A SPARTAN'S WAR

HIGH COVEN G9 LONG RANGE TRANSPORT

THE WILDS

NEAR NEBONESE

"Nalavi… Nalavi that can't be right." Yuri spoke as she sat across from him. "I can't have Darpia Syndrome."

Nalavi shook his head. "It is right. I have checked the figures seven different times. We've been going over this for three hours now. You do have Darpia Syndrome Yuri and with the chemical blueprints that Anja Leonidas gave to us, I can fashion a serum that will save the child."

"By using Kavalian technology?" Yuri hissed angrily.

Nalavi shook his head. "Kavalian based technology that the foremost Hadarian Healer in the Galaxy altered in such a way that for all intents and purposes it is now a Union medical find." He held up the pad. "I've read the entire medical report she gave to me on this Yuri. It was unbelievably accurate and detailed. She even included the first failures as a baseline for the serum. It worked on Isabella's child Yuri. You saw him beside Androcles in the landing bay of his ship."

Yuri instinctively dropped her hands to her abdomen. "Nalavi… I can't lose this child." She gasped. "I can't."

"And you won't!" Nalavi declared. "Yuri… this serum she developed works! They used it on Isabella's child. They would not do this if it did not work."

"And the child would be fully grown in a matter of days!" Yuri snapped.

Nalavi shook his head. "No. Among the work she gave me was a calculated timetable based on how far along you are now. You can carry this child for four months Yuri… that is how long your womb will sustain the child. After that it will begin to break down and then we will need to induce the birth with the serum. She calculates a lesser dose so your baby does not grow as fast as Dorian Leonidas. What took him hours to grow will take your child months."

"You trust her?" Yuri spoke.

Nalavi shook his head. "It is not a matter of trust Yuri!" He told her. "They could have done nothing! They could have executed all of us and you know that. They did not have to tell us… and when I did discover it, it would have been too late!"

"Nalavi will this…?" Yuri began to ask.

He shook his head quickly knowing her question. "Darpia Syndrome is hereditary yes, but it only happens once and then it runs its course. You have already given birth to four healthy children Yuri! You will have more! The thing we have to concern ourselves with now is this child. And we have been given the means to defeat the Darpia Syndrome." He shook his head. "Pa'cour… help me to make her understand!" He barked looking up.

Pa'cour had gone forward to check their instruments and had not returned yet. Yuri got to her feet. "Pa'cour?" She called.

They both heard the loud thump like someone had fallen and they rushed forward. They stopped by the small bathroom when they heard wheezing and soft groans. Yuri knocked on the door. "Pa'cour?"

"Not… not now!" His voice echoed from behind the door and it was obvious that he was in pain.

Yuri's eyes opened wide. "Pa'cour… you open this door right now!" She barked. "Do you hear me? You open…"

The door slid aside and only Yuri's vampire reflexes allowed her to catch his much larger body as he slumped into her arms. His weight drove her to the floor however and she cradled his shuddering body with great worry rushing through her.

"Pa'cour my love!" She gasped as his body convulsed several times.

Nalavi gawked at him. "You took it!" He barked. "I told you to wait fool Immortal! Your injuries were not fully healed!"

"Nalavi" Yuri gasped.

"He took the serum." He hissed as he ripped a large container from the nearby wall and tossed it to the floor, tearing it open.

Pa'cour gripped Yuri's arms tightly. "I… I will not…" He spoke through clenched teeth. "I will not have my child enter this world and see… see a monster!" He snarled.

"I told you to wait!" Nalavi exclaimed as he pulled out the portable medical scanner. He turned back to Pa'cour and froze, is eyes wide. "Phraktos!" He gasped looking at him.

Yuri too looked down and her eyes grew wide. "Pa'cour!" She cried.

"For… for you Yuri!" He gasped through his pain. "My… my Blessed Wife!" Pa'cour lifted his hand so that he could see and through the grimace of intense pain and stinging that was shooting through his body he watched the transformation take place. Yuri took that hand in hers without hesitation, wrapping her fingers around his as she watched with wide eyes.

It began slowly, right around the injection point of the serum, the dark gray mottled skin began to lighten and smooth out. His eyes watched as it began to move up his arm, slowly but surely expunging his past life and purifying him. He groaned in pain, his body tensing until the veins in his neck and arms bulged outward and Yuri cried out in horror. Pa'cour could feel it though. He could feel the cleansing of his veins, his organs, feel it as the toxin was irrevocably purged and killed by the serum Esther Suira had made. The pureblood Blessed Wife of his brother Cha'talla and she had saved them all. Yuri's hands tightened on him as he twitched several times, her wide eyes watching with tears rolling down her cheeks as the true Akruxian Immortal that Pa'cour was began to take shape. The folded dark gray skin was slowly being replaced by deeply tanned bronze skin. Smooth and vibrant with life. His strong jaw, his full lips that had given her such pleasure as they explored her body in ways Robert had never imagined. The bone spurs along his jaw becoming more white and healthy looking. As it spread across his head, dark hair began to sprout from his skin to cover his bald head. His thick neck strained as the toxin infected skin began to change and extend lower, changing as it moved. Yuri could only watch as the transformation continued while he lay on the deck, his upper body supported by her lap. She could only watch as the most handsome man she had ever laid her eyes upon began to take shape right in front of her. This man. This Immortal that had stolen her heart and soul. She had learned to look past his outer shell and into his soul the first night she had given herself to him. He had made love to her with such passion and intensity that it had stolen her breath away. To be filled by him was the most divine sensation she had ever felt. To feel his huge organ pulsing with her depths as she was wrapped in his arms. She had seen his love, his courage and his determination. Now… now the man she had seen within was coming out.

The process took nearly ten minutes, and Yuri held him tightly through it all, unwilling to let him go. Finally… his face became less tense and his body began to relax and his dark eyes opened slowly to look up into her face.

Nalavi had also watched with stunned eyes. He lifted the scanner once more and could only shake his head. "Xal l'phraktos preserve uns'aa?" He spoke. "It… it worked." (May the gods preserve me?)

Yuri could only stare in astonishment as her hand dropped and she began to tentatively stroke the skin of his cheek. Her fingers traced the edges of his bone spurs and she saw him smile as it sent tingles through him. He reached up and took her hand.

"Do I… meet… do I meet your approval my Blessed Wife?" He asked softly.

All her emotions came out then and with a sob of relief and love she crushed his lips with hers. Pa'cour reached around and held her head to his with one hand, kissing her with every ounce of who he was. Yuri whimpered in unabashed delight but quickly drew her head back and beat hi on his chest.

"You fool!" She gasped. "Don't you ever… ever frighten me like that again Pa'cour! I will hurt you if you do such a thing again! Do you hear me fool?"

Pa'cour smiled and a small laugh escaped his lips before he pulled her head down once more and kissed her again.

Yuri found herself unable to take her eyes or her hands off him as they sat in the small lounge area fifteen minutes later. The dark hair had become more than just stubble, filling out quite a bit into short cropped black hair that she had run her fingers through many times. The bone spurs were much more prominent in their healthy white color, and they appeared to be slightly longer, but against the deeply tanned skin they looked so natural and fearsome. His skin was now a deeply tanned almost raw umber color. He didn't wear a shirt as Nalavi examined him, and the muscular definition in his body was mouth watering to Yuri. She would need to spend many hours rediscovering his body the way it was and that caused blissful warmth to surge through her loins.

"We will go here." Pa'cour spoke handing her the data pad as he leaned over to retie his combat boots.

Yuri looked at the data pad, saw what he was referencing and then looked back to him. "Veyerai?" She asked. "Pa'cour… this is one of the planets that Androcles Leonidas gave to us."

Pa'cour nodded. "Yes."

"Is that… is that wise?" Yuri asked. "They will know where we are eventually."

"Yes they will." He replied. "Do you honestly believe he could not find us if he so chose my Blessed Wife?"

Yuri gazed at him for a few seconds. "No. He'd find us."

Pa'cour nodded. "This way… we have the added security that this facility provides to us. It is also only two jumps to where you ordered Lidene to move in the Holmar System." He looked at her. "I assume that you have a reason for that?"

Yuri nodded her head. "Yes. He will continue his research just as I told him. Whatever he develops we will have control of. If Dante or Robert ever got their hands on it, it would be disastrous."

"What is Lidene researching Yuri?" Nalavi asked.

"Weapons mostly." She answered immediately. She was among the two people she trusted most in this life now and she would keep nothing from them. "Ship based and perhaps small arms."

"Why?" Nalavi asked.

Yuri looked at him. "Something… something inside me tells me to go forward with this Nalavi. Not for the purposes of conquering or oppression, but for survival."

"Survival against what?" Nalavi asked.

Yuri shook her head. "I don't know." She answered softly.

Pa'cour took the pad from her hands finally. "The facility on Veyerai is fortified and has everything we need. Nalavi… it will allow you to establish a complete research lab and medical facility as you have always desired. Over time we can bring more to us. The facility can hold over five thousand."

"Who would we bring to us?" Yuri asked.

"Those who believe they would not be accepted by Narice and what she has begun, but who are loyal to the Coven." Pa'cour answered. "Those who believe as we do."

"And what do we believe?" Nalavi said.

"You heard what Androcles Leonidas said Nalavi." Pa'cour spoke. "The time has come for us to leave the past where it is. The future is what must hold our attention. There are many who have done questionable things to insure that future in their own way. They do not hate or kill and have no interest in oppression or conquering. Those are who we need to draw to us."

"Build our own army?" Yuri said.

Pa'cour shook his head. "Not an army my Blessed Wife. A force for good. I… we both have much to atone for Yuri… and in this way we can do that."

Yuri squeezed his hand. "Yes we can."

"We will do the things that Narice can not." Pa'cour said looking at her. "You wish to support your sister in what she does, I can feel this within you Yuri."

Yuri nodded her head slowly. "She's the only one who can." She said finally. "And yes I do."

Nalavi lifted his hand. "What makes either of you think Androcles Leonidas will allow this?" He said. "I don't know about you two, but I have no desire to incur the wrath of that young man, not after what we saw him do to the Kavalian ambassador."

Pa'cour looked at him. "Nalavi… why do you think he let us go?" He asked.

"What?" Nalavi gasped.

Yuri nodded her head. "He could feel it within me Nalavi." Yuri spoke. "He could feel that the urge to rule, to command no longer resided within me. His perceptions of Mindvoice are far more attuned than anyone I have ever met. Including my mother. His father is the same way, but Androcles in many respects is more ruthless and devious than his father."

"Are you saying that he let us go because he knew you would do what you are planning?" Nalavi asked.

"I doubt he knows that Yuri ordered the research he wanted destroyed moved to another location." Pa'cour spoke. "But I believe he knew this is the road our redemption lies upon and he is giving us the opportunity to do it."

"Why?" Nalavi asked.

"I am different from my sister." Yuri said. "Narice will only resort to violence as a last resort and only then will she crush anyone who stands in her way of moving the High Coven forward." She explained. "I am not so conservative. I can act in ways that Narice cannot to insure that she succeeds."

"A shadow force?" Nalavi said.

Pa'cour nodded his head. "We will watch over her from a distance. Never making ourselves known to her or those close to her, but always supporting her in what she does. That is what we can do."

"And I ask again… you think Androcles will allow this?" Nalavi asked.

"Given what he felt within me…" Yuri said. "I believe he hopes that is exactly what we will do."

"What about Moran?" Nalavi asked.

Yuri rose to her feet and crossed the small room slowly. "Ah… Robert." She spoke softly. "When the time is right…" She turned back and looked at them. "When the time is right we will meet again. I want the pleasure of gutting that vith'ez fa'la zatoast myself for everything he has done to me. For everything he and my mother were doing to me knowingly. And I will give Dante and Xaxon's foul presence within him to Androcles Leonidas, for now only he or his father can truly destroyed what Xaxon has become." (Fucking bastard.)

Nalavi watched as she returned to her place beside Pa'cour and took his arm within her hands. He shook his head finally and couldn't help but smile.

"Ah uoi'nota… retirement didn't look so promising anyway." He said. "I'm in." (Hell)

ULU ARC ROYAL

EDGE OF THE OUTER ARM

Martin Leonidas leaned against the edge of the door frame into the bedroom and let his eyes gaze upon them in the bed. He couldn't help but think that a long time ago he would have considered all this a very big dream. He was a King to billions of lifeforms. Leader of a collection of species that thirty years ago he would have only seen in some Science Fiction Movie. He shared his existence and a bed with six of the most breathtakingly beautiful women he had ever met in his life and he loved them all to the point of insanity. With the possible exception of Aricia and her soul stealing azure colored eyes, all of them could incite him both intellectually and sexually. Aricia was only different because she could see into his very soul and this gave her an added edge the others did not. He knew she was the cog in their wheel. He was the center yes, but Aricia made it all work. All of them would be the first to admit that had anyone ever asked. How they laid in the bed was the perfect example. Aricia was at the center of the tangle of limbs. Her arms were tightly wrapped around For'mya; Anja spooned firmly against For'mya's back. Dysea was pressed to Aricia's opposite side; Cirith spooned against Dysea's back with Isabella's arms spread out over both of them. He knew every intimate detail of each of their bodies, their scents burned into his brain many times over. He would never forsake any of them. They were part of who he was and now nothing would ever separate them again. Many people had tried to determine through the years who he favored most after Aricia, and he always found it amusing to listen to their rationale.

In truth… they were all more precious to him than his very own life.

Aricia, his Saaraurano, could and always did incite the wolf within him just a little more than the others, because they were anomes and because she was pureblood like him. Her lavender and coco scent was the one that reeked from his pores more potently. Who would he reach for after Aricia? There was something unique about Dysea's wildflower scent and her five foot nine, powerfully built and tattooed body was a divine temple that he would never tire of worshiping at. Every sensual curve and contour of his Melda Min, and there were many, rippled with power and sexiness and her elven ears were utterly delicious. Whenever he was within her velvety depths, power flowed through him. What could he say about Anja? Her five foot three inch body was just as powerfully built as Dysea's, yet the fire within her was a drug within itself. She could go longer than any of his other Queens, even Aricia at times, because of her Hadarian blood and the healing radiation within her. And her screams of passion were by the far the loudest of them. Anja was totally uninhibited and probably the most sexually adventurous after Aricia in their bed. Her talented tongue could drive any of them insane with pleasure and she had happily done this to all of them for years. For'mya… his Kinsoaurgai. The calm and patience that radiated from her was unmatched, and her quiet intensity in their bed was beyond thrilling as she drove them to new heights. His brother's rape of her had all but been washed away and she was rapidly returning to the woman she was before with their love swirling around her. They would spend many more hours rediscovering For'mya, especially now that her breasts had grown larger because of the Kavalian serum. They were extremely sensitive and she would gasp delightfully just from having them kissed. Isabella was his dark lover. Intense and wild and always whispering into his ears. Her vampire scent of sweet lilacs was addicting and her equally long legs were just as enrapturing. Cirith. What could he say about her? The perfect combination of vampire and wolf blood. Cirith had the best of both worlds and was growing stronger by the day. That she carried Aikiro's blood within her did not matter to him in the least. The wolf blood within her, one of the original six ruling packs, more than made up for that. She was rapidly beginning to become more familiar with all of them and her passion and desire for both him and his other Queens was growing each day. Her black hair and lush body they had spent hours exploring as she exploded endlessly.

Who did he prefer after Aricia? To him the answer was easy.

All of them.

Martin's head lifted just a little as he felt Wayonn tapping gently against his MV shields. Martin sighed softly. There was always something. At times he utterly hated who he was and wished only to escape and take his women and go to so uncharted world to spend his days basking in the sun and sand and reveling in the scents and charms of his wives and mates. He could not though. He would never lead a normal life because of who he was and what he could do and the name he carried. A name that instilled respect in many and fear in others. A name that was his to wear with pride. Something he did every morning he awoke.

With barely a conscious thought he lowered his shields just enough to talk with him. [Wayonn?]

[Forgive me for disturbing you my boy.] Wayonn spoke. [We need to have that talk now however. I have gathered Helen and Arzoal. We are waiting for you in the landing bay with Torma and Isheeni.]

Martin nodded. [I'll join you in five minutes.]

Martin gazed upon the bed once more, his dark brown eyes alive with life as he brought his hand up to his heart and then clenched his fist over it.

I will love all of you until the very last breath leaves my body and I join my father and grandfathers beyond. That is my vow to all of you my Queens. Never again will any of you endure the touch of another upon your bodies or minds. You are mine. And mine you will be for all time.

Martin Leonidas turned and began to head for the door of their quarters. He did not see six sets of eyes open and heads lift to gaze at where he had been standing only moments before. He did not see those six sets of eyes then turn and gaze at one another with complete and utter love and commitment. He did not see those eyes close once more as those six women drew each other closer and sleep claimed them once more.

And you will be ours for eternity Martin Leonidas. Six voices reached out softly. Forever more.