Page 13 of Tearing the Sky

There was a knock on the doorframe.

“Come in, Uthan.”

Uthan came in with two tablets. “My lord, I have the original drafts of the companion bond contract with your stipulations.”

Yavor held his hand out, and one of the tablets was placed in his hand. Uthan handed the second tablet to Iris, and she read the contract slowly. It was standard room and board, year-by-year bonuses, and a hundred-year contract. The paragraph about an heir made her blush, and the heat only increased when the stipulation that she would not withhold her body from him was mentioned.

She blinked. “Whoa.”

Yavor looked up from his copy, and a few notes he was making showed up on her copy. He got to pick her outfits, and no dangerous behaviour would be tolerated. It was punishable by a non-damaging discipline of his choosing.

Iris looked at him. “Why is that clause necessary?”

He smiled and stroked her cheek with the back of his index finger. “Because you have a penchant for charging out on impulse. You are now transformed into something rare and precious. No one can raise a hand to you or injure you, not even yourself.”

“What about injury in the course of playing games? What about tripping over my own feet and bruising my knees?”

He scowled. “What kind of games cause injury?”

She explained the basics of soccer to him, and his eyes went wide.

He was focused. “Irith, can you and the others demonstrate?”

She paused. “If the others are interested, sure. We have enough for two teams in a pinch. Wait. We need a ball. Tell Lily. She used to repair them. She will know how to do it.”

Uthan made a note.

Iris shrugged. “But it is a lot of running, kicking, and sliding on the ground. Blood is likely to happen. As are dislocations and a lot of bruising.”

Yavor shook his head. “You cannot play.”

Iris paused. “What?”

“You cannot play. It sounds dangerous and painful, not to mention disfiguring. From how you describe it, you could easily catch a kick to the jaw.” He shook his head. “There are games that can be played with the storm riders. You can play those if you gain a steed.”

She looked at him, and he cocked his head. She nodded. “Fine.”

He wrote it into the contract, and she then added a mention of restricting intimate activities during her period.

He looked at that, snorted, and crossed it out. “I can not guarantee being able to comply.”

“Fine, but don’t blame me if the housekeeper thinks you murdered me.”

He looked at her and then laughed. “Noted. Uthan, warn Illia. Irith, how long is that portion of your cycle?”

“Four days? It depends on my physical activity.”

“Noted. If you are uncomfortable, let me know, and our interactions will be modified.”

She swallowed as he wrote that into the very public companion contract.

The final document was mortifying in excruciating detail, but they had come to agreements on most of the subjects. Others Iris couldn’t object to considering the nature of the contract. She was taking on the role of lover and hostess. If she acquired the role of breeder, the contract was complete, and a ridiculous payout was offered. She could go anywhere that space travel would let her go, as long as she left her child behind.

Iris signed and did an ocular scan and a thumbprint. Yavor did the same. Uthan smiled in relief and took the tablets away.

Iris ran her hands down the hips of her tunic, and she got wildly nervous. “I am going to check out the view from the window.”

He snorted with laughter and picked her up with an arm around the waist. “Your meal has arrived, so we will be sitting and having a nice meal.”