Labor's Love Lost 7

“It honestly never even occurred to me,” Rahani laughed while they both sat in the office of Beast Breeder Keltek's clinic. “I mean, I've never been pregnant before, and animals don't seem to have this little problem.”

“Nor most women I've met, but you're a bit different in many ways, Rahani,” the healer smiled. “But I'm running into some … odd things in this visit with you.”

“Odd how? Bad odd?” Talrom asked, his ears swiveling slightly. He glanced at Rahani who giggled furiously at him every time that happened. Apparently he didn't know they did it.

“No, not bad ,” Keltek said, “yet, I cannot say for certain good until I know just… what it is I'm looking at…”

He assumed a pondering gaze at Rahani, who began to fidget and wondered if she was going to have to ask to be excused to pee again soon. Her bladder filled up awfully fast.

“You say that you believe yourself to be what, three months along, is that correct?” The healer asked, and Rahani nodded.

“Well, yes, I mean we've been – doing it – since we met…” Rahani said and noticed the heat in Talrom's face. “I know enough about animal pregnancies to know timing so…”

“That does seem to be true from your blood tests,” Keltek said looking at their results. “Yet there is something downright odd. You're much too big to be only three months in. More like five, perhaps even six.”

That brought a worried look to both parents.

“And you haven't been with anyone else that –”

“I haven't, I've been too busy to even look!” Rahani blurted out. She didn't want to blurt out that he was her first partner as well. She imagined that not too many thirty seven year old women had never had sex!

“Curious…” Keltek said. He stood, and beckoned her near. Placing his expert hands over her belly, which was in fact showing a bit, he drew his white eyebrows into a knot over his nut-brown forehead. He looked up with a faintly confounded expression. “I just don't know what it is. I would like to do a simple ultrasound, if we may. Normally I don't have to run any more tests than a few for blood compatability and dangerous mutations, but…”

“Of course,” Rahani said. She had access to a lot of the same equipment that he used, but of course he was qualified as a human breeder, and not just a Steed professional. They went into his formal examination room and she disrobed into the simple smock that all patients knew and hated.

With the hum of the machinery filling the room and the soft light coming in through the skylight, everyone waited. Even the Breeder was a bit edgy.

He stood and got a different angle on the machinery. He did it again a moment later. While Rahani couldn't see the display, because she was busy leaning back and breathing regularly as instructed, Talrom did see it and his ears did their funny thing again.

Resisting the urge to laugh out loud, Rahani tried instead to concentrate on the feeling of the glistening gel that softened the equipment's reading head over her skin. Her fur would be mussed up and matted by the time he was finished, some twenty minutes later.

“Well.” The Breeder said, removing his gloves and summoning one of his Slaves to help Rahani clean the gel off of her fur. “Well.”

“What!?” The eager parents both asked. “What is it?” Talrom restated. “The view was … weird.”

“Yes, that's one word for it,” Keltek said. “I've never seen this, in all my years. I have heard of it, but it's so rare that I don't recall a case in several centuries. That'll get you into the history books,” he said. He busied himself turning the machinery off and resetting it into its cases.

He knew, of course, that they would be stewing and almost insensed by the time he said anything more. It wouldn't harm anyone, least of all the –

“What is it that's so rare, BeastBreeder?” Rahani said, trying to keep her voice even. “It's not some mutation I can't handle in me, is it? It's not that bad is it?”

She was getting a bit ajitated, so he decided to let that mystery rest.

“You're not going to believe me, but I think it has something to do with Talrom here,” Keltek said. “You've clearly got quite a lot of animal genes spliced into your makeup, haven't you?”

“Enough,” he admitted.

“And you're not the least mutated young Animal Mistress I've ever seen, either,” Keltek said to Rahani. “So perhaps it's something to do with your animal influences, or the fact that you're Hyperfertile Talrom,” apparently he hadn't known that, because his skin went flush again. “But Rahani, I am pleased to announce that you have not one but two healthy baby girls, growing in you. Separate, healthy and whole.”

“…” Rahani tried to speak, got nothing, and tried again. “Two?” She said weakly. “But…”

“I know, I know,” Keltek said with a smile. “You're used to seeing that in Steeds and other animals, but Zekirans hardly ever have twins.”

“Hardly ever?!” Talrom exclaimed, “why, it's not even a matter of a couple centuries, Breeder! It's been almost a millennium!”

“Oh I'm sure there have been others, unrecorded,” the Breeder said, trying to calm the man a bit. It was Rahani's ever-broadening smile that did that job.

“Talrom, we're going to be parents! Twice! At once!”

That was all he needed to burst out laughing himself. “We're going to need a bigger Hold!”

“If I knew a way to use my powers to curse you and your damnable hyperactive sperm,” Rahani shouted at the tops of her lungs, “I would make sure that you never touch the inside of a woman again! Just to spare her this!”

“I'm sure she doesn't mean it quite that way,” Keltek said, but even so he remained at the end of the woman which was actually strapped down. Her arms on the other hand were busy attempting to tie Talrom's hands in knots around his own neck.

He knew she didn't mean it either, of course, and it was clear that her parents knew she didn't either. They were waiting on either side of her, while Talrom was knelt beside her head. Because of his own tunings, however, he did realize just how much pain she was in.

One child was usually enough for a woman's body to give up – and if there were any mutations that could make it worse. But two? And it looked halfway as though one was trying to outdo the other and they were racing for the exit. Steed racing might be in their blood, these two!

At long last, after nearly a day of labor and some amount of swearing on the Breeder's part, Rahani and her two daughters were finally able to rest. Talrom held the first to be born, the greener colored girl, while Rahani gazed at the beige one with the faint green spots. They both had brown hair, a good amount of it, and both had long ears and a tail. The beige and spotted one, Tanirom they named her, had solid tips on the ends of her fingers, much more like hooves than nails. Otherwise she was just like her father. Lharani, sleeping comfortably, seemed to have no further obvious mutations – they guessed both would have fur eventually but none showed at the moment.

Grandparents, parents and children all shared a room in the clinic, though Talrom's ‘parents' were a handfull of hardly aquainted Animal Masters, Slaves and selected bits of others thrown in for good measure. He wasn't so much born as ‘planned', so there were only one true set of smiling ‘papa and nana'.

“He's right, you're going to be in the history books,” said Remal, “the Breeders that have been calling us are certainly looking forward to writing you up.”

“Well, as long as that doesn't take too much time,” Rahani nodded. “I don't mind it, but it's not the fame I was looking for you know?”

They did know – she wanted to be breeding steeds and running shows, building a line of fliers. But, now she had one important aspect of her life set before her. She'd meet the challenge. Talrom was going to be an excellent father, her parents noticed. He was so careful, so kind. They did like him, they were proud to have another Animal Master in their family.

By the time the girls were old enough to attend regular classes and begin more advanced education, Rahani began investing in more serious Landholds. The patch of Opál they shared was nice, but not large enough. It was safe enough, though they'd tracked down several of the wolf-like creatures that had introduced the pair to one another that night. They were quite rare, highly territorial toward one another yet not particular one way or another about other predators. Perhaps that was their downfall – their rarity was going to be a more sure thing, for a recent addition nearby was a hunting park where they were the featured attraction.

“I can't believe they want to hunt them all,” Rahani said, watching a hover come down at the park. The dense trees surrounding everything obscured just how many people were disembarking, but the couple figured it on at least a dozen. There weren't even that many of the wolves left, that the Animal Masters could tell.

“Perhaps we could try… attracting them over to our part of the Zone,” Talrom suggested, though he wasn't truly serious. Rahani might have gone for it, had there been less of an urge to buy Steed lands instead. Those lands now comprised almost a third of Opál and its Held zone. The flight over her own side of the mountain was swift, the winds there were what drew any Steed breeder – to test the strength of their stock. The weather was rarely very bad, though winters were snowy and summers were sticky. Always present, though, was the high wind that swept many of the trees into twisted shapes pointing ever upwards.

Lharani and Tanirom raced every day they were around each other – but they had their moments of privacy too. They were linked, clearly, with an empathic bond deeper than most. But they were not identical in any way, especially in their likes and dislikes.

The girls stuck their tongues out at one another from behind their mother and father. “I said he wasn't going to buy one,” Tanirom quipped.

“Well I think mother will, so there!” Lharani growled.

“Now, now,” Rahani said, trying to calm her young energetic offspring. “Buy one what?”

“A Slave, she says daddy won't buy one at the auction.” Lharani panted, “but I think you will because we've looked everywhere for them and now there's a bunch for sale.”

“The old Lord's estate went up,” Talrom said, “He'd just bought a batch of servants himself, so… maybe we ought?”

That provoked the girls into another wild spat over who was right. Their parents literally picked them both up by the scruffs of their necks, and deposited them on opposite sides of the porch.

“Well we do need some folks to tend this area and keep it clear of brush,” Rahani said while casting her eyes around the yard. Scattered branches and drifts of autumn leaves were starting to pile up. “Oh yes, I think so.”

Later in the week the whole family went off to see about their investments. While both Animal Masters were well enough off that they often had a Bayaran or two to help, Rahani's family upbringing of a history of Workers kept her grounded in them. Mostly they paid their help, and by and large that help was quite adept.

But a particular Slave? Maybe there was something to it. Talrom had Owned one, but sold her off when he invested properly in Opál, to afford the travel expenses and moving costs. But now? They had enough, they could actually check a few agents.

The first dealer they went to, a Suzeraan with a spacious but cold office, did not impress them at all. It wasn't that he had a poor selection or that his Stock were treated badly – it was more that his reaction to Talrom's exotic appearance turned them both off.

Their next was far more fruitful. Two somewhat elderly but fit Slaves, brothers, would come to the small house and keep it tidy. They were happy to have new Owners, after having been shifted from one to another and nearly parted several times. The girls would enjoy their company, both of them had jolly expressions and healthy smiles. After those, though, Rahani was drawn to another location where Lord Broo's Stock were being auctioned.

She nudged Talrom, “do you sense anything from those?”

“Yes,” he said back, quietly. “Several are borderline Tuned, I think. Not enough to raise them to our Status, too much to let that go to waste, right?”

Rahani nodded curtly. She picked up her auction contract, and placed her bids. There weren't very many people out here at this time of year, and the Opál sales courts approved the transfer of three rather young Slaves into her care.

She brought them to their homestead where the girls were so excited they almost bubbled over. “Lharani, Tanirom, I'd like you to meet the new additions to our home. This is Haick,” a short, slender yellow-skinned boy of perhaps thirteen bowed low and with a smile, “Nal,” she said of a girl with deeply green-black skin and bright peach hair, “and Dubik,” the third was a squat and somewhat nervous red-pink skinned boy who flashed a very brief smile and went back to fidgeting. He was the youngest, just older than the girls.

“You've got pretty eyes,” Tanirom said to Nal, whose eyes in fact were an almost glowing shade of lime green.

“Thank you Lady Tanirom,” she said, very quietly.

“You don't have to call me that,” the spotted child said. “Just Tanirom is fine for me.” She glanced at her parents, who didn't seem to want to stop her. There was a tacit acceptance of Slaves as equals in many Animal Masters' homes, this was no exception.

Talrom took Haick aside and put his arm over the boy's shoulders. “I think you're going to like what your duties are,” he announced. The others followed, since they had all been brought for one reason.

Tending Steeds.

It was clear after a few minutes watching them, that each had a talent deserving of their work – Dubik took to the feed station as though he was born to it. Nal gently called to a small colt who was getting tangled in a fallen branch and he obeyed her immediately. Haick, however, was drawn toward a towering Steed that neither of the children had so far been allowed to approach.

The Steed, Diamond Eyes, was taller than most, and a descendant of Green Memory. He though had shimmering opalescent taupe fur, vibrant grass colored feathers with tips of white-yellow, and piercing black eyes. There were dark marks around his eyes and ears, matching the same rich velvety green of his mane and tail. The long legs were a feature that Rahani had bred into him, the unexpected size of his wings was a boon.

“He's beautiful,” Haick whispered.

“Well,” Rahani said with a smile, “it's good that he hasn't smashed you to bits yet. He's not the type to hesitate. He must like you right back. Your duties will be to keep him groomed and walked. I'll get the right equipment for you to run him on leads, when you're a little older and he's more used to all of us.”

Haick just nodded again, unblinking and with a faint smile.

“I still think he's too young,” Talrom said, “but you're confident he'd do well?”

Rahani nodded and glanced at Haick. Though he'd only been with the family for three years, he was sixteen and old enough to qualify as a jockey. However, it was convincing the judges to allow a Slave to race that was causing some trouble.

Only through the connections that Rahani had, was he accepted. The other jockeys were a bit put off. Workers were rare enough in their career path, but Slaves?

Well they'd just have to prove that they should remain at the bottom of the food chain. After all who could blame a batch of Lords, Mistresses and Animal Masters that a Slave was ‘just as good' as them? At anything?

Rahani and her family were there not only to cheer him on, but of course to transport, keep clean, fed and healthy, their prize Steed and rider. They hadn't gone around the world for nothing. J'ren Fabulous Fliers was their destination. Rahani embraced Lady Boyaan, and asked if her father were around.

“Oh, that layabout Animal Master of a father is around somewhere,” she said. “But I'm far more interested in this boy you've brought. And that Steed isn't bad either.”

The Lady glanced over Rahani's shoulder to see the sunlight-and-pepper shape of the slim teenager mounting up onto the amazingly colored Steed.

“Oh control yourself,” Rahani laughed. “He's not for sale and neither is Diamond Eyes.”

They both went to their respective areas in the race pits, and Rahani heard her partner rewarding the Slaves with some pocket money. There was no point in denying it, if this race went well they all would benefit. She slid up to Talrom and put her arm into a loop around his. “Shoo, buy some sweets or whatever you wish, it's going to be a good race!” She said. They and the girls all bolted away, mainly to the tents and shelters where wares and trinkets were sold.

As the owners of not only the Steed but the Slave riding him, Rahani and Talrom were placed in a view box within reach of their Steed's stable, but which had state of the art viewers and betting computers. Neither reached for the betting activation, but both enjoyed reading up on the competition.

Today there were twelve Steeds, three held by one wealthy High Holder, two by a Suzerinne from Kiran, and the rest by scattered locals and travelers on the circuit. Rahani had rarely traveled farther than Opál or other Altem zones for the races they competed in, but this time she knew… There was something special about this race.

Diamond Eyes was the biggest Steed there, but two were close. Several of the jockeys leveled insults at Haick, as he was announced, and the crowd was heard to mutter and complain – but he wasn't the first in the line and wasn't last. Assorted cheers and mockery always followed everyone at a race.

Particularly in this one though, were a High Mistress racing her friend's Steed, whose steel-eyed glare at the Slave put a bit of fear into his heart. Another, a Lord with his long hair tied back and stuffed down the rear of his vest, aimed a look at him and leveled his crop with a bit of menace. “You stay out of the way, boy, or you're likely to get caught on the wrong side of a Steed's hooves.” The Steed himself was actually more menacing, with fire-colored red and yellow wings, and a bold black-orange body pattern of flames.

“Don't let him scare you,” said a more friendly voice. A woman on the Steed which was lined up to his left encouraged Haick. Her own small Steed must have been a local, and Haick could tell immediately that while the filly was a winner in her own circles, she'd never stand up to the circuit.

“Thank you, LandMistress,” Haick nodded. He gulped and put goggles over his eyes to protect them. The wind here was even more twisty and brutal than Opál's and he was sure that was why his Lady had chosen this race to display their talents. The big wings of his Steed would only be a hindrance in places where they had to skim over treetops – and they had lots of practice with that too.

Confident, then, Haick waved to his Lady and Lord up in their nearby box, and saw their response of enthusiastic clapping. When the final count was said, he was calm and relaxed as always.

“We'll do fine,” he said to Diamond Eyes. The Steed himself was apt to bite and kick at strangers, but in this tightly packed race Haick made a point to prevent any contact. The blaze of the starting whistle went off, and the dozen Steeds pranced away from their paddocks.

A very short ground race, then a wall of trees as high as any in Opál. The soft ground gave Diamond Eyes a bit of trouble, but he was first into the air before those trees.

One Steed didn't even make it over them completely, clipping her hooves and jarring her rider. Haick didn't waste any attention on her, if she was injured it was her own lookout.

For now, it was just him and Diamond Eyes. And, a strangely faint connection to his Lady and Lord behind him. The twist of corridors, trees which had been planted and grown specifically for this course, would force the Steeds into a single line. They could not go too high, or risk being disqualified. Too low, and they'd ground themselves and lose time. The leaders, Diamond Eyes, Force of Nature, and Lit Ember, each flapped hard to gain speed. Diamond Eyes lost the lead he had when he had to fold his wings down and push through the hard right turn. Lit Ember gained ground on the other two, and the pack behind them were all but forgotten. It was almost a nightmare visually – dark and light dappling to strobe and confuse both rider and Steed. The intermix of treetop over head with lattice work structures, an internal, external course! They emerged from the maze of high trees in the same order as before, Lit Ember then Force, then Diamond.

Haick glanced backward and noticed that only four others could even be seen from the heights above the maze, as they gained altitude. Here was where Diamond Eyes would shine, though. He took the lead, and even though they were now more than a mile away from the starting point, everyone could hear cheering. The seats had been scattered around, and Haick suddenly realized that his Lady's father helped design and build this course. He recalled seeing sketches and photographs of it in the den! Naturally he had to try harder! It would look bad for everyone if he didn't.

He kicked Diamond's sides gently and spoke, “go – go for it!” And that was what Diamond Eyes did best. He nosed forward, pushing the air and gleaming just like a diamond in the bright sunlight. He passed both leaders in a half dozen wingbeats!

But the race was far from over. Two more sections of covered maze, and one sudden drop that almost dislodged Haick from the Steed's back later, the same trio as started the race were now in a bolt for the finish! Because they were far enough away from the finish area that they couldn't hear what else was going on, three Steeds had crashed in the narrow part of the last maze, blocking it and causing two more to be delayed farther. Only two were visible behind the leaders, the kind Land Mistress was among them.

Suddenly Haick's heart swelled – he was in the lead pack? “Go!” He almost stood in the small saddle, clutching the reigns and leaning up against the sharp muscular neck of the Steed. “Go!” The wind blurred his vision even though the goggles protected him. Was he really going this fast? Above this many people? Diamond's great wings beat hard, as hard as ever. Their muscles moved below Haick's legs and the saddle was forgotten, barely brushing his backside when the Steed's wings cycled upward.

The owners of the Steeds had gathered at the finish area, just on the other side of the race's start. The proud High Holder, one Owner, and Rahani all stood together madly yelling and cheering their own on. If there could be a spark between Haick and Rahani, it urged Diamond Eyes into one last burst of speed. But his wings were cramping – they weren't used to all that folding they had to do within the mazes! He couldn't get enough speed to pass Lit Ember, while Force of Nature powered himself into the finish area first. All the onlookers swarmed around, once the Steeds had come in to land.

“Walk him off! Cool him down and spread his wings properly,” Haick yelled, as he was almost dragged down by Rahani and Talrom's excited arms. Another of the Slaves did just those things, and Diamond Eyes knew they had done well. He didn't try biting anyone, only held his head far above everything. His dark eyes with the patches of midnight velvet around them met another Steed's, Lit Ember, who pawed at the ground.

“Congratulations,” the Lord who rode him said, surprising everyone. “I didn't think you could do it, with the rest of us on you like that. You rode well, boy.” He looked at Rahani, “he's a find. It's a shame you're off in the wilderness of Altem with this beast,” he tossed his head toward Diamond Eyes. “I'd offer a mare for him if you were closer to my farms.”

He walked off, accepted his prize and praises. The winner of course was paraded around and loudly cheered. But it was the cheering after the announcement of Diamond Eyes' winnings – at eighty to one, purely because of the Slave prejudice that most bettors seemed to display – which almost matched the first-place pot!

“An untried Steed in professional circuit races,” said the woman who rode the winning Steed, “and a Slave boy barely into his second decade. I cannot believe I almost lost to you,” she growled. “You can bet that I won't race with you again.”

“I wouldn't count on that,” Rahani said, distracting the woman. “Haick, you're hereby Raised to Bayaran. When you match the amount of this prize, you're Freed.”

He stood numbly, but then it all caught up to him. He really had done something spectacular. If he had gained the everlasting ire of a High Mistress, the respect of a Lord, and the money enough to buy himself out of Slavery? Certainly was a good day!