simple.
We have control over our own fertility. You’re…human,” the head mistress said,
using Lydia’s name for her species.
“Yes, mistress.”
This was something she was prepared to
address. The newly-bladed warriors remained infertile for at least two years, but
teachers weren’t expected to remain cloistered like celibate religious
followers. They could enjoy a social life outside the sanctuary. However,
pregnancy wasn’t allowed. Lydia had come to the conclusion that a human female
and a Tauran warrior were incapable of producing children together. She and
Kern had never used any type of contraception and she’d never conceived his
child. No matter, she didn’t want to take the risk.
“Since I have no control over my own
ovulation cycle I’d like to prevent conception by having the medical implant.”
She certainly wouldn’t miss having her periods.
The head mistress stood. “Then it shall be
done immediately.” She motioned toward a side door, and said, “A teacher is
waiting for you in the hallway. She’ll give you your mask and take you to our
physicians.”
Lydia rose to her feet and bowed her head
respectfully, saying, “Thank you, head mistress.”
“Welcome, Initiate Lydia. And please call
me Mistress Breanne. The warrior clan and teacher clan are grateful for your
willingness to serve.”
“Yes, Mistress Breanne. I am honored to
serve.” Lydia spoke the formal words for the first time. From now on, she’d be
saying them to a newly-bladed warrior, but only after he performed all the
tasks given to him in a satisfactory manner.
Chapter Three
Lydia’s life was much different now. As an initiate,
she lived inside the sanctuary within the actual citadel. It was the heart of the
fortress compound, the training center for all warriors. Between their
twenty-second and twenty-fourth year of life they were sent by their birth
parents to Fortress for final training and preparation for manhood. Most spent
the final year of their youth living with a host family in the outer city.
Lydia had noticed the gentle giants many
times during the short time she’d had with Kern. They were bright, trusting
hulks who’d been educated on their birth worlds alongside their Tauran
counterparts. The only difference in their schooling was the rigorous physical
education they received. Hand-to-hand combat, sword fighting, target practice
with gun and dagger. Endurance training, both physical and mental, were
required.
An unbladed warrior’s body was fully grown
when he reached thirteen years of age past birth. This meant, in Galactic
Standard time, they were over nineteen years old. By the time they arrived on
Fortress at the age of twenty-two, most were at least six and a half feet tall,
give or take a couple inches. Their bodies were strong and thick with powerful muscles,
but their physiques had a soft almost pudgy appearance. To Lydia, they looked as
if they hadn’t lost an ounce of baby fat. It was the only comparison she could
come up with that made sense to her when she’d first seen them.
Now she knew the reason, the actual
science, for why they appeared as they did. Hormones, vast quantities of
different powerful ones, would soon flood their systems. Human teenage boys
spent several years changing into fully grown men. Warriors changed almost
overnight by comparison. As they neared their sixteenth year past birth, the
young warriors’ arm sheaths would complete their outer development to end near
their elbows. All their lives, the thick, flattened ulna bones in their
forearms had been growing and developing in preparation for what was about to happen
next.
The first sign they were approaching the
change was a dull, aching pain starting deep within their forearms. It meant
the sharp, incredibly hard blades, which would erupt from their forearms, were
beginning to separate from their ulna bones. For years the enamel-strengthened
blades developed, protected by the encompassing bone
We have control over our own fertility. You’re…human,” the head mistress said,
using Lydia’s name for her species.
“Yes, mistress.”
This was something she was prepared to
address. The newly-bladed warriors remained infertile for at least two years, but
teachers weren’t expected to remain cloistered like celibate religious
followers. They could enjoy a social life outside the sanctuary. However,
pregnancy wasn’t allowed. Lydia had come to the conclusion that a human female
and a Tauran warrior were incapable of producing children together. She and
Kern had never used any type of contraception and she’d never conceived his
child. No matter, she didn’t want to take the risk.
“Since I have no control over my own
ovulation cycle I’d like to prevent conception by having the medical implant.”
She certainly wouldn’t miss having her periods.
The head mistress stood. “Then it shall be
done immediately.” She motioned toward a side door, and said, “A teacher is
waiting for you in the hallway. She’ll give you your mask and take you to our
physicians.”
Lydia rose to her feet and bowed her head
respectfully, saying, “Thank you, head mistress.”
“Welcome, Initiate Lydia. And please call
me Mistress Breanne. The warrior clan and teacher clan are grateful for your
willingness to serve.”
“Yes, Mistress Breanne. I am honored to
serve.” Lydia spoke the formal words for the first time. From now on, she’d be
saying them to a newly-bladed warrior, but only after he performed all the
tasks given to him in a satisfactory manner.
Chapter Three
Lydia’s life was much different now. As an initiate,
she lived inside the sanctuary within the actual citadel. It was the heart of the
fortress compound, the training center for all warriors. Between their
twenty-second and twenty-fourth year of life they were sent by their birth
parents to Fortress for final training and preparation for manhood. Most spent
the final year of their youth living with a host family in the outer city.
Lydia had noticed the gentle giants many
times during the short time she’d had with Kern. They were bright, trusting
hulks who’d been educated on their birth worlds alongside their Tauran
counterparts. The only difference in their schooling was the rigorous physical
education they received. Hand-to-hand combat, sword fighting, target practice
with gun and dagger. Endurance training, both physical and mental, were
required.
An unbladed warrior’s body was fully grown
when he reached thirteen years of age past birth. This meant, in Galactic
Standard time, they were over nineteen years old. By the time they arrived on
Fortress at the age of twenty-two, most were at least six and a half feet tall,
give or take a couple inches. Their bodies were strong and thick with powerful muscles,
but their physiques had a soft almost pudgy appearance. To Lydia, they looked as
if they hadn’t lost an ounce of baby fat. It was the only comparison she could
come up with that made sense to her when she’d first seen them.
Now she knew the reason, the actual
science, for why they appeared as they did. Hormones, vast quantities of
different powerful ones, would soon flood their systems. Human teenage boys
spent several years changing into fully grown men. Warriors changed almost
overnight by comparison. As they neared their sixteenth year past birth, the
young warriors’ arm sheaths would complete their outer development to end near
their elbows. All their lives, the thick, flattened ulna bones in their
forearms had been growing and developing in preparation for what was about to happen
next.
The first sign they were approaching the
change was a dull, aching pain starting deep within their forearms. It meant
the sharp, incredibly hard blades, which would erupt from their forearms, were
beginning to separate from their ulna bones. For years the enamel-strengthened
blades developed, protected by the encompassing bone
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