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ThetwoKindredfrowned briefly at each other in apparent consternation.
“Ithink there must be some mistake,”Celiatold them. “Myfiancé,Peter, had my name takenofftheDraftRegistrythe day after he proposed to me.Didn’tyou,Peter?” she added, looking at him.Shehad to admit that next to theKindredwarriors, he looked kind of puny.Butshe hastily pushed the disloyal thought away. “Peter?Didn’tyou have them take my name off theDraft?” she asked again, since he hadn’t answered immediately.
“Er…well…”Hecleared his throat. “Imost certainly did!Orrather,Ihad my assistant do it.Ifshe forgot then it’s not my fault.”Helifted his chin and scowled at the warriors. “Buteither way, we’re engaged to be married.Soas my darlingCecetold you—theremustbe some mistake.”
“There’sno fucking mistake,” the dark warrior growled. “Hername was called in theDraftand we’ve beenDream-Sharingwith her for months.She’sours!”
“Wellyou can’t have her, so that’sthat!”Peterdeclared. “Nowif you’ll excuse us, we’retryingto get ready forThanksgivingdinner here.You’llneed to leave or elseI’llcall the police on you!”
“Callthem if you want—they’ll back us up.”Thesilver-hairedKindredproduced an official looking document and showed it toPeter. “ThisisCelia’sDraftNotice.It’sall signed, sealed, and official.Itgives my brother and me the right to take her with us for a full solar month to undergo theClaimingPeriodaboard theKindredMotherShip.”
“But…but this can’t be right!”Peterblustered. “I’llsue you—bothof you!”
“Sueif you want, buddy,” the dark warrior growled. “Nocourt on this tiny little planet will side with you—theEarthstill needsKindredprotection from extra-terrestrial threats, which means we still get to call brides andCeliaisourbride.”
“Well, you simply cannot haveCece!Notnow!”MotherFrancesexclaimed. “Wehave all this wedding planning business to get through!Andbesides, who will finish theThanksgivingdinner?Shehasn’t even gotten the yeast rolls in the oven yet!”
Allthis time,Celiahad been standing there, feeling like she was lost in a trance.Hereyes kept tracing the strangely familiar features of the twoKindredwarriors, as though she was trying to find where they fit—like two random extra jigsaw pieces left over after the puzzle is completed.Nowshe opened her mouth, unsure what was going to come out and heard herself say,
“I’llgo with them.”
“What?”MotherFrancesgasped.
“What?”Peterdemanded. “Butdarling, what about all the wedding preparations?”
“Yourmother is taking care of all that,”Celiareminded him.Indeed, once she’d signed thePrenup,MotherFranceshad swooped in and basically taken over the entire wedding, right down to choosing the cake, the venue,andthe dress.Celiahad been irritated at first—this was supposed to beherspecial day—but eventually she had given in, just to keep the peace.
“But…butI’veheard they make youdothings!”MotherFrancesbreathed, looking up at both of the huge warriors in horror.“Sexualthings!” she added in a scandalized whisper.
“Iwon’t do anythingIshouldn’t,”Celiasaid firmly. “I’mjust going to go with them to keep the peace untilPetercan get this all straightened out.I, er, don’t want things to come to blows,” she added, thinking that her fiancé was no match for even one of the enormous warriors—let alone both of them.
Shewasn’t quite sure why she was doing this—it wasn’t because she actuallywantedto go with the two big warriors who were trying toClaimher.Butshe wasn’t afraid to go, either—she’d heard all about how theKindredwere feminists who would never hurt a woman.Andshe was certain thatPeterwould call his lawyer and get things cleared up quickly.
Inthe meantime, she got out of kitchen duty, she told herself.LetPeter’sfamily make theirownThanksgivingDinner—maybe they’d appreciate her more when they had to baste the damn turkey themselves!
Also, she’d always wanted to see theKindredMotherShip, which was very difficult to get a tour of.Shewould probably only be up there for a day or two tops, but it would be a nice break from all her snooty future in-laws and their bratty kids.Shewas always up for an adventure—that was one reason she’d said yes whenPeterhad proposed to her out of the blue.
Andnow she was saying yes again, though she didn’t expect anything to come of it.
“Mydarling, really—youdon’thave to do this!”Peterexclaimed, looking at her with wide eyes.
“Yes, she does, actually.Drafteesare legally required to report to theMotherShipand undergo theirClaimingperiod once they get called,” the silver-haired warrior said firmly.
“Butdon’t worry—if shewantsto come back, we’ll bring her back,” the dark one added, with a smirk, which clearly indicated he didn’t believeCeliawould want to come back after spending some time with them aboard theMotherShip.
“Iwillcome back,” she said firmly, shooting the dark warrior a look of her own. “I’mjust going with you two in order to keep the peace.Iwant that understood.”
“Well…”Peterdithered.Hestill didn’t look happy about the situation. “Look,I’llpay you each half a million just to turn around and go right now,” he said to the warriors. “That’sa pretty good deal, right?Quitea sum of money just to put this all behind us?”
Thesilver-haired warrior looked offended and the dark one’s face grew grim.
“Didyou just offer to fuckingbribeus?” he demanded. “Doyou know what the penalty for getting between aKindredwarrior and hisBrideis?”
“There’sjail time involved,” the silver-haired warrior said blandly. “Andit’snotsomething you can bribe your way out of.”
Peterlooked white.Hehad clearly never met a situation that couldn’t be solved by throwing money at it before.
“Er, well…that is to say…Ionly meant—”
