Chapter 5

We slept late and spent the morning cuddling and discussing Swarta’s ability to influence women with a touch. I knew in my heart that my nanomites did something similar to women. When I met Julia on the starship, she was a hardworking engineer; her eyes were for Kate and always had been. On the ESC Entous my nanomites spread by Kate to Julia. With the aid of my pheromones and nanomites, I influenced the engineer into my cluster of women. After that, I could tell Julia what I wanted and she obeyed. It wasn’t much different from Swarta’s mental influence. In another time and place people would have scoffed at the idea of auras and such magic.

At a knock on our bedroom door, I threw a cover over us and shouted, “Come in.” Brook opened the door and peeked in for a moment before having to jump out of the way.

Palus and her mother walked in with a food tray and a couple glasses of milk. a Sporting a glowing smile, Aberdeen carried both glasses in her hands while looking around the room at the clothes tossed onto the floor. Palus acted more matter of factly, only cracking a smirk when Swarta hungrily took the warm bread off the tray.

“Want something, Von?” Palus asked.

“An apple and a glass of milk is a good start, thank you.”

Palus walked around the bed to me with Aberdeen. They gave me the items, and I drank a little of the fresh milk.

At the doorway, Brook said, “The morning barge delivered the apples!”

I bit into the apple. “Crisp and fresh.”

“I know. They are such a treat,” Brook responded. Palus looked at her sister as if to say “enough.” Brook shrugged, and then took a step backward into the hallway.

“Aberdeen, you look much happier these days,” Swarta commented, reaching out and touching Aberdeen’s hand. “Things seem to be going better for you.”

“Now that you mention it, I feel a new joy in my life. Staying here while Tharin is on his trip has turned out better than I anticipated.”

“I’m sure you will want to stay again in the future. Later in your pregnancy, both Luna and you will need some protective magic to get your baby safely through to the end,” Swarta added.

Aberdeen looked at me with a predatory smile. “Yes. I am sure my husband will approve.”

“Good. That is settled. Now I expect you to attend the Women’s Center more often,” Swarta added.

“I’ll make sure to go with Luna,” Aberdeen chirped happily. I saw their interaction with fresh eyes and a clearer understanding of Swarta’s use of influence. She was showing me how she worked; the touch was subtle and innocent. In return, Aberdeen lovingly stroked Swarta’s hand with her thumb.

Palus waved her sister in and handed the tray to her. The fifteen-year-old was happy to be included again. It was an interesting byplay to see Palus exert her dominance and then pull her sister back into the room with the adults. Free of her burden, Palus sat down on the bed next to me and kissed me on the cheek. Palus’s intense look told me she knew what was going on with Aberdeen and Swarta. My blinders were off now.

“Aberdeen, it would be helpful if you took Luna and Brook over to the concubine barracks and talked to Laudus. She has so much on her plate and your help would mean so much to me.”

Aberdeen’s eye stopped staring at me and she looked at Brook. “I have nothing going on this morning since Tharin is away. Let’s go find my co-wife.”

Brook danced around with natural exuberance. “I never get to go in there! This is great. I think Luna is downstairs.”

They both left the room chatting about helping out with the babies at the barracks.

Swarta grinned at us.

“How do you know what is going on?” I asked Palus.

“I’ve picked up on Swarta’s tells. She nearly always tilts her head toward the person when she wants to influence them,” Palus said. “Didn’t you notice the little sparkle in Aberdeen’s eye when it happened?”

I hadn’t noticed. “It has to be more than that.”

“It is.” Palus giggled and looked at Swarta.

“Once I knew how it worked, I taught Palus how to deal with those below her.”

“Kate, Julia, Julie?” I asked.

“No effect,” Palus answered. Her hands moved restlessly among the folds of her dress. “Wrong hive.”

“Your mother? Your sister, Brook?” I continued.

Palus shrugged. “No reason to try., but Lord Webster said I’m full of royal jelly.”

“What does that mean?”

“We really didn’t understand everything he said. Yet, he said Palus was a queen in waiting with copious amounts of body magic, which was like royal jelly in a bee hive,” Swarta related. “She can influence women in our cluster, especially pregnant women or mothers of your children. They already want your favor, it only takes a nudge to remind them we represent you. The touch helps with your fussy children too.”

“Is this how Laudus keeps the concubines so happy?” I asked. They both smiled at me.

“She tells everyone she is only the chief concubine and not worthy of more, but you tell everyone she is more than that, so she certainly is viewed as the head of all your domestics in Juniper Hills.” Palus reasoned.

“All your women already look up to her for all her knowledge, skill and command of how a noblewoman runs a household, however, we haven’t actually asked her about it,” Swarta said. “People do what she instructs. I don’t think I have ever seen her lay a hand on anyone in anger or otherwise.”

Thinking both about all the women in my household and how I felt about Laudus pushed me to a decision. “Make sure she knows what you know. She is your hands and feet when it comes to organizing things among our clan. If this ability is useful to you, she should know about it, and then train,” I instructed, pushing my will at them while touching both of them.

“Sure, Von,” Swarta answered.

“Of course, that makes sense,” Palus added. Her demeanor changed, the hint given as her expression softened with an understanding of what was best.

Both of their eyes twitched for a second when I spoke. “Yep, I can do it too,” I thought. “It just takes that push of will, determination, seriousness. Why haven’t I noticed that before? You thought nanomites linked only to their pleasure centers. What a dummy I’ve been.”
They both hugged me. I hugged them back, knowing this ability was dangerous and vowing not to get addicted to its power.

“We’re your wives, mates, your women, the mothers of your children. We signed up for these responsibilities. As Merritt likes to say, ‘we are Team Solon.’” Swarta said.

“I prefer Clan Solon,” Palus responded.

“We have to use this ability sparingly or it will warp us,” I warned, not getting sidetracked.

“Palus and I already agreed upon that,” Swarta answered. “We want harmony among our family not power. Merritt and Derwen feel the same way. We want what is best for our families. Laudus will surely say the same thing; she has a servant’s heart and a great love for us.”

“She suffered unspeakable things as a slave. I have to agree. Laudus no longer suffers from those dark memories,” Palus added.

“I could see a dark weight lift from her aura when she learned her owner was dead,” I agreed.

“Laudus and her sisters love you for arranging his death. If nothing else, the slaver’s death closed that chapter of sorrow and horror,” Swarta said. She nuzzled my neck and kissed it. “All three sisters are wonderful lovers too. They need a bit of your attention soon, together or separately.”

We heard raucous laughter downstairs that caught our attention. The noise gave us the mutual urge to investigate.

“We’re all in agreement. It’s time we move on with our day,” I announced, while dwelling on Swarta’s request on behalf of the sisters. The bulge in the front of my pants was uncomfortable.

“Hannah and Key are downstairs,” Palus mentioned with an impish grin. Her mouth twitched up with amusement, as I collected my thoughts. “Too bad Laudus is busy with Aberdeen now.”

Swarta laughed. I chased Palus out of the room.

My body felt frisky in the morning and the pressure on my family jewels was a real phenomenon. I was constantly told by women that they knew when I was full to overflowing. Their bodies reacted to my close proximity in the most wonderful ways. Of course, I loved it when a woman teased me about the size and weight of my package. Nevertheless, Palus was asking for a spanking and a bit more. She loved the chase.

Looking back over my second week with Aberdeen, I could see the change in her with great clarity. I felt her uncontrollable joy at the rollback of her weathered skin, now tight and smooth. She approved of the perky breasts and tight butt, too. I knew her internal organs were refreshed, purged of disease and revitalized. We had picked up the habit of walking to Lover’s Rock each day. Aberdeen rewarded me well with her enhanced level of energy and youthful vigor.

All of Aberdeen’s rules were long forgotten, she had become very friendly with Usha. On two occasions, Tharin’s wife invited Usha on our afternoon walk and she included her at Lover’s Rock. They teased me and did wonderful things together, but Aberdeen never allowed her to get my seed directly. My body hummed in excitement on each repeated occasion. It was fascinating to watch Tharin’s wife lead a virtual stranger, a professional woman, around my dangly bits, by the hair. Both were complex women with kinky needs. Furthermore, because they followed us each day, I couldn’t imagine what Luna and Brook thought from their hidden location. In many ways, Brook modeled herself after Laudus. The question was, did that reach down to the same broad sexual interests. All I knew was our hideaway was transformed into a sea of love, and I liked the view.

During Aberdeen’s last week with me, Usha was moved into lower-town, to a new house. The split level wooden building was built into a hill with the bedroom on the lower floor. The carpenters for the new strongholds built porches running the full width of the home. It was a new style of cabin with raised planks that extended the resident’s living space outside. Hot summer days drew people outside onto the roof-covered porch, whether for chores or talking. I was sure that in the winter people would stay inside more, nearer to their hearth. Usha ran her jewelry business from the second floor of her home, with a guard stationed outside her front door; in fact, she took Brook on as her apprentice. At first we had anticipated Hazel taking the jeweler as an operative, but when Aberdeen made it widely known to the town that Usha had her favor, that changed things. It became Brook’s and Aberdeen’s job to filter information back to us about agents of the Amarian kingdom that contacted Usha. Having Brook work there raised our confidence in Usha’s goodwill.

Indeed, the very day Usha opened her business and the town criers informed the public, a foreign agent visited the shop. It didn’t surprise me to find out it was a fish buyer from Conquest Point. We had captured a small Caldavian galley, the type of ship that is propelled mainly by rowing, that we set up to sell fish to the city-state. The galley was characterized by its long, slender hull, shallow draft and low freeboard (low clearance between sea and railing); so with both a sail and oars, it was perfect for contract trading along the coast. While Usha knew our coastal trading ship well, she didn’t know the fish buyer--but I did.

Some time ago, when Coven had originally introduced me to the merchant I had an odd feeling about him. He offered us a fish contract and we took it; he didn’t feel right to me, but I had nothing to go on at the time. Now we knew he was a spy, as much as a fish purchaser. As mayor, Coven handled mundane exterior dealings with merchants, but he took people at face-value. Perhaps his good nature was a weakness, but I didn’t want to waste his great people skills. Coven ran the lower-town well, kept order and managed the town’s stores, keeping track of our trade goods. His tavern also gave the guest workers from Convey, who supplemented our labor force, somewhere to blow off steam.

The agent gave Usha a token that linked him to the Amarian kingdom and to her former boss, the King’s Herald. He couldn’t quiz her with Brook present, so that worked out well, yet he did buy a large piece of amber from Usha, which she wrapped up with a piece of paper. The paper was a short report on Fort Revenge that we had written ahead of time, since we had anticipated such a contact. The note contained nothing important only that we mined coal there, fished the river, and it had a growing hamlet with rich farms. The information was well-known but we did suggest the garrison was a bunch of drunks; I threw it in to give her report a touch of military importance. Of course, the garrison there had fine men but it couldn’t hurt to misinform those interested in it. Perhaps the spymaster was just trying to feel out the temperament of my people and how we ruled. Unfortunately, I had nothing to go on to make an assessment of my potential foe.

One rainy day Tharin returned from his trip to Fort Revenge. Aberdeen had already moved out with her maid and returned to his residential tower. I saw Aberdeen and Luna each day at the Women’s Center and we enjoyed chaste kisses. Luna pranced around me a lot more, reminding me that once Aberdeen was officially pregnant that it was her turn.

Before Aberdeen found out Tharin was sterile, she rarely attended the Women’s Center. Sea-wives and a few other women that lived in the upper-town minimized their exposure to me. My theory was that a small part of the population felt repulsed by my pheromones. On the other hand, I reasoned that some women had a really strong will or a strong fear of me. Aberdeen had fit into the strong-will category until she was filled with my nanomites. In truth, now she had a knack for showing up when I was around, a common trait for women who could track auras.

On his return, Tharin and I acted like nothing new had happened. It felt strange at first but he showed no personal awkwardness. In fact, Tharin’s old charisma and confident presence was more evident. He made no mention of his wife and maid cavorting with me. It was humbling that he clung so closely to his cultural acceptance of a body father and the broader marsh moral code that allowed mates to have multiple sexual partners. Unlike Kate and Merritt’s planet, good boys from the planet Solon were not encouraged to live that life-style.

The week after his return, Tharin and I walked the outer perimeter of the palisade wall on an inspection. He told me Aberdeen went to see Usha every day. He smirked about it, perhaps from a sense of delicacy he didn’t ask me about their relationship. If he had asked Luna or Brook about it, I never heard. In any event, he knew Usha was Aberdeen’s special friend. Hints in the conversation convinced me that Aberdeen treated Luna in a similar way as she treated Usha.