Claimed: The Warriors of Nur by C.C. Coats Page A

to, why not be on speaking terms? Besides, didn’t they always say you’re most likely to make it out of these kinda situations if your captor saw you as a person?  Well just on the off chance, she was going to be as personable as she possibly could be--at least to Rasipni.  Also, she kinda liked him. 
    He was ‘nineteen summers’, he’d said.  She wondered if the seasons were measured the same here as on Earth, considering the longer sun/moon cycles; but either way, she figured him to be the Earth equivalent of somewhere around twenty or twenty-one years old.  He hadn’t yet reached his maturity, which is why he was charged with her care.  Apparently big brother got a go at her first, so there were no worries that he’d rape her until after that.  Lucky her.
    “How long will you mourn?” she asked, drinking deeply from the fruit.
    She’d wanted to mention the constant wailing before, but had been reluctant to remind him, that she was being held responsible for his father’s death.  He’d been nothing but gentle with her so far, but who knew what his reaction would be?.
    “Four moon coverings,.” he answered with some hesitation.  “One for the years of my mother’s Mati , one for each young she bore him, and one to curry favor that the Goddess will show him favor in her Garden of Rest.”  He sat across from her, legs folded beneath him as he sliced into one of the greenish-blue fruits.
    “On the fifth covering, his body will be reverted and offered to the Mother Goddess in further supplication.”  He offered her one of the slices.
    “Reverted?” she asked, biting into the delicious fruit, her tongue quickly darting out to catch an escaping trickle before it could run down her chin.
    “Yes.  Reverted…burned until only ash remains” he answered, watching  the pink tip of her tongue flick daintily over her lush bottom lip. 
    Mother Goddess …             
    He hated the fact that he was unable to claim her.  He’d listened to his mother rant about how she’d tempted his father to steal her, about how she’d been responsible for his death.  His mother had convinced Muda, his brother, that the female was unworthy of anything but the basest of his attentions; that he needed to avenge his father on her.  She’d railed that if the Aljeni hadn’t fought him, he’d have been strong enough to journey home before falling into fever.  Muda had determined to only fuck her--to breed her, a punishment to her, instead of claiming her as Mati , but he hadn’t seen her yet.  Rasipni had known from the moment he’d seen her what’d tempted his father. 
    She was exquisite.  Her skin, so unlike the darker olive green of Gwerriera Nies females, was so creamy it begged to be stroked.  Even beneath the scrapes and bruises, he’d seen hints of its loveliness.  Her hair, though braided, appeared luscious, the chocolaty-black mass thick with the promise of curls.  It now framed her sage-gold eyes in curling waves that trailed over her shoulder to lightly brush the floor. 
    His palms itched with the remembrance of its velvety softness when he’d bathed her, stroking it.  An unclaimed female was vulnerable unless she was Tobba .  Unless she was bred, she could be stolen if the males of her clan were unable to protect her, but even then, only until her time of breeding was over. 
    Any male who saw Leo’Nya would want her, and Muda would be a fool not to claim her as Mati to secure his possession.  For Mati , a female had to agree, but there was no limit to the time or method a male could use to convince her.  As long as he could keep her from others, he could try indefinitely. 
    As the oldest, and now Mexxeja of their clan, Muda had rights to her first, and Rasipni had no choice but to concede.  Unless he wanted to challenge his brother, he would have to stand aside while he claimed her, and, newly in his maturity, there was no way he would win a fully phased challenge.