BREAKING RULES, Combining two worlds (Part 3)

A ROOM WITH A RECORDPLAYER

Her heart pounded like a jackhammer and bile rose in her throat. Again Wende wondered why on earth she wanted to breed with Mohr'kad, well, breed... She wasn't really planning... to... have sex with him! No! Wende had to talk to him alone, without the risk of other women listening in, and that could only be done under the guise of mating...

"Urrgghh...! What the hell am I doing!!"

A soft knock on her door startled her and she felt the sweat break out of her body. Who could that be?

"Who is there?"

"It's me mom." A wave of relief washed over her when she heard her daughter's voice.

Quickly, Wende walked to the door and flung it open. "Hey what are you doing?"

Without waiting for an invitation from her mother, Ava darted past her mother into the small room. "Close the door, mom, I think you owe me an explanation..."

With one eyebrows raised, Ava gave her mother who quickly closed the door, an inquisitive look.

Whether it was the unexpected intrusion or the tone Ava used to address her, something irritated the tiny woman beyond measure and she crossed her arms and looked questioningly at her daughter.

"I don't think I owe you any explanation Ava! I don't know why you think you can talk to me like that, but I don't like it. What I do or don't do is my business, not yours!"

But Ava seemed unfazed by her mother's outburst and took a step toward her, pressing the tip of her finger against Wende's chest. "Since when do you think it's a good idea to force Shri men to get us pregnant? Less than a week ago you were against it! Why this sudden change, Mom?′

For a moment the two women looked at each other in silence, both feeling each other's distrust.

Wendy closed her eyes. Even though Ava's tone irritated Wende, her daughter's mistrust of her motives for mating with a Shri man was not that strange, but could she confide in her daughter? She didn't know... Ava really looked up to her grandmother...

When she opened her eyes again, she slowly lowered her arms and gave daughter a pleading look. "I'm sorry Ava, but please, don't ask anything...I...I wish I could tell you.. how I felt, but I can't..."

Wende turned and opened the door. "Please go now, I have to get ready."

Too puzzled by her mother's cryptic words, Ava took a step toward the door her mother had already opened for her, but before she stepped over the threshold, she turned to look at Wende with concern. "Mom, please don't do stupid things."

Gently Wende stroke her daughter's cheek with the palm of her hand and gave her a little smile. "I will do my best pumpkin... But one thing I want to tell you Ava, always think for yourself, don't let others fool you and alway keep your eyes and ears open... Sometimes things are different than you always have learned..."

With a gentle nudge, she pushed her daughter out the door. "But now you have to go..." and closed the door before Ava could reply.

Wende leaned her back against the now closed door to gain control her over emotions. She had given Ava a little hint and could only hope that her daughter would take her advice to heart.

She looked at the old watch she had once found in a dilapidated house and saw that she had only a few minutes left to change. Fortunately, before she went to freshen up, she had already laid out her clothes on her bed. Now all she had to do was put on the short green leather tunic, the mask she would put on when she got to the guesthouse.

As she slipped the tunic over her head and felt the soft leather against her bare skin, a shiver ran down her spine and a knot of nerves formed in her abdomen.