David Farland - Lords of the Seventh Swarm

So it was decided. That night, they boarded the ship and began the journey first back to Cuzzim, where they would return the Nightswift to its proper owner.

From there, they would take the world gates back to Fale, a planet where Thomas wanted to renew an old acquaintance, a planet where Hera and Athena might build a new life.

And from there Tallea, Orick, Gallen, and Maggie would depart for Tremonthin, to make their own homes.

So Tallea felt little sadness when she left Ruin, watched the planet shrink on the Nightswift’s viewscreens. Much had changed on the world. When they’d come a few months before, the planet had been a red, angry-looking orb. Now the whole world seemed white, swathed in clouds that turned rosy pink at the terminus.

Tallea watched the planet recede, till it became a cloudy pearl that shone on a field of glittering diamonds.

That night, Orick and Tallea slept on the floor of the ship’s hold. Maggie and Gallen used one stateroom with the baby, Orick, while Athena and Hera slept in another. Thomas had passed out on the couch in the ship’s lounge, and so the bears were forced to make do.

Thus it was that Orick woke in the hold, disturbed by a strange scent-a mixture of blood and urine and something more. It seemed out of place here, among the strange odors of the Nightswift’s hold, but he recognized it at once, and something in him stirred.

Tallea was in heat.

Orick lay on his belly and put his paws over his nose. Trapped. He was trapped here on the ship, at least a week out from Cuzzim. Trapped in a closed space with a she-bear in heat.

It shouldn’t have happened. Orick didn’t know Tallea’s chronological age. The Lords of Tremonthin had grown her in a vat, forcing her to reach something near maturity before downloading her memories into the bear’s body. But still, Tallea was small. Orick imagined she would be no more than a year old, though it was hard to tell with bears. A small two-year-old was not much larger than a one-year-old, and a two-year-old could go into heat.

Still, Tallea seemed too young.

But Orick couldn’t gainsay what his nose told him. Perhaps the Lords of Tremonthin had some esoteric reason for making Tallea small and fertile. Perhaps they’d given her maturity while sacrificing size. Whatever the reasons, Tallea was in heat.

In other rooms of the ship, Orick could hear the sound of Thomas snoring, of Gallen tossing on his bed.

Yet Orick lay alone, sniffing the scent of Tallea.

Oh, God, why do you do this to me? Orick wondered. Is this a test? I promised You-never again, never again.…

Orick’s prayer escaped his throat as a whimper, and for a long time he just lay still, trying to control his erratic breathing, trying to still his racing heart.

Tallea lay close enough so he could hear her own deep breaths, watch the rise and fall of her chest. Her rear legs were toward him, her nose pointed somewhat toward his tail. She absently pawed with her hind leg, then moaned in her sleep. Discontent.

Even in her slumber she knew what she needed.

Orick’s own glands responded to her craving. I could just crawl over there on top of her, Orick mused. I could straddle her and deliver the goods right now, while everyone is sleeping.

The thought aroused him further, and Orick raised his own muzzle in the air, half-involuntarily, and sniffed again. The smell of her was growing stronger. Here in this closed atmosphere, such scents tended to become overwhelming-the scents of fur, of Tallea’s sleek fur, and of her need.

The smell made Orick dizzy. His heart pounded so hard, the blood thundered in his ears. It seemed that his brain was afire, burning, and his tongue felt thick and dry in his throat. He whimpered.

Eight more days of this , he considered. Eight days of estrus in these tight quarters. Does God want to drive me mad? Is that it?

Yes, that was it. God would punish Orick for his impure heart, his unclean thoughts, his-Orick had a sudden vision of himself, climbing on Tallea’s back.

The very notion sent shivers of anticipation up his hairy spine.

Sister Tallea. She’s Sister Tallea now , Orick reminded himself. She’s been baptized. She’s my sister in the gospel. That’s it.

Now that she’d accepted the gospel, Satan was tempting Orick. It was the perfect trap! The old dark angel could lure the two of them away and secure both their souls in one fell blow!

Ah, the pity of it! Orick considered. She loves me. She yearns for me like no she-bear should. It was unnatural for the Lords of Tremonthin to do that, to give life to a shebear who loved as deeply and firmly as any human woman could. Now the devil would use that love against them.

Orick imagined Tallea as she had been a few weeks before, rising up out of the waters of baptism, the light of God shining in her eyes-those beautiful brown eyes, that sleek dark fur, those shining claws, those inviting legs, those eyes so full of love.

Calm down , Orick told himself. You have to calm down. If thine eye offend thee, pluck it out.

But of course that Scripture didn’t apply here. If Orick were to pluck out his eye just because he envisioned himself succumbing to temptation, he’d be eyeless in thirty seconds. But it wasn’t his eyes he needed to pluck out. It was that other thing. It had hardened in an uncomfortable position.

Like a dog , Orick thought. You’re no better than a dog. Orick lay there, perfectly miserable, praying .

At length, Tallea rolled over, looked up at him, sniffed the air. “Something’s wrong!” she whispered. “I smell blood!”

Orick didn’t dare speak. In a moment she recognized the source of it.

“I’m sorry, Sister Tallea,” Orick whispered. “I–I don’t know what to do.”

“Oh, Orick, your vow!”

“Yes,” Orick whispered. “God has chosen to punish me, or test me. Or maybe it’s Satan, I don’t know.”

“It’s not just you being tested. It’s both of us. We should pray.”

“Good idea “ Orick said. He picked up his Bible in his teeth and Tallea commanded the ship to turn up the lights in the hold. Orick had the ship close the door to the hold, so that the sound of their voices would not disturb anyone else. The air was so thick with Tallea’s odor, closing the door only made it worse.

Tallea let the Bible flip open at random, and began to read:

“And from the rib, which the Lord God had taken from man, made he a woman, and he brought her unto the man.

“And Adam said, This is now bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh: She shall be called Woman, for she was taken out of Man.

“Therefore shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave unto his wife: and they two shall be one flesh “

Orrick perked up, surprised at the Scripture she had picked to read. “Wait a minute!” He said, “Try another one.”

Tallea closed the Bible and flipped it open again, near the end this time. She read:

“But from the beginning of the creation, God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave unto his wife.

“And they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh.

“What therefore. God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.”

Tallea looked up at Orick, her snout wrinkled in surprise. “Oh, Orick, do you think God is trying to tell us something?”

Orick frowned. “Wait a minute. Let me see that thing!”

Orick closed the Bible, closed his eyes, then flipped it open at random and opened his eyes. In the dim light, one passage seemed illuminated above the rest-a holy glow, shining down on the paper. He read: