Read Online Harness by Viola Grace - Free Book Online Page A

a family, despite my rough beginnings. I think you will be a good father.” She stroked his hair.
    “I am glad you think so. My family will be here in a few days, and they will be very eager to meet you. You might be overwhelmed.”
    “I have faced many terrifying, new things in my life, and this is just another one.” She stroked his hair again. “But, just in case, don’t go too far.”
    He laughed and slipped out of her, pulling her upright and holding her close. “I am only a thought away.”
    “I know, but this is going to get very weird, very fast. I even touched my father’s mind. There was a moment of recognition, but I didn’t get his name, and the Elders don’t want to give it to me. I am guessing it is some kind of weird-ass surprise.”
    “Don’t worry. I am going to be with you the whole way. You need only call me, and I will be at your side or the Elders will. You will not come to harm, physical or emotional.”
    He stroked her cheek with the back of his fingers, and she turned her head into the caress.
    “I am counting on you, El-sur. I am not sure that I am up for all of this.” She sighed and pressed her forehead to his chest.
    “I will be at your side, Consul Fred. Every moment that you need me, I am going to be here.”
    She looped her arms around his neck and hoped that he was right.

Chapter Ten
     
     
    “They are here, Fred.” El-sur whispered it in her ear.
    She grimaced and sat up. Her fifth month into pregnancy and she was still experiencing bouts of nausea that only depleted themselves when she napped.
    The morning round of greetings had left her exhausted and missing her lunch. Fred accepted El-sur’s help in getting dressed. She was a little tippy at the moment and any assistance was welcome.
    The clothing was easy, a long dress dropped over her head, and a floor-length vest made her look formal and visually shrunk her belly to the casual observer.
    He slipped a pair of leather slippers on her feet, but she rarely kept them on. They usually ended up discarded under her chair.
    “Come on, Fred. Time to meet them.” He offered her his arm and walked her through the temple where they now made their residence and into the audience chamber.
    He settled her in her chair. She had refused the grand carved chair found at one of the other temples, and instead, she sat on a simple stone stool with El-sur standing on her left and the Elders on her right.
    She was comfortably seated and nibbling at some dried flat bread when the doors opened and the newest Sukra arrival came in with his wife and their two sons. The wife’s face made Fred’s eyes widen.
    She rose to her feet. “Welcome to Arxuxsa. Provide your names so that you can be recorded in the rolls of the new Sukra.”
    “I am Yeren-las; this is my wife Deborah and my sons, Tomaro and Alfredo.” He was staring at her through is dark gold eyes, his deep red hair pulled back in a long tail.
    Fred jerked. “Alfredo?”
    “He was named after his eldest sibling. A sister thought lost to us.” Deborah’s words were oddly formal, but she was speaking Sukra with a Terran accent.
    “Thought lost?”
    Yeren-las nodded. “I believe we have found her, though we were not the first Sukra to do so, and we are glad to see her flourishing.”
    Fred sat back. “Alfredo, come here.”
    The youngest family member came forward and went down on one knee. “Consul, how may I be of service?”
    It was such a serious question from a boy who looked to be about ten years old.
    “Alfredo, what do you know of your missing sibling?”
    “Mother and Father tell us stories about her. She was smart, a master shifter and she loved books and reading. Mom says I get that from her because I surely don’t get it from either of them.”
    “Would you like to see the ancient library?”
    “Yes, madam. Please.”
    Fred nodded in dismissal. “Tomaro, please come here.”
    Tomaro was thirteen or so, more nervous than his younger brother. “Yes, Madam