"An incubus," Darius said. "That also has a sexual connotation."
"An incubus," she agreed. "Had I been in a relationship with another null—we are free to do that, between employments by masters, and we do enjoy it—I would have been, I think, the way you describe Colene, unable to do it with pleasure. Luckily it didn't matter. I kept thinking of that boar, hating him, unable to let go of the foul memory. It was affecting Buck and Goat, for we of a trio are very close. Something had to be done."
"Yes," he breathed. "But what?"
"That boar came to a sudden and brutal end. He had challenged a Canine and gotten his throat ripped out. Apparently this hound had received special training, and was a killer, unknown to the boar. So my nemesis was gone, and that Swine trio was finished; the sow and pig had to be recycled. I never inquired, but somehow I knew that Goat had arranged it. The neuters have ways; they are very smart and not driven by passion. As Goat saw it, it was an imbalance that needed to be redressed. But it was vengeance, for me." She paused. "Then I was able to forgive the boar."
"Vengeance—then forgiveness," Darius said. "I had not thought of that."
"I do not know whether this is usual or proper, only that it was so for me. We nulls are not completely identical; there are small differences between batches, and of course the circumstances of our adoption and maturing differ in detail. So perhaps my experience is not relevant."
"I think it is. Colene had fears and horrors, but she is no wilting flower. She takes suicidal risks, as she did with the dragon. She understands vengeance. And she had it on those rapists; Seqiro made them confess to the police, and they were punished. So maybe she is ready to forgive. May I tell her your experience?"
"You may, of course. Or if you prefer, I will tell her myself."
"Yes. All you have to do is get close to her, and have it in your mind, and she will read it. I think it will help her."
"I am glad, Darius."
He thought of something else. "But you, Doe, you said you love me, because of your training. I shouldn't make you do this for Colene."
"On the contrary, I am glad to help you in any way I can. My feelings have no—"
"Stop it!"
She was silent, having been forbidden to apologize. Embarrassed and sorry, he was on the verge of apologizing himself, as he had done what he had promised not to. But that was no good either. So he caught hold of her head and kissed her, hard.
She met him with utter passion. He felt himself being swept away. "Stop me!" he gasped as he grabbed for her remarkable bottom, heedless of the diaper.
She twisted, and was suddenly clear of him. "I obey, against my will."
"You know why I must not."
"I know I must do your will."
That was not at all the same, but he let it pass. "I think I have recovered control of myself. Rejoin me, but do not let me remove any of my clothing or handle your sexual parts."
She resumed her curled position, and he pressed himself against her back and flank. His upper arm came across her folded arms, and his fingers touched her face. It was again wet with tears. He realized that he was being cruel in a new way, but he saw no alternative.
"If I had not forbidden it," he murmured, "you would gladly accommodate my physical passion. Similarly, if we had not agreed to avoid such expressions, I would sincerely apologize to you for tormenting you in this manner. But you must not, and I must not. Do you understand?"
"Of course." She kissed his hand.
He willed himself to sleep, and this time was successful.
In the morning they rose, washed, ate, and resumed travel. Doe removed her diaper; it was beginning to fade as the ferns dried. The revelation of her central portion stirred him as it had not during the prior day, but he stifled the urge. "If I understand correctly, you are allowed to indulge sexually with any male not of your own type."
"Yes. With any master or male null other than Caprine. But by choice I will not do so with a boar."
"I understand. But I am not your master."
"You are equivalent. Had Goat not been injured, we would have been assigned to you, and we remain assigned on a secondary basis. Certainly you may do with me as you choose."
"That was not the direction of my thought. You should be free to be with any of the Feline males."
"Not while assigned."
"If you are assigned to me, am I free to release you?"
"Yes."
But he had learned caution. "Do you wish to be released?"
"No."
"So the kindness I thought to do you is no kindness?"
"That is correct, Darius. I would prefer to indulge sexually with no other male while I remain in love with you. But—"
"But I could release you anyway. Your feelings have no bearing."
"Yes."
"Then I think I can't release you at the moment. But neither can I use you sexually. I am thus with you as I am with Colene."
"Perhaps she will change when she views my mind."
He remained unsatisfied. "What motivates you, with regard to sex—is it sexual desire, or the need to cater to a master's preference?"
She walked for a moment before responding. "It had not before occurred to me that the two could be distinct. While we nulls do enjoy sex between ourselves—we call it humping—it is not a compelling drive, other than a matter of status."
"Status?"
"We females wish to be considered desirable. Those who are not humped frequently are considered less so. The males do have desire, as this is required for performance, and some crave variety, as in the case of the boar who raped me. In fairness I must say that boars are not the only nulls with a taste for deviant sex. But this is merely among ourselves. Our need to oblige our masters, in contrast, is overwhelming. It is not possible for a master to rape a null; she inevitably welcomes his interest. So it is the latter."
"But suppose the master likes to rape?"
"He will tell her to pretend aversion, to resist and weep as she submits, and she will do so. He may also require her pain, or what among nulls would be considered unnatural acts. She welcomes it all, from the master."
"I find this horrifying."
"You are a nice man."
And she was a nice woman. "You oblige me best by your candor. You have helped me understand much that I need to, and I really appreciate it. I may not be allowed to apologize, but I think I am allowed to thank you. I do so, Doe."
"Oh, Darius!" Her tears were back. This time he was glad of them. Her emotions were genuine, but governed by her need to oblige. It would be the same with the Felines.
She wanted to kiss him, and he felt he owed at least that much to her. "I believe you understand why I should not express physical affection for you. But you may, if and only if you choose, show it to me."
"I understand." She turned to him as they stopped walking. He held his arms rigid at his sides, while she embraced him and kissed him. It would be treacherously easy to love her.
She held the kiss for a timeless moment, then withdrew. "I think I should not do that again, even when given leave," she murmured, once again blushing as she turned away.
She was surely right. She understood her impact on him.
They walked at a good clip, but the dragon had brought him farther than he had realized, and the terrain was more rugged than he had appreciated. Darius didn't want to admit it, but he was getting tired. Doe was having no trouble, however. That suggested the type of exercise she normally got, and the way she had been designed. She was accustomed to hard work.
"Perhaps we should pause for food," she suggested.
"There are no fruit trees nearby."
"I could go to a village and ask for food."
"While I rest my feet?"
"Of course."
"No way."
She was disconcerted. "If I have displeased you—"
"No. You're trying to give me a pretext to rest without hurting my feelings. You will face mischief in that village fr
om males, and it may be unpleasant for you. I won't have it. I'm tired, not weak. Maybe there are fruit trees ahead."
"Surely so." She hesitated. "I can assist you in walking, if—"
"No." Then, aware that he seemed petulant, he qualified it. "We would have to walk with our arms around each other's waists. That could lead to awkward notions."
"The notions already exist." But she did not argue further.
So they went on. The route descended into a valley where a large river ran. This must be the one the dragon had swum. Well, he could swim it himself. He stopped at the bank and began stripping his apparel.
"Darius, you asked me not to let you remove your clothing."
"I meant when we were touching each other in the lean-to. Now I merely want to keep my things dry as I swim across the river."
"You must not do that."
"I won't touch you, Doe. You can swim well apart from me. You can swim?"
"I can swim well, but I must not be apart. Should you falter, I must be ready to bear you up."
Oh. "Very well, then. That sort of touching is permissible. Then I will dry and dress again on the other side."
She stood looking at the water. "No, you must not."
"Not dress again?"
"Not swim across."
"A moment ago you were going to swim with me."
"A moment ago I had not seen the plesiosaur."
Darius looked. A small but formidable head was rising from the water, perched on a long neck. The head rose so high that there had to be a formidable body beneath the surface. "That's a river predator? Capable of consuming us?"
"Yes. We nulls are not allowed to resist it, but we can avoid it by staying clear of the water when it is near. Sometimes it catches us by surprise, however. We must find another way to cross."
Darius considered the creature. "I think it could grab a person right off a boat."
"It can. There must be a ford at some point along the river, too shallow for the plesiosaur to swim. I can look for it, if—"
"We'll both look for it."
They started to walk upstream. Then Doe raised her nose and sniffed the air, alarmed. "Dragon!"
"The dragon won't attack us. It knows me."
She turned her great eyes on him. "This is not the same dragon whose trail we follow, Darius."
An ugly chill ran through him. He did not doubt her ability to distinguish between dragons by odor. He drew his knife, though it seemed a puny weapon. "Get clear, Doe. Maybe I can back it off." But it was bravado; he knew he was no possible match for the predator.
"No, you must not threaten it. This is not allowed."
Because the nulls were designated victims. "Then we had better hide."
"We cannot. It will take us if it wants us. Oh, Darius, I am sorry I did not give you pleasure last night, though you bade me not to."
She thought they were going to die, and he wasn't sure they were wrong. "Well, there is one other chance. I may be able to draw out its joy, as I did with you. If I do not return it soon, it will die."
"No, Darius! You must not hurt it."
This was firmly entrenched. "Doe, I am not bound by your conventions. You must do what you must do, but so must I, and I must try to survive."
She nodded, surprised. "I was forgetting. It is true: I must serve your needs, not mine."
"Maybe we can compromise. Signal it about my power. Maybe it will go away."
"I will try."
They waited, and in a moment the dragon appeared. Indeed, it was not the one he had ridden; it was slightly smaller, and looked older. But it remained huge and deadly.
Darius put his left arm around Doe's small supple waist, and they turned to face the monster. "Translate," he said. "I have the power to destroy life with my touch. I will use it to defend myself and you."
She signaled to the dragon. It watched, then flicked its tail several times. Doe relaxed. "It is giving the signal of indifference," she said. "That means it is not hunting us. But there is more I don't understand. Something about hunger but not eating."
"The other dragon must have told it!" Darius exclaimed. "It wants to stop hunting nulls."
"Yes, that must be it. But then why is it approaching us?"
"It must have a reason."
The dragon slithered slowly toward them. Doe clung to Darius, still frightened. "It is showing no threat signs," she said. "But why is it coming so close?"
Then Darius had it. "The river! It will carry us across the river."
She remained highly uncertain. But when the dragon's body stopped beside them, its head at the edge of the water, Darius climbed onto its back, and half hauled Doe on in front of him. He held her in place, his hands against her belly. He could feel her breathing and pulses racing. "Go, dragon!" he called.
The dragon slid smoothly forward, carrying them along. Doe screamed, but did not move. Darius thought it was not terror that froze her, but his touch: she would not flee as long as his hands showed her that he wanted her here.
The dragon forged through the water. The plesiosaur swam close, looking as if it might like to snap them up, but the dragon lifted its head and emitted a musical note. The plesiosaur took warning and retreated.
They reached the farther bank, but the dragon didn't stop. It carried them on at a faster pace.
"It's taking us to its lair!" Doe said.
"I doubt it. It has another purpose."
They were borne swiftly through the forest. Then they came to a village. "Fowl!" Doe said.
The dragon halted outside the village. The Fowl were watching nervously, their routine activities halted in place.
"The deal," Darius said, finally putting it together. "The dragon wants to make the deal, but this village has not been told. That's why it brought us here."
"The deal," she echoed faintly.
"Come on." He jumped off the dragon, and lifted her after him. "I'll talk; you translate."
"But I don't speak Fowl dialect."
"Sign language. And demonstration. We'll get it across. Now here are the words: Dragon make peace."
He waited while she made signals with her hands, gesturing to the dragon. The villagers stared, hardly crediting it.
"Dragon hunt rats," Darius continued. "Fowl let dragon come into houses. Stun rats with music."
Still they stared, unable to grasp this.
"We must show them," Darius said. "Where are there rats?"
"Everywhere. Especially in the storage shed," Doe said. "They can't be kept out."
"Lead the way there."
She looked around, then walked toward a structure near the center of the building. Darius followed, turning to beckon the dragon. The dragon slid toward them.
Doe opened the shed door. She made a musical bleat. A rat scrambled out, confused.
The dragon sang. The tone swelled eerily. The rat rolled over on its back, helpless. The dragon reached it and snapped it up. Then the dragon put its head into the shed, sounding its note. The head snapped back and forth. Rats squealed, but none emerged.
Darius took Doe by the arm. "Tell the Fowl that all the dragon needs is their trust, and someone to talk to. Then it will not prey on them any more. It will eat rats instead. That's the deal."
Doe signed, but still the villagers stared, incapable of believing it. However, Colene had handled this too. "The orphanage," Darius said. "Fetch the children."
Doe walked to another building. It seemed that all villages were similar in layout. There were a Cock and Hen guarding the door. Doe signed to them. They drew back, horrified. Doe pushed past them, went inside the house, and came out leading two chick-children by their clawlike hands, a male and a female. A third, a neuter, followed; evidently they had bonded, and Chicken could not leave its companions to their fate.
Doe brought them to the shed where the dragon was finishing. It was licking blood from its jaws, and there were no rats in sight. "Get on its back with the children," Darius said.
But Doe was
still too frightened to go that far. So Darius picked up the little Cock and set him on the dragon's back. Then he lifted the little Hen, and finally the little Chicken. "Follow me," he told the dragon, making a grand beckoning motion.
It slid forward. The children screamed with birdlike chirps. So did some villagers. But the slow ride continued. Darius walked in a loop around the central village square, followed by the dragon with its small burdens. "The dragon will not hurt any villagers," Darius said. "If you give it the rats. And if someone talks to it. First with signs, then with language, as it develops. Tell them."
Doe signed desperately, trying to tell them, while the dragon looped around again, carrying the children. But still they would not believe.
Darius looked around. He spied a young trio that looked less frightened than the others. He went to them. "You," he said. "Tomorrow the dragon will come again. You will meet it. You will talk to it. You will lead it to rats. You will get to know it, and show the others."
Doe signed repeatedly, making the points. They seemed willing to understand, a little. Then Darius led them to the dragon. "Tomorrow these three will meet you," he said, and paused while Doe signed to the dragon. "Make them trust you, and in time the others will."
Then he lifted the three children down from the dragon's back, and led them to the orphanage. He returned them to the proprietors. They would have quite a story to tell their fellows.
He returned to the dragon. "We must go," he said, and Doe signed. He faced the villagers. "Tomorrow—dragon—these three." He pointed to the dragon and to the selected trio as Doe continued signing. If they didn't understand by this time, they never would. He had started the process. He had done what he could.
He faced outward from the village and started walking. "Come," he said.
Doe joined him, and the dragon followed. When they were well clear of the village, Darius turned to the dragon. "Good enough?" he asked, and Doe signed. "Return tomorrow to talk."
The dragon blew a melodic answer. Then it slithered rapidly away.
Doe watched it go. Then she collapsed. Darius managed to catch her and bear her gently to the ground. This had been a weird, wonderful, and terrifying experience for her. "You did good work, Doe," he murmured. "A revolution is coming to this planet, and you did your part."