Page 15 of Breaking Ties

The female with the head fins said, “Elder Vress.”

“Elder?”

“Ra was the first, Kethen the second, and then there were four more. All of the first elders drink blood from their mate.”

“So saving on the food budget. Understood.” She held her arms out and looked down her body. “Oh, that’s where they drink from.”

They smiled weakly. There wasn’t anything they could say to that.

“Would the assembled care to know anything? I am getting better at this.”

The finned woman raised her hand, and Aubrey smiled. “The boy and three sisters will hatch on time, despite what they endured.”

The woman covered her mouth, and her fins moved rapidly. “Thank you.”

“You have four months before they show.”

The woman laughed happily.

The rest of the council raised their hands, and one of the older males made her pause. “I see a slow walk with crimson flags. Faces are sober, and children are quiet and being carried.” She focused. “There is a Hmrain carrying a woman who is limp in his arms.”

The man sighed. “Presko’s companion of seventy years has become tired.”

“What?”

The finned woman said, “It is what is said when a consort or companion no longer wishes to live. They release their ties to this world.”

“Oh. Oh no.”

The man collected himself and said, “Do you know when?”

“She is already gone. My vision was of the ceremony.”

“Ah. They will have the ceremony in seven days. He will honour her body for what it has provided for him; her name will be recorded on cenotaphs around the world. Songs will be sung, and the people and her Hmrain will remember her.”

“That is sad.”

“My people do not have long life spans. When we first met Presko, we lived until thirty. With his efforts, we increased our lifespans to fifty. I am forty, and I am looking forward to the last ten years with my grandchildren.”

“So, the honoured companion was about one hundred?”

“Correct.”

“That is the outside option for my species. We begin losing our strength around sixty and decline after that. Of course, if you are female, your cycles stop between forty-five and fifty-five, and you go crazy for quite a while before it all grinds to a halt.”

They blinked. A pale woman on the side said, “You are all rapid cyclers?”

“We are. Well, if a woman is healthy and everything is normal, which it hasn’t been for a lot of women after surviving. If we lose too much weight, it all stops; if we gain too much weight, it doesn’t stop, but it isn’t easy. Fat issues hormones that mess with things. It is still possible, but never mind. I am sure your doctors can tell you by now.”

They smiled gently. She smiled. “I am a wait-and-see case.”

One of the men said, “Oracle, this is highly unusual, but would you consider speaking to some of your people? Some of them are highly agitated, and we are having a difficult time calming them down.”

She smiled. She suspected she knew who they were referring to.

“Adults or children?”

“Adults and children. The adults are stirring things up as they go through orientation.”