Hassan Al'Abdalha slammed his hands down on
the table with annoyance, his eyes blazing with fire at the man sitting across
from him. “I can’t believe this. You’re telling me that I have to have a mate?
Have you completely lost your mind?”
Shaikh
Bogden Dhal Wuher Al'Abdalha's
body shook as he chuckled. “You say that like
having a mate is an affliction.”
Hassan moved his shoulders in a shrug of
anger. “It is.”
Bogden laughed softly. “Look, Hassan, there
are certain things you have to understand. Without a mate, you could lose
Hassy. And, as the brother of the Shaikh,
you have to produce an heir.”
“I have an heir, remember? You do remember
your nephew, Hassy, don’t you?” Hassan asked with returning impatience. "You
just mentioned him."
Bogden nodded his head. “Yes, I remember Hassy
very well. I still have sand in my boots from the last time he stole them if I
ever forget.” He chuckled again. “But that’s not the point. What if something
happened to him? Who would be your heir then? What if Angus McGuffery gets his
way? Who is going to be your heir then?”
"You speak of Hassy like he is disposable,"
Hassan growled.
“Look, brother, I wouldn’t be saying this if
it wasn’t important. You need to have a mate to provide a home for Hassy. You
also need to have more children to insure that our line continues. Why do you
think that Anjali and I plan to have so many children?”
Hassan snickered. “Because you can't keep your
hands off of him.” Hassan could swear that he saw a blush creep up his
brother’s face.
“Okay, besides the fact that my mate was not
adverse to my affections, a mate would kill two birds with one stone.”
Hassan leaned forward on the bench as anger
consumed him. “I don’t want another mate. I had one and we all know what a
dismal failure that was. She was miserable. She hated it here. And she did her
best to make the rest of us miserable.” Looking his brother, he asked with a
grudging voice, “Do you think I want to go through that again?”
Bogden shook his head decisively. “No, I know
you don’t want that. But it doesn’t have to be that way. You may find a mate
that you can spend the rest of your life with, someone who will make you as
happy as Anjali makes me.”
Hassan snorted
“Okay, maybe you won’t find someone like that.
I’m not even sure that angels like Anjali are born more than once in a
lifetime. But you could at least find someone that you can have children with.
You don’t even have to like her. You just have to have children with her.”
"Him."
Bogden's eyebrows shot up. "Him?"
Hassan leaned back and fit his fingers
together. "If I have to have a mate, at least don't make it another female.
I've already been down that road before and it was a very bumpy ride. I'd
prefer someone like your mate."
"From Elquone?"
Hassan nodded.
"A brüter contract?"
Hassan nodded again.
"A contract like that is not legal on Katzmann,"
Bogden said. "You know that."
"It seemed to have worked for you and Anjali."
"True, but Anjali is my mate. That supersedes
everything. Besides, I claimed him as my mate in front of pride. Everything
that his contract required was something required for me to claim my mate. It
worked for us."
"So, find me someone like Anjali." Hassan
grimaced. "Just don't expect me to go all warm and fuzzy on him. Once he
provides me with a child, he can do what he wants as long as he leaves me
alone."
"Done. You get him with child and then go on
your merry way. You don’t even have to share a room with him.” Bogden swung
his hands around the room. “This place is big enough, after you get him with
child, you don’t even have to see him if you don’t want to, and after two or
three children, you will have fulfilled your obligation.”
Hassan grabbed a glass of water from the table
and leaned back, sipping the clear liquid slowly. He was quiet for several
moments before he spoke his voice quiet and resigned, “Just tell me you can
find someone that is not hard on the eyes.”
Bogden chuckled slightly. “Yeah, that would
help.” He took a long sip of his water before speaking again. “Alright, I will
contact Chellak Rai right away. With his connections, he's sure to know
someone.” Coming to his feet he patted his bother on the shoulder in a gesture
of comfort. “You won’t regret this, Hassan.” Bogden set his glass down on the
table and headed off to contact the High Ruler of Katzmann.
Hassan leaned forward and poured himself some
more water. Raising his eyes to meet his brother, Urik’s, he asked, “And what
do you think of all this?”
Urik plopped down on the bench his brother had
been warming seconds before. “Better you than me? I wouldn’t want to be in
your shoes? Glad I was born second? Want a bag to put over his head?” Urik was
laughing for all he was worth by the time he was done speaking. His merriment
swiftly dwindled when Hassan glared at him.
“Okay, okay,” he said, holding up his hands in
a gesture of surrender. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it.” Urik reached for a
glass and poured himself some water. “I don’t know. I understand what Bogden
wants you to do, but I have to tell you, I would hate the idea of mating
someone I don’t like, let alone don’t know. But it would solve a lot of your
problems.”
Hassan shrugged his shoulders. “I guess. But I
am not looking forward to this. The thought of having another mate again just
rolls my stomach. I’ll be lucky if I can even summon up the desire to bed this
guy.”
Urik slapped his hand on his thigh as he spoke
in a casual, jesting way. “Oh, Hassan, you’re the legend that young boys dream
of being. You could summon up the dead as long as there’s a warm body in your
bed.” A flash of humor crossed Urik’s face. “Besides, once you get this brüter
with child, you can always find a mistress. Bogden did say you didn’t have to
share a room with him.”
Hassan took another sip of his water and
leaned forward to rest against the tabletop. “You know, you’re right. All I
really have to do is accept a contract. That would satisfy Bogden and the
courts. I don’t really have to sleep with him.”
Urik shook his head. “Whoa, Hassan, if you
don’t sleep with him how will you get him with child?”
Hassan gave Urik a cold calculating smile.
“Oh, I’ll accept a contract with whomever Bogden finds. But I’m not going to
sleep with him or get him with child. I’m going to find myself a mistress and
when all of this stuff with the courts is over, I’ll annul the contract and
still have my mistress.”
Urik set his mug down on the table. “But,
Hassan, what are you going do about Bogden’s wish for more children to carry
on our family line?”
“It’s simple, I’m not going to do anything.
You are.”
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