Pairing with the Protector_A Kindred Tales Novel by Evangeline Anderson

Author:Evangeline Anderson [Anderson, Evangeline]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Evangeline Anderson Books
Published: 2019-10-25T18:30:00+00:00

They worked most of the morning, trying to master the Tusker alphabet and Whitney found to her delight that she was able to memorize it with ease, though she had never been very good with languages before. The translation bacteria might not be able to translate the written words directly, but it certainly helped her understand and retain them once she started learning.

“Now see,” Yancy pointed through the bars to what appeared to be an advertisement printed on the thick bluish paper that lined the bottom of their cage. “That’s an ad for tweedles. Can you make it out?”

“Young tweedles…of breeding age,” Rafe read haltingly, his brows furrowed as he made out the words. As fast as Whitney had been learning, he was going ten times faster. It must be his natural Kindred ability combined with the translation bacteria, she thought. Kindred were always a whiz with languages—it was in their DNA along with their instinctive knowledge of machinery and their desire to please and protect women.

“Yes, yes—good!” Yancy said encouragingly. “What else?”

“Exotic colors…gentle…temperament. Guaranteed no…Speaking Disease.” Rafe finished.

Whitney stared at the ad and shook her head, horrified.

“To be bought and sold like that—how awful!”

“Do you not have a tweedle trade where you live then?” Yancy asked curiously.

“No,” Whitney said and added reluctantly, “though we used to have something like it.”

“Do you have Tuskers on your planet too, then?” Yarrow asked, frowning.

Whitney shook her head. “No, but for a long time in our past, people with lighter skin color used to buy and sell people with my skin color. It was horrible.”

“I have heard of that shameful part of Earth’s past,” Rafe said soberly. “I am so sorry, Whitney.”

She shook her head. “It was other humans who did that, not the Kindred.”

“Of course not!” His brows lowered as he scowled like a thunder cloud. “We would never subjugate another people, especially not on the basis of skin color, which is foolish and prejudiced in the extreme. All sentient species should be free to do as they like as long as they don’t harm anyone.”

Whitney sighed. “I wish more humans held that point of view. And more Tuskers, for that matter. The idea of buying and selling another sentient species just because they’re smaller than you is awful!”

“It is reprehensible,” Rafe agreed and pointed at the ad. “Gods—there’s a picture to go with the words, look.”

Whitney looked at the space he had cleared of grass and winced. There was indeed a picture of two tweedles—one man and one woman, both naked with long hair and large, blank eyes. They looked like the animals the Tuskers believed them to be, Whitney thought. There was nothing remotely human in their vacant expressions—no emotion, just tranquil empty space.

“They look so…mindless,” she muttered, staring at the ad. “How awful!”

“They’re probably Mindless Ones,” Yancy said with a shrug. “Most tweedles are, you know. We Thinking Ones are the minority—probably not one in ten of us is able to communicate and think.”

“Which is more than the Tuskers want,” Yarrow said sourly, frowning.

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