Cosmic Bounty(30)
The men relaxed. “Give her anything she wishes,” Yuv commanded the clothing merchants.
The men nodded.
With Yuv and Tev watching, the clothing merchants quickly measured her, proclaiming she would soon have new clothing, worthy of her beauty. The only clothing Kat took was a light cloak in a deep red color, to cover her yellow dress, wanting something to help her to blend in. Yuv escorted her back out into the market street, while Tev paid for the purchases.
“You will need suitable moonush to tread in.”
“Moonush?”
Yuv pointed to her feet.
Kat grinned. “Shoes.”
“Shoes,” Tev repeated in English, watching his lips match the word.
“Your language is musical. I shall enjoy learning it. Our family specializes in alien languages.”
“I’m more than happy to help. There is so much I still have to learn. But I’m still not sure what I am expected to do on your planet.”
“You will soon be declared a Demos female. You are not expected to do anything, other than provide sons and a daughter.”
Tev rejoined them and they resumed a leisurely pace past other market stalls. She paid little attention to the strange wares, thinking about what her fathers told her.
“So, in other words, my men want to keep me barefoot and pregnant?” she asked, after a moment’s silence.
“You do not have to go without ‘shoes’,” Yuv said from her other side.
Kat huffed out an annoyed breath. “What if I wish to learn an occupation on Galafrax? Will I be allowed to work? I am not used to being idle.”
The brothers exchanged glances above her head. “I think it best you discuss it with your quads, once you are claimed.”
Before she could ask another question, a loud trumpeting sound suddenly blasted through the market, hurting Kat’s ears. She watched, amazed as the crowed parted, clearing the street. Her fathers pulled her back near the entrance of a bustling bar.
Yuv bent down closer to her ear. “You will find this interesting, Kat. It is a formal procession to the right of claiming.”
Kat saw an open, hover jellybean coming down the street. Within it, a Demos woman sat with four males. The woman smiled smugly, as it cruised past. Behind, at a brisk pace, marched sixteen men, four sets of proud-looking quads, each one decked out like a gladiator in straps of leather.
“Behind the air cruiser are the quads who wish to lay claim to the female. They are heading for the Center Qyi, GrandPalace of the High Lords and rulers of Galafrax. Inside the palace is the arena where they will battle, proving their worth to claiming the chosen female.”
Tev pointed to the huge, central pyramid in the middle of the city. The massive building loomed over every other structure.
“Will that have to happen to me, too?”
“Every Demos female goes through this right. Yes, you will have to do this also; it is a great honor, and the more quads which follow to do battle, the higher the honor.”
Kat didn’t like the idea of being paraded through the street, but would endure anything to be with her set of quads. She missed them, wishing they were at the markets with her, helping and teaching her to learn about their world. Something odd struck her as she studied the men and women around her.
“Yuv, what happens if one brother dies and they are no longer a set of Quads?”
“We have the band of lost brothers. If one or more are lost in battle or war, they seek out and adopt more into a family. We learned early in our civilization we do not cope well out of our sets.”
“Then you would not do well on earth. While we seek out others for company, we have a saying: two’s company, three’s a crowd.”
Yuv smiled. “Then let us be a crowd.”
Kat laughed at his smile.
Before he could answer, a set of quads suddenly burst through the crowd, right behind them, knocking both Yuv and Tev, standing on either side of her. More men joined in and suddenly a fight broke out.
A sweaty hand suddenly clamped over her nose and mouth and an arm wrapped around her waist. They pulled her backward through the crowd of onlookers. She fought wildly, as panic flooded through her. She couldn’t breathe. Her fingers dug into the hand over her mouth, while she struggled to suck in air. Spots started to swim before her eyes, and her strength left her. She sagged against her abductor before blacking out.
Chapter Thirteen
“I’m going to kill them!”
Ric and Gol grabbed Hul before he attacked Yuv and Tev. “How could you have left her unguarded? Why were you not all with her!” Hul bellowed at the men who were supposed to be guarding and caring for their treasure.
“Oul and Riv took Sarrbeem, Kat was distressing her. It was then we were ambushed. They knocked us over and started a fight, and then scurried away, before we could get back to her,” Yuv tried to explain.