Starlight Gleaming Ch. 21 Pt. 01

Akama stepped out from around the corner. "She's in the latrine, sir. Something I can help with?"

"Yes. I want a spare vest and helmet for Lady Izel. Ixma, Cholan, are you coming?"

Ixma shook her head. "The captain thought it better if we just stayed here. With the potential danger, and with Cholan not feeling well and all. We can get ready quickly if you want us there."

"I do want you there. Both of you are important to me. But maybe your officer is being sensible. Besides, Izel's brother may show up early. I believe his arrival time is a good estimate, but things happen, and if it gets rough, I don't want you, Cholan, or my daughters in danger."

I looked at Cholan again. "Ixma, will you keep an eye on her, too? If she's not better by the morning, I'm taking her into the clinic myself."

Ixma tilted her face up as I kissed her goodbye. "I had planned to. Calia checks on her every hour or so, too."

Mina barely acknowledged the kiss to her cheek. Her belly full, she laid her head against her mom and closed her eyes.

I stood behind Cholan, then hunkered down and nuzzled her. "I hope you feel better soon. I'm worried about you."

She hummed, giving me a soft smile. "You gonna make her yours like you did us?"

"I intend to show her a good time, yes," I replied quietly.

Cholan smiled to herself. "Once she's been with you, Ranji, she won't ever wanna leave."

Izel listened to the barely functioning woman with an indulgent smile.

Then Cholan's voice hitched as she turned to look at me. "You've been so good to me, Ranji, and I wish I could show you how much I love you."

"I love you, too, Island Girl. What I want is for you to get better, okay? I'll check on you when I get back." I kissed her cheek and moved around the table. Then I headed upstairs.

Izel followed me.

"Going to watch me dress?" I asked as she caught up to me on the stairs.

"Do you mind? I'm trying to learn about you and them and your relationships with everyone. I am especially impressed by how affectionate you are with your daughters."

"Why shouldn't I be? I love spending time with them, teaching them things and watching that light go on in their eyes when they understand something new. Mina is shy, but she is very devoted. Sisi is outgoing and makes friends easily." I opened the door to the master bedroom. "When I was in the Seventh Hell, it was not just the love of Janetta and the other women that helped me come home. It was knowing that I wanted to see my kids, that I needed to be there for them while they grew up."

She pulled the door closed. I walked over to my dresser and began the process of unhooking my holsters and emptying pockets.

"You carry so much stuff with you. Seventh Hell? Not the literal one, I'm sure."

I shrugged. "Might as well have been. Working at Cuzco and having been the wife of a flag officer, you know there are things not discussed with others unless they have the proper clearance."

She swallowed and nodded. "Yes, I am aware."

I took off my neckerchief and shirt and tossed both into the hamper beside my dresser. "This is not for sharing, Izel. Last summer, I was one of twenty-seven people assigned to a special training facility. I was supposed to be gone ten weeks and return to my command here, which at the time was the 945, a small outfit auditing the books for logistics and supply. Then I was given my orders to leave for training. Everyone else at the training facility was flown in. I was told to fly myself in, and as soon as I reached the base, I was shot down. Almost killed. I found myself hanging from a parachute, trapped on the side of a mountain freezing to death in a snowstorm until one of my cohort found me. Once we reached the base--"

"Kandikan, stop." Janetta entered the bedroom, dripping wet. "Please, Ranji."

Removing my shoes, I removed my trousers and separated the belt. "Anyway, I spent the next few weeks being tortured daily. Sometimes when they were done, they let us lay there, in pain so bad we couldn't move. Then, they'd heal us and did it all over again. Seven of them died before we ever started any training. Seven! Before the end, three more died, one of them by my hand. He was trying to kill me, so I thought it the thing to do. Then I spent another few days being tortured. I wasn't supposed to survive."

"Don't, Ranji," Janetta said quietly. "You get moody and distant when you think about what happened. This is the wrong day and the wrong time to do that."

I tilted my head, then sighed. "She needs to know. You do, too." Opening my wallet, I took out my new, secondary ID card and handed it to Janetta. "It's official now."

She glanced at it and handed it back. "I knew about this already, Kandikan. Doesn't change a damn thing. It's not the uniform but the man who wears it that matters. It's the man who makes the uniform what it is."

"Fine. I need to see this myself." Setting my wallet down, I went into the closet and retrieved the suitcase given to me by Itznacoco. Setting it onto the bed, I opened it up.

Zinja entered the room then, watching me dress. She handed a towel to Janetta.

Moving aside the hat and shoes, I pulled out a shirt and pulled it on. Izel gasped as I pulled out the trousers and stepped into them. Reaching over, I put on the peaked cap. I stood there in my black uniform, with silver piping on my trousers and silver headband on the cap and its silver and black shield with crossed daggers. My name and the words 'Imperial Security' over my breast pockets. The rank of a full commander on my shoulder boards.

Janetta scowled and Zinja looked unhappy, perhaps even wary.

Izel looked afraid and confused. "I... I don't understand."

I said to Izel, "I do not work for the man you call the Devil, but this is part of who I am now. The training camp I went to was Sparantzlo. Most of the time I wear the uniform of the Imperial Air Service, and I'm the CO of the 602 Air Security Regiment. I am also the new Imperial Security Station Chief at High Guard War Base."

"That's right, Kandikan," Janetta snapped. "Just like you cleaned up Air Security, you and those with you are going to clean up Imperial Security. Do I like seeing you in that uniform? No, I don't. And it's not because of you. It's because of all those who came before you wearing that uniform that makes a simple bit of cloth instill fear and loathing."

I turned to Zinja. "What do you say?"

She refused to look at me. "Commander Orchid did a lot of good when she was here. You're a good man and I love you, but seeing you in that is unsettling. It makes me go all cold inside."

"Izel?" I asked. "How do you feel about this? And about me now?"

Taking a deep breath, she let it out slowly. "If the next thing you told me was that we were going on a spaceship and traveling to the stars for a honeymoon, I would believe you. Still, like the sergeant says, Commander Orchid is also Imperial Security, and she has the support of the Empress. I'm not exactly comfortable seeing you dressed in that uniform, but with everything else I've seen and heard, I'm willing to reserve judgment. Do you plan on wearing that to our wedding?"

Shaking my head, I said, "No, I do not." I took off the hat and worked on removing the shirt. "I much prefer my Air Service uniform."

"You look quite handsome without anything on, sir," Zinja said. "A real fine figure of a man."

"That he does," Izel said with an appreciative smile.

Smiling with approval, Janetta said, "He'll do."

I finished putting the uniform back, and stored the suitcase back in the closet. Standing up, I brought out my Class A with the new patches on it.

Once I was out, Janetta entered the closet to retrieve her own uniform. "I'm letting you know right now, Zinja and I may be drunk this evening."

"Oh?" I slid my belt through the loops. "Why is that?"

Izel looked at the dress jacket, examining the new patches with interest.

"Because," Janetta replied, "you're going to be too busy to give us massages tonight."

"Maybe so. Depends on what happens after the wedding," I answered. "All right. I consider myself warned." As she came out, setting her own uniform onto the bed, I added, "I'm letting you know in return, if you get too handsy or too mouthy, I might decide to do something about it."

"What? You'll try and put something in my mouth?" Janetta rolled her eyes. "I'll never be too drunk to figure out how to respond to that." And she snapped her teeth loudly.

"I wouldn't mind," Zinja offered, sitting on the corner of the bed. "I've tasted him before. With him, it's a nice experience."

When I glanced at her, my farm girl gave me a shy smile. "Thank you. It's a great and loving experience for me, too, Zinja. And I enjoy giving it as well."

"Wait!" Izel exclaimed. "You're talking about using your mouth on the other person's...?"

"Oh, yeah," Janetta nodded with a sigh. "Zinja, Ixma, Cholan, Calia -- they all suck his cock and they all swear they love doing it. I've had to do it more times than I'd care to admit, but I don't enjoy it."

"But he said he enjoyed giving it, too!"

"Yep. Kandikan is a real pervert. He likes putting his mouth on a woman's pussy."

Izel squeaked as her eyes widened. "Really?"

"Afraid so," Janetta intoned. "It's unbelievable how much he seems to get out of it. And it doesn't seem to matter who it is."

Izel's hands flew to her mouth. "But the priests say... Where he puts his cock?"

"I'm flexible," I said. "Besides, those priests are full of shit. The gods have nothing to do with it. The taboo is just a means to control women, Izel. They want a woman receptive to a man's lusts, but they don't want her to enjoy sex. If she liked it, she would want it and expect to be satisfied from the experience. I do it every chance I get."

"Pervert," Janetta muttered, but a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth.

There was a sharp double-rap on the door. "Commander?"

I went to the door and opened it. "Yes?"

The young trooper looked nervous. "It's fourteen-thirty hours, sir. If you want to be at the temple at fifteen-hundred, we should leave soon."

"Almost ready to leave. We'll be down in a moment. Have Lady Izel's servants bring up her shoes and dress, will you?"

"Master?" Calia squeezed herself by the trooper, holding something in her hands. A scarf, one bearing our House colors.

"Yes, Calia?"

"When the marriage is finalized, put this on Lady Izel. So she has something of yours to wear."

I recognized it then. It was Calia's own scarf, a gift from my mother long ago. I put the scarf into my jacket's inside pocket. "I'll return this to you later, Calia. I know it has a special meaning to you. And thank you. I completely forgot about the wedding gift for her. What would I do without you?"

"You are my sun and my moon and the stars that light up the night sky. All I want is your love and to give you babies. Have a safe trip, and I wish you a pleasant ceremony. Now if you don't hurry, you'll be late!" With a grin, she turned around and walked away.

"Kandikan," Janetta bellowed, "you're still barefoot. Turn to! Even if you do outrank me, if you make us late, I'm going to plant my boot up your arse!"

* * * * *

Part 5 -- Ranji and Izel Get Married

* * * * *

Izel and I sat in the back seat of the second ChoCac security cruiser. Mack sat in the front while Akama drove. In the cruiser following us were Janetta, Zinja, and Sowitwee. At our home we just left behind were a full platoon of troopers, and more patrol vehicles driving up and down the streets keeping watch.

I looked at Izel, this older, beautiful, and intelligent, yet vulnerable woman who needed my protection. Reaching out, I offered my hand. "Haven't scared you off yet?"

"I've pinched myself twice to make sure this isn't some crazy, wonderful dream."

She noticed my hand and shyly took it. When I clasped her hand in mine, she squeezed it back.

Mack looked over the seat to me. "Dispatch just let me know that Captain Lovyanchiti and Sergeant Chita are at the temple awaiting your arrival, Commander."

"Thank you, Mack." Turning back to Izel, I said, "I know this is basically a political marriage. You gain my protection and you provide us access to funds and resources to make all of us safer. But I want you to know that it doesn't have to be formal between us. After hearing your history lesson this morning, I realized there is a lot more to you than is readily apparent. I want to know more about you, Izel. I'd like us to become friends."

Surprised, she blinked. "I... all right?"

"What do you think about that?"

"I never imagined being friends with my husband. You are nothing at all like I expected."

I grinned. "Well, then, Izel. Describe to me your perfect day."

She grinned back. "Curled up under a blanket with a hot fire in the room with a good book. Or out in the sun on a lounge chair with a good book. The first one I discovered while in Cuzco. It gets cold in the mountains at night, especially in winter!"

"How are you with walks on the beach?"

"I've actually never been."

"Really?"

She shook her head. "It seemed like something to do with someone else, not alone, and that never was an option. Either no one was available or I had too much else to do. How about you? What's your favorite?"

"I don't have just one. But right now, at the top is reading a good book to my girls. But a while back, we had a great time at the Capisco Aquarium, and the girls have both asked to go again. And they've expressed interest in the zoo as well."

"I've been to a zoo, but I've never been to an aquarium," she replied.

The cruiser came to a stop. "We're here," Mack announced. "The honor guard is forming up, sir."

"Honor guard?" I asked. "What's going on here?"

"For the protection of you and the members of the wedding party, sir. Captain's orders."

Doyya!

Both Izel and I put on our protective helmets and checked the vests.

Two platoons of Air Security in combat gear, white gloves, and the clear Starkline-9 protective shields surrounded our vehicles. Mack got out and came around, opening my door. As I got out, a wall of men and women surrounded us, shielding us from any possible danger. Reaching my hand inside, Izel scooted out, and I helped her stand. Mack collected Izel's headdress and stepped in behind us.

Once we moved away, Akama moved our vehicle over to a parking space. The second cruiser pulled up, and Janetta, Zinja, and Sowitwee were likewise protected. Two of the Type-M ChoCacs sat in the street near the parking lot entrance, keeping watch. As we ascended the five wide steps to the temple walkway, just under the covering to the entrance, Doyya stood there in her own combat gear and white gloves. Chita, in her Class A uniform, stood beside her. Both snapped to attention as we approached. Five guards flanked them on each side, also with shields.

I returned the salute. "This is a bit more than I expected, Captain."

She and Chita dropped theirs.

"Always better to have too much security than not enough," Doyya replied. "Especially when you need it. Considering how many times in the last year that various villains and ne'er-do-wells have tried to end your life, we're just being careful. I remember a time when an officer I knew was shot in the leg, had it dressed by a field medic, and went back to work, letting it go for days untreated. I'm not sure if he forgot to get it looked at or if he was just trying to impress us with how tough he was."

"It was most definitely the latter, Captain," Chita said with a cheeky grin.

Izel giggled.

"Ah, my pardon. Lady Izel Ocotépan of Nahua State, this is Captain Doyya Lovyanchiti, who is my indispensable and irreplaceable Second in Command. With her is Senior Sergeant Chita Wanwari, our Regimental NCO. They are the brains that keep our regiment functioning and I reap the glory for all their hard work. They are also my very good friends."

Izel offered her hand to Doyya, who bowed over it. Chita, being enlisted and not noble, she could have left it at that. But she didn't. Once Doyya was done, Izel graciously moved her hand to Chita, whose cheeks darkened as she paid her the same respect.

"One more point," I said to Izel. "The Captain here has agreed to act as my best man for today's ceremony. Sometimes, the best man for a job is a woman."

Izel blinked in surprise.

Doyya, however, flushed furiously, her mouth opening and closing with no sound coming out.

"Air Service, Commander. I'd count that as a total kill," Chita murmured.

Which apparently helped Doyya recover. My Second cleared her throat and said nothing.

With Doyya and Janetta leading the way, and Zinja, Sowitwee, and Chita behind us, flanked by our two guardians Mack and Akama who somehow now wore white gloves, we entered the temple of the Jade Goddess.

Beyond the huge glass, double-doors was a reception area with comfortable-looking couches, chairs, and tables with religious pamphlets scattered about. Huge windows from the high ceiling let in plenty of outside light.

Immediately to our right was a desk with a young male attendant in light blue and white robes. Perched on the corner of his desk and chatting with the attendant was a middle-aged woman with a lot of laugh lines on her caramel-colored face. She wore fancy robes with swatches of blue, cyan, teal, turquoise, green, white, and grey in a chaotic yet somehow soothing arrangement. Behind her were two more young priestesses dressed as the attendant.

Before the attendant could ask us our business, the priestess rose, saying in her alto-bass voice, "I've got this."

Beaming at us in turn, she came around the counter and paused, bouncing from foot to foot in excitement. "Commander Kandikan! Lady Izel! Lady Tlacotli! I don't know the others, but I'm sure I will have the pleasure shortly. I thought I was dreaming earlier when you called, Commander.

"Now, before we begin, I must ask you to give your word of honor that you will not initiate any hostilities within the walls of this temple. Her temple is supposed to provide security, succor, and well-being to all those within. Do I have your word, Commander, that no one in your party will draw their weapons unless attacked first?"

"Certainly, Priestess Xiao. I give you my word of honor that we mean no harm to you or the temple, and pledge that we will only draw weapons after we have been attacked."

Beaming a smile, she said, "Excellent. After reflection, I think I will speak privately to Lady Izel first. I ask the rest of you to please wait out here. My acolytes, Veela and Ponya." The priestess pointed to the two young ladies standing on her left flank who bowed in turn. "They will provide light refreshments and direct anyone where to go in case they need to relieve themselves."

Moving to Izel, the priestess slipped her hand onto her elbow and began guiding her away. Janetta stepped behind them.

The priestess turned and looked at Janetta. "This is supposed to be a private interview, Captain. I already discussed this with Commander Kandikan."

Unfazed, Janetta said, "Lady Izel has accepted me as her Warrior Maiden. Lady Izel and Lord Kandikan are important people. While we respect the sanctity of the temple and you as the high priestess, you have not likewise pledged to our safety within these walls. Lady Izel is only recently free from captivity at the hands of her own brother. Over the past year, there have been numerous attempts to kill both Commander Kandikan and me. As Lady Izel's chosen protector and advocate at this rite, you may deny my presence during your interview, but I will inspect the room you intend to use, and if you bar me from the room, I will remain immediately outside the door, ready to render aid to Lady Izel."

I blinked. Doyya looked impressed and Izel herself looked both surprised and pleased at Janetta's words.