Chapter 3

We passed down a broad hallway, with a high ceiling, led by two guards, flanked by four more, and trailed by the remaining two. No words were spoken, and I kept my eyes straight ahead, even as I tried to use my peripheral vision to study the guards who accompanied us.

It appeared that they came in pairs, by gender and by the color and style of the badges they wore. Four of the guards wore the same insignia as the pair that had accompanied the Poxrill 'future', and the other four wore the colors of the Maltorl. Each guard wore what looked like a knife, with an ornately carved handle, as well as something vaguely pistol-shaped. Both knife handle and pistol grip looked well-worn, as if the bearers practiced with them frequently.

We reached the end of the hallway, where a pair of large, ornately carved doors filled the wall that closed off the passage. Two of the guards peeled off, and opened the door, stepping aside as we stepped through. We entered the room beyond the doors, and at a nod from the Craxill female still holding my hand, I turned and watched as two of the guards, one from each clan took their position in the hallway, facing the way we came, while another pair of guards closed the doors behind them.

The room we found ourselves in was huge, with high glass ceilings, and what at first and second glance looked like trees scattered around a large open area in the center of the room. Closer examination finally revealed that the 'leaves' of the 'trees' were actually a large tangle of filaments, with large open spaces between them. The 'bark' of the branches was much more similar to the equivalent part of an Earth plant. The fractal pattern of the branches was identical to the trees of Earth, being much more constrained by physics and 'simple' growth patterns than the rest of the plant.

There were three other pairs of doors in the walls surrounding the 'groves' and our guards led us to them one by one, leaving a pair of guards outside each one. When the final pair of guards closed the doors behind them, Priya and I were left alone with the two young Craxill.

Our soon-to-be bond-mates led us back to the center of the room, to the edge of the clearing. A small pillar stood at the edge of the clearing, with a blue-green globe on top of it. The Craxill arranged us in a semi-circle around the pillar, and the male began to speak, in the human-friendly Craxill dialect.

"We lack a ritual for our task today, and must therefore create our own. We dedicate ourselves to the memories of our ancestors, in hopes that our efforts will be successful."

Both Craxill touched their foreheads, their throats, and two more points down their bodies. Priya and I followed suit, touching roughly the same distance down our chests, since we weren't sure what body parts they were actually indicating.

Having invoked the spirit of their ancestors, both of the Craxill seemed at a loss for what to do next. Priya seemed content to let them lead, but they didn't seem prepared to do so.

I cleared my throat, and spoke gently. "I have not studied your bonding rituals, and I was given no briefing on how to perform today. I now see the reason for that lack; there is no fixed path ahead of us and we must make our own.

"Let us begin by reviewing that which we hope to adapt. How are bondings accomplished among your own people? Let us begin there, and see what we must add or adapt to include the rituals of my people, and of Priya's."

The Craxill seemed relieved that I was 'taking charge' and Priya didn't seem to have a problem with it, so I continued with a bit more confidence, "What is the first step in a bonding among your people?"

The female had been silent until now, except for a brief murmur during the male's announcement, but she spoke in a clear confident voice, telling me, "Among our people, the would-be bond-mates disrobe, revealing themselves to their mate-to-be, and announce their full names, formally offering to bond."

I nodded, "A sound beginning, indeed. And when the two mates stand before each other, and the offers are made, what is done next?"

The male spoke this time, and said, "The two mates exchange a ritual series of contacts, with hands and tongues touching the body of their mate, until each is ready to consummate the bond. At that time, penetration is accomplished, and when the two mates reach completion, their bond is established."

I got to see my first Craxill 'blush' as the female turned her face away, and said, "Over the course of the night, the two may repeat their joining, but it is the first joining that is the important one, for it triggers the changes in body and mind that establish the bond. Once bonded, the two will forever more be one, in all that matters. Even death does not dissolve the bond, for neither partner will ever bond again. After we bond, we greet the sunrise with our elders, who bless our bonding."

I cleared my throat, and said, "Our rituals are very different in this respect, as the bonding is established by the announcement by an authority figure in public, before family and friends, and consummated later in private. Among my people, the goal is to maintain a bonding for life, but this frequently fails, and if the bond dissolves or one of the partners dies, it is not at all uncommon for the parties to form new bondings with other persons."

Priya chimed in, adding, "There are many differing customs in my homeland; some families allow the youngsters to choose their own mates, while others choose their youngsters' mates for them. Among my family, a marriage is for life, and widows and widowers rarely remarry. I had expected to select my own mate, but I have many cousins whose marriages were arranged, and I willingly agree to take the mate that has been selected for me."

Priya was thoughtful for a moment, and then said, "And what is the custom when two clans exchange young adults, as your clans have done with ours?"

I nodded in appreciation at Priya's question, and the male Craxill responded, "It is up to the couples in question; sometimes one couple bonds while the other watches, and other times the two pairs bond at the same time. Each pair bonds just as any other pair would bond, and the two bondings greet the sun and the elders together."

I was far from expert at Craxill non-verbal communications, but I judged our future mates to be similar in age to Priya and I, and I suspected they were as nervous as we were. So I decided to try to put everyone a bit more at ease. "I suspect that all of us are equally anxious about what we are about to do," I said, "but to use an ancient cliché, 'There's nobody here but us chickens," and no-one will judge us too harshly if we are awkward about this.

"Let us follow your rituals as best we can, at least as we begin." With that, I untied the cravat from around my neck, and removed it. Looking around, I saw a group of four low benches, and moved to one, laying out my clothing carefully as I removed shoes and socks, jacket, shirt, and pants. Clad only in my boxers, I glanced around to see if my example had inspired anyone else.

Priya was carefully folding her sari, and laying it on the bench at the other end of the row, her Western-style bra and panties revealing more than covering her lush flesh. The sight of her bending over was overcoming my embarrassment at my upcoming nudity, and causing a swelling inside my boxers.

Glancing at our Craxill partners, I saw that they were equally close to nudity, with a thin sleeve of cloth covering the female, while the male wore something not unlike my own underpants. Craxill females didn't have the large breasts of human females, but beneath her thin shift I could see a row of bumps down the female's abdomen that reminded me of a cat's multiple nipples.

Clothed, the Craxill weren't obviously alien below the neck, though their facial structure was. Now nearly nude, the differences between human and Craxill were much more obvious. Strangely enough the female's form was somehow erotic despite her completely inhuman outlines, including but not limited to the extra set of knees in her lower legs.

Without speaking aloud, we seemed to reach an agreement, and Priya removed her bra, leaving her clad only in her panties, and all of us down to one article of clothing each. We moved to face each other, male facing female, human alongside human, and Craxill alongside Craxill. At a nod, we each stripped out of our final garment.

Priya stared at the Craxill male's genitals, then looked him in the eyes and said, "I am Priya Surivasiya of India and Earth, and I offer myself to you as bond-mate. I am Priya to family and friends."

The Craxill male's 'tongue' flicked over his 'lips' as he gathered his courage. Swallowing, he said, "I am Monrill Tonrath of Poxrill and Craxill. I accept you as bond-mate and offer myself as bond-mate in turn. I am Tonrath to family and friends."

Priya bowed to Tonrath, and said, "I am honored to accept you as bond-mate, Tonrath."

The female Craxill was staring at my semi-aroused penis, speechless. To keep things going, I spoke to her, and said, "I am John Patrick Rogers, of North America and Earth, and I offer myself to you as bond-mate. I am John to family and friends."

My future mate shook her head, shuddered, and tore her eyes from my manhood. Looking me in the eyes, she stammered out, "I am Simatorl Rillnam of Maltorl and Craxill. I accept you as bond-mate and offer myself as bond-mate in turn. I am Rillnam to family and friends."

I looked at my clearly frightened mate-to-be, and said, "I am honored to accept you as bond-mate, Rillnam. Tell me, though, what you are afraid of?"

Gesturing at my penis, she said, "That will tear me apart!" and covered her face, before turning away and shuddering.

Hoping it was the right thing to do, I stepped forward, and took her in my arms, stroking her back gently as she shook in my arms. She flinched at first contact, then pressed against me and put her arms around me. She continued to shudder, but she seemed to be calming down, if slowly.

Priya and Tonrath were looking on in shock as I looked at them over Rillnam's shoulders. I glanced down between Tonrath's legs at his genitals and began to understand Rillnam's fears.

My sources about Craxill biology had been purely written, with only a few sketches of the operative parts, and nothing indicating scale. As befitted a purely alien biology, there were only rough analogies between human and Craxill reproductive anatomy. The larger of the two sexes had a penetrative organ, and the smaller bore and fed live offspring until they were large enough to fend for themselves.

Unlike humans, but like the marsupials of Earth, the young were barely more than embryos at birth, and so there was no need for the extreme elasticity of the human birth canal. And since Tonrath's ovipositor (I said the analogies were rough) was no bigger around than my index finger, if somewhat longer, I suspected that Rillnam's fears were not completely unfounded.

I'd been involved in enough team sports to have shared a locker room shower or two, and despite the usual homophobic desire not to be seen to stare at other men's 'equipment' I was under no illusions as to the size of my own penis. I was firmly placed in the 'average' category as to both length and thickness, at least on human scales. Unfortunately, unless Tonrath was a midget in the genital category, I was figuratively 'hung like a horse' on Craxill scales. And bad net porn to the contrary, having something that large forcibly inserted into an unprepared female was not going to be pleasant.

If this was going to work, I was going to have to be gentle. Given my still-rampant teenage hormones, and lack of practical sexual experience, it wasn't going to be easy.

I whispered into Rillnam's ear, "We'll make this work. Whatever it takes, I'll find a way that won't hurt you."

She looked up at me with an expression I wasn't able to recognize, but her voice tones sounded hopeful as she said, "Thank you. I feel I can trust you; that I am safe with you. Lead me."

I looked at Tonrath and Priya, and said, "Why don't you two go first. Tonrath and Rillnam, explain to Priya where and how and when she should touch Tonrath, and Priya and I will give you guidance on how best to touch her so that your joining may be to your mutual pleasure."

I paused, then asked carefully, "Priya, do you still have your hymen?"

Priya shook her head, and said, "I wished to come to my marriage bed still intact, and I have never been with man, woman, or toy, but I lost my maidenhead some years ago, by accident. I am virgin, except for that lack."

I nodded, and said, "Though I regret you do not have your wish, I am glad that we will not give your mate any cause to fear he has harmed you. The Craxill do not have hymens, and it would have been difficult to prepare him adequately for the aftermath of its removal."

I couldn't see Rillnam's face, but Tonrath's showed one of the few Craxill facial expressions I could recognize, that of puzzlement. He shook it off, however, and turned to face Priya.

"The ritual begins with the partners standing, with each partner stroking the face of the other," he told Priya.

Tentatively at first, afraid of hurting each other, the two would-be mates began to caress each other. Priya's face became slightly flushed, and her breathing deepened. Tonrath's reactions were less obvious, but a hint of tension entered his frame; not nervousness, I thought, but something else.