in his mind the moment he met her. “What is her full name?”

  Wester shrugged. “Avvel is all that she has ever answered to. If she had a second name, even I didn’t know it.”

  Chapter Four

  Waking on the couch in Wester’s office was more unsettling than having three men staring at her as she came to. She bolted up off the couch and skittered across to the desk before she stood up.

  Wester laughed. “She’s fine.”

  Avvel scowled. “I need to take a shower. Why did you put me on that couch?”

  Wester raised his hands. “I didn’t. Commander Druin caught you before you pitched to the floor.”

  She looked at him and remembered why she had been ill to begin with. “I didn’t imagine it?”

  Druin shook his head, his dark eyes watching her with an unreadable expressio
n. “No, it is true. You have been offered to me as a bride, but in keeping with Whichan tradition, he is going to act as your family for a formal ceremony.”

  Wester smiled, “As formal as I can make it before sundown.”

  Avvel rubbed her arms. “I still can’t believe I was on that couch.” She shuddered.

  Druin looked at the leather with suspicion. “What is wrong with it?”

  She grimaced. “Wester likes to have assignations in here, and the amount of times I have caught him and his man of the moment in here on that couch is enough to boggle my mind.”

  Lash raised his eyebrows as he looked at Wester. “You enjoy catting around?”

  Wester blushed and became unaccountably flustered in the presence of the larger and far more intimidating male. “I have indulged myself when the occasion called for it.”

  Avvel blinked in amazement. She had only seen Wester this coquettish with one other male, and when Wester’s father sent the guard into a border dispute, he had never let himself love deeply again. A slight lightness in her heart started as she realize that Wester would have someone to look to when she was gone. Gone. She was actually being tied to one of the Asku.

  Wester cleared his throat. “Avvie, do you have a dress for the ceremony?”

  She shook her head. “I will wear my dress uniform. Until this is finalized, I am still on duty.”

  Wester frowned. “Are you sure it will be appropriate?”

  Avvel ignored Commander Druin as he got to his feet. “It will be me as I come. Nothing fancy. If he wants to change his mind, he is welcome to do so.”

  Wester sighed and walked behind his desk, pressing buttons to summon the receptionist that he rarely used.

  Teeka stumbled into the room, her data pad at the ready and a sleepy expression on her face.

  “Yes, Lord Wester?”

  “I need one of the temples prepared for a wedding.” Wester looked down at his desk and back up again. “Find out which ones are available and get back to me. I need flowers, a reception for fifty and a glider fuelled and ready.”

  Teeka smiled and made notes. “When do you want to schedule this wedding?”

  Commander Druin said, “Today.”

  Teeka’s smile faltered and the whites of her eyes showed. “Today?”

  “A sunset ceremony, Teeka. Take care of it. As much decoration as you can arrange with this notice, but I am counting on you. Now, go and find out which temple is available.” Wester smiled as he dismissed her, but he sighed with relief when she left.

  Avvel took a step toward him. “You don’t have to go to any trouble, Wester.”

  He reached up and took her hand. “You have been my sister, my guardian and my conscience. I will do this for you whether you want me to or not.”

  Tears pricked her eyes. “Well, if I am getting booted off Whichan, I had better help select the guards to go with the Asku as trainers.”

  He chuckled. “You just want to hit something.”

  She smiled. “You know me very well.”

  Avvel turned to Commander Druin. “May I leave him in your custody? He is rarely any trouble as long as you remember to walk him.”

  Wester groaned. “You are embarrassing me.”

  “You just traded me for a muscular bed mate. Get used to this being the most snarky day of your life.” She smiled brightly and stretched before looking at Druin. “Well? Will you take care of him?”

  Druin nodded formally. “Your family is my family, your charge is my charge.”

  Avvel left Wester’s office before she broke down. She still had a call of duty to attend to, she needed to find fifteen men who were competent instructors and had no wives or children to worry about while they were on the Asku ship.

  She walked into the yard, and the Asku were already mingling with the guards. The larger men seemed surprised when the smaller Whichans could manage to flip them without any difficulty. Avvel was proud. It was her main contribution to Wester’s safety. No one had made it through their defenses since the moment she had been given the guards to train.

  “Gentlemen, your attention please!” She clapped her hands, and her guards immediately snapped out of whatever practice they were involved in and formed up in front of her.

  The Asku looked around in surprise, and she stifled a grin. “The Asku are here today to compliment you on your training. They wish to learn from you, and as such, fifteen volunteers are required for a personnel exchange.”

  Fifty men stirred and stepped forward. She held up a hand. “Despite the honour that you would do to your family, it would be best that the volunteers be restricted to those men who do not yet have wives or families to miss them. A child needs their parents nearby, and having you in an Asku warship for an undisclosed amount of time is not something I would encourage.”

  Twelve of the men nodded and stepped back.

  “Those of you who remain will be in charge of two projects. One, you must maintain security of this property and its inhabitants, and two, you must train these Asku to move as well as you do.”

  One of the men jerked his chin.

  “Yes, Renwald?”

  “Why are you not taking over their training, miss?”

  Other men nodded in agreement. She had taught them all, one by one.

  “I will not be here. The Asku commander requested my hand, and Lord Wester agreed to part with my services.”

  Renwald and the others looked surprised. “You are getting married?”

  The Asku were grinning and nudging each other’s arms.

  “If that is what you want to call it. I have been handed over to a stranger, and I am not very pleased with that arrangement. Add that to the fact that I am the deadliest woman on Whichan and this will be a very interested coupling.”

  The Asku suddenly ceased smiling.

  A wall of heat was at her back. “Hello, Commander Druin.”

  Renwald and the others stiffened. “Miss Avvel, would you allow us a moment to speak with the commander?”

  She nodded and headed for the gardens. “I will be back in five.”

  Avvel touched the flowers softly, trying to memorize the textures and scents before she was parted from them. When she couldn’t stand the tension anymore, she turned to look at the gathering of men in the exercise yard.

  To her surprise, Commander Druin was nodding with a solemn expression and the guards were gathered around him with angry faces and sharp gestures. The other Asku in the background were looking a little abashed.

  She continued to count off their five minutes and returned to the gathering in time to hear Druin’s promise to respect her as a true warrior.

  Her heart swelled, but she stifled the emotion as she went through the group of men, and she selected the fifteen who would go up to the Asku warship.

  She knew and they knew what they had just done, and both sides pretended that nothing had happened. “When the staff exchange is complete, I want you to remember that the pride of Whichan is at stake. You will be representing your home, your family and your entire species. The skill of your trainer will also be in question, so honour your training at all times.”

  They snapped a salute, and she turned to Commander Druin. He was looking at her with a peculiar dawning understanding. “The fifteen are chosen and will report to you when the Asku are set to leave Whichan.”

  He inclined his head. “Thank you, Avvel. You have done well for them. Wester requests that you prepare for the ceremony. A servant will be sent for you to take you to the temple when the time arrives.”

  She swallowed and nodded. “Fine. I will see you later.”

  Avvel brushed past him, narrowly dodging his hand as he reached for her. Once she was officially his, she would honour her commitment, but until that moment, no man would be putting his hands on her without feeling pain. She had her dignity to maintain and about five hours to maintain it.

  Chapter Five

  A long, hot bath took the pain out of her bruises. She washed her hair
and carefully cleaned her face, trying to keep the coating on the forehead cut intact.

  Wrapped in a sheet, she brushed her hair over and over until it glowed. She packed her casual clothing in a duffel bag with a few pairs of shoes and boots. Since she had spent the last eight years as Wester’s official bodyguard, uniforms were more plentiful than normal clothing.

  A knock on her door made her jump. She should still have a few hours to go. “Who is it?”

  “Albeetha.”

  Avvel tightened the sheet around her and answered the door. “What do you want?”

  The older woman gave her a knowing look. “I want to measure you for your trousseau. Lord Wester will not have you leave Whichan with only the clothes on your back.”

  Mute, Avvel let Albeetha and her apprentice in.

  For the next two hours, she was measured, pinned, poked and turned until Albeetha was happy with the measurements and the way fabric hung on Avvel’s body.

  Albeetha sat back and asked, “So, what are you wearing to the ceremony?”

  Avvel was tired by this point. She frowned at the woman and said, “My formal uniform. This is my last act under Wester’s orders. The uniform is appropriate.”

  Albeetha smiled. “It is appropriate then. Would you like help getting dressed?”

  “No. I am fine. Let me have this last bit of dignity, please.” Avvel inclined her head.

  Albeetha reached out and patted her arm. “You have done well here, child. You will be missed.”

  “Thank you, but I am running out of time now.” She inclined her head and turned her back on the older woman. Avvel reached into her wardrobe and pulled out her formal uniform. Wester had designed it for her for ease of movement but getting into it was the definition of labour intensive.

  She slipped on the loose trousers and tugged on her boots, tucking the flowing trousers into the top of the calf-high boots. Now, for the difficult part.

  Avvel slipped on the heavily embroidered vest that hung to her ankles and attached the flap of the right side to the underside of the left front, covering her breasts and belly with the one wrap. The side seams were open for movement and the back was slit to mid-thigh so her legs had complete range of motion.