Cursed Read online

  “All right.” All thoughts of the weird space rat thing were swept from her mind as the glowing, jeweled net of J’lorgon’s Mind grew closer. Like Christmas lights, she thought as the ship descended to one of the smaller pearlescent globes. And the Heart of Love is the big present in the center, right under the tree.

  She wondered how long it would take to get to it. A glance at Stavros’s stern face made her hope it wouldn’t take long. A little voice inside her was whispering that this was going to be awkward.

  Don’t be silly, she told herself. It’s all just a lot of psychobabble and handholding. We’ll be in and out before you know it.

  But somehow she couldn’t quite make herself believe it.

  * * * * *

  Stav brought the shuttle down in the proscribed landing area—a vast sphere with the top cut off and a shimmering, transparent atmosphere shield in place. As the ship passed through the shield, he saw that there were already two attendants there to greet them—a male priest and a female one. At least, he assumed they were male and female. One seemed to be taller and more muscular and the other appeared to have breasts—three of them. Otherwise it was difficult to tell them apart.

  “What are they?” Charlie breathed, also staring at the attendants as the shuttle settled firmly in the parking space they had been allotted.

  “I believe the beings who run J’lorgon’s Mind re mostly Hossans as J’lorgon himself was,” Stavros said. “I know they look a little…strange but I’m sure we will get used to them.”

  In fact “strange” was an understatement. The Hossans were tall and thin with translucent skin which showed the fine tracery of pink and turquoise blood vessels beneath the surface. It was a somewhat disconcerting sight and he was glad they both had on robes of deep crimson which hid at least some of their see-through bodies from view. Their hair was a mass of floating white fibers that seemed to pick up the surrounding light. It formed a shimmering halo around both their heads and their eyes glowed softly—yellow/orange like miniature suns.

  “I suppose we had better exit the shuttle,” Stavros said, unbuckling his harness.

  “I guess so.” Charlotte sighed and did the same. “Here goes nothing.”

  The shuttle door opened and they stepped forward to meet the two Hossan attendants.

  “Greetings of peace and love be unto you,” the female Hossan said, stepping forward. She had a rich, musical voice like the chiming of bells. “Do we have the honor of addressing Sir and Lady Rii?”

  “You do.” Stavros bowed formally. “I am Stavros and this is my lovely bride, Charlotte.” He reached for her hand as he spoke.

  “Hey, what are you doing?” she protested as he entwined their fingers.

  “Holding your hand. You are my bride, remember?” He raised an eyebrow at her and looked at the Hossans significantly.

  “Yes, but I don’t want to be.” She snatched her hand back. “My father forced me to marry you for money—you bought me like a piece of chattel. Don’t touch me!”

  Stav was a little taken aback by her role playing. But if she was going to get into the part, so was he.

  “You’re damn right I bought you and now I own you,” he growled. “We are here to teach you respect for your lord and master—a lesson you had better start learning now.” He grabbed her hand again and glared into her eyes. “I will touch you whenever and however I want to and there’s not a damn thing you can do about it.”

  “Let…me…go!” Charlotte tugged her hand free and slapped his face—hard.

  Stav stared at her in surprise. Well, she’s not holding anything back—I won’t either.

  “You dare to strike me?” he growled. He was reaching for her when the two Hossans suddenly got between them.

  “No, no, no!” The female’s chiming voice was filled with distress and her eyes flared from yellow/orange to bright pink. “You cannot speak to each other in this manner!”

  “And you must never strike one another,” the male Hossan added. His voice had the same musical quality as the female’s but with a deeper timber, like the mellow notes of a brass horn.

  “Forgive us.” Stavros inclined his head stiffly. “We are but newly joined. And not very happily, I am afraid.”

  “We can see that,” the female said softly. “But it is good that you are here.”

  “We can help you reach the pinnacle of the Light where two become one,” the male said. “But you must first set your feet on the path and be willing to climb to where it resides.”

  “What if we don’t want to?” Charlotte asked, glaring at Stav with apparent distrust. It amazed him at how completely she was inhabiting her character. Or maybe she actually felt some of the things she was saying? It was impossible to say. For the first time, he almost wished he could feel emotions instead of physical pain. At least that way he would know what she was thinking.

  “Apologize to our hosts,” he growled at her, still playing his part. “They are trying to be gracious and show us the way to happiness.”

  “As if I could be happy with you.” She shot him a look that was pure venom.

  “You can find true happiness in the one you are bound to—even if the bond is initially unwilling,” the female attendant said softly. “But you must take the first step. The Light of love does not come to you…”

  “You must go to it,” the male finished with her, both of them speaking together.

  Stavros could see Charlotte rolling her eyes but when she turned to face the Hossans, she looked serious.

  “Forgive us for disturbing your peace,” she said shortly.

  “Peace is like a lake of calm water,” the male said gently. “Even the largest stone will make ripples that last but a little while.”

  “In other words, you are forgiven. Well put, Ta’no. You are so wise, my mate.” The female smiled at the male fondly and reached up to run just the tips of her fingers over his glowing white nimbus of hair. It waved gently under her touch and Stavros wondered if it was reacting to her touch.

  The male Hossan shivered and his eyes began to glow turquoise blue.

  “Ah, Nar’sa…And you are so beautiful, beloved.” he murmured, returning the gentle hair-touch. The female’s hair was longer and it floated around her like a golden, glowing nimbus as he stroked feather light over just the waving ends of each shining strand.

  As the male, Ta’no touched her, Nar’sa moaned softly—an almost sexual sound—and Stavros couldn’t help seeing that the nipples of all three of her breasts had gone tight and pointy under the thin crimson robe she wore. He didn’t even want to look at what might be poking out under Ta’no’s robe. From the throaty groans the Hossan male was uttering, it was certain to be an unpleasant sight.

  “Geeze, get a room!” he heard Charlotte mutter.

  It was a sentiment Stav was inclined to agree with. Clearly the Hossans were engaged in some kind of alien sex play and just as clearly they had forgotten that he and Charlotte were even there. Both of their eyes were glowing brilliant turquoise and they were stroking each other’s hair with increasing urgency. As yet, they hadn’t touched any other part of each other’s bodies but surely it was just a matter of time.

  “A-hem!” He cleared his throat loudly and, to his relief, the Hossans pulled apart.

  “Forgive us.” Nar’sa’s eyes were still glowing a dreamy greenish-blue. “Ta’no and I are still new to each other, having only been together a short hundred and fifty cycles.”

  “Only a hundred and fifty?” Charlotte sounded disbelieving. “That’s what you consider a short relationship?”

  “Indeed, as you see we are still not One—not even permanently joined,” Ta’no said. “That is why we were assigned as your personal councilors. It was considered that the two of you might need separate instruction before you come together.”

  “That sounds like a good idea,” Stavros said. If he and Charlotte split up, they could certainly cover more ground and find out more information.

  “Indeed, b