The Breeding Prize - Aya Morningstar Page 0,49

of en vogue again, so if you like it so much, maybe I can try it."

"Yes," he says. "Let me burn it. For feminism."

"It's just...when I see you going around shirtless, skewering little cute rabbits and providing for me, I'm going to get wet, and that means my nipples are going to get hard."

"Exactly. This is why I want to burn the brassiere."

"And guess who else is going to see that? Kula. Do you want him to see your Muru's nipples?"

He glowers at me. "Put it back on, but when we are alone together, you will remove it, Muru."

"Deal."

Just as I'm getting my clothes on, I hear Kula whistling from the distance. It's almost like he was waiting from behind a tree or something for us to get dressed.

He gives me a knowing look, and a devilish smirk, as he looks at me. He’s holding leather sacks that look like they were made from the little rabbit animals’ hides.

"Did you two...have a good...rest?"

Raiska and I both nod.

It's silly to keep up the pretense when all three of us know exactly what happened, but I do kind of appreciate it, because it would feel really odd for all three of us to be openly discussing Raiska trying to get me pregnant.

"We should keep moving," Kula says.

Raiska nods. "We'll descend the mountain into the badlands."

"If it's badalnds," I say, "maybe we shouldn't?"

“We fill these with water,” Kula says, holding up the leather pouches.

Raiska looks at them suspiciously.

“Never waste any part of the animal, brother. Chefs do more than just cook.”

We fill the water pouches that Kula made for us in the stream.

Kula speaks as we fill the pouches. "The badlands are not truly barren," he says. "The Koira have lived there for millenia, and if a whole people can survive there, then so can we."

"The Koira?" I ask.

"They are a nomadic people. They are thought to be the native species of Lakria, though that is disputed. Lakria's written history spans millions of years. It's one of the oldest known civilizations in the galaxy, and its history is full of holes."

Raiska caps his water pouch with a bundle of leaves. "Of course the Koira probably think it's their planet. Typical egoism."

Kula shrugs. "I'd like to have a planet to call home. I don't blame them."

We start moving. Raiska carries my water pouches for me, as they weigh several pounds. They are large pouches that should last us for days until we can secure another source of fresh water.

Soon we are moving downhill rather than up, and the trees quickly thin, and then are gone entirely.

Before us is a large, mostly barren plain. There are thin little shrubs and rock formations that look almost ancient.

"We have no cover here," Raiska says.

Kula nods. "And if they are still alive, they can no longer sneak up on us."

I can't be sure what I like better. In the forest, I felt like we were hiding. Even if, in theory, the other contestants could have just popped suddenly out of a tree and jumped right on top of me, I at least had the illusion of being safe.

In this barren plain, I can see everything around us for miles. When I look back, the mountain is just behind us, but the treeline is a few miles back. If either Philos or the little goblin aliens were coming for us, we'd be able to see them. Still, there's no hope of us hiding from here. They'd see us as well as we'd see them, and it would mean a guaranteed confrontation.

I like to think Kula and Raiska are stronger and better fighters—I know they are—but I know from history on Earth that battles are not simply about who is the better fighter. Luck and chance are often huge factors as well.

There's also the extra variable of me. Kula and Raiska don't just have to defeat the other aliens, they have to make sure I'm safe. I'm a liability and a disadvantage for them. I'm just hoping against hope that the others died in the explosion. Or that they fell to their deaths. I'm hoping that Raiska's alien sperm is making quick work of my uterus, and that I'll be pregnant in no time.

I want the Breeding Games to end. I don't know if that will mean going back to Earth, but if I can just go back to Thrace and be with Raiska, that will be all I'll ever need. I can hope for a way to see my