“Thank you Goddess,” he said, when at last, she finished. “I will do as you say.”
“See that you do—the fate of the other Monstrum and their ability to call brides from Earth without strife and acrimony rests on you, Warrior.”
Then, the statue was silent and the animated face went blank again. Rarev drew a deep breath—to actually speak to the Goddess herself was something few could claim! He felt both honored and humbled, but he didn’t have much time to do what was necessary.
“I see that you finally believe you are forgiven,” Grandmother Tigris said, smiling at him as he rose.
“I believe, Grandmother.” Rarev leaned down to drop a kiss on her furry cheek. “But now I must go—I have much to do and not much time to do it in.”
“Go.” She smiled and made a shooing gesture with one hand. “And may the Goddess go with you.”
“Thank you.” Rarev smiled. “I believe that she will.”
Then he rushed from the Sacred Glade to do the Goddess’s bidding.
42
“Minister Oxley, what did you do to your hair?”
“Minister Oxley, is it true you ran away from the Earth with the Monstrum Commander because you knew there was going to be another attack?”
“Minister, where did you get that dress? Is it from an alien designer?”
Em sighed and tried to keep her face calm. The Press and the tabloids had come on in force for her press conference and they were asking questions—but all the wrong ones.
She wished that she hadn’t listened to Kat, who had insisted that she wear her hair down and keep the bluish-green translucent wrap dress she’d gotten from the Rigellens.
“It looks fabulous, doll!” Kat had told her. “You just wear a slip under it and it’ll be perfect for the press conference.”
Em had reluctantly agreed, but now she wished she hadn’t.
Because here she was in the middle of the conference and instead of wanting to know about the new contract for Yillium which would help the Monstrum protect the Earth, all any of the reporters seemed to want to ask what about her dress and her hair and her much younger appearance, Em thought ruefully. So much for spinning this conference for her own good, she could barely get a word in edgewise!
They were standing outside of her flat in the chilly air and she had two new security people assigned to her—which was a good thing, since the inevitable protestors had arrived and were waving signs with rude sayings on them such as:
“Monstrum, go home!” “My daughter will NEVER marry a Monstrum!” “Fuck the Monstrum before they fuck us!” and some which were much worse.
“If you’ll all listen, I’ll try to answer some of your questions,” Em said, but the reporters just kept jostling each other and shouting.
“Minister, could you comment on the fact that you look twenty years younger? Was this due to some kind of alien plastic surgery you underwent while you were gone from the Earth for two days?”
Em opened her mouth to answer—though she wasn’t sure what she was going to say—when a deep voice rumbled behind her.
“Minister Oxley looks younger because she is bonded to me!”
Em turned in astonishment to see Rarev standing there. The big Monstrum was dressed in a gold and black uniform jacket, tight black trousers and high black leather boots. His golden mane was in perfect order. All in all, he looked quite dashing, she thought. But had he really just admitted to the entire Press that the two of them were bonded? And speaking of their bond, why hadn’t he broken it yet?”
“Because I didn’t want to—and the Goddess didn’t require it of me,” she heard him say in her mind.
“Rarev?” Em couldn’t keep the hope out of her voice as the big Monstrum stepped up to the podium beside her. Could it be that he was really here to Claim her as his own?
“Excuse me, Chief Commander Rarev,” one of the reporters shouted. “Could you please explain what you meant just now? How can the Minister looking so much younger have anything to do with a Kindred soul-bond?”
“It had everything to do with it,” Rarev growled. “You see, when a Mature Elite like my beautiful Emilia mates with a Monstrum warrior of the Feline type, her body regenerates a certain amount. Though even if this wasn’t so, I would still want her,” he added, taking Em’s face in his big, warm hands and looking into her eyes. “She was beautiful to me, even before we bonded.”
Em could feel her heart racing, but this was all happening so fast. Now the reporters were shouting questions about rejuvenation and how it was possible to look younger simply by being with a Monstrum. But she only had eyes for Rarev.
“You came back to me,” she sent through their link. “I was so afraid I’d never see you again, except from a distance in the World Council meetings!”