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  “I’m sure she would if she heard you,” Emily sent back, smiling. “And I’m lucky to have you too, you know! I’m the luckiest girl I know. But now we have to concentrate—I think the ceremony is about to begin!”

  “Dear ones, warriors and maidens, sons and daughters of the Goddess,” Lit’aal began in a shaking voice. “We are gathered here in the sight of the Mother of All life to join this male and this female together in a most sacred bond forged by love. We—”

  “Stop!” Mother Chundra’s voice rang out as she stepped forward, pointing a finger at Emily and Tragar. “Stop—this ceremony cannot go on.”

  “What?” Tragar growled. “What is the problem?”

  “The problem is that this joining ceremony is not legal.” Mother Chundra raised her chin and looked down her nose at them.

  “How is it not legal?” Emily demanded. “I don’t want to be a bridezilla here but you’re ruining my day!”

  “The Right of Conflict which this male demanded, was never met.” Mother Chundra sniffed and motioned at Tragar. “He asked for the right to fight for your hand—”

  “Which I did,” Tragar gritted out.

  “Ah—but you refused to kill your opponent and there he stands.” She pointed at Daro who was looking worriedly at Lit’aal. “No blood was spilled.”

  “No blood was spilled?” Emily couldn’t believe the garbage she was hearing. “Um, did you not notice the huge wasp-thing that Tragar killed to save me? Its blood ate a huge crater in the arena ground.”

  “The intruder Tragar killed was not the one he challenged,” Mother Chundra insisted. “Therefore, I must call a halt to this joining ceremony and demand that the inferior male, Tragar, leave the Temple at once. The new Khalla shall remain here until she can be sent out on assignment to the people of Rageron who need her healing touch.”

  “How dare you suggest such a thing?” Tragar’s voice was a low roar. “I will never leave my Khalla—we are bonded.”

  “Too closely bonded to be certain—probably a result of you drinking her nectar.” Mother Chundra made a disgusted face. “Nevertheless, in a solar year or so the bond should fade a bit. Enough for her to have control of herself as she visits the people.”

  “Enough for you to control me, you mean,” Emily snapped. “I don’t even know how you have the nerve to suggest such a thing! What makes you think we’d do anything you say?”

  The High Priestess gave her a smile that was inordinately smug.

  “Maybe the little fact that I have a whole new retinue of Temple Guards waiting to do my bidding.”

  The groves of green and purple trees on either side of them rustled and before Emily could even scream, two burly guards were gripping her by either elbow. Many more suddenly appeared all around them, grabbing everyone in the wedding party, including poor Lit’aal who was shaking with fear.

  “You dare! Take your hands off my mate!” Tragar had already shaken his guards off. Suddenly, a long, deadly blade appeared in his hand. Emily wondered where in the world he had hidden it in those tight trousers he was wearing. Wherever it had been, he was gripping it tightly now and there were already two guards down. There was going to be a bloodbath in a minute if somebody didn’t do something…

  “Stop!”

  The voice was deep and commanding but still feminine. It seemed to ring through the Sacred Grove, freezing Emily’s blood in her veins. For a moment, she couldn’t understand where it might be coming from but then the voice spoke again and she realized it was coming from over her head.

  “How dare you attempt to separate one of my beloved Khallas from her chosen mate?” the voice demanded.

  Emily looked up. With a gasp, she saw that the twenty-foot tall statue of the Goddess had come to life. The formerly kind and gracious face was animated now, frowning down at the gasping High Priestess with a look of grim disapproval.

  “I…” Mother Chundra had realized at the same time as Emily that the statue was the one speaking. “G-goddess?” she stuttered, apparently momentarily at a loss for words.

  “And this Khalla especially—my own daughter.” The Goddess statue held out a hand to Emily, the white marble features softening somewhat. “My darling Emallia. I took mortal form to bear you but I had to leave you to be raised by others. I chose to put you on Earth because I needed you to understand the thoughts and ways of the humans—they are a vital part of the new race of Kindred that will be.”

  “They…they are?” Emily’s throat felt tight. She was still trying to process all this and it wasn’t easy.

  The statue of the Goddess nodded.

  “I needed you to live a mortal life, my darling. I have always watched over you—it was I who sent Tragar to your aid when your Tenrah came due the second time.”

  “So you…you’re my mother? My actual mother?” Emily gasped. Inside her she could feel Emallia’s joy. “Mother—our mother!” she whispered eagerly.

  “I am.” The Goddess statue nodded. “I know you have been through some difficult trials in your life, Emallia, as has the male I picked for you.” The vast marble face looked sad. “I cannot always protect everyone from pain—even those I love. For it is ultimately the trials in our lives that shape and mold us into who we are.”

  “Goddess!” Tragar murmured hoarsely. “Forgive me for turning my back on you and disavowing you. I was angry…hurt.”

  “Of course you were, warrior,” the Goddess said gently. “All is forgiven. I know how great your loss was—it was enough to shake the faith of even the most devout. I have tried to make up for your past sorrow by giving you my most precious daughter to love and care for. She will bear you many children, including the mother of the new Kindred race.”

  “I will cherish and protect her always.” Tragar bowed his head reverently. “In fact, I was trying to pledge myself to her just now. Unfortunately, our joining ceremony was interrupted.” He shot a hard look at Mother Chundra who was still standing there in apparent awe, staring up at the Goddess statue that had come to life.

  “Indeed.” The statue turned her gaze on Mother Chundra as well. “Priestess, you have much to answer for. In the hundred solar years since you have taken over this temple, you have inflicted pain and suffering upon many of my Khallas. You have separated them from their true chosen mates and denied them even the right to bond fully with the ones you gave in their place.”

  “I did it only for their own good!” protested Mother Chundra. “That they might spread the light of the Temple all over Rageron without distractions.”

  “You mean so that they could spread your own personal influence, making you the most powerful female on Rageron.”

  “I only wanted what was best for them,” the High Priestess insisted stubbornly.

  Emily didn’t know where she got the nerve to lie right to the face of the Goddess—or the statue of the Goddess, anyway. She had the idea that if the Goddess had been there in person, with nothing between her and the mortals she addressed, they would all be toast right about now.

  Everyone else in the room was kneeling by now—Emily included although she didn’t remember getting down on her knees. And the new Temple Guards that Mother Chundra had hired were flat on their faces, obviously hoping to avoid notice and punishment.

  “For their own good?” The marble face was like a thundercloud. “Was it for their own good that you denied them their chosen mates and denied the mates they were given the right to drink their nectar? You know full well that without such intimacy, a Khalla is unable to conceive by her chosen mate. Was it for their own good that you denied them the right to have children?”

  “Children and mates would only take away from their sacred duty of serving the people and the Temple!” Mother Chundra insisted.

  Emily stared at her. Was she actually arguing with the Goddess now? Wow, she was really asking for it!

  The marble statue of the Goddess glared down at the defiant priestess.

  “I see that your heart is as hard as this stat