Thorn's Bondmate (Zarronian Warriors Book 2) (28 page)

"Yes, but he doesn't believe me and I'm tired of trying to convince him."

Borg laughed. "I'd like to say that's because he's a stubborn fool but the truth is this is amazingly unbelievable. If I hadn't done the exam and seen the results with my own eyes I wouldn't believe it either." He took her hand and squeezed it. "Your daughter is a miracle, Daria."

She smiled. "It's a relief that someone else finally knows the truth but I'm scared too. Will your government try to take her away from me?"

"No, they'll only want both of you to be safe, and of course they'll want us to find out why you're carrying a female child. The fact she exists will give us hope for a future filled with daughters of our own. Knowing her father is a warrior who already has sons is another miracle."

"Because it's never happened before?" she asked, then added, "Do I have to tell Thorn?"

Borg chuckled. "Tell me why you don't want to tell him."

She crossed her arms over her chest. "Because if I tell him, and things change between us I'll never know if it was because of the baby or because he changed his mind about me." She hesitated, then added, "Although I don't know why I care either way."

"As the mother it's your right to tell him when you choose. When you do I'll back you up. In the meantime we'll figure out a way to investigate this without letting him know what's going on," Borg said. "Do you want to tell Lia and Valan the good news?"

"I want to tell them but if I do won't they feel obligated to tell Thorn? I don't want to drag them into the middle of this." She frowned. "I hate all these secrets. It's exhausting keeping them."

Borg patted her shoulder. "I know but I also agree it would put them in a bad position. So let's make a deal. For now you only tell them you're having a girl. Then, if Thorn doesn't come to his senses in the next two moon phases we'll tell Valan and Lia the rest. How's that?"

"Yes, that will work." Daria let him help her down then escort her into the waiting room. She smiled at Lia. "It's a girl."

Lia rushed to her and hugged her. "Valan, isn't it wonderful? A girl to spoil."

Valan smiled at his bondmate, then at Daria. "Yes, it's wonderful."

Daria smiled and touched her slight baby bump. "Thank you."

"When will she be born?" Lia asked Borg.

Stunned, Borg realized that he hadn't even checked for the date of birth. "I was so excited, I forgot to check. I'll tell you this evening when I drop by for dinner."

"Nobody's invited you," Valan said.

"Daria did," Borg lied shamelessly. Then, anxious to go to Eirik he ushered them through the door, waving them off as they started down the path. As soon as they disappeared, he told his receptionist he'd be at the Council Building if he was needed.

Ten micro-units later, Eirik jumped when the doors to his office were flung open and Borg rushed through them. He slammed them and began pacing back and forth.

"Borg, it's been annuals since I've seen you move so fast, or appear this excited."

"What would you say if I told you I've just examined the
pregnant
bondmate of a warrior who already has sons?" Borg dropped into a chair.

Eirik twirled his writing tool in his fingers. "I'd say the med-op was wrong. That's impossible."

"No, the med-op isn't wrong. I checked it for accuracy and I ran the test several times."

"Is the female from Earth?" Eirik rose and began pacing.

"Yes, but that's not all. There's only one child and it’s a female!"

Eirik swung around and stared at him. "A female? Are you sure?"

"Absolutely positive."

"Who is this female? Who is her bondmate?"

"Daria and Thorn."

"Tor! A female child! I can't believe it after all these annuals." He took a few more steps then turned around. "Are you sure the child is Thorn's?"

"I compared the baby's DNA to his and it matched. He's definitely the father."

"Does Thorn know? Valan and Lia?"

"No. Daria doesn't want to tell Thorn for obvious reasons and she doesn't want to put Valan and Lia in the middle."

Eirik nodded. "I'll have to notify the Council." He chuckled. "I wonder what Thorn will do the first time he wakes up with morning sickness?"

Borg laughed. "I'll make sure he thinks it's because he's bonded to her."

Eirik laughed. "Serves him right for the way he's treated her."

"Daria doesn't want him to know but she said she doesn't know why. I think she feels more for him than she's willing to admit, even to herself," Borg said.

"I better call the Council together and inform them of the news. Is there anything else I should know, Borg?"

"Not yet. I'll use the data from the scan on Daria to begin trying to figure out why she's carrying a female, and what, if anything, makes her different from the other Earth females." He paused. "I need to check all the level five females and see what they have in common with Daria."

"What will you do if that's not the answer?"

"I'll examine the level five warriors. There has to be a reason this happened. I just have to find it."

"Use the excuse of the morning sickness, Borg."

Borg sent him an admiring glance. "Eirik, I've never told you this, but through the annuals I've developed a great admiration for your craftiness."

"Thank you," Eirik said with feigned humility. "I've often admired your cunning, as well." He prepared two glasses of wine and handed one to Borg. "To Thorn and Daria," he said, copying a custom he'd seen on Earth.

Borg rose. "To their daughter."

Chapter Fourteen

Daria examined a trailing vine on the neighbor's fence then moved on. While she walked around the neighborhood she thought about the research on the geography and the wildlife of Zarronia that she was doing. It was fascinating, but trying to describe the animals for the people on Earth was proving to be very tricky. How could she describe the brightly colored Zarronian antelope-like rodent with the long, elephant-like trunk without sounding as if she was describing a character in a child's cartoon? She'd asked the Council to let her include pictures in her articles but they'd denied the request.

The most interesting fact she'd learned, and one she couldn't mention, was the way the people and creatures on Zarronia only reproduced one time. It didn't matter what category they fell into, fish, fowl or mammal, all of them produced once then never again. The disc she'd watched had said the Zarronian scientists thought something about the planet itself caused this effect. Daria thought of it as nature's way of controlling the population and she wondered if there were other planets in the universe that did the same thing.

The research had also helped her to understand why Thorn insisted he wasn’t the father of her child. As Borg had said her pregnancy really was something of a miracle. She'd have to tell Thorn again and have Borg explain it to him but she wanted to put that off for as long as possible. Before she could decide exactly when to do that she heard her name called and saw Ronin walking toward her.

"Greeting, Madami Thorn. How are you?"

For a moment Daria was distracted by the name he called her. It was the first time she'd been addressed as Thorn's bondmate. She didn't know whether to smile or frown, so she fell back on good manners. "Very well, thank you Ronin. How are you?"

"Happy to be home again."

"You went with Thorn?" she asked as they walked back toward Lia and Valan's home.

"Yes, to Witvia. We just returned a couple units ago."

Daria smiled at him but she was thinking that Thorn was back and he hadn't bothered to contact her. He'd been gone almost two cycles and the fever was already increasing in her body. She wondered if he'd contact her soon or let her suffer. Deciding there was no way of predicting his behavior she pushed him from her mind and smiled at Ronin. "Did the journey go well?"

Ronin chuckled and Daria got a glimpse of the eager little boy he'd probably been long ago. . "We had a great battle. The Witvian's attacked the Invincible. At first there were only several dozen fighters and Thorn ordered our fighters to go after them. Everything was going well until one of their battle gliders came up behind us. They fired on us before we even realized they were there."

"Shouldn't someone had seen them before they got that close?" Daria asked.

"Aulunson was too busy watching the battle between our fighters and the Witvians. The glider was practically on top of us, firing away, when Thorn ordered me to shut down the anti-gravity sensors and let the Invincible drop towards Witvia. We fell so fast I wasn't sure we'd be able to pull out of it in time." He laughed again. "Thorn just stood there as Witvia grew larger and larger on the viewing screen then he calmly explained how to pull out of the planet's gravity."

"That sounds extremely dangerous. Does he do things like that very often?"" Daria asked while wondering if the big oaf was trying to get himself killed.

"Yes, but that's why it’s a privilege to serve on the Invincible. Thorn's fearless." He smiled. "Anyway, after we pulled out of the freefall we moved behind the glider and destroyed it. By then our fighters had finished their battle and returned to the starship."

"Was anyone hurt?"

"A few warriors in the initial attack and several more when we dropped so suddenly but everyone survived."

They reached the gate to Valan and Lia's home just as he finished speaking. Ronin opened it then stepped aside. "Good cycle to you, Daria."

"Thank you. Good cycle to you too." Daria smiled then walked through the gate and heard it close behind her.

# # #

Thorn rubbed his stomach, then rose from the med-op. He frowned at Borg. "Why am I experiencing the morning sickness when it's not my child?"

Borg held back a grin, and concentrated on the monitor until the urge to laugh passed. "It's certainly a puzzle but I'll figure it out eventually." When he'd been contacted the previous cycle with the puzzling news he and Eirik had enjoyed a good laugh at Thorn's expense.

"Has this happened to anyone else?" Thorn asked.

Borg grinned, he couldn't help it. Thorn sounded so grouchy and out of sorts. "Some of the warriors have told me that they felt a little ill after bonding with a pregnant female from Earth."

"So, it has something to do with Daria's pregnancy and her being from Earth?"

"Perhaps," Borg quickly took advantage of Thorn's suggestion. "I've been wondering about this since the first warrior informed me of his illness and I've worked up a questionnaire I'd like you to fill out." Borg opened a cabinet, removed a thick sheaf of papers and handed it to Thorn.

Thorn ruffled the edges and frowned. "Have the other warriors completed one of these?"

"Yes, of course. It's very important, Thorn. I'm researching what all of you have in common." Borg kept a straight face. Eirik had helped him create the questionnaire, and knowing how much Thorn hated paperwork, they'd added about ten pages of questions which had nothing to do with this project.

"Alright. I'll return it to you in seven cycles."

"I'd need it back tomorrow."

"Tomorrow? I'll have to work on it all evening, Borg. I have other things to do."

"What could be more important than finding out why you're experiencing morning sickness? Of course, if you don't mind suffering, I—."

"No. I'll return it to you in the morning."

"I'll save you the trip and join you for breakfast."

"I'll tell my parents to expect you."

Borg chuckled and pounded Thorn's back as he ushered him through the door, "Excellent. You do that, boy." After closing the door, he fell against the wall and laughed until his belly ached.

# # #

Valan sat down next to Lia and the two of them watched Thorn. He'd been standing at the window for over fifteen micro-units.

"Are you okay, Thorn," Lia asked.

"Yes." Thorn stared into the dark garden, his arms crossed over his chest. He'd missed Daria. He'd lied when he'd told her he would never want her again. He burned for her constantly. For the first time in over five annuals he was having to use ZL3 to help him control his fever. The past two cycles had been hell especially after he'd arrived home and discovered that she'd gone for a walk by herself. The only thing keeping him from going after her was the child she carried.

He'd had a lot of time to think while he traveled to Witvia. Her culture was different than his and he'd come to teams with the fact that she'd had a lover on Earth. Knowing she'd never see the human male again was an advantage but the baby would be a constant reminder of him. If only he knew if she'd loved the man or still loved him.

"Thorn?"

"Yes?"

"Weren't you going to meet Soren at Dag's?" Lia asked.

Thorn glanced at the timekeeper, then nodded. "Yes. Did I mention that Borg is coming for breakfast?"

Valan groaned, and Lia poked him in the arm.

Thorn gave them an absent-minded glance then left without another word.

# # #

Borg arrived the next morning just as they sat down for breakfast. Eirik was behind him wearing a grin from one ear to the other. "Look who I caught sneaking up the path to your house, Son." He pulled out a chair and sat down.

"He was invited," Valan mumbled. "Who invited you?"

"Soren did. Yesterday when I met him at the Council Building."

"Really? He didn't mention it to us," Valan said.

"Must have slipped his mind." Eirik grinned at Thorn. "Where's Daria?"

"She's sleeping," Thorn said.

"How's the puking going, boy?"

Thorn choked on the bite of food he'd just put in his mouth and glared at his Grandfather.

"Have you been sick, Thorn?" Lia asked concerned. "Borg did you know about this?"

"It's nothing to worry about. Just a little morning sickness."

"Morning sickness!" Valan exclaimed. "How can that be?"