Burning for Love (Kindred Tales)

“Purged?” The Princess’s eyes went wider. “You mean killed? They killed you just for having emotions?”

James nodded.

“Yes, that about sums it up.”

“But…but that’s terrible,” she exclaimed. “How could they kill you just for having feelings?”

He shrugged again. “It was the way of the Collective. What happens to you here on Regalia Five if your reputation gets ‘ruined.’ Are you purged?”

“No, nothing like that.” She shook her head. “You’re just ostracized and uninvited from every social event of the Season.” She frowned. “And then you have to go and live in the country so no one can see you and you won’t ruin other girls by your association with them.”

“That sounds like a kind of purging,” James pointed out. “A social purging, at least. If you are banished from your home and you are never allowed to speak to anyone you know again—that doesn’t sound like a very pleasant fate.”

“No, it’s not.” She sighed. “Which is why a lady must be so very careful. And, I suppose, why I must wear the Chastity Wire.” A troubled look came into her eyes. “But I would never do…what Lady Mildew accused me of. I hope you know that, James.”

“I wouldn’t think less of you, even if you did,” he assured her.

Her eyes grew wide again.

“What? But how could you not think less of me if you found out I had…had touched my forbidden areas?” Her cheeks went pink again as she spoke and he could tell it embarrassed her to speak of such things.

“Because I don’t believe that any part of your own body should be forbidden to you,” James said firmly. “It’s your body. Why shouldn’t you touch it anywhere and any way that you want to?”

“Because it’s wrong!” she exclaimed.

“Who says it’s wrong?” he countered. “Lady Mildew? Do you really hold her opinion in such high regard?”

“Well…I…I don’t…” Princess Ka’rissa seemed to be at a loss for words. “I just don’t think it is right,” she said at last, weakly.

“It’s one thing if you don’t think it’s right,” James told her. “It’s something else entirely if you’re letting someone else tell you it’s wrong—letting them control what you think.” He frowned. “That was one reason I was glad when the Collective fell—the hive mind of computers that ran my home planet,” he explained, seeing her questioning look. “Though I have no emotions, I still want to have thoughts and opinions of my own. I think that is every sentient being’s right.”

Ka’rissa looked at him thoughtfully.

“You know…you’ve given me a lot to think about, James,” she murmured and yawned. “But now, I’m feeling so…so sleepy.”

“All those emotions you had have worn you out,” James told her. “I have witnessed this with other feelers as well—when they have a lot of strong emotions in a row, they need to rest afterwards. Do you think you can sleep now?”

She sighed.

“I’d like to, but I’m afraid I’ll have to get up and wash my face and neck in cold water again. All the, er, emotions I had seem to have made me overheated.”

James looked at her flushed cheeks with concern.

“Do you feel in danger of combustion? Should I draw another ice-cold bath for you?”

“Oh, no!” She shook her head. “It’s not as bad as all that and I can’t get into the bath with the Chastity Wire locked in place, anyway. No, I just need to cool down a little before I can safely go to sleep.”

She made as if to get up, but for some reason, James didn’t want to stop holding her. The thought that he wanted to keep her in his arms gave him an idea.

“Princess, if you want me to, I can cool my body temperature down, as I did earlier this evening when you fainted in the Reception Hall,” he offered. “It might be that this will cool you down as well, since you are still pressed against me.” He nodded down to the way they were positioned with him still sitting on the side of her bed and the Princess laying almost in his lap.

“Oh, could you?” she asked, looking up at him. “But aren’t you getting uncomfortable, sitting like that? You’ve been, er, holding me, for quite some time now.”

“I don’t mind,” James murmured. He stroked one flushed cheek with a finger that was already much cooler, since he had commanded his body to begin chilling itself.

“Oh…” She pressed her hot cheek into his hand eagerly. “Your hands are so lovely and cool, James!”

“Get a little closer and lie against me as I reduce my body temperature,” James told her. “Here—do you mind if I stretch out on the bed?”

She bit her lip, as though wondering if this was “proper,” but at last she nodded her head.

“Yes, that would be all right, I think.”

“Good.” James stretched out on her bed—it was a large bed and long enough for him to do so—with his legs crossed at the ankles. He propped his right hand behind his head and cradled the petite Princess close to his left side as he continued to cool his body down.