Carnal Rites by Ines Johnson (learn to read books .TXT) 📕

this morning in an array of colors that should not go together, but would naturally make every eye draw to her.

"When I placed my daughter on the Sisterhood Council, I had hoped that her opinions, the opinions I raised her with, would be made policy," Lady Anglya said.

Merlyn slunk into an empty seat at the far side of the table. The admonishment in her Mother's words would have cowed her. Alyss sat up straight as she placed berry jam on her toast. One delicate shoulder raised in neither apology nor acquiescence.

"Mother, you know the Sisterhood works for the betterment of all humankind. And my role with the Chamber of Health is to—"

"Is to ensure the advancement of your family's interests."

Everyone's eyes whipped to Lady Regyn. Grand Mother rarely raised her voice unless she was agitated.

"This is my life's work, girl," Regyn narrowed her eyes at Alyss. "I plan to see my theories proven." Regyn turned to glare at Merlyn, who ducked her head under the glare. "And implemented." Regyn's glare went back to Alyss.

Alyss pursed her lips. She opened them, and then hesitated. Finally, she opened them again. "There are some in the Chamber who think this research is blasphemous to the Goddess. It is the Goddess, and not women, who determine the gender of children."

"This family has made many advances for this society," said Regyn. "My own Mother developed the device to test for a fetus' gender after the first week of gestation. My sister found a cure for influenza. It is the Goddess who smiled on us with the brains to understand her ways."

"I understand that, Grand Mother," Alyss conceded. "But others don't."

"That is why we had you placed in the Chamber. You have a tolerance for the company of others. Use your social talents to advance your family. Otherwise, you can come home and breed us more girls."

Alyss held her Grand Mother's glare for a fraction of a second before bowing her head. "Yes, Grand Mother. I'll head off to work then." She pushed away from the table and headed out of the room in a flurry of orange and blues.

"You were too liberal with that child, Angyla. Perhaps we should have had her breed. If she had girls of her own she would understand the need to leave behind a legacy."

"Speaking of breeding," said Angyla. "Merlyn we have finally found a successful candidate for your second bondmate."

Merlyn's spoon halted in the act of shoveling oats into her mouth. Her voice, when she spoke, shook. "You have?"

Her Mother tapped a handheld and then handed the device to Merlyn. Merlyn took the device and was confronted with... a child.

"He'll have his eighteenth birth day next month."

The male in the picture looked nowhere near seventeen years. Merlyn doubted he'd make it the few weeks to his eighteenth by the looks of him. His skin was sallow. His eyes looked exhausted, his frame thin. "He doesn't look altogether well."

"He's been afflicted with a non-hereditary disease since childhood. I've done his genealogical chart. His family has bred six girls in the last generation. Twice as many as your first bondmate. He will arrive the day after his eighteenth and the bonding ceremony will take place the following day. His life expectancy isn't long, so you'll need to begin conception activities quickly. But most importantly we'll need to gather specimens and cultures from him immediately."

Married? So soon? But—

"What about my work?"

"You can continue to work during the day," her Mother assured her. "Mating need only take a short bit of time after last meal. I would recommend two hours after so as not to upset the digestion. It'll be the shortest part of your day, and then you can wash and go to sleep."

"If you work faster with your experiments," said Regyn, "then the second conception can be done without the nasty business of bed sport."

Her Grand Mother's words hit home. Merlyn had been working on her experiments of gender selection for years now, with no breakthrough. Shame hung her head. Her stomach coiled in knots, no longer hungry.

"May I be excused? I'd like to get to the lab."

Both her Mother and Grand Mother nodded in approval.

Merlyn trudged to her labs. When she got to her door, she walked straight over to her station and pulled up her notes. Facts, theories, and procedures swirled around in her head. She reached to grasp onto one, to anything.

She'd spent nearly every day of her life in this room and she'd loved every minute of it. She loved being presented with a problem and having to investigate it from all sides; looking at facts, testing hypotheses, repeating procedures until she could arrive at a conclusive solution or explanation.

Science was her calling. The Goddess had seen fit to make facts and data unravel easily for Merlyn. Except there were some secrets that the Goddess wanted to keep for herself. Mainly, how She determined which fetuses would be female and which would be male. Merlyn had made great strides in identifying the differences in the individual male sperm of rodents. She just couldn't figure out how to tell which sperm would produce which sex. But she was certain the answers lay in the sperm.

"My lady?"

Merlyn nearly jumped out of her skin. She turned to the solemn face of Liam.

"Liam. I didn't hear you come in."

"I've been here the whole time, my lady," Liam said. "Since you walked in the door."

"Oh?" Merlyn looked at the door and back and Liam. How had she not noticed him in the room with her?

"I was hoping to tell you about what I found, but... Is something the matter, my lady?"

Merlyn looked into Liam's familiar face. "We are going to be bonded."

She could be mistaken, but she thought she caught a flare in his green eyes. A flare much like when Jaspir had leaned in to kiss her.

"Yes, my lady," Liam said, a wistful note in his voice. "Someday."

"The date has been set."

"It has?" Liam's brows rose, then drooped. "Does that mean..."

"Yes,