But Kat was very much afraid that Deep did blame her—and there was nothing she could do about it. He was silent, however, as he bent and kissed her forehead.
Then their guards came to the door of the hut and motioned. “The full moons shine down. The chief awaits your pleasure. Come do her bidding,” said the short, husky one who had taken Kat prisoner in the first place.
Her? Kat decided her convo-pillar must be acting up again. She nodded at the guard, trying unsuccessfully to smile. God, if I never hear another haiku again it’ll be too soon!
“All right, we’re coming.” Deep and Lock put her between them. Then, with Lock leading the way and Deep bringing up the rear, they left the grass hut and followed the guards.
The sun had just finished setting and there was still a warm pinkish-orange glow in the deep purple sky as they walked. A soft breeze played over her face, caressing her with the exotic scent of foreign flowers. Kat wondered where the twin moons were— she still didn’t see anything in the sky but the white pinpricks of the stars.
Somewhere out there is Earth, she thought. I’ve never been so far away from home in all my life. The thought made her feel lonely and homesick so she tried not to dwell on it. After all, I’ll be going back soon. Back to the Mother ship to see Liv and Sophie. As soon as we do this little show the natives will set us free. Then we’ll find the stupid fi-fi flower, get the meds from Mother L’rin, and I’ll be back with the girls eating Ben and Jerry’s and catching up on the latest gossip before you know it.
She tried not to imagine how she would feel once she took Mother L’rin’s medicine and was truly and permanently separated from both Deep and Lock. Even two days before she would have felt only relief to be parted from them. Now she wasn’t so sure…
Kat refused to let herself think about it. Instead she looked around at the lush, Twin Moons landscape and thought about how oddly familiar their surroundings looked. Come to think of it, where they were looked exactly like…
“Hey,” she said in a low voice. “Aren’t we back in the holy meadow?”
Lock looked around. “It would appear so.”
“So this is where we’re supposed to, uh, do our thing?”
Deep shrugged. “I guess so.”
Kat put a hand on her hip, thoroughly pissed off. “So their precious meadow is too holy to walk on but it’s okay to have a three-way screw session on it?”
“It’s not just a ‘three-way screw session,’” Lock said, mild reproof in his deep voice. “The legend we’re enacting is holy to all of us on Twin Moons—not just the natives. It explains how we became the people we are—why we are born as twins and need to share a single female between us.”
“Sorry,” Kat felt abashed. “I didn’t mean to make fun of your Adam and Eve story. Or I guess in this case, Adam and Eve and Steve. Or whatever.”
“It’s all right.” Lock smiled at her. “I just wanted you to know that what we’re doing tonight is more than just the chief’s erotic whim. It’s sacred to us—a beautiful thing, if you can bring yourself to see it that way.”
Kat swallowed. “I’ll try,” she said softly. “But I didn’t know we were performing a sacrament. I’m afraid I’d make a lousy alter boy.”
“A what kind of boy did you say?” Lock frowned.
“She’s just making a joke because she’s nervous,” Deep said, coming unexpectedly to her rescue. “Go easy on her, Brother. This is hard for our little Kat.”
Harder than you know, Kat thought, but didn’t say aloud. Their native guards were gesturing at them now and pointing to a circular clump of bushes to one side of the meadow. She and Deep and Lock walked over to the leafy clump and Kat was surprised when there was a sudden rustling and three pink skinned natives appeared from behind the bushes.
Two of them were male warriors with the usual leaf loincloths. But the third was clearly female. Despite her diminutive stature, she stood straight and tall, with the regal bearing of royalty. She had thick, lustrous black hair that reached to her ankles and she was wearing the same kind of leaf/flower/vine dress that Kat had on. In her hand was a green wooden scepter tipped with the deadly clear crystal all the native warriors had in their knives.
“Behold.” Lock bowed low to the regal female. “The chief.”
“A woman?” Kat asked doubtfully as she and Deep followed Lock’s lead and bowed. “But I thought the chief was a man.”
Deep frowned. “Why would you think that? We are a matriarchal society, you know—even the natives.”