The Ilia's lovers - Chapter Five

Please be aware, this is a first draft of The Ilia's Lovers. That means this hasn't been edited. There will be multiple errors and even consistency errors. Feel free to share comments highlighting them, but you don't need to contact me personally, unless you see a major consistency error. Please also remember, this book has been written in three parts across three different years due to the health concerns I've had since 2023. Thanks for understanding.

Hadith watched in the mirror as his fingers moved over the buttons of the pale aquamarine of his top. Across Dahnus’s bedroom, Dahnus was just beginning to don his clothes after the long, luxurious, and intense bath they’d shared. Hadith’s skin still sang all the places Dahnus kissed him.

Dahnus hadn’t allowed him to cum. Not until tonight. Not until after the vote, when they had something to celebrate.

An hour after Dahnus had climaxed, Hadith’s cock was only just beginning to soften, easing the ache of his continued arousal.

Hadith watched his love dress, admiring the way the loose top, mauve blue with aqua accents, fell and draped over the hard, lean muscles of the male he loved.

‘Keep looking at me like that, Hadith, I’ll have you on your knees before me, before we leave.’

Immediately, Hadith’s cock sprang to attention at the thought of taking Dahnus into his mouth. Hadith groaned and leaned against the mirror, taking in deep gulping breaths to try and cool his blood.

He heard Dahnus’s footsteps come up behind him.

‘Well, that won’t do. We can’t have you walking around the first chamber like that.’

Dahnus’s voice was husky with his own arousal.

‘On the other hand, I can’t let you cum just yet.’

Dahnus pulled Hadith back into his arms. Dahnus was several inches taller than Hadith. It always made Hadith feel safe, secure. The way he’d felt the first time Dahnus kissed him all those years ago when they attended Corus University, where they met.

Dahnus turned Hadith’s head and their eyes met over his shoulder.

‘What to do, what to do?’ Dahnus murmured, his eyes moving to Hadith’s lips. ‘You’ve been so good today. Perhaps, a little treat, to see you through the next few hours.’

Dahnus kissed Hadith deeply, passionately. Hadith moaned, loving the cool minty flavour of his lover.

Dahnus pulled away, a smirk on his full lips.

‘Put your hands on the mirror. Keep them there, Hadith, and don’t move an inch unless I move you.’

‘Yes, Dahnus.’

Hadith moved, taking the position as ordered.

Dahnus knelt behind Hadith. His hands reached around, and with a few practised movements, Hadith’s pants fell around his ankles.

A hand grabbed each globe of his rear and pried them apart. A moment later, Dahnus’s tongue licked over his rosette.

‘Oh, vrok!’

Immediately, Hadith’s whole system was overwhelmed. His cock, already hard, seemed to swallow the last of the blood in his entire body. His breath became shallow and heavy and it became an effort to drag in each breath. He could feel the beat of his heart as Dahnus made a meal of his ass until Hadith’s natural lubrication, natural for an adalan, got to work.

‘Fuck, I love your flavour!’ Dahnus groaned. He’d been experimenting with human swear words lately, and it seemed to have an effect on Hadith each time. This time, his balls felt heavier as they pulled, preparing to shoot their load onto his reflection.

The mirror misted and cleared over and over, quicker and quicker as Hadith’s breaths grew more laboured. His hips moved of their own accord and a thwack filled the air as Dahnus punished him for not obeying his orders.

Hadith stilled his hips, planting his feet and forcing himself to stay still as Dahnus teased and prodded at his back hole.

‘Ah, vrok, Dahnus, I’m going to cum!’

Dahnus renewed his efforts, sucking and kissing, licking and pushing inside him. At the same time, one hand gripped the base of Hadith’s cock and pinched, closing the escape route of his cum, forcing his body to keep it where it was even as his orgasm ripped through his body.

‘Oh, vrok! Dahnus! Yes! Please! I need to cum! I need to cum!’

Dahnus’s grip tightened around his cock, preventing his release. Hadith rocked his hips, feeling the orgasm crest and fall, crest and fall as Dahnus expertly finished him.

Hadith fell against the mirror, his breathing out of control, his heart beating a fast pace in his chest.

Dahnus kept hold of his cock until it began to soften.

No one. No lover he’d had in his younger years had ever looked after Hadith the way Dahnus did. Because none of them cared the way Dahnus did. None of them read him, his body, his needs and responded to them the way Dahnus did. It wasn’t just Hadith, his love had trained, it was himself. Training himself to give Hadith exactly what he needed when he needed it.

Dahnus stood, replacing Hadith’s pants as he did so, and pulled Hadith back into his arms.

‘That better?’

‘Yes. Thank you, Dahnus.’ Hadith fell back against him and relaxed into his arms, turning to investigate the pale aquamarine of his love’s eyes.

‘You’re welcome, my heart.’ Dahnus stroked Hadith’s face, a small smile just for him on his lips.

Dahnus released him and Hadith turned to snuggle into him.

‘My heart. My Ilidan, my Nidilan, my future dyshcalti.’

It was a promise Dahnus made constantly. A promise he refused to break, no matter what the first chamber snobs thought of Hadith. His Ilidan, the future equal of his throne. His Nidilan, his bonded adalan, bonded the first time they tasted one another’s climax. His dyshcalti, his future bonded partner. All they needed was to find their third. Their female. Their future Danicalti, or wife, and Dahnus could move to secure their positions.

‘I still want to cum,’ Hadith said, to shut down that train of thought.

Dahnus laughed, low and so deep in his ear.

‘Tonight. I’m going to get the Das’ram bench out and give you a full Raqhan Dos’un’ram massage.’

Hadith moaned and felt his muscles relaxing already.

‘I’m going to make you climax at least four times before I let you cum. We’re going to be there until the small hours,’ Dahnus’s voice dropped as he spoke until it was a sensuous whisper in his ear.

‘When you have finally cum, then I’m going to climb the bench, massage any residual tension out of your body while I fuck your fine ass.’

Dahnus’s cock grew hard between them. Hadith took hold of it through the material of his pants and moved his hand up and down. He turned his head into Dahnus’s neck.

‘Would you like me to relieve you?’

‘Yes, please, my heart.’ Dahnus groaned.

Hadith dropped to his knees and freed Dahnus’s cock from his pants and licked the length of it. He swirled his tongue around the head, which had turned dark teal from the blood filling it, then swallowed it down until the head was against the back of his throat.

‘Oh, fuck, Hadith!’

Hadith felt Dahnus’s hand in his hair, pulling and adjusting his head until their eyes met.

Like that, Hadith sucked and licked Dahnus, moving slowly up and down the length of him.

Slowly, Dahnus lost the threads of his control.

Hadith loved this. Dahnus was such a creature of control; watching it slip, being the cause of that, was better than any orgasm.

This male was the most powerful male in the galaxy. He was from a bloodline of the most powerful males in the galaxy that had ruled an empire thousands of lightyears in size for over a thousand years. He was a study of perfect control, but as Hadith swallow his cock down his throat, he knew he alone had the ability to disarm him and turn him into a wild creature desperate for release.

As soon as he saw the snarl curl Dahnus’s lips, he relaxed and let his lover fuck his throat. It wouldn’t be long before Dahnus came. Hadith had spent years increasing his lung capacity so that Dahnus could use him like this without a break.

And still their eyes locked. Hadith brought forth all his love, all his gratitude towards the gods and Dahnus for bringing this male, his bonded mate, into his life. He poured it all out onto his face and let Dahnus see it. See him.

Dahnus groaned, his cock twitching in Hadith’s mouth. That groan turned into a roar.

‘Fuck! Fuck! Hadith!’

Dahnus twitched in Hadith’s mouth, his cock sliding back and forth down his throat, some of his cum working up into Hadith’s mouth until it hit the gland under his tongue, which fizzed in response, reconfirming the bond between them.

It took almost another half minute before Dahnus finally pulled himself free. Hadith kept his breath suppressed as Dahnus dropped in front of him, just to prove he could, then released it when Dahnus’s lips crashed down on his.

‘Never enough.’ Dahnus whispered, his lips moving over Hadith’s. ‘Never enough. I can never get enough of you.’

They clung to one another, their bodies pressed tightly together so that Hadith could feel the movement of every muscle in Dahnus’s body, his tongue invading Hadith’s mouth, searching, desperate, yearning for greater connection.

By the time there was a knock on the door, they’d been kneeling there, kissing and holding each other for several minutes at least.

Dahnus looked at the door, then turned back to Hadith.

‘It’s a good job we’re almost ready,’ he said, smirking.

Hadith smiled back. ‘I’m always ready for you,’ he said, deliberately misunderstanding what Dahnus meant.

‘Oh, Hadith, my heart.’ Dahnus kissed him again, then pulling his hair, he pulled him back, his eyes boring intensely into Hadith’s. ‘I would give you worlds.’

*****

‘How is the human?’ Dahnus asked.

They were in their corsam flyer, crossing the short distance between the palace and the Temple Mountain.

Deamus was piloting the craft, with Elithan sitting up next to him, leaving Dahnus and Hadith alone in the back. They sat side by side, Hadith’s hand in Dahnus’s which he held against his chest, close to his heart.

It was seven days since the human arrived in the palace. So far, no one knew she was there. That was likely to change and quickly. Devor was pushing for the release of the twin brothers who’d pursued Elaine and Danari into Amaran space.

‘She hasn’t come out of her room. Ariana tried to visit a few days ago, but Elaine refused her entry. At least, we think she refused her entry. She didn’t answer the door.’

‘But Senice sees her, when she delivers food?’

‘Senice is the only person Elaine allows entry to.’

Hadith’s heart hurt just thinking of the human.

When he’d entered Elaine’s suite behind Dahnus that day, he hadn’t expected to meet someone who took his breath away as completely as Elaine did. Of course, then he didn’t know the abuse she’d been subjected to.

Reading her files, brought back horrific memories of Hadith’s time in the orphanage, which was attached to an Adalmis where Hadith’s nightmares had truly begun. The Order of Marathos owned both orphanage and Adalmis, a place where Adalan who didn’t have an Adalan parent could go to learn about their needs. But it was the needs of abusers the The Order served. Opening the Adalmis like a table of food Amarans could snack at. A little of this Adalan’s mind, a bite of that Adalan’s soul. Destroy the trust of that Adalan, scar the body of this one.

The Order of Marathos was a religious order who still worshipped the Varothinia Nebula as a god. They believed in Amaran supremacy to everyone. Unknown to anyone not involved in the order, or who hadn’t had the misfortune of attending one of their Adalmis, they believed this supremacy extended to Adalan. They believed that Adalan weren’t truly Amaran. That they were a parasitical race the Amaran’s used to their benefit. They had preached this to all the children brought up in the order, all the while abusing the adalan to underscore their point and show the adalan what they were truly worth, which to the order, was less than nothing. That’s why Adalan liked pain, they argued. Because they knew they deserved it.

Not all adalan liked pain. In fact, studies had proven that most adalan didn’t like pain and a most of them didn’t even like to submit. But the order leaned hard on stereotypes and cliches to change people’s minds. Even when adalan in the Adalmis protested at the pain they inflicted, they argued with them, telling them they were wrong. They loved the pain and were brainwashed and all they needed was to submit and they would begin to see what they were for.

If it hadn’t been for Omel, an adalan friend and mentor who’d been forced to go to the Adalmis by his parents who were new to the order, Hadith might still be a believer. Omel was older than Hadith. He stood up for the other adalan, protecting them when he could and taking their punishments on himself. He was abused to death when he was seventeen years old at the Adalmis on a night he wasn’t supposed to be there. On a night the manager couldn’t be found. 

His parents were still in the order.

As soon as Hadith aged out of the orphanage, he’d run away. He’d found out the order were sending a vehicle to collect him. It was the same vehicle that had come for other Adalan. The Order claimed it was to take them to their new homes, but Dahnus’s investigations proved those Adalan had disappeared, never to be heard from again. Not that Hadith needed Dahnus’s investigation to prove what he already knew. When he heard the news, he’d done as he was told, gone back to his room to back. As soon as he was alone, he ran, leaving the orphanage with nothing.

Thankfully, he was intelligent. He learned quickly and education was free at all levels on Amara. There were also Adalan safe houses. It took him almost a cycle to find one that was truly safe, so many back then were fronts for the order or organisations like them.

Within a year he’d passed the entrance exams to Corus University. A year later, he was walking between buildings in the middle of the night, returning to his dormitory from a study date, when he was attacked by two males.

Dahnus appeared out of nowhere.

Of course, Hadith knew the Ildan, the future Ilan of Amara was going to the university. But they were on different courses and even though Hadith dated an adalan who knew the Ildan, he’d never expected to meet him, let alone be rescued by him.

It must have been the dream of every male, female and adalan on Amara to be lovers with the Ildan. Even then, at the age of nineteen, the Ildan was broad, muscular and sexy thanks to his training with the Tessan leader.

The two males were arrested by the Ildan’s security detail. Hadith thanked him and was grateful when the Ildan saw him home.

He hadn’t expected to be woken for breakfast by him the following morning. Or to spend every meal with him for almost a month after.

He hadn’t expected Dahnus to make a clumsy attempt at a first kiss. Or for that first kiss to take Hadith’s breath away.

He hadn’t expected the gasp that followed Hadith releasing his seed into the Ildan’s mouth. Or the fizz on the gland under his tongue where Dahnus smeared his precum.

That had led to a frenzy of lovemaking.

All these years later, he was grateful for Dahnus’s intervention and even more grateful for the ‘curious feeling’ Dahnus got in his chest when their eyes met, that made him invite Hadith for breakfast the next day.

Any of a dozen decisions might have led them on completely different paths that never met.

‘Come back to me, my heart,’ Dahnus whispered, turning Hadith’s face towards him, moving his thumb over Hadith’s jaw as he did.

Dahnus didn’t need to ask what he was thinking of, and Hadith didn’t need to tell him. All those words had been spoken a long time ago.

Hadith leaned into Dahnus and sighed.

Someday, their female, their Danicalti, would sit between them. Someday, he would place his hand over their child growing in her womb.

Dahnus leaned down and pressed a kiss to the top of Hadith’s head.

Soon.

They’d been to the Temple Mountain enough times that when the corsam banked, Hadith knew he’d see the private landing bay for the Ilan in front of them.

On the level beneath, he saw the corsam’s of the assembled first and second chambers.

‘Tonight is going to be a long night,’ Dahnus said.

‘Very long, from what you’ve promised me,’ Hadith said, attempting to lighten Dahnus’s mood.

When Hadith told Dahnus about the order all those years ago and the abuses he’d suffered, Dahnus took Hadith straight to his father. Hadith would never forget his lover’s rage. Or his own nerves at meeting his lover’s parents. The three of them accepted Hadith as family immediately. When Dahnus helped Hadith tell his story, they’d moved with spectacular speed.

Agents took Hadith’s statement. Found other victims. Moved against the order.

Unfortunately, the order claimed that it was this Adalmis alone that was to blame and closed it down.

For years, Dahnus’s parents worked against the order and Dahnus took up that cause when they were killed because of a corsam accident thirteen years ago.

This meeting. This day was one goal of many towards the order’s end and the safety of all adalan everywhere.

‘We’re going to take them all down,’ Dahnus whispered in his ear. ‘I promise, my heart.’

The corsam entered the Ilan’s private bay, the doors closing behind them.

Outside, the bay was filled with Elithan’s advance guard. Elithan got out of the corsam and approached his new second, Aloc. They exchanged a few words before Elithan nodded sharply, then walked over to their door, opening it.

Hadith waited while Dahnus got out.

‘The complex and the perimeter are secured, my Ilan.’

‘Thank you, Elithan.’

With that, Dahnus turned and held his hand out to Hadith.

Dahnus never let Hadith risk himself. It made Hadith feel extremely loved and cared for, at the same time, it was ridicules. As if Hadith could bear to live a moment without him.

Hadith took Dahnus’s hand and stepped out of the Corsam.

The Temple complex seemed like it was just the temple, housing the first chamber, and the temple replica, housing the second chamber. There was also a guard house up there, as well as several old shrines to the old gods.

But beneath the complex was a whole warren of offices, restaurants, sleeping quarters, a hotel, guard stations, bathrooms, and more.

No one knew exactly how big the complex was, except for a few of the top guards. It was the same at the palace. There were warrens of tunnels that led down the mountain to different escape routes and safe rooms. Only the highest guards knew them, so that the average guard couldn’t be bribed or blackmailed into betraying the Ilan and his family.

Once Hadith stood by Dahnus’s side, Dahnus nodded to Elithan who turned on his heel.

‘Into formation!’ he shouted.

The guards fell in around them.

‘At your command, my Ilan.’ Elithan stepped back, behind the guards, Dahnus and Hadith, ceding command to Dahnus.

‘Off we go,’ Dahnus said, always amused by the pomp and ceremony of his role.

The journey out of the bay and through the tunnels was completely uninterrupted. They passed guards who’d been assigned to guard the way. They would stay where they were until Dahnus and Hadith’s corsam left the Temple Mountain’s landing bay. Even though tonight’s vote was likely to last hours.

No one other than them would be allowed in those halls until Dahnus left.

They used one of the lifts to travel the thirty stories up the mountain interior to the base of the temple.

The doors opened to the familiar site of the temple foot, the place where the temple foundations met the rock bed into which huge columns had been drilled to keep the walls stable against the elements and odd earthquake here and there. Again, the Palace of Light was stabilised in much the same way.

They stepped out onto the mountain path and walked over to the carved staircase.

Inside, the colour was a darkish yellow. As they rose into the temple, carved from the same stone and inlaid with windows, the yellow seemed to turn into gold.

They rose up the first flight of steps.

From here, Hadith could look through the huge archway and see the seats that led down to the oval temple chamber where the laws of Amara were approved or rejected.

Even from here, Hadith could see some of the First Chamber members sitting and writing notes, or talking in small, huddled groups.

Dahnus led the way as their guards fell out, forming a corridor between the first flight of stairs and the second flight.

They ascended the second flight of stairs, Hadith noting that some of their guards had already spread out across the upper mezzanine floor, to watch the Ilan during his attendance of the First Chamber.

While many of the First Chamber were downstairs already, there were more upstairs mixing with the members of the Second Chamber who’d come to witness tonight’s historic vote.

“All rise for the Ilan,” the speaker called into the chamber.

The buzz of conversation quieted as everyone turned to Dahnus. Down in the oval, the first chamber ministers stood. Everyone, on both levels, bowed to Dahnus. Dahnus waited a moment before giving a nod to the room.

“Please, don’t let me interrupt.”

With that signal, the nose resumed, seats were retaken.

Hadith saw the wry smile and subtle eyeroll Dahnus shared with him out of the corner of his eye. He suppressed a grin and looked around the room.

There, waiting at the top of the stairs, was Aran Darl Thalos.

Hadith relaxed and approached his friend.

Aran arrived in the orphanage shortly after Omel’s death. Hadith had tried to be for Aran, what Omel was for him. When Hadith ran away, he’d tried to bring Aran with him, but he couldn’t find him and with time running out for him, he knew he had no choice but to go.

When Dahnus closed the place down, Aran came to live with Hadith. Later, Hadith helped him attend the same university he had, studying the same courses Dahnus studied in law and politics.

Often, in those days, he and Aran spoke about their experiences in the orphanage and the Adalmis. Aran was determined to change things for their sex.

Then he met Drexan Thalos and disappeared. Aran lived through a new nightmare, not realising Drexan was involved with many of the same people who’d tried to abuse them in the Adalmis.

Aran still carried the scars, including on his face. Four deep scratches left horrible scars on an otherwise beautiful features.

Now, however, he was mated to Vedian Thalos, Drexan’s cousin, along with another adalan, Tyne Farin Thalos and their human female, Ariana Nakamura Thalos.

Hadith often wondered how Tyne and Aran lived with the family name of the male who’d abused them so horrifically, but it never seemed to bother them.

‘Aran, it’s good to see you. How are you?’

Aran smiled.

‘I’m well. Tired. The twins are very active and even with four parents, it’s a lot of work.’

‘I’ve been meaning to congratulate you on the birth of your children. Twins are such a blessing,’ Dahnus said, coming up beside Hadith.

‘The joys of a family with two adalan,’ Aran’s smile grew, ‘two adalan to make a female ovulate, therefore two ovulations.’

‘I am quite jealous,’ Dahnus said, putting a hand on Hadith’s back and rubbing soothing circles into it. ‘I can’t wait to find my bonded adalan and caya and start a family of my own.’

Hadith knew the words were coming, they still hurt. He was Dahnus’s bonded adalan. But Dahnus couldn’t publicly claim him until they knew what social sphere their caya, their female, was born to. High up and the houses would forgive Hadith’s position. But if she came from a similar or a worse background than Hadith’s it would take every favour, every friendship Dahnus had gathered over the years to ensure he could stand in this chamber and marry his bond mates.

If anyone ever got wind of the truth, the First Chamber would do everything in their power to block the wedding.

Even knowing all of this, the words hurt.

And Dahnus knew it, which was why the circles he rubbed into Hadith’s back got quicker, as though he could press the reassuring words Hadith knew he wanted to say to him through his garments, through his skin and into his soul.

The words hurt Dahnus too, Hadith reminded himself. Dahnus wanted nothing more than to celebrate his bond mate for all of Amara to see.

‘What whispers in the First Chamber?’ Dahnus asked.

Aran turned to look down at the chamber floor. Hadith followed his gaze and immediately his stomach turned.

Quennen Vatari stood downstairs talking animatedly to several Chamber representatives. Hadith was sure he could see spittle flying from his mouth. When Minister Gorlin wiped his face, and took a step back, Hadith felt his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him.

As an adalan, most would think Quennen would see the need for the Adalmis’s to fall under government control, instead of allowing them to be run by anyone with the credits to start one. Adalan children were abused in many, and Adalmis’ services weren’t available in all communities. A well run Adalmis was a sanctuary for an adalan child. They taught them what it meant to be adalan. The differences between Amaran males and females and their adalan counterparts were numerous, and though the information was freely available on the quartex, there were many who never availed themselves of it, instead believing their ‘instincts’ better placed to help. Unfortunately, in far too many cases, it hurt their adalan children, for all the good will in the world, there was no replacement for knowledge, support, and kindred experiences.

But Quennen Vatari, of the noble Vatari line had never experienced abuse, so it didn’t happen to anyone. The adalan who claimed it did were liars, or didn’t really understand what happened.

When a male or female claimed such things, it could be shouted down. When an adalan did it, they damaged the whole community, making them look less reliable, less truthful. People enjoyed putting each other into small boxes. When they believed something like this, it became truth to that kind of person. It didn’t matter that each person was a universe of experiences, beliefs, and thoughts, many of which were contradictory. All that mattered was what they wanted to believe, and, in this instance, they could point at Quennen vrokking Vatari, a noble adalan and quote him as though his words were the final say.

There wasn’t a moment when Hadith was exposed to this adalan that he didn’t want to knock sense into him for the damage his words did to all adalan across all space.

‘He looks ill,’ Dahnus said.

‘Hmm. Tyne has a theory about that. He believes Vatari fasts when he’s not involved with someone. Some kind of self-punishment because he doesn’t have the attention of a male and female.’

Hadith turned to Aran, feeling his mouth drop open.

‘He’s no longer in a relationship with the Xalian and Imassa Emital?’ Hadith asked.

Aran shook his head.

‘They found their bonded adalan. Apparently, he doesn’t like Quennen so they stopped seeing him.’ Aran’s voice had dropped, his eyes turning to the balcony across the gap where Xalian Emital was talking to Cavan Zar’Halas. Cavan Zar’Halas was easily the second most desired man on Amara. His physique was such he immediately drew the eye. He had a long, fine nose, full lips and piercing pale red eyes. With his white-blond hair, and the tattoo around his left eye, he was an imposing figure.

Hadith always liked Cavan, he was honourable. By his side stood his Adala wife, Amarie Zar’Halas. As they watched Amarie’s father and brother Corthan and Adiyan Sinarti joined them.

Adala, female adalan, capable of ovulating without the help of an adalan, were an extremely rare fourth sex, throwbacks to when the Amarans and Adalan were two separate species. The Sinarti family were uncommonly blessed to have two adala daughters, Amarie and Keilia, along with two adalan, Adiyan himself, the heir to Corthan’s seat in the First Chamber and the head of his staff and his adalan brother Demenzin, the youngest, who was at university studying ancient Amaran literature. Corthan also had a caya daughter, Nataiya.

All of the adalan children of both sexes were famous for their clear turquoise eyes, white-blond hair and beautiful faces. Nataiya’s eyes were paler, but the same colour. Her skin the pale grey of the Amaran male and female.

Corthan was one of the biggest opponents for bringing adalmis’s under government control, along with his adalan son.

Hadith’s eyes turned to Adiyan. He and Hadith had been lovers once, back at university. But Adiyan’s insistence the abuse Hadith suffered was the exception, along with Corthan’s instant dislike and disapproval of Hadith because of his background brought the relationship to a sudden end.

Dahnus moved into Hadith.

‘I do not like the way you look at him,’ he said, his voice was a growl.

‘I am just grateful that his father is such a conceited, as Alethia would say, ass, so that I was free to be with you, when you saved me.’ Hadith turned to look into the pale turquoise eyes of his love and smirked.

‘Hmm.’ Dahnus quirked an eyebrow, placated, but thoughtful.

‘They tried to bribe me in the early days,’ Aran said, with a chuckle. ‘Promised me wealth beyond compare if I gave this up. They forget, that while they wore masks, I remember many of their voices, when Drexan invited them to abuse us.’

Aran’s voice grew dark and angry.

‘They seem to think the right amount of money will make us forget.’ Aran’s face twisted into a snarl, then was gone, forced behind his own mask, of calm.

‘These people. They think wealth and power is everything.’ Dahnus’s voice grew quiet. Aran and Hadith moved closer to hear, to see and he looked at the faces of the First Chamber. ‘The wealth they have is never enough. They want everything. But more than that. They want others to have nothing. Only then can those beneath them know they are beneath them. Their greed is fuelled by their need to be above others. To be in control. They would tear my worlds apart to achieve this. I will not let them.’

‘We will stop them, my Ilan,’ Aran promised. ‘And getting approval to pursue this bill tonight is the first step.’

Aran was wrong. Not that bringing the Adalmis’s under the government’s purview wasn’t a part of the plan. It just wasn’t anywhere near the beginning of the plan. That begun years ago.

Now, they were so close to the end, that Hadith could almost taste it.

‘My Ilan.’

Dahnus turned, a genuine smile appearing on his face.

‘Minister Foy. Hadith, have you met Minister Foy of the Second Chamber?’

Hadith turned to see an attractive male with pink eyes ringed in orange and dark blonde hair.

‘I’ve heard of you, of course, Minister Foy,’ Hadith said, welcoming him. ‘I’ve followed your career, especially your support of Aran’s Adalmis bill.’

‘It is a pleasure to meet you,’ Minister Foy bowed. ‘This bill is long overdue.’

Hadith nodded. He knew the story of Minister Foy’s adalan twin. Everyone did. He went missing when he was only nineteen years old and to this day no one knew what happened to him. It was the whole reason Emdren Foy ran for office on his colony of Corstoth.

‘My Ilan, may I introduce Minister Qadara Col. She represents the district of Tarjan here on Amara.’

An adala female stepped forward with a warm smile on her face. Her hair was darker than normal for an adala, almost brown. She had bright yellow eyes.

‘We are blessed with adala this day, it seems.’ Dahnus stepped forward giving a small bow which Minister Col returned.

‘It seems. Though I wouldn’t call Amarie Zar’Halas a blessing. Far too aligned with her father’s beliefs I’m afraid.’

‘So you’ll be voting in support of exploring the bill?’ Hadith asked.

Minister Col nodded, adding a small bow of greeting. ‘Indeed. I have three adalan brothers and while we adala aren’t in as much danger, our rarity makes us desirable on the slave market.’

‘How does Sinarti deny the need for a bill like this, with so many adalan children to protect,’ Aran spat.

‘Corthan Sinarti sees only what benefits Corthan Sinarti,’ Hadith said. ‘His children are simply extensions of his will. I pity them.’

‘Then you are a kinder person than I am,’ Dahnus replied, his brow quirked, a playful smirk appeared on his face.

‘You draw ill spirits when you speak of them,’ Minister Foy said in warning.

Hadith followed his gaze to see the Sinartis and the Zar’Halases rounding the balcony to join them.

‘Let’s see the mood of the enemy then,’ Dahnus said, pulling Hadith closer.