Miral, daughter of Macha. House of Morag. Scientist, scholar, warrior. Emissary. Wife. That one caught her completely off guard. The last thing she had ever expected to find among so many alien, often hostile species, was romance. An alliance between her people and the Federation, yes; after all, that was why the High Council had sent her. Companionship, friendship even, were also possibilities. Perhaps, if luck was with her, a pleasant dalliance to be had -- Earthers were such notorious flirts and quite a few hardy specimens, not to mention a few of the less appealing sort, had already expressed such interest. Assuming she was interpreting their signals correctly, after all, humans did not possess the same pheromones. Or instincts when it came to such matters. Before she got the chance to find out, things ... happened. Very quickly, very violently. In the blink of an eye, she found herself doing battle against armed intruders -- traitors and fanatics from both sides who wanted the treaty to fail -- beside a magnificent human named Jason and of all beings, Ambassador Suvak. Who left no doubt whatsoever that, for a member of a peaceful species, he too possessed a warrior's heart. She would come to learn, in the days ahead, that it beat not only for his Terran bondmate, but also for her. And her own heart would leap to answer: "If we join together, no force can stop us." ### Bonded. Beloved. No longer alone. Three hearts, together as One. Surely this must be a first in all the worlds! Three voices ring out, strong and clear under the naked stars that bear witness. "jIH dok." "maj dok." "Tlinghan jIH!" By blood, oath and pledge, their union is sealed. And the naked stars remember. Forever. ####### PRODUCTION NOTES: Created in Playground, postworked as usual in Paintshop Pro and Photoshop CS2. Colour, contrast & lighting boost accomplished via filters & layer styles. Did some manual painting; her eyes are not 100% perfect but they're as good as I could get without messing other things up so I'm satisfied with the results. Not to mention sincerely thankful for ladylake's very helpful advice and Obsidian Dawn's brushes. Any mistakes are entirely my own, and yes, some are even deliberate. ;-) Oh, and that Council chamber happened by throwing an abstract texture background from Sveva's 3067 set into the mix. Worked out rather well, I think. DISCLAIMER: Still not exactly fanart -- but also not exactly NOT fanart. ;-) CREDITS: 3067 Backgrounds by Sveva from Rendo Marketplace. Highly recommended! Photoshop brushes by Obsidian Dawn (freeware for anything personal but paid license is required for commercial use) @ obsidiandawn.com