Raised to Kill

In another moment, Lauren had cut many more slices and everyone in the room was having some. Allara noticed that the different “layers” were different colors and so, presumably, different flavors. She wondered what they tasted like and then decided to find out.

“Husband,” she said to Brand. “I would like to taste the other cake layers. They all look very interesting.”

He gave her an easy smile, his golden eyes gleaming.

“Of course, baby. Let me get you some.”

He left the table and came back with three more thick slices of cake for her, all piled on a larger plate.

Allara was delighted—she couldn’t help herself. Sweets were only served on High Holy Days at home and she had never tasted anything half so nice as the “wedding cake” Lauren had made for her and Brand.

As she was sampling the other layers of cake, there was a squeaking sound and then Kat’s voice came through the air sounding magically amplified. Looking around, Allara saw that the red-haired woman was standing in a corner of the room, next to a kind of machine. She was speaking into what looked like a thick metal stick which must be the thing that made her voice sound louder.

“And now that the cake and toast are finished, I am officially opening the karaoke station!” she said. “If anybody wants to sing, come try it.”

To Allara’s surprise, Brand raised his hand.

“I’d like to sing,” he said to Kat. He glanced at Allara. “I hope you don’t mind—when I found out how important music is to your people, I picked out a song to sing for you.”

“Oh, of course.” This didn’t surprise Allara at all. In fact, it was the first time the wedding ceremony had even remotely resembled the ways of the Q’ess.

He wants to sing his song of ownership and dominion, she thought, watching as the big Kindred went over to Kat and spoke with her in a hushed voice. At least one thing would be normal about today. She wondered if her new husband would then expect her to sing her song of submission. It might feel strange to do so outside a Song House, but there were so many strange things today. She supposed she could manage if—

And then Brand’s deep, resonant voice filled the air and she forgot what she’d been thinking—forgot everything but the warm, sensuous sound that washed over her and enveloped her so completely.

“You feel the wind against your cheek

It is my love.

You see the stars in space so deep

It is my love.

Wilder than a river

Deeper than the sea

My love will always

Bring you back to me…”

There was more but Allara could hardly concentrate on the words. It was his voice that moved her so deeply. It had sounded deep and musical when he was talking but when he used it to make Song, the sound was beyond anything Allara had ever heard. It was even better than the string quartet with their vio-lins, she thought!

Deeper than any male voice she’d ever heard among her own people, it filled and overflowed her. As the big Kindred sang, she felt as though her whole body was being caressed by a big, warm, gentle hand. The tips of her breasts became tight and tingly and the place between her legs where a woman may not touch herself felt swollen and hot. What was wrong with her? Her whole body was reacting to him—reacting to his Song in a way that it had never reacted to anyone else’s Song she had ever heard.

It was incredibly arousing and also terribly frightening.

What is he doing? Why is he doing this? she thought frantically. Is he trying to make me betray myself with emotion?

It wouldn’t work, she promised herself. She would keep her face blank and not show all the tumultuous things she was feeling inside. But she couldn’t help the tremors that ran through her. Her eyes grew wide and her breath began to come in short pants. The forbidden places of her body throbbed and she began to feel a deep yearning for something she could not name.

And all the time he sang, the big Kindred looked right at her. His golden eyes captured and held her as his deep voice poured over her like warm saffra honey. Oh Gods of All Creation, would it never end?

She both wanted the Song to finish and wanted it never to be over. But if it didn’t stop soon, she felt as though something was going to happen to her—something surprising and frightening and illicit. She—

“Deeper than the ocean,

Wilder than the sea.

My love will always bring you

Back to me,”

Brand sang and then he smiled at her and handed the metal loud-talking stick back to Kat. Everyone clapped their hands together and, after a moment, Allara realized she ought to be clapping too.