The Mutant World (49 page)

“No need to worry about that!” said Roc in disgust. “I wouldn’t accept him as my son-in-law now even if you
wanted
to mate with the swine!”

“Then it is agreed,” said Beral III.

“No,” said Roc. “My daughter may remain, but why would I let you take my son? As I told you, he is vital to the security on our borders. He is needed in Barrat.”

“One reason is because he has bonded with my daughter,” said Beral III. “Under our laws he must join my family and take his mate’s surname. Reason two is because he initially took my daughter by force to save your heir’s honor and to prevent war.”

“What do you mean?” said Roc.

“Your son, Tidor,’
said Beral III telepathically so the others couldn’t hear,
“planned to spurn my daughter, in favor of his little human pet!”

“What?”
replied Roc, also in private telepathy.

“Ask your daughter,”
said the empress.
Roc looked at Sandra and sent his mind forth and she nodded. The king turned back around. He looked green.
“This is an affront that cannot be overlooked!”
said Beral III.
“So, in way of apology, I will claim your most gifted boy for my own. Technically you have no claim on him anyway since you did not formally acknowledge him as your son in the first place, no? I warn you, if you refuse, I’ll make Tidor’s folly known to all the rulers of Bellasaria and their vassals. If you thought you were isolated before…,”

“Very well,”
said Roc.
“It is the price I’m paying for listening to my council and the other conservatives rather than my heart and what was right! But I am surprised that you would stoop to this threat, dear cousin.”

“I rule an empire, little cousin,”
said Beral III.
“I always do things that I don’t like for the good of all…like you. But I’d like to think I know when not to bow to stupid outdated traditions when they are not in the nation’s best interest today.”
Then she said,
“Beloved kinsman, the boy will be well treated. I promise he will rise very high here and will be loved and honored well beyond what he was in Barrat. That is, aside from his kin.”

With a profound feeling of guilt, Roc realized that this was true. He gave orders that his daughter would remain with the empress in Akkadia and from there travel with her to Illyria. He would return home to Barrat and personally pursue and capture his son and the Illyrian Princes. They would then be taken to Illyria. A formal mating would be announced afterwards. Prince Tidor would be stripped of his responsibilities upon his father’s return and confined to his chambers along with the human slave, Carol. Elder Terrence did not look pleased at this development at all.

******

Last Night

Jawara’s people had been prepared. Most had been in wait for two days at the agreed upon location. They knew that they would have to move fast when their lord arrived. But they were not prepared for him actually showing up with the Illyrian Princess slung over his shoulder. They
really
weren’t prepared for what came next. When Roxanne and Carrie appeared sweating and tired from their part in the plan, they were equally surprised by what they found…and not pleasantly. This was
not
helpful to their situation, but nobody dared to interfere, not now, not while the fever was burning full tilt.

“You feel that?” said Roxanne.

“Yeah, the very ground is trembling from their love-play,” said Carrie.

“Besides making me horny as all hell, their noise can be heard from some distance!” snapped the red haired girl.

The black girl nodded and said, “Get anesthetic canisters. We have to get moving fast before the Barratian pursuit arrives. It’s already been an hour since our lord and that Illyrian bitch arrived and their still going. I don’t think this will end anytime soon. That big Illyrian girl looks to be insatiable.”

“I told you she was in heat,” said the busty redhead.

“Yeah, but we thought she had her sights set on our lord’s younger brother, Prince Tidor. This complicates
everything
.” Carrie looked into the forest towards the sounds coming from the trees. “That female must have been fighting her needs for a long time. Once she bonded…Well, at this rate our lord may not be giving us what
we
need for a while to come.” At this the black girl made a face of irritation. “Anyway, this cannot stand. I’ll apologize later, but we need to put those two under immediately. They’re both beyond reason now. Any attempt to interfere physically could be fatal.”

“Agreed,” said Roxanne. “We’ll see it done, Sister. I’ll have Paul carry the little human slave girl. She shouldn’t be too much of a weight for him. The others need to shift or take to the air. The flyers will go ahead and tell Mother Rainy to prepare our people for either attack or evacuation, depending on our arrival time and pursuit. She should also send warriors to back us up, just in case.”

“Good,” said Carrie. “Once our lord and the big Illyrian bitch are unconscious we run and we don’t stop until sunrise.”

******

“My son!” said Roc in disgust. Tidor could not meet his father’s eyes. “You are a young man of many talents. Despite your age you’ve proven yourself in battle and have been beyond capable in administration and rule. The people admire you greatly and I thought that perhaps I had not gone wrong in setting you before your older brother…until now!”

“Father,” said Tidor, “it was Jawara who carried off the Illyrian Princess, not I.”

“To save your skin and our entire family, not to mention the nation!” cried Roc in fury. “Did you actually believe that the Bellasarian Empress would just look the other way when you spurned her daughter in favor of your
human
slave?! By doing this he prevented that and saved all our lives!”

Tidor swallowed. Obviously Jawara had not been exaggerating the situation and the danger. But he still felt that all had worked out for the best and said so.

“Father, the girl wanted Jawara,” said Tidor. “She was in denial, but it was true. All would have crumbled anyway with the same results…for
our
union anyway. If my brother should tire of her…”

“He will never tire of her,” said Roc. “He has bonded with her as well.”

“Then all is just as well,” said Tidor.

“No,” said Roc. “All is not well. Your behavior was uncovered in Akkadia anyway when Elder Terrence arrived with news of Princess Miko’s abduction. You and your human woman will remain in confinement until I return and decide what will be done with you…and her.”

“Done with us? Return? Where are you going?” said Tidor, more concerned for Carol than himself.

“I must now hunt my own son,” said Roc. “The empress demands him as payment for your insult to her family. He is to be brought to her capital in Illyria along with her daughter. There he will be legitimized by
her
before all the empire and properly mated to Princess Miko. I have lost my most gifted heir! Damn me for not legitimizing him when I had the chance! Also, your sister Sandra will also remain in Illia with the empress for a time. She hated Barrat. And now…in a land where she is free to do as she please, I don’t see her coming home anytime soon, if ever. I have lost nearly all of my children because of this. Except one, and look at you!”

“I’m sorry I have brought shame upon you, Father,” said Tidor sadly, “but I love her and she loves me.”

Roc looked at his son and shook his head. The boy had bonded with the human. But humans were fickle. Their loyalty and devotion was NOT assured by nature as was a mutant’s. They lie, and unlike a mutant who will die for his or her mate once bonded, humans were known to abandon
their
mates as soon as things became difficult or someone else caught their attention. It could not be helped. He couldn’t kill the slave without killing his son, only more slowly. Worse still, he might unleash a demon of vengeance.

“You and your female will stay put until I return,” said Roc. “Then we will decide what to do.” With that, King Roc left to gather his trackers and begin pursuit of Jawara. It wouldn’t be that difficult he was sure. If he knew his kin correctly, now in the grip of “The Hunger” they would not have gotten too far before their need to consummate their bond took complete control. With a little luck, he would overtake them completely and happily exhausted and totally incapable of resisting. Roc let out a sound of humor despite the situation. It was entirely possible that Jawara and Miko would be unconscious when they found them with their frustrated retainers standing around helpless to do anything until they woke.

******

Lord Terrence sat in misery. Things had gone astray terribly. The empire now had its claws firmly into the Barratian royal family, and by extension, Barratia. The damned Mavie! They were going to survive after all, and worse, the men of Barrat would once again be under the heel of women. He couldn’t let that happen. Ironically, there was a time when Terrence believed in peace and had even supported reunion with the Mavie, but that was before his beloved mate Annie was killed by the Mavie in their very hall during the peace celebration of that year. The year named “The Year of Irrevocable War”. That day Lord Terrence lost his wife and the Prince’s mother was slain as well, along with most of their extended kin and all of the noblemen who came with them. The Mavie had planned it well.

The carnage of that day changed everything, especially once it was discovered that women from the empire and Barrat had been a party to the deed. Terrence had forgiven the terrible crimes committed against his beloved friend and liberator, Barrat and his young son. He had forgiven the events that led to the death of King Ken and his Mate and son, Queen Dalia and Prince Barrat II. Again it was the Mavie hardliners that had caused this, sparing only Barrat’s twin sister, Katie, who was then raised to be their queen. Again and again, every time things looked promising the Mavie would add new blood to old and the empire would do nothing! Well, at least nothing to the Mavie. No longer was Terrence in the forgiving mood. He swore he would see the Mavie destroyed utterly, no matter the cost. Indeed, all the Barratian nobles did. But it would not be so easily done.

When it was revealed that various women from the empire had supported and actually assisted in the murderous treachery in Mavie, Empress Dido disavowed any knowledge of their actions. Yet she declared war and sent warriors into the western mountains to avenge them when many of them were captured and either beheaded or enslaved before they could slink back to their holes in Bellasaria. Immediately, the Mavie slave women in Barrat saw their chance and revolted with some support by Barratian free women. “The Women’s War” as it was call in Barrat had begun. It was a savage war. The women within Barrat were crushed so severely and brutally that they would never think of rising again. And even if they did, they wouldn’t be given even the slightest means or advantages to do so, much less succeed. Free Barratian women, who until then had a certain amount of status and privileges in Barratia, lost everything. Including the right to travel freely, hold rank, speak in assembly or bear weapons and learn their use. The Mavie and the empire weren’t so easily or decisively dealt with though. The men of Barrat had begun to see the men of the east as weak and tied to their women’s skirts. But the war in the mountains had proven them to be mighty warriors. They (although sympathizing with the Barratians) fought hard and did not yield ground easily and their numbers seemed endless. But in the end, Empress Dido lost too many warriors and her vassal kings, including King Harold II of the Great Forest Kingdom had now risen in revolt to the support of the wronged Barratians. Dido withdrew her forces leaving thousands dead or captured in Barrat to put down her rebellious cousin and his allies, which she did with some difficulty. When all was done, Barratia remained free and defiant, but at the cost of thousands of its men, and most of the adult males of their noble houses decimated. The empress pacified her kin and brought her own troubles to an end. It wasn’t easy, but ingrained respect for clan mothers, elders and kinship helped greatly in bringing the rebellious vassal kings to the table of peace.

The world and empire had now changed. The men of Barrat had fought bravely and with never before seen ferocity to defend their freedom. At great cost they had withstood the mighty Bellasarian Empire. The men of the empire had now learned to respect them highly and the women to fear them equally so. The cost to the empire had been high in both lives
and
reputations. The empire would never again march into the western mountains in open war on Barrat. Nor would any vassal queen of the empire independently do so either. The men of the empire had full knowledge of who had started the war between the Mavie and the Barratians…and who had kept it going. They had seen this new bloody act as the blackest of treachery and the empress’s response as clear gender biased support for the Mavie and their twisted values. The empress’s and the vassal queen’s arguments were that they were only avenging the women of their own countries who had been foully murdered and enslaved without a proper Bellasarian hearing. They also claimed again that their aim was not to help the Mavie, but to save the brutalized women in Barrat. King Harold called such arguments bullshit, and right to the empress’s face. This feel was widespread among all the men. It didn’t wash. Everyone knew these women were accomplices to the treacherous slaughter at the peace talks. Why avenge them? The women in Barrat were being treated
exactly
the way they had treated their men when they were in their power. Again, why help them when the empire didn’t help the men?