Krentz, Jayne Ann - Lost Colony 03 by Shield's Lady (as Amanda Glass) (v4.0)

Author:Shield's Lady (as Amanda Glass) (v4.0) [Lady, Shield's]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

It wasn’t hard to locate a female medic in Little Chance. An hour after she had left the windrigger, Sariana found herself talking bluntly with a competent, older woman who specialized in treating women. The medic wore the ancient insignia of a serpent and staff which harked back to the symbol of the medics who had been on board The Serendipity.

“Now, you’re certain you understand how to dampen and insert this little sponge?” the medic asked for the last time.

Sariana nodded a little dubiously. “It seems simple enough.”

“It is. Effective, too. If it’s used regularly. Don’t think you can skip a time or two. You must use it every time you have sex.”

“I understand.”

The medic frowned. “Are you certain you don’t want me to give you something that your male friend can use also? It would provide an extra margin of safety.”

Sariana tried to imagine the reaction she would get from Gryph if she presented him with a package of male contraceptives. “I don’t think he would use anything.”

The medic eyed her patient disapprovingly. “A woman should think twice about getting involved with a man who refuses to assume his share of the responsibility.”

Sariana sighed. “I know. The problem is, he’s a Shield and I don’t think he would—”

“A Shield!” The woman stared at her in astonishment. “Then why are you worrying about contraceptives? There’s no danger of him getting you pregnant.”

“Is that really true?” Sariana asked urgently. It was the first reliable confirmation she’d had of what she had been told. Surely a medic would not give credence to a legend unless there was some genuine fact at the base of it.

“Of course it’s true.” The medic shook her head. “I keep forgetting you easterners know very little about our ways and you probably know nothing about Shields. To be honest, most of us don’t talk about them too much to outsiders. I suppose we’re a little in awe of them, even after all these years of coexisting with them. But since you’re involved with one, you should know some facts. He can’t get you pregnant unless you’re his Shieldmate, and if that’s the case, you can forget the contraceptives. He’ll go through prisma fire to get you pregnant. The last thing he would do is allow you to use anything. Not unless the pregnancy would endanger your life. And even in that rare situation I’ve heard of Shields and their mates taking a chance.”

“Having children is so important to a Shield?”

The medic shrugged. “It’s a matter of survival. As a class they are hanging on by their fingernails, one notch above extinction. Their birthrate is extremely low, even when the men manage to find mates. And they produce no female children. Without females of their own, Shields have a very shaky hold on reproduction. Each new generation of men must search for a mate among the other social classes, and the odds of finding a woman who can be a Shieldmate are not good. There’s no way to test for the potential in a woman.

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