Chapter 2: Kissing Dizyntk

Her first couple of months as Princess was a hectic time for Feyalisa. While she had remembered some of what her mother had done while she was princess, she did not really appreciate how busy the job could be. Make no mistake, it was a job. She had to greet dignitaries, attend meetings, review plans, visit temples and public buildings and basically be the public face and representative of the royal family of Sapphire. While none of it was physically taxing it was a challenge mentally. For the most part Feya enjoyed it however. These were her people she was with. The only thing she did not enjoy was the fact that she had not seen her mate for almost three weeks.

Michael had been quite busy as well. Four days after his bonding with Feya he had gone to meet with her aunt, Rear Admiral Zelatira.

"If you are going to live among Dizyntk then you might as well get to know us better." she had said.

She figured that since he had been a skilled pilot it would be a waste to not make use of those abilities. Therefore she had promptly sent him to a Dizyntk military training center to refresh his skills. It had not taken long for Michael to renew his piloting skills. Apparently the old saying about never forgetting how to ride a bike was accurate. Just three weeks after starting the training program Michael was awarded a first class starship piloting certification by the Fleet Command on Sapphire. Thanks to Zelatira's influence he was even granted a commission as a First Lieutenant in the Fleet, equaling the rank he had held in the Protectorate fleet before he had crashed. A week later, he was assigned to the first Dizyntk ship in need of a pilot, Scout Ship 405. The Dizyntk Fleet maintained a large number of scout vessels of differing types and sizes. 405 was a new Starwind class vessel and equivalent in size to a small frigate. It was fast and well armed for a ship of its size. It normally had a crew of 26 Dizyntk. Although in this case it was going to be 25 Dizyntk and one Human. It would be gone from Sapphire for three weeks on patrol.

It was the first day since the start of her duties as Princess that Feya had had completely to herself. She was not really enjoying it however. Michael would not be back on Sapphire for another five days and she was just sitting in her room and looking in the mirror wishing that her mate was with her. She had been sleeping alright thanks to the fact that Ariarisha had been sleeping with her and having someone to snuggle with helped. Feya loved being with her daughter but she still wanted to feel her mate touching her. She was brought out of her thoughts when Risakala entered.

"Pardon my intrusion, Your Highness. There is a visitor asking to see you." she said.

Feya was not expecting any visitors so she was curious. "Who is it, Risa?" she asked.

"A priestess of the Jade Order." Risakala responded. "I believe she said her name is Velakari."

Feya recognized the name but she could not remember exactly where she knew it from. But still, it was a priestess and it would be rude not to see her without good cause. "I have nothing to do today, Risa. Please show her in."

Risa left and a minute later returned with a Dizyntk in the full hooded robes of a priestess of the type worn by those who were studying on the planet of Lilac. Lilac was a planet whose atmosphere was barely suitable for Dizyntk life. It was used by the Orders as a monastery planet for those priestesses who wished to spend time in quite contemplation. The robes were of the dark green of the Jade Order, the most conservative of the orders. Because of this they had actually been the most supportive of Feya's bonding with her mate. The Jade Order being of the opinion that any who could produce children with a Dizyntk should be allowed to bond with one, even if he was a human. The priestess walked in with her head bowed and knelt before Feya.

"Thank you for seeing me, Your Highness." she said in a very formal tone.

Feya bowed her head slightly in return. "I know your name." Feya said. "But for some reason I cannot remember where I know it from."

The Priestess then slipped her hood off of her head and looked up at Feya. She was a Darzen Dizyntk. Of all the colors of fur and hair among the Dizyntk, black was by far the rarest of colors. Those who possessed it were known as Darzen, the Dark Ones. Her jet black hair tumbled down her back to the floor and she looked at Feya. Most Darzen had either purple or gold eyes. But this one had eyes of the deepest blue, the exact color as the statue of the Goddess on top of the palace, the rarest eye color among the Dizyntk.

Instantly the memories came flooding back to Feya. There had been only one of her close friends who had not accompanied her on the fateful trip with her mother six cyankas earlier, the only one that she really wanted to be with her as a matter of fact. Now she was kneeling on the floor in front of her.

Feta stepped slowly forward and gently touched the side of Velakari's face. "Kari, my friend." she whispered. "Is it really you?"

Kari closed her eyes and put her hand on the one caressing her face and smiled. "Yes, my Princess."

Feya dropped to her knees and tenderly embraced her friend. She closed her eyes and buried her face against Kari's neck. "How could I have forgotten your name of all names?" she wondered aloud.

Kari smiled as she nuzzled her face into Feya's hair. "Did you often use my full name?" she asked.

Feya smiled at this. "No, I did not, but still."

"It is alright." Kari said. "Everything is alright now that you are back, now that I can smell your scent again."

"Is that the only thing you missed?" Feya asked.

Kari pulled back slightly and looked into Feya's eyes. She softly touched Feya's lips with two fingers and said, "No. I also missed these lips. The first lips I ever kissed."

Feya's entire body was tingling as she remembered the very first time she had kissed someone fully on the lips. She and Kari had only been eight cyankas at the time. She had loved Kari so much then, had thought that she was the prettiest Dizyntk she had ever seen. And now here she was in front of her again and those sweet and tender feelings were flowing back into her.

Kari removed her fingers and asked, "May I kiss my Princess once again?"

Feya did not even answer but put her hands on Kari's face leaned in, closed her eyes, and kissed her. It was gentle at first as the two of them kissed each other. Their hands began to sink into the others hair and their tongues began to twirl and play in each others mouths. They kissed for what seemed like an eternity. In fact it was only for two or three minutes.

As they pulled back from each other, Kari looked into Feya's eyes and said, "I am sorry that it took so long for me to get here." She smiled at Aria. "I would have loved to see you being bonded."

"You do not care that I am bonded to a human?" Feya asked.

Kari shook her head. "Not in the slightest. It did not surprise me at all that you, a member of the royal family who would accept the affections of a Darzen, would also accept the love of a human."

Feya blushed a bit at this. It was true that the Darzen had suffered prejudice among the Dizyntk in times past. But Feya had not cared about that even as a child. She had simply loved her friend and did not care about such old sentiments.

Feya smiled and said, "Yes, I do love him. And I have a daughter."

Kari nodded. "Yes, I have heard. I would love to meet her when I come back."

"Back? But you just got here." Feya said in confusion.

"I need to go and greet the head of my order on Sapphire." Kari explained. "Also, I have been traveling for almost two weeks. I need a hot bath and a change of clothes."

Feya nodded in understanding. "Of course, you came here first before taking care of these things" she said with an amused tone.

Kari looked down slightly and blushed. "Yes, my Princess."

Feya touched her friends face again and said, "Do one favor for me."

"Anything, my Princess." Kari said.

Feya whispered, "Do not call me princess when we are alone."

Kari smiled. "As you wish, Feya."

The both of them stood while still holding each others hands. They looked lovingly into each others eyes for several moments.

"I will be back later this evening if that is alright with you." Kari said.

"Of course it is." Feya responded. "I have so many things I want to talk with you about."

Kari gave Feya another light kiss on her lips. The she backed away two steps and bowed. "Till I return, my love."

She bundled her hair back up and drew her hood over her head. Then she turned and left.

Feya sat in her chair and looked in her mirror again. This time the feelings she was having were not those of loneliness but rather desire. She had not felt this aroused since the first time she had been with Michael. She had wanted to be lovers with Kari so badly when they were younger. She now realized that those feelings were still with her. They had just been hidden until she had seen Kari's face again. She had forgotten over the cyankas just how pleasant it was to kiss another Dizyntk, another female. Not that she did not enjoy kissing Michael, she most definitely did. But the feeling of another female's lips was very different and equally as pleasing.

It was not considered wrong among Dizyntk to have sex with another when you were bonded, so long as you had the permission of your mate. Feya certainly had every intention of asking Michael when he returned. She wanted Kari, this much was certain. She also wanted her mate to get to know her old friend, to love her as much as she did. Feya did not know if Michael could love another as much he loved her. She was determined, however, to try and make this work. At that moment Feya knew that she wanted Kari to be part of her bonded mating group. She wanted this as much as she had ever wanted anything.

Michael's first tour of duty with the Imperial Fleet Scout Vessel 405 was going about as well as could be expected. All of the crew knew who he was of course. There were probably not many Dizyntk in the Imperium who had not heard about him by now. He tried as best he could to get along with the rest of the crew. It was not easy however. While the Captain accepted him in his position due to his obvious piloting skills, the rest of the Dizyntk on board were a harder proposition. By the end of the first week of the patrol most of the crew had still not opened up to him. Only one, the ships assistant weapons officer, was openly hostile towards him. His name was Chartalen. After several verbal shots at Michael, the Captain had ordered Chartalen to keep his opinions to himself.

In the middle of the second week Michael finally made friends with one of the crew. He was in the ships mess hall. It was really just a small room with four small tables and eight chairs. The ships food preparation was done by automation. A ship this small really did not have space for a cook or a kitchen. Michael was having a few problems with the ship, most of them having to do with the fact that it had been designed with Dizyntk in mind. He was dealing with these fairly well. The only major problem he was having was the fact that he was not sleeping well at all. His bed and quarters were comfortable enough all things considered. The problem was the fact that he had gotten so used to having Feya snuggled up next to him over the past six cyankas that he was having a hard time getting to sleep without her warm body next to him. He was eating his dinner and was almost nodding off in his chair when he noticed someone walk over to the table he was at. It was the ship's Healer, Zarasina. She was, like most healers, a priestess. She belonged to the Star Order. She wore the symbol of her order, a black star sapphire, on her uniform.

"May I sit with you, Lieutenant?" she asked.

Michael stood and replied, "Of course, Sister."

Zarasina sat down with her meal. She was of average height for a Dizyntk, about five feet tall. She had light brown hair and fur. Her hair was short by the standards of dizyntk females, only down to her shoulder blades. Her eyes were of a similar green to Feyalisa's but with a greater concentration of silver flecking. It made her eyes seem to sparkle. They sat and ate without saying anything. Just as they finished, she spoke to him.

She smiled at Michael. "How are you getting along with the rest of the crew?" she asked.

"About as well as could be expected." Michael said. "Most of them treat me fairly well considering that I am a Human. Only Chartalen has given me any problems."

She nodded in understanding and noted, "You do not seem to be sleeping well."

It was Michael's turn to nod. "I suppose that I am not, but there is nothing that can be done about that." he said.

"Not used to sleeping by yourself?" she asked.

Michael felt himself blush a little at this. Dizyntk were very open about things like this. Michael was slowly getting used to these things but he was still a little embarrassed about it.

"No, I am not." he said with a small laugh.

"Perhaps you should take some sleep medication." Zarasina suggested. "If you do not get adequate sleep soon your performance as pilot will be affected."

Michael knew that this was true, but he did not like the idea. "If I do that and we have an emergency it will be nearly impossible for me to wake up quickly."

Zarasina considered this for a moment. "This is very true. That being the case I suggest that you consider asking one of the crew if they would sleep with you."

Michael nearly coughed his drink up his nose at this comment. He knew that she meant sleep when she said sleep. When Dizyntk were talking about sex they SAID sex. Dizyntk were very literal and straightforward about these subjects. It was just that Michael knew that there was no possibility of anyone aboard that would be willing to do that.

"You must be kidding, Sister." he said to her. "There is no Dizyntk aboard who is even vaguely interested in sharing a bed with a human, even if it is just for sleep."