Jeanne G'Fellers - No Sister of Mine, Jeanne G'Fellers [best summer reads TXT] 📗

such an event remained rare until the second generation of Human-Autlach hybrids. In that generation, a recessive human gene made itself known, producing a mutation when present in both parents. The resulting daughters—pale, blue-eyed, sterile and telepathic—were everything the russet Autlach were not. Rejected by their families, they found acceptance in each other, forming small clans that kept to the high mountains far above the Autlach.

Centuries of misunderstanding melded into stricter religious doctrine, giving the pale Autlach daughters, now called Taelachs, unwarranted reputation as cruel witches. They were killed at birth unless rescued by a Kimshee—a Taelach sister trained to sense Taelach fetuses through telepathy. Sparse in numbers but determined to survive, the Taelach clung to their existence, eventually rediscovering the history of their origins and with it, the technology that brought humanity to Sixty-One Cygni. This technology also brought the Taelach together under one governing body— The Silver Kinship. Now capable of securing infant sisters from their disinterested birth parents, Kinship numbers skyrocketed almost as quickly as Taelach technology advanced. They were now able to explore Sixty-One Cygni and colonize the worlds surrounding it, bringing about an era of harmony that lasted until the unthinkable happened in a peaceful society—civil war.

A faction bent on the enslavement of the Autlach rebelled against the Kinship, shaking the very foundations of Taelach culture. Amidst the chaos, a new leader rose to power. Young as she was unrelenting in her love for the Kinship, Belsas Exzal took the Kinship’s reins, soon squelching the rebellion and sentencing the conspirators to exile on Farstar’s prison colony. Cance Creiloff, the leader of the rebellion and former comrade of Belsas Exzal, promised to return, a pledge that grew into vowed revenge as she and the other conspirators were branded with the Taelach symbol for traitor.

So ended the Taelach civil war and began the six-decade reign of Belsas Exzal as Taelach of All. A strong, vibrant leader, Belsas guides the Silver Kinship through a decade and a half of continued problems, including an Autlach uprising against the Kinship and the invasion of Iralian Commitment—an alien reptilian species with the macabre reputation for feasting on living enemy flesh. Now bound together against a common enemy, the Taelach and Autlach form an uneasy alliance—one as vulnerable to old prejudices as it is strengthened by fear.

This tale begins one decade after the Taelach civil war.

Chapter One

Take the child of your resemblance. There is no place for her in the limits of the Autlach existence.

—Taelach saying

Fizzelle tried to focus on the troubled face that lingered above her own. The pains in her abdomen had subsided, leaving her feeling quite empty inside. “Where’s the child?” she muttered. “I want my baby.”

“You’re too weak.” Laiman pulled the blankets to her chin, smoothed her whorlish curls, then looked toward the small, crying bundle nuzzled in the midwife’s arms.

Fizzelle’s dark eyes glazed with want. “Laiman, the child. Let me see it.”

The midwife shook her head a decided no.

“Sleep now, Zelle. I’ll tend the baby.”

“What’s wrong with the babe? Laiman? Why can’t I . . .” Her voice trailed off as he eased the sleep smoker mask over her nose and mouth.

“Forgive me.” Laiman’s heart broke as her hold loosened then fell away. “But it’s easier to forget what you never see.”

The midwife clutched the child tight and turned toward the doorway. “They’ll be here soon. I’ll watch her until they come.”

“Wait.”

“Laiman, no.” She pulled just out of his reach. “Don’t make memories.”

“They’re already made. Now let me see my daughter.” He took the baby from her resistant arms and cradled it in his own. “She has her mother’s round face and button nose.”

“And Taelach hair and eyes,” reminded the midwife as she forced the infant from him. “The infant must go. She’s one of them.”

“But what do I tell Fizzelle? She’s longed for another child.”

The midwife scowled. Further delay would mean contact, unavoidable conversation with those she detested. “She already has two. One loss won’t make that much difference. Mothers have endured this for eons. A little sacrifice won’t harm her, or you. Let it go, Laiman. There’ll be others—”

Two imposing shadows appeared just outside the door, hesitating to share an embrace before they entered the small birthing chamber. The smaller of the pair approached the now gray-faced midwife and reached a slender hand toward the baby. “A beautiful child.” Her whisper was thickly accented. “She will be treasured.” With an approving nod to her partner, she pulled the young one into her arms, delighting when a tiny hand grasped her finger and pulled it to a suckling mouth. Eyes reflective with understanding, she spoke something in the Taelach tongue Laiman couldn’t comprehend, drew her cloak around the baby, and departed.

Once the first Taelach was safely away, the second, room-dominating figure pulled back her hood, revealing a strong-featured face. White hair came into view, white hair that was cropped razor short save for the two braids that hung from her right temple. She gazed at Laiman, her blue eyes reflective as well, but almost cold in their intent. “Does the child have a name?”

Laiman froze at the demanding voice, staring at its owner.

“The child? Has she been named?”

The midwife broke Laiman’s silence. “The mother said a girl was to be named LaRenna.”

The Taelach nodded slowly, as if digesting the bit of information. “Then LaRenna it shall be.”

Laiman grabbed the arm of the dark-cloaked figure in desperation. “My wife? What do I—” Fear swelled into such consuming anger he shook. “You can’t take our child!” The steady stare that met his sent a spine-tingling sensation of calm washing over him. He released his handhold then stepped back, astonished by his sudden inexplicable passivity.

“The child is Taelach,” came the sedate explanation from the remaining figure. “She was born with a warrior’s spirit and a seer’s mind. Could you teach her to use her gifts as we can? She belongs with her own kind. It is for her benefit and safety she becomes one