tucked into the corner of the wall beside the entrance to the what Ag’hana described as the cupboard room—or kitchen, as far as Charlie understood it in human terms.
She didn’t know how she had missed the orb. It was about the size of a crystal ball that fortune tellers were once said to use before all forms of divination were outlawed as predatory against people under the Universal Freedom and Equalities of Religions Act. Like all progress undertaken by Earth Gov—a step forward invariably ended in taking two steps back.
Staring at it, she wondered what exactly an orb that size did.
The door chimed seconds before Ag’hana sailed in. She was clad in a scarlet robe with threads of gold, cerulean, and violet running through the elaborate trim, making her pale fur look creamier than the day before. If that were even possible. She looked disgustingly perfect, and Charlie was still wearing her pajas, the lightweight pants and tunic for sleepwear. Ag’hana had bought her some slinkier sets, but Charlie was glad she had squeezed this one in when the female had been distracted by a table of bath oils.
Wrinkling her nose, Ag’hana examined her. “Why are you lying there in those ugly pajas? Where did you get them? I know I certainly did not select those.”
“You didn’t. I did,” Charlie replied as she relished watching the female flinch. “They’re more practical and comfortable for our current cohabiting situation than what you picked out. What you wanted me to wear was see-through.”
“Isn’t that the point?” Ag’hana huffed.
“How is it the point when I’m supposed to be sleeping comfortably in them?” Charlie asked.
“That is because you are assuming you should be sleeping in them and not wearing them to bed to tease your male,” her friend explained, her tone exasperated. “I like you, Cha’lii, but I am very disappointed that you have not yet seduced my brother.”
Charlie blushed. “Not for a lack of trying,” she muttered.
Ag’hana’s lips pinched together. “What happened?”
“He assumed I was leading him on, I think. Said I was teasing him when I was more than on board with the suggestions he was throwing out.”
That caught her interest. She leaned forward and grinned. “Oh? Were they dirty? I never would have guessed that my strictly-by-the-letters-of-the-code-of-edicts brother would be even capable of talking dirty to a female.”
“Oh, he was more than capable. His follow-through was just frustrating.”
Ag’hana sighed. “I confess I should have anticipated that reaction. He had no true understanding of what would happen when he volunteered to become a’sankh. The populace is not told much about them, only that they give their lives to protect us. It is presented as the noblest action a male can take. He thought the reactions he heard that females had toward a’sankh were exaggerated gossip. Jesting more than anything else, because males were choosing to remain unmated. He realized later that the rumors were true.”
“What do you mean?” Charlie whispered.
Her friend gave her a grim look. “The females would stand apart from him and would not meet his eye. They would not speak to him unless he addressed them himself, and then they spoke only to the point. That was not the worst of it, however. That would have been merciful. Unfortunately, there are always some females who made it a game to rile up the a’sankhii males, especially the younger ones struggling to control their raw, enhanced instincts. They torment them until they extrude with longing and then laugh and pull away, leaving the males to suffer until it eases. The year that Rh’ystmal joined the a’sankh, it was very bad. Finally an elder in the guard who advised the king took him and the other tormented males aside and explained to them in the simplest of terms how it was to be, and that they would do best to stay away from the females altogether unless ordered to assist them.”
Charlie shook her head in patent disbelief. “You’re seriously telling me that not one female would approach? Not one—ever?”
Ag’hana sighed. “I wish I could tell you otherwise, but it is ingrained in us. Even if you admire or feel an attraction toward the a’sankhii, we are groomed to know that such feelings are wrong. They were not designed for our pleasure, and their bodies are not in the natural form, so the desire is considered unnatural. To ignore that would be to risk one’s reputation in the city and to lose the support and respect of one’s peers.”