Chapter 10: Stuck in a Rut
After the night when I wake up
I'll see what tomorrow brings
-If I Had A Heart Lyrics, written by Andersson, Karin Dreijer, opening song from Vikings
I awaken to blinding overhead lights as pain stabs my middle. My body is strapped down and although I don't struggle yet, I know parts of me cannot move. Sorting through my groggy brain, it comes to me that I am still in the healer's surgery. I make out Myn'dill, running a device that emits a thin beam of light down onto my body. Someone else is standing at my head, dabbing my forehead with a cool cloth. I cannot see their face, but a meek voice reaches through the air.
"Honorable Healer, she is aware."
Myn'dill watches his work as he speaks, "Honored Gu-lee, the repair went well. I am closing your incisions. How do you feel?"
"I cannot feel what you are doing. What have you done to me?"
"All is well. Only the part of your body we cut into was numbed. You were given a sedative so that you would remain still. Your ability to feel will return. Nothing is wrong."
"We?"
"Yes. Your surgery was performed by the best Healer on Yaut. I was honored to assist him. He is gone now and I am closing your wound."
"I understand."
"Good, so how do you feel?"
"Still in need of sleep."
"Then rest. You will be taken to a private room for recovery when I have finished here."
With the knowledge that everything is all right, I slip back into unconsciousness. Just as the Healer said, when I awaken I am in a new room – quite alone. Sensors hover over me and apparently inform the Healer when I stir because immediately a youngish female servant is in the room.
"Honored One, do you require water or food?"
"Yes, water."
She passes me a beaker with cool water. I gulp it down, amazingly parched. Without asking, she refills it for me to down it again. Another refill is poured and sat on a table by my bed.
"Where is the Healer?"
"Which Healer, Honored One? There are several here."
"Myn'dill, the young Healer who worked on me."
"If you wish to see him, I will inform him, Mistress."
"Do so at once."
"Sei, Mistress." She bows to me and leaves.
There is only a little soreness in my middle. I arise from the furs and find it slightly painful to stand upright. Going to a mirror, I examine myself.
On the right side of my stomach, there are five small scars. The light sealed the wounds and put my skin back together. Pushing on a scar reveals only a slight stinging.
Good job, Healer! This will finish mending quickly. I must access my mating files and check to see who is still unattached. Surely the mating must have begun by now. How long did I sleep?
A repeating chime tells me there is a request to enter. It is Myn'dill. I allow him access.
"Healer Myn'dill, you have my respect. This appears to be a fine job. I feel well, except for a bit of soreness. When may I join the mating?"
"Honored Gu-lee, it will require possibly two cycles until I can determine if the repair was successful. Also, the High Council wishes to review the records of your healing. They will make the final decision on whether or not you mate."
He seemed to speak carefully, trying not to upset me.
"Yes, yes, I remember. It's not sufficient that I had to wait an entire cycle and a half for the High Matriarch to review this procedure with Elder Healers, is it? By the time I am allowed to leave all of the good Hunters will already have been taken. The streets will be barren of anyone of respectable skill and age!"
The young Healer listens to me and makes no reply. His patience annoys me to the core! I will endure this insufferable waiting. There is no other choice. It would be prudent to expand my search parameters for a mate. Let me check the records of those who have recently completed Chiva – just in case."
"Healer, I require access to my mating files. I must track the progress of the rut, to see who is taken and who is still available. There are strategies to plan and I'm starving!"
"Servant, bring food at once! Honored Gu-lee, I will have an access portal installed immediately. I…I hope that you will be allowed to resume your status as bearer soon."
You had better pray that I do. And pray that there will be someone left besides some inexperienced NewBlood to sire my pup!
The voice com cries for attention. Now who is bothering me? "Honored Gu-lee here, what do you want?"
"My daughter, the Healer tells me the surgery went smoothly. Are you feeling well?"
"My Honored Bearer, I am pleased you inquire after me. Yes, I am feeling quite well and anxious to leave here."
"Excellent! Even now the High Matriarch is speaking with the Elder Healer who oversaw your mending."
"Are you with them? Is the talk favorable?"
"No, I am sequestered in my dwelling for the rut. But the High Matriarch is keeping me informed. She is about to sequester also but is seeing to your situation before she does. Needless to say, the season has begun. Have you been following the pairings?"
"No! I have no com here. The Healer is obtaining one for me. He says it may be two or more cycles before I am released. What can I do? Is the season doomed for me?"
"Don't despair, Gu-lee. Be patient and take the time required to heal. I have taken steps to make certain you will have one of the finest to sire your child – my grandchild."
"What? How in Yaut did you do that?"
"I am not a High Council Matriarch for naught. I have…influence in certain areas and there are times that I use it. But I must have your cooperation. Do NOT go out there and settle for just anyone. You can control yourself that much can't you?"
"I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that, Bearer. I will follow my healer's orders and take what time is needed to fully recover. So, I am to completely leave my choice of a mate to you?"
"You are. As I stated, I have already secured a prime mate for you. Have faith, Gu-lee."
"But what if this doesn't work out?" I state rudely.
"Then pick whom you wish, out of the rabble who are left."
She is never one to not prick back when insulted. I still need to figure something out, just in case her strategy is unsuccessful.
"Of course, Honored Bearer, I will do as you ask. May the gods be with you and ensure the success of my mating. So much is riding on it."
"That is a great truth, daughter. We will speak again soon."
I close the com just in time to allow a servant to bring in food. In my famished state, I forget any semblance of manners and fall upon the meat like a wild creature. My body will get the protein it is screaming for in order to heal.
Even as I eat, the access portal is installed on a table that fits easily over my bed. I can rest and tap away, sorting through my files and keeping an eye on the mating stats as they roll by. Any males in my 'desired' list who are taken will be automatically flagged.
Wiping my mouth clean, I ease myself back onto the bed and pull the portal over my lap. A few taps later, I am watching as the names of Hunters and Bearers pair up.
C'jit! Stygg is taken. Paired up with…I don't believe it. He is with Ósk. He had
the balls to try for a High Matriarch! I guess she wanted more of him than sitting on his midsection in the Hunter's Hall. Oh Stygg, you are going to be rendered senseless by the time she is finished with you. I hope you don't break anything that can't be healed.. If I had been well, we might have been together again. Unless getting together was her idea. I would have been no match for her in a fight.
Di'sa, I pray that your plan is successful. It is just as I feared, all the prime males are already paired up – there will be no one of quality left for me.
The last two cycles have passed as slowly as the ones just before birthing a pup. Myn'dill has faithfully checked the progress of my healing and submitted everything to the High Council. He told me that he sees no reason for them not to approve my status as bearer. I feel increasingly restless and short-tempered as my body begins to come into season. There is ripeness within as my breasts swell and become more sensitive. This waiting is madness.
The voice com sounds, causing me to start. I rush to answer it, "Sei, this is Gu-lee."
"It is your Bearer, the High Council approves your status. You are still a bearer, my child!"
"Thank the gods!" I growl, "Now where is my mate?"
"At your door soon, my child. I have only just notified him."
I hang up and run from my room to find Myn'dill. The other rooms for patients are empty, as are the surgeries. Finally, I locate him working at a desk.
"Healer! I am still a bearer! My eternal respect for your skills. Now you must leave!"
"Leave?" He blinks at me.
"Sei, my mate is coming and we will carry out our rut here. You must go, I'm sure he will object to your presence and I would not see you injured or killed."
"Who is your mate, Honored Gu-lee?"
"I do not know, but it is a Hunter of great strength and skill. And you will say nothing of this to anyone," I growl at him, "Do you pledge this to me?"
"On my honor, I will not speak of this to anyone."
"My bearer arranged this for me."
The Healer's eyes grew wider. "I will leave immediately. No one else is here." Please try to confine yourselves to your room and not destroy the rest of this facility."
"I will do my best, Healer."
I rush back to my room to prepare. Optimistically, I had brought my finest and most seductive clothing with me. I shed my plain clothing and adorn myself with a fine white loincloth that hangs seductively from my hips and bares my now firm and fertile belly. Unlike daily wear, this one does not run between my legs. I decorate my neck with woven leather lace that drapes over my breasts. Interwoven in the strands are beautiful white teeth and claws obtained from prey taken during my training hunts.
Feeling rushed, I oil my locks and replace the rings of polished metal and bone on them. Many rings were earned and some are tokens from my bloodline and from former lovers – the sires of my previous children. I slip the finely engraved bands on all four of my tusks and then look in the mirror.
Not bad…considering I had no aseigan to help me prepare. My belly is taut again and the incision is nicely healed. Makes a rather enticing scar…
I begin to stretch and exercise in order to make sure the perfume of my body is at its fullest. Thank Paya I have not bathed today! I must fill his mouth with my desire from the moment he sees me.
Suddenly I come to a full stop, oh Di'sa – have you chosen someone unattractive for me? Is the fact that he was willing to wait to begin his rut…is it because he is uglier than the inside of a Hard Meat and no one else wanted him? There are Hunters who are strong and skilled and horribly maimed from their prey. Do not let him be so ugly that I must lay my hand on his chest with my eyes closed…
The door signals me that he is here. It is followed by what sounds like impatient thumping. With my heart in my throat, I slide open the door and stand in amazement, staring at perhaps the largest Hunter I have ever been this close to. His face, which I look only slightly down to see, is strong and unmarred. His eyes spout flame as he huffs at my fragrance. His broad shoulders take up the width of the doorway, his arms and legs swell in sculpted power. Although unarmored, he carries his mask hanging from his belt as is expected. My excitement gushes so strong even I can scent it.
He begins formally, "Honored Gu-lee? I am Honorable Elite Trainer Ro-gn and I am pleased to offer myself as your mate."
His scent is vaguely familiar. "I am Gu-lee…"
Before I can invite him inside, I find my hand reaching for his chest. In a flash, he grabs me. I growl my challenge and aim the talons of a foot at his thigh. He laughs and moves his leg just far enough away so that my artery cutting blow is merely a tantalizing scratch on his flesh. I rake at his chest as my mouth fills with his heady odor. He is all that I want, all that I need.
My wrists are seized and I find myself twirled around and bent forward by the most powerful male I have ever encountered. I gasp as he searches, now enters me and begins his pushes. All else vanishes into grunts, groans and spasms of pleasure as I grind into him, meeting thrust for thrust. Time has no meaning. There is only the age old need to be impregnated. He roars for the victory of his seed now deep within me and then implants his tusks in the skin over my shoulder blade. He holds very still as the last of his liquid surges deep inside me. I hang limply in his grasp, still feeling pleasure. There is a brief period of rest and then he starts all over again. Only when he has exhausted his reservoir and his strength, will he release me.
But what is this? It has only been twice when he takes my wrists in one huge hand and dons his mask.
"Our child begins to form within you. I will take my leave now, fair Gu-lee, as part of the bargain I have struck with your bearer. Do not think ill of me for leaving so soon. You have received pleasure and a new life is within you."
What the hel? I still crave him, he cannot leave now!
He releases me and I whirl to strike, but he is already heading out my door.
I know he was not completely satisfied. To leave after only two times! Di'sa, what have you arranged?
Even as I snarl my dismay, I cradle my arms around my middle to embrace the new life growing within me.