He said that word ‘intended’ like it meant something important.
“What’s intended mean?”
“They’re to be mated soon,” the shipmaster replied to me, his voice encircling me like a warm blanket.
I looked at Surkah who was busying herself with a machine next to me.
“You’re marrying this guy?”
She glanced at me. “What does that mean?”
“Is he going to be your husband, the person you spend your life with?”
“Oh,” she said then nodded. “Yes, Mikoh has been my intended since my birth. When I am of age in four more moon cycles, we will be mated.”
What. The. Hell?
“Wait just a second,” I said as I tried and failed to sit upright. “Who decided he would be your intended if he has been that since your birth?”
“My father, of course,” Surkah said with a smile. “Do human fathers not pick their daughter’s intended?”
“No,” I said, managing a snort. “We pick our own. Arranged marriages are a thing of the past. Now that I think of it, marriage is a thing of the past, too.”
“Oh, well, our males can pick who they want and so can females, but many prefer their fathers or eldest brother to choose for them. The females do have a say just in case she does not like the match, but a rejection is rare. They trust their father or brother to pick them a good male.”
I raised my brow. “Do you have a say?”
“Yes, but Mikoh has always been my intended. All the people know it, and if I now decided against the pairing, no other male would mate with me because of his position. That and Mikoh would kill them if they touched me.”
Mikoh’s growl of agreement made the shipmaster chuckle.
“I don’t understand,” I said, terribly confused. “I thought you didn’t like him. From how you both interact—”
“We don’t like one another,” Surkah cut in. “But he is still my intended, and that won’t ever change. In four more moon cycles, I will belong to him.”
“Like property?” I asked on a gasp.
“No, not slavery.” Surkah giggled. “He cannot force me to do something I do not wish too, but he will be the lead Maji in our homestead. He will make the decisions and so forth. I will be his female, and he will be my male.”
It was hard to digest that.
“That is so different to the human way.”
“Really?” Surkah quizzed.
I thought I saw concern on her face, but I wasn’t sure.
“Yeah,” I said. “Our women are very independent, and if a man ordered us about, he’d be dropped so fast his head would spin.”
“I do not understand your words,” Surkah frowned. “You would harm him?”
“No.” I chuckled. “But if my husband ordered me about and treated me like anything less than his equal, I’d leave him.”
Surkah gasped, and I could have sworn that the Maji males did, too.
“You would leave your intended?” Surkah asked, and I could have sworn she had a hint of horror in her tone because it was plastered all over her face.
“Well, yeah. Long before the war, humans got divorced, separated, or just disappeared all the time. It’s not a big deal; people change their minds.”
“Not Maji,” Surkah said firmly. “We mate for life.”
Nothing is for life.
“What if Mikoh cheated on you with another woman?”
“I do not understand.”
“What if he had sex with another female?” I clarified.
Surkah blinked. “That would be impossible. His loyalty would be to me, and my scent would be imprinted on him from our first mating as he would know going into the mating that I am his intended. He would open his senses to me and encourage the mating scent. He would never want another female because he physically would not be able to respond to her sexually; another’s scent would irritate him, and he would become aggressive towards a female. He would not harm her, but he would force her submission until she learnt her lesson. We may not like one another right now, tiny one, but once we mate, we will never part, not until death.”
“That is … crazy.”
“Is it?”
I nodded. “It sounds like your species has a chemical bond with your partners.”
“What does that mean?”
“Well, when Mikoh … mates with you, he’ll become addicted to you … your scent … right?”
“Well, yes, and I to him.”
Yep, so different to humans.
“So do you all wait until mate before you have sex?”
This prompted another laugh from the males and an eye roll from Surkah.
“No,” she said. “We can share our furs with another until a mating.”
“Then how does the intended thing work?” I questioned. “Why hasn’t Mikoh become addicted to another Maji female?”
Surkah shrugged. “None were his intended.”
“Yeah, but, what if he got addicted to another Maji female?”
“Then she would be his intended because he would not be able to part with her, but as that has not happened, I remain his intended. Sometimes a bond happens without knowledge, but most of the time a male or female will feel the connection to their intended and will the bond to occur. Mikoh already feels a strong connection with me, so our bond will snap in place fast; it can happen before we share furs if it’s strong enough. Besides, if Mikoh found another intended, my father and brothers would kill him for dishonouring me since he made the offer t
o be my intended when I was born.”
I widened my eyes as I looked at Mikoh.
“How old are you?” I quizzed.
I knew he wasn’t human, but he looked around twenty-five years old, if even.
“Two hundred and three,” he answered.
My jaw fell open. “Get the fuck out of here.”
“No.” He frowned. “You cannot make me leave.”
I laughed at him because he took what I said literally, but also because I was shocked and amazed by their lifespan.
The shipmaster nudged him. “Sera said their lifespans are greatly shorter, so she is probably surprised at your age.” He switched his eyes to me and asked, “How old are you?”
I shrunk under his gaze and murmured, “Twenty-three.”
“You’re a minor?” Surkah asked, her surprised lacing around her words.
A minor?
“No, on Earth and especially during these hard times, anyone aged thirteen and up is considered an adult. I’ve never known anyone to live past sixty-five years. Many years ago, some humans could get to one hundred years of age but not anymore. If you make it to sixty now, then you’re considered really old.”
My father had made it to fifty-nine.
“Maji are minors until our fortieth year,” Surkah informed me.
Holy Almighty.
“So you’re nearly forty?” I asked, my shock obvious. “Forty years?
Surkah nodded.
“Forty Earth years?”
“No, Ealra years. Your orbital period is three hundred and sixty-five days for one year; ours is five hundred and forty-one days for one year.”
That meant she was even older in Earth years, a hell of lot older.
“You look incredible for forty. Seriously, you look like you could be eighteen.”
Surkah smiled widely. “Thank you, but forty is very young in Maji culture.”
I gestured towards Mikoh. “So you can’t marry him until you’re an adult?”
She bobbed her head up and down. “Mikoh does not want to mate me until I am at least one hundred years of age, he thinks I am too young right now, but I cannot share sex with another male unless he is my intended. Mikoh does not wish me to be in pain, so he has agreed to mate with me as soon as I am of age.”