Lords of the Seventh Swarm Read Online Free PDF

his broad tongue.
    “Is it a formal proposal of marriage you’re wanting?” Orick asked. He knew she did. It wasn’t decent to keep a woman waiting—especially when it was obvious she loved him, that she’d chosen to live as a bear solely so they could be together. It was a strange alliance they had formed on Tremonthin—the Caldurian warrior and the bear, fighting in the caverns beneath the Hollow Hills. By nature Caldurians bonded to those they protected, and that bonding was arguably a form of love. But Orick had never imagined she would bond to him, nor that after she gave her life in his service, she would ask the Lords of Tremonthin to place her memories into the flesh of a bear. Such a sacrifice.
    Orick had always wished to find a she-bear who would love him as truly as he could love her—a she-bear whose affections would remain steady even after she was no longer in heat. Tallea had asked the Lords of Tremonthin to tailor her body so she could fulfill Orick’s dream.
    The thing is, that while Orick had always dreamed of love, he didn’t quite know how to manage the little things—like how to talk about all the important things he and Tallea needed to discuss.
    Tallea sighed. “I don’t need a marriage proposal. By becoming a bear, I think I’ve already made the proposal myself. l just need to know if you accept me.”
    Orick’s heart pounded. This was the moment he’d feared. He didn’t quite know how to tell her that he’d long considered a career in the priesthood, that her show of devotion was both totally unexpected and somewhat troubling. “I care for you …” he tried to ease into the topic.
    “If you love me, then why don’t you make love to me?” Tallea said. “I’ve been a bear for months!”
    Orick gaped in surprise, then sniffed the air. “You … are you in heat?” he gawked, wondering if his nose was plugged.
    “No!” Tallea said, perhaps even more shocked than Orick. “Is that what you’ve been waiting for?”
    “You mean—you would do it even when you’re not in heat?” Orick shouted. He’d never heard such an outrageous proposal, never even considered the possibility. Sure, humans did it that way, but they were an aberration in the animal kingdom. Right-thinking bears would never—
    “Yes,” Tallea said, turning suddenly to face him full. “Yes, please, yes! Take me now!” she growled with such desire in that throaty rumbling that Orick could hardly imagine it.
    “But … but I’ve taken a vow of chastity!” Orick said, blurting the first objection that came to mind. It was true. Though he’d never made the vow to proper priesthood authorities, he had indeed made that vow to God in his heart.
    Tallea cried, “Why would you do a stupid thing like that?”
    “I promised myself to God’s service,” Orick said. “Never thinking—I mean it was before I met you.”
    Orick looked at the poor she-bear. If he kept to this course, it would prove a tragedy for Tallea of epic consequences. He didn’t want to hurt her, but for now, he was still unresolved as to his course of action. He wanted to serve God, but to be truthful, in the past he had found that when a she-bear was in heat, the temptation had been more than he could easily endure. He wasn’t good at maintaining his vow of chastity, but with each successive failure, he became more determined to keep to it.
    “So you can’t serve God and me?” Tallea asked.
    “No man can serve two masters,” Orick said, and then suddenly realized that she would not understand the allusion. Tallea was a heathen who’d never heard of Christ or his gospel. “The Son of God said that.”
    Tallea studied him. “He was right. Every Caldurian warrior knows that he or she can only be bound to one master.” Tallea considered his words. “So you’ve decided? You will not bind yourself to me?”
    Orick had seldom found himself wedged into so tight a crevice. If he told her that he was undecided, that during every