Heart of the Agraak Read online

  Heart of the Agraak

  A Mate Index Alien Romance

  S.J. Sanders

  ©2019 by Samantha Sanders

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without explicit permission granted in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction intended for adult audiences only.

  Editor: LY Publishing

  Cover Artist: Samantha Rose

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Epilogue

  Bonus | Alisha and Gorul

  Author’s Note

  Other Works by S.J. Sanders

  About the Author

  Chapter 1

  The dome colored the sky the palest shade of blue through the barrier that encompassed the city of Aminae. Within it, the capital city of blue and white stone rose with sweeping arches and magnificent architecture that paid tribute to Agraak civilization since they’d emerged from their ancestral swamplands and built the first spires of their noble city.

  Kaede watched as a small, personal flyer zipped above the gardens outside the window. It must have been a visiting merchant or one of the noble ranik returning home. They were the only ones allowed flyers within the dome-city. Some belonging to other classes owned ground transports, especially among the warrior ranik, but most used the underground transport tubes, none of which came anywhere near the noble hill of the palisade. It had been that way in the city domes across Agraadax since the reforms generations earlier established the system of raniks.

  Unlike most Agraak, Kaede loved the swamplands. Although dangerous, they were full of beauty that few among his people saw outside of the lerel, the collectors, who gathered resources, and the murol, who made their living by the hunt. While the lerel were taken by shuttle to specific locations to work under the guard of warriors, it was the murol who truly understood the beauty and secrets of the swamps.

  It was among the royal hunters that Kaede made his first excursions into the swamps as a youth, and it was among them that he was regaled with the stories of his people from the time before the social reforms that brought the raniks.

  A time of heroes, those who left lasting imprints on the oldest of monuments of Agraadax.

  Kaede had listened with the wide-eyed eagerness of a young male, barely more than a hatchling, to stories of great warriors of old who defended their city domes from the monstrosities of the bog flats and the encroaching beasts that emerged from the swamplands. Heroes like Megesh, Yurz, Binor, and Agork, who fought off marauding tribes. Esshme and Vizu, who fought off the first invaders from the stars. The stories of the great hero Talik, who brokered the first agreements between their people and the heaven dwellers that gave them technology, sciences, and medicine in return for resources that grew abundantly on their planet.

  Although his private teachers in the palisade had taught him that the reforms had been necessary to preserve social order and help Agraadax rise to power in the universe, it was from the murol that he learned the true price. Though his teachers told him that the raniks ensured every necessary task of the cities was seen to, the murol showed him that the lives of the people were yoked, often cruelly, by the raniks to benefit the merchant and noble caste, who benefited from the labors of the lower raniks.

  When Kaede spoke with youthful candor saying, optimistically, that anyone could progress out of the lower raniks if they possessed a strong spirit, the murol males had laughed. It was in their company that he witnessed the cruelty of the promises for advancement as young males risked everything for promises never fulfilled. He witnessed the broken bodies abandoned by those they attempted to serve with no reward or merit given, ultimately forgotten. He’d been a young adult when he saw firsthand the conscription of youths into service to serve as fodder for battles Agraadax became involved in.

  Those who survived never received the honors of the warrior caste, nor did the families of the fallen.

  Upon reaching adulthood, he endeavored to use his position to help those of the lower raniks of Aminae. Although he had little voice among the nobles, he spent more and more time outside the metal walls of the great palisade, preferring to serve the people in the lowest sectors of the city. From where he sat in his study, he could see the elegant, curved metal of the nearest part of the wall.

  A wall that he was determined to see come down.

  In a prosperous city that valued its people, there was no need for a wall that, despite its beauty, served as an impenetrable fortress separating the nobles from the rest of the inhabitants of Aminae. Not even the most esteemed and profitable of the merchant class could acquire one of the great historic houses within the palisade.

  Obscured from the view of the common raniks, the great park of the noble households was comprised of gleaming monuments, crystalline water displays, and the most abundant gardens. Every house had a most prized view of the great park that could be seen from nearly every window of their homes. Blue cobblestone paths led through the park in winding trails, where those with time for leisure could enjoy a secluded rendezvous or a pleasant stroll. It was beauty, selfishly hoarded away.

  Kaede sat at the window that faced the eastern foundation. It was his favorite place in the house, his sanctuary. The lithe form of the heroine Agmuk stood at the center, holding an overflowing bowl from which water sprung and cascaded down amid the Agraak hatchlings that raised their arms to her.

  Few females had such honored places in Agraak history, but Agmuk was the first mother of Aminae who, upon leaving the swamplands and traversing the bogs, discovered the first natural spring and planted the first seeds of the crops to feed the children when they hungered in a new, unfamiliar land. She, the merciful mother, was often beseeched by all raniks as a great heroine, especially by females and males who prayed to her to aid them in bringing forth young.

  Kaede loved to look upon her because she reminded him of a gentler side of the Agraak that was too often conveniently forgotten among the higher raniks who paid worship to the great heroes in their desire to emulate their power.

  Everything had become about power among the first raniks: the noble, priest, and warrior raniks. So much so that no one among them had any use for the gentler spirits and heroes, unless they desired something specific, such as in the case of Agmuk. This was perhaps why he found such comfort seated by the window facing her image where none of the warrior statues rose in the vicinity. Agmuk had frowned on the sway held by the most violent of hands. The priests seldom spoke of it, but Kaede had spent enough time among the lowest raniks to know that they celebrated her as a bringer of peace.

  Kaede considered himself a devotee of Agmuk and considered his charitable works
in the lower sectors of Aminae to be necessary. Though he was strong, built like a warrior, he wanted to help those who hungered and suffered the most rather than emulate the warriors of old. It was nearly time to make another trip with provisions into the Agwal sector in the lowest outward zone of the city.

  He ran his finger along his datapad, scanning the text. It was a comm from one of the humble unofficial priesthoods that had sprung up in the lower sectors detailing recent events and new problems arising. Every revolution, the situation seemed to grow worse. Males were beginning to fight over the few available females or forming uneasy shared breeding agreements. Populations were dropping at alarming rates. He’d just waded through a dozen more missives inquiring when the breeding facility would be shut down.

  Not only did these minor priesthoods consider it an insult against Agmuk and several other divinities to force breeding, there was a firm outcry against the facility that brought punishment upon Agraadax and restricted access to human brides from the Mate Index. Though a single male wouldn’t be able to afford a bride, many males began speaking of pooling resources to mate-share. As if that wasn’t problematic enough already.

  Kaede’s claw thumped out a vexed rhythm on the back of the datapad. He didn’t bother to look up at his mother staring at him from across the dalswa table. He could feel the weight of her excitement even from where he sat, and it made his stomach turn. His mother had a talent for landing him in the worst situations in order to acquire what she wanted. He didn’t know what she had her sights set on this time, and he didn’t want to know.

  He shifted his large bulk, uncomfortable under her piercing stare, and his mother sighed.

  “Kaede, really, can’t you do something to look less... enormous? It is really quite uncivilized.” She fell silent but he could feel her eyes examining him. “Have you been using the lightening cream lately? You are looking dark again. Remember what the physician said: you need to apply it daily so that you appear more of royal pigment. I have no idea how I managed to spawn such a hatchling.”

  Kaede gritted his teeth and set aside his datapad. He had no hope of getting anything done while she was on her favorite tangent. Born so dark green he was nearly black and with a prehensile tail, found in their more distant ancestors and the uncivilized swampland tribes, his mother frequently bemoaned it and placed the full responsibility on his deceased father.

  Her family, as she liked to brag, belonged to the best of lines with true royal stock and the most brilliant Agraak coloring. There hadn’t been a single instance of throwback traits emerging in her line since they’d first been bred out. She disparaged the fact that she ever accepted a mating agreement from Kaede’s father. Her mate had been a wealthy noble male, but of a lesser house with a questionable maternal bloodline that was known to be tribal in origin.

  He missed his father. Emvor, despite his massive size that Kaede inherited, had a mellow temperament that Imasala liked to scorn as much as his deep emerald hue while he’d been living—and he’d been nowhere near as dark as Kaede. Her son would be her ideal, even if she had to create it artificially. Emvor had tolerated some of it but refused to allow her to cut off Kaede’s tail, much to his son’s relief.

  After his father’s death, Kaede continued to refuse when his mother brought up having his tail removed. To satisfy her, he kept it hidden, tucked around his waist beneath the folds of his dupar that hung to his ankles. While he preferred modest knee-length dupar that made traversing through the city and swamplands easier, he adopted the lengths suited to the higher raniks and wore his dupar in the royal hue of blue that could only be obtained by noble families from the omala flower cultivated inside the palisade. If that weren’t enough, he also wore the three golden bands signifying his status as a noble wrapped around his chest. All to make his mother happy.

  He hated wearing the signs of nobility. Not only did it make him conspicuous whenever he left the palisade, it drew more attention to how different he was from males of other families. That he was tall and broad with muscle built while exploring the outer swamplands made him stand out more and added to his mother’s list of grievances. Lightening his skin had been a compromise, but one he loathed. The cream irritated his skin every time he used it.

  “You really need to stick to the regimen. You know we are near reaching agreement with Meliafa house for their daughter Ayaa. I do wish that you would reconsider the tail thing, but so long as you keep it hidden and do not embarrass me or frighten her away, I won’t insist on it.”

  Kaede swallowed back the derisive snort that threatened to break free. His mother had no power under Agraak law. He was an adult and the sole inheritor of his father’s house and all the wealth that by law passed down to him. He gave his mother an allowance; he depended on her for nothing. Unfortunately, by the same law he had to provide her residence in his home and a minimal stipend. This meant that she was always present to make his life as miserable as she cared to if he didn’t give her what she wanted.

  She pushed his feet off the table and set her comm device in front of him, showing the ad that was the source of their recent arguments.

  “Kaede, this is important. I have spoken to Ayaa and she agrees with me that the sooner we get you registered at the breeding facility, the better. Especially with talk of shutting it down with that vermin escaping last cycle. We need to at least attempt to get one mating in until it is temporarily closed and relocated. Ayaa insists, and I must agree with her. A hatchling after mating is a sign of good fortune and raises a female’s status considerably. She wants a guaranteed hatchling on the way before she agrees to anything.”

  “What use does Ayaa have for hatchlings?” he asked. “It would interrupt her activities and take her away from the males she loves to surround herself with.”

  He was no fool. He knew exactly the kind of activities the female, whom his family was trying to broker a mating agreement with, enjoyed. While he had no objection to those among their species who enjoyed the carnal revelries at The Dark Palace in the merchant sector, Ayaa spent most evenings there. He did not foresee an agreeable mating between them.

  “Don’t act like a hatchling.” Imasala scowled. “No one can blame her for wanting male company. She is generous to consider accepting the offer from our family.”

  “Yes, you are paying her well, Mother,” he stated contemptuously.

  “And,” his mother continued as if he had not spoken, “she is well within her rights to want hatchlings. Especially since our scientists went through so much trouble to procure a compatible species.”

  Kaede lifted a brow. “You mean the humans we keep just so we can make Agraadax the most hated and disgraced planet in the Intergalactic Union. You know how I feel about that. You know how I feel about these forced breedings.”

  His mother, in her typical fashion, waved away his protests. “Don’t see it as a forced breeding. See it as a gift to our species. It is survival. Many of my friends have had their sons sire offspring with these human females, and their young are perfect Agraak babes. I am embarrassed to be the only one without grand-sired younglings.”

  “Except your sister’s son.” He smirked. “Ividak went to go collect his female from Dorok, after embarrassing himself at the Council, and got himself killed for his efforts by a very unhappy VaDorok.”

  “Well, yes,” she hedged. “That was unfortunate. He should have made himself content with leasing a breeder rather than trying to collect a permanent one. Granted, his family paid an absurd sum of credits for her, but they could have demanded a refund. I told my sister it was madness for him to make such a fuss with other breeders readily available. Why buy a human and be saddled with her when you can lease a female every time you are ready to sire another? Ayaa and I are planning to send you in once every two revolutions until we have bred at least three hatchlings. Nicely spaced out.”

  “Seems like you and Ayaa have it all planned out,” he muttered. Never mind that he was the one who was going to be forced to go and
fuck the poor terrorized female.

  “Kaede.” His mother pinned him with a hard look. “You owe this to your family. You are my only offspring. It is your duty to mate and reproduce. I have already made the appointment. We are leaving within the hour, so make peace with it. You will give this to your family and once the human is confirmed to be gravid, Ayaa will accept our proposal.”

  He was still fuming an hour later as they settled into the shuttle heading to the breeding facility. In the end, he agreed not so much to please his mother or the wretched female she wished him to mate with, but because he considered it his responsibility to see what went on at the facility. Many Agraak were kept ignorant of what went on there. Information was crucial. He had no intention of actually breeding with a female, but he’d put on a convincing show.

  His mother sat by Ayaa’s side, completely unaware of his plans, chattering about caring for a hatchling and the shopping that would need to be done in the market center. Ayaa nodded along, tapping on her datapad. More than once she stated that she would require the best of everything. Her interest in acquiring a rare Arobi female to care for their young chilled his blood.

  Female Arobi were expensive and had to be acquired directly from breeders. Since Arobi mated in packs, only one female was born every two or three litters. This made a female of that species not only highly sought-after and expensive, but she was guaranteed to live an existence with no freedom. Never to see the outside of her owner’s house unless collared and leashed for a specific activity. That Ayaa spoke of an enslaved species as if she were buying a new lipini to wear disgusted him.

  Kaede blocked out the conversation as much as he could and stared out the window of their flyer as it skimmed over Aminae. A gateway opened in the dome, and their flyer zipped out heading for the location disclosed to his mother in a comm verifying their appointment. His hand clenched into a tight fist on his lap as they drew closer to their destination.

  Chapter 2