Sleeping With the Enemy by Kaitlyn O'Connor

murmured.
        “Maybe I should explain,” Anka countered. “You are not about to witness what you would call an orgy. The song and dance is a courtship ritual, but there is no obligation for anyone to chose. There is simply the opportunity to do so, and everyone takes part in them- even elders who no longer have any interest in courting or taking lovers.”
        Holly cleared her throat, obviously torn between scientific curiosity and a natural shyness that made her uncomfortable with the subject. “But the festival is how… uh… when you… uh… mate? And then you choose another at the next festival?”
        “Sometimes. Those who have no lover, or who are unhappy with the one they chose before, may find another who appeals to them more. For those who have found a lover they wish to stay with, it’s a time to renew their pledge to one another, to enjoy the excitement of that first meeting all over again.”
        Sybil didn’t know about the others, but she was still confused. She wasn’t comfortable with the idea of asking him to explain in more detail, however. Fortunately, Holly managed to overcome her own discomfort.
        “Then you’re saying that you don’t have marriage as we do? Or is this something else?”
        Anka shrugged. “We do not have marriage as you do.” He frowned thoughtfully and finally smiled. “It’s rather more like an endless honeymoon. Lovers never live together as your people do. Our blood bonds are strong and we stay with them, with the family we were born in to. Each night males go to their lovers and each morning we return to our own homes.”
        Powell looked intrigued.
        He would, Sybil thought sourly. “I suppose that would keep things fresh,” she said wryly, “None of the tedium of day to day life.”
        Anka’s eyes gleamed with more than amusement as he studied her. He shrugged. “It has worked for our people for many generations. We are rarely lonely and always aware that if we fail our lovers we will not be welcome to return and they will choose another.”
        Sybil stared at him while that slowly sank in. “The women choose.”
        Surprise flickered across his features. “Of course.”
        “You have a matriarchal society,” Holly exclaimed with sudden comprehension.
        “Naturally. As I said-blood bonds-and there is no surer way to follow them. In any case, it is the mother who makes the home.”
        Sybil and Holly both glanced at Kushbu and Powell with amusement to see how they’d taken that news. Both men looked disbelieving, irritated, and uncomfortable. Sybil could see they were regretting the decision to stay. She discovered, however, that she felt a good deal better about her own decision, not nearly as intimidated by the fact that the males in the room outnumbered the females by about six or seven to one.
        There were a surprising number of women for all that considering that it was a military gathering. She wouldn’t have thought, given what he’d said about their society, that women would be inclined to want to join the military. It sounded as if, on their world, they held a great deal of power.
        Maybe that in itself explained it, though? With power came responsibility. Or maybe it was just customary in their society for all young people, male and female, to serve?
        That didn’t seem to fit, however, not when the men outnumbered the women-unless there was simply an imbalance of the ratio of men to women on their world? She might have speculated on it longer except that the first strains of music began to play and the soldiers began to form into groups.
        The music was lively and so was the dance. It reminded her strongly of old fashioned country dances she’d seen in old vids, although, not surprisingly, neither the steps or the movements were like anything she’d seen. By the time it ended, the dancers were breathless and relaxed enough to smile and talk with one another