The banquet was supposed to be composed of only the finest warriors, but in years past he remembered that some had brought their mates or pups with them. He wanted to bring Nicole. It was against their etiquette to bring her, but not the rules. If someone felt disrespected by her presence though, there would be trouble. For several cycles, Dumala had avoided confrontations and ducked out of challenges.
Nichole jogged just behind the other humans, which was three girls and one guy, listening to their conversations. The track was indoors, just a wobbly loop with several curves and turns. For exercise, most of the escorts were made to run track, though Nicole had never seen any yautja females run with them. The groups were naturally segregated by species, though Nicole didn't feel very welcome in the human group.
The boy had a strange accent, but could speak English. One of the lighter-skinned girls could speak English, yautja, as well as the other language the taller female spoke. The third darker-skinned girl didn't speak English and her words couldn't be translated so far, but she was still more a part of the group than Nicole was. When they talked about soreness and bite marks, Nicole talked about how interesting Dumala was. She supposed they were just jealous maybe, so Nicole tried to talk about other topics, but they still didn't like her.
The amber-eyes yautja female came in, and one of the girls said, "Uh oh, here comes Me'cre."
Nicole picked up her pace with the others and averted her eyes, but of course, the owner had to say her name, "Ooman Nicole. A customer requests your company."
The other humans sighed and huffed with annoyance before one spoke up, "Sure, she's the one that gets out of having to excersize."
Nicole wiped the sweat off her forehead as she walked over, then Me'cre led her from the room. She was quickly washed, shaved, dressed, adorned in jewelry, and then ushered to one of the small rooms. As the door slid open, her heart began to pound. The more she came to like Dumala, the more afraid she was that she'd get put in a room with some other yautja. The amber-eyed female roughly shoved her inside and shut the door.
Her lips burst into a smile at seeing Dumala, and her stomach fluttered with nervousness. He looked stunning the way he was dressed, as well as menacing. White-gold armor covered his shoulders, and his shins. The black metal bands in his hair looked like they had been polished. And, he smelled like cinnamon again.
He stomped forward, eager to see her, and rattled, "Dinner."
Any other yautja looking down at her and saying "dinner" would have made her pee her pants. With Dumala though, she knew better, "We're going to dinner? I was wondering why I was dressed this time."
"Sei-i...dinner." he pushed her towards the door.
It had been months since Nicole had seen real sunlight. She squinted and covered her eyes as they stepped out of the building and onto the streets. When she had first been brought to the planet, the spaceships, ominous buildings, odd creatures, and so many yautjas had scared her. Standing at Dumala's side now though, she found it beautiful. The air was warm, the sky was a romantic yellow-gold.
Dumala walked her to his house first. It was only a few minutes away from the brothel, which was another reason that the business had become so addictive for him. He grabbed the injection gun for the translator as she looked around his house. It wasn't supposed to hurt, but for a delicate ooman it might cause pain. He lifted the needle up for her to see, so that she'd know his intentions.
Her green eyes went wide, but she didn't back away from him. Dumala lifted her hair away and pressed the gun at the base of her skull. She only make a little squeak as he pulled the trigger. He put away the medical tool then came back to see if the translator worked. It was a complicated piece of equipment.
He spoke in yautja, "Say something for me."
"What do you want me to say?"
Dumala trilled, "That sentence was enough. You can understand and speak yautja with the translator I just placed."
"Oh." Her fingers went to the back of her neck, but she couldn't feel a thing, and she smiled up at him.
Then, he produced a gift that he'd gotten for her. He clasped it around her slender neck. It was a simple strand of thin leather, with small vertebrae on each side of a small pendant. The vertebrae segments had his symbol etched into them. And the teal pendant was infused with his scent, marking her as his and only his.
Usually a mating musk would make it apparent who she was with, but until he could join with her, he wanted everyone to know she was his. The yautja female had assured him that no one would be allowed to mate with Nicole as long as he continued to pay. He didn't want her being forced to copulate at the brothel. However, the banquet was a different matter. Yautjas tended to have many mates, and any male could choose to court her.
With the translator working and his scent around her, they were ready to go to dinner. They took a small ship over to the banquet hall. They were a bit early, and everyone was mingling around the room instead of taking their seats. Everyone was staring at the ooman, but most were just amused at seeing her there. One warrior was not so pleasant though.
He was dressed in regal armor that had symbols and words etched onto every surface. From across the room, he finally saw what everyone was crowding around. His mandibles flared and he pushed past everyone else to get close to the ooman. He was too close in Dumala's opinion. The warrior took one good look at her, and his mandibles flared wider.
"I see no mark on her; she is no warrior!"
Nicole pressed herself into his side as he responded, "It isn't against the rules to bring company."
"She is prey! Unless you wish for us to hunt her for desert then she should leave!"
"She stays." Dumala said hesitantly.
The warrior stepped closer to Nicole, "You mate this pathetic thing?"
"She is not my mate yet, but she will be." He could sense her fear, so he combed his claws through her hair once to sooth her.
The warrior addressed Nicole now, "This former warrior is your owner?"
She shook her head and said, "No."
"Who do I talk to then, to have you euthanized? Your not a warrior. Your too weak to be a good mate. Your only purpose is prey!"
Nicole backed away from him, trying to cower behind Dumala, "Me'cre owns me."
The warrior let out a fierce growl, turning to Dumala, "You brought a prostitute to a formal dinner? You bring dishonor on yourself, and everyone here. You don't deserve the title of 'warrior' anymore."
Dumala turned, holding Nicole close to him, and headed for the door. He did not fight hunt or fight anymore. He did not step up to challenges. Dumala was at the warrior's same skill level, but Dumala didn't think he could beat him. He tried not to walk quickly, as though he was retreating, but that just made the warrior angrier.
Before they reached the door, the warrior gave Nicole a shove, "Hurry up and get out of my sight!"
It was probably only a small push for a yautja, but Nicole was small. She let out a squawk as she tripped forward and landed on her hands and knees. She scrambled up quickly, but Dumala's heart began to pound. He whirled around, sizing the warrior up as his mandibles flared with rage. He stepped forward, and everything sort of blacked out for a few moments, his body seething with anger.
Other yautjas bustled around to watch the fight, bumping into Nicole, so she shrank back against a wall. She'd never seen a yautja so fierce. Dumala took blows without reacting with pain, or even backing away. He slammed his fists into every inch of the warrior, holding him up by his armor when the warrior seemed close to collapsing. His body became sprinkled with the the males blood.
When he thought that the warrior had finally had enough, he let out a dark growl and let his body slump to the floor. Nicole could hardly see, but was sure that the warrior was still breathing. Dumala turned to her then, and she took an involuntary step away. His chest was heaving and his hands were still in tight fists as he came to stand in front of her. That angry, he looked demented.
He brushed his thumb down her cheek, and rumbled, "No one hurts you."
Nicole gulped. Dumala was serious; she wasn't even the least bit harmed from that shove. If she had been, she had a feeling he would have killed the warrior. Dumala put his hand behind her back to lead her to the bathroom facilities so that he could wash off all the blood. No one dared comment that she was in a male facility.
Dumala's fists were somewhat swollen, but the blood was gone and they went to the table to take their seats. Dumala had planned on having Nicole sit on his lap at the diner, as to not take up any seats. The warrior did nit return though, and no one else challenged him. So, he lifted Nicole into the seat beside him. With Dumala protecting her, she was equal among the great hunters.