Carol awoke snuggled between the sleeping bodies of Kalin and Coreen. The Emperor's other wives and consorts were also sleeping in the huge, round bed. However, the Emperor himself was not with them; nor was Shayal. The room was illuminated by a soft purple grow that provided just enough light to see by without interrupting sleep. Carol looked about the bedroom; taking in its ornate, hand-carved wooden furniture, the one of a kind works of art hanging on the walls, and the fire burning in the hearth that took up most of the room's far wall. It was odd, she thought, that the purple glow seemed to cancel out the fire's light. She could see the orange/red color as the flamed danced in the fireplace, and she could feel the heat, but its light was not cast into the rest of the room. The purple light, it seemed, would tolerate no competition.
She turned at a sound behind her. Nathaniel and Shayal were approaching the bed; Carol had not heard them enter the bedroom. They were cast in fluctuating shadows that seemed to glide over their nude bodies with intentions of their own. The shadows alternately revealed and hid their bodies from Carol; giving them an almost ghostlike visage. Carol realized that purple glow had no source that she could readily identify; it seemed to be coming from every direction at once.
Nathaniel extended a hand. "Come here," he said softly.
Carefully, Carol moved around the women sleeping in the bed, and went to him. He drew her into an embrace; Shayal hugging her from behind. She had not dressed after their previous lovemaking and she sighed as her bare flesh molded into theirs. They held her lovingly between them for several seconds; allowing her body to recover from the deep sleep she had just awoken from. The andra; the incredible sexual energy that Nathaniel, and apparently his wives, could radiate from their bodies, flowed through her body in a pulsing rhythm. Her body seemed to synchronize with Nathaniel's as Shayal's already was. Their hearts beat it time with one another; they shared the same sense of peace and warmth.
"Follow us," Nathaniel said, after the hugged ended.
Carol obeyed; allowing herself to be led into a smaller chamber adjacent to the main bedroom. The chamber's door was concealed by a hologram that made it appear to be a solid wall. The purple light was brighter here; bright enough to read by, but soft and comforting at the same time. Another bed sat at the room's center. Although not as large as the enormous bed in the master bedroom, which could accommodate twenty people, this bed could easily fit six. It was flanked by two tables; one on either side, each as long as the bed. On the table to the right there were various types of food and refreshments; on the left was an assortment of massage oils and towels.
Above the bed was the source of the purple light. Floating two meters over the bed was a crystal pyramid approximately the size of a man's head. The purple light emanated from a shimmering ball of radiance in its core.
"What is it?" Carol asked; her eyes fixated on the pyramid.
"We call it an Ansharr," Shayal said, standing on Carol's right and caressing her back. "It is a kind of living technology. It concentrates and stores andra energy and information, it grants prophetic visions, helps us find other people who can use the andra, and it does many other things; many of which we have yet to discover."
"It also activates the abilities of people in which the andra is dormant," Nathaniel said, coming to stand at her left and lacing his fingers with hers.
Carol's eyes did not leave the floating pyramid; it seemed to be hypnotic in its own right.
"Do you think I have the andra?" she asked.
"We know you do?" Nathaniel replied. "Remember, about two years ago, when you ship's crew received a unit citation for excellence?" He asked her.
Carol was still fixated on the pyramid. "Yes, it was after we destroyed the pirate base on Gundara."
"That's right," Nathaniel confirmed. "Sandra presented that citation, remember? She shook your hand."
Carol remembered; she was one of a line of over twenty officers to be greeted by Princess Sandra Rittenhouse-Trent: the Grand Field Marshal of the Dynastic military forces. "That was so quick; just a few seconds."
"Sandra sensed the andra in you then; and we started to watch you," Shayal said.
The pyramid's light had started to pulsate in a slow rhythm. Nathaniel's hand had joined Shayal's in stroking Carol's back. They moved from the base of her neck to her spine; alternating in time with the pyramid's pulses. Carol felt her heartbeat assume the cadence of the pulsing. She felt tingling warmth in the core of her body. Core was an inadequate word, though; what she felt was indescribable. It was as though everything that was primally feminine; everything that connected her to women from the beginning of the human race was stirring within her. The great feminine energy was both within her body and beyond her it; deliciously physical and yet so much more.
"Do you feel it, Carol?" Shayal asked her. "Can you feel the andra building within you?"
"Yes." Carol replied, her voice very soft.
Shayal's lips grazed Carol's ear. "Twilight," Shayal said.
Carol went into trance easily and quickly. With her conscious mind no longer hindering it, the feminine power expanded through her body and mind. Her senses expanded. She was aware of Shayal's heart as it beat in unison with hers, she hear Shayal's breath, detected nuances of her perfume that normally would go unnoticed, and she was acutely aware of Nathaniel.
Her andra; so powerfully feminine, reached out to his masculine energy and touched it. Their energies caressed each other and flared up together and produced a new, even more powerful force. The eternal dynamic of the male and female; of yin and yang was coming together in a realm that was beyond the physical, yet grounded in it. This third power was greater than the male and female; rather they stood alone or combined. The third power was greater than the sum of components that joined together to form it; it was the power of creation: what created life and brought order to the universe. Carol knew this instinctively.
"Open your eyes, Carol," Shayal said. Slowly, Carol obeyed.
Nathaniel was now standing two meters away holding her in a soft, loving gaze. He was fully aroused; his manhood standing firm and ready. His andra was still entwined with hers. It was a kind of metaphysical foreplay that didn't require touch; they were linked by their awakened sexual energy. Nathaniel's eyes remained fixed on hers as he directed his andra to create different sensations in her body. He sent a soothing warmth that seemed to infuse her whole body, then he made a thrilling tingle dance up her spine and, finally, he made her sense of incredible euphoria that amplified all of the other sensations. Ecstasy was the only word that Carol could think of; and that was far from adequate.
"Your andra is awake now," Shayal said softly. "You have to control it now; tell it what to do. Think about what you want the andra to make Nathaniel feel."
Carol looked intently at Nathaniel. His unclad form was bathed in pulsing, purple light that seemed to flow over his finely sculpted muscles as though it was trying to draw attention to a particular muscle or curving sinew. He was a vision of taught flesh and graceful, sculpted muscles. His eyes were alive with passion as he watched her. He and his wives had given her so much pleasure; so much love. She wanted, at that moment, nothing else but to give him equal pleasure.
Her mind was clouded by the light trance she was in; making complex thought impossible. So she settled on a simple thought. 'Pleasure', she thought, her attention focused entirely on Nathaniel. Her andra surged and Nathaniel shuddered. His eyes closed and he made a soft moaning sound; his member quivering slightly. He rode the pleasure for several seconds before opening his eyes and smiling at Carol with pride.
