The Mutant World (56 page)

“And THAT was the prince’s fault?!” cried a tall, dark skinned chief. “It was the will of the creator! No one can resist the one God has chosen for them…especially if the bonding is mutual!”

“Truly,” said Terrence. “But did you know that prince Tidor had bonded with a human?” Immediately there was a murmur among the gathered Barratians.

“It matters NOT,” said the chief who had spoken. “It has happened before. A woman is a woman. He could have kept one but taken a mutant mate. With the prince’s bloodline, that human woman would have been a pile of bones in less than a century and the mutant girl would still be there.”

“Aye,” said Terrence, nodding his head with approval, “THAT would be the thinking of a wise man such as yourself, but not Prince Tidor’s.”

The men looked at the elder curiously. “What do you mean?” said the chief.

“This is what happened,” said Terrence. “By the creator I swear my words to be true and your telepaths are free to read my mind. I lower my shield in this area for them to see.”

“What happened?” growled a warrior.

“The Bellasarian Princess that came here to visit and bring word of our king’s progress in at the great summit, do you remember her?”

“Who could forget her?” laughed Chief Tod. “A face like a goddess, as tall as a tree, thick legs, big round ass and tits like large melons!” There was a roar of laughter at this
very
accurate description of Princess Miko. Then Tod looked at Stragg and grinned evilly. “And a right punch that could level a wall. You would know all about that, wouldn’t you…
Your Highness?”
Again there was laughter from the assembled men, even Stragg’s supporters. King Stragg said nothing, but his fists were clenched so tight his knuckles were white.

The High Elder chuckled, “Yes, that’s the one. Did you know she had her sights set on Prince Tidor?” Again there was a surprised murmur among the gathered Barratians.

“So?” said the chief who had spoken before. “Not only is that girl a man’s walking fantasy, but she would absolutely have birthed mighty warriors
and
we would finally have had close ties to the Bellasarian royal family without having to placate them with conditions!”

“Chief Henry,” laughed Terrence, “if only YOU had been the king’s son. You seem to understand politics and nature far better than Tidor did.” The men looked at each other and there was silence. The elder continued.

“Prince Tidor was…IS in love with his human slave, Carol. You know her. He had no intention of accepting the princess’s advances.”

“What?” said Henry quietly in disbelief. “That tiny, fragile, flat chested…You LIE!”

“I do NOT lie!” cried Terrence. “I saw him spurn the princess myself! I was unseen in the garden and observed it all! The female was in heat! In the palace garden she was all over him! He could have been screwing her brains out right there! Before the eyes of God! I swear it is true!”

“Spurn a Bellasarian Princess, THAT princess, for a human slave?” gasped the chief. “The Illyrians would have been grievously insulted…and rightly so! It would have meant WAR!”

“Aye,” nodded Terrence gravely. “Lord Jawara, to his credit warned the prince, but he didn’t listen. So…” Terrence sighed. He would have no choice but to tell all truthfully now. “Lord Jawara carried off the princess to save Prince Tidor and the kingdom from blame. He was willing to be the villain and bring all blame upon himself for the sake of the kingdom and the Barratian royal family.”

The men were speechless. “Is this true?” said Chief Tod, looking at Stragg. The usurper nodded glumly.

“There is more I’m afraid,” said Terrence. “Jawara had bonded with the Illyrian Princess. But had been prepared to suffer because he believed, as did I, that it was Tidor the princess was in heat for, but he was wrong. It would seem the princess wanted Tidor for political reasons, but her body and heart had chosen Jawara. She was in heat, but not for Tidor. I have no doubt that she was ignited the night of the welcoming feast when Jawara confronted our king there for his lapse…”

“You mean his treachery!” shouted someone. Stragg jumped to his feet, but one look at the elder and he sat back down.

“Anyway,” continued Terrence, “she was in denial. She respected Lord Jawara, but Tidor was the legitimate son.” Terrence couldn’t help but to smile. “But once Jawara took matters into his own hands all was revealed and…”

“The Illyrian girl chose well!” cried Chief Tod.

“Aye!” cried another chief. “Prince Jawara should be our king!”

Terrence sighed and said, “Truly. I too wished we had taken the bastard to our hearts when we had the chance, but it’s too late now. But now do you understand why King Roc and his sons were unacceptable? Alas, we ended up at war anyway.”

“If we find Prince Jawara and return the princess perhaps we can end this,” said a chief hopefully. “Once the empress has her daughter back…”

“No,” said Chief Lok, stepping forward. “They don’t care about that. What they want is Stragg’s and Lord Terrence’s heads…and anyone else’s who participated in or helped plot King Roc’s overthrow. Tell them the rest old man.”

Everyone looked at the elder again.

“The empress and High Lord were not disturbed by Jawara’s carrying off their daughter,” said Terrence. “It was confirmed that she had bonded with the boy. And unlike us, the social status of his mother meant nothing to them, only that she was a mutant. King Roc returned home to capture and bring Lord Jawara and Princess Miko back, not to punish him and free her, but to publically acknowledge him as Cato’s descendant. In other words, legitimize him and formally mate him to the princess before the other kings and queens of the bloodline.”

“And you murdered him before this could be done!” snapped Lok. “It is because of you that our lands are now crawling with Bellasarian warriors and our dead are mounting in piles. You and that fool are the reason that we are at war with the empire. Did you really believe that Beral III would not avenge her kinsman?” Lok angrily pointed at King Stragg. “Did you really believe that the Bellasarians would be willing to accept terms after
this
animal had raped and murdered his mate?”

Stragg squirmed under the gaze of the other Barratians. This act had made him enemies even among his own people.

“I had nothing to do with that!” said Terrence, not even trying to defend Stragg on that score. “My plan was to hold Prince Tidor and Lady Ayala as hostages! The two princes were either disgraced or now of another house, by Bellasarian law. The empress knew of Tidor’s stupidity. She would NOT have supported his claim to the throne. I planned to use Princess Sandra to breach the gap by mating her to Stragg, thus continuing the Barratian bloodline, but…”

“But the
king
fucked it all up by raping and murdering one potential hostage and letting the other escape!” snapped Tod.

“The deed is done and cannot be undone!” retorted Terrence. “Tidor is a pathetic fool! And as dastardly a deed it was, Ayala was but a woman! I vow we would have been at war anyway…only later!”

“If the Bellasarians want Stragg’s head I say we give it to them and be done with it!” cried a chief. There was much ascent to this. Stragg looked white.

“And then what?” said Terrence. “Do you think that the Bellasarians will just
leave us alone once this is done, hmmm? Many of our people have already gone over to them. Who will be king once this is over? Pantherus? He’s already mated to Queen Bal of Mavieland
and
Princes Bellasaris of Illyria, the empress’s daughter and most likely heir. When empress Beral III steps down or dies
she
will be the new empress and reign as Empress Bellasaris II. You all know what THAT would mean, don’t you?” The men were silent. “Prince Tidor? He plans to make that human creature his legal mate! How would you like having a human sitting beside your king ruling over you and set before your mothers, daughters and female kin?” There were angry shouts at this. “Lord Jawara?” said Terrence sourly. ‘The Dark Prince’? ‘Prince Jawara’? Until now most of you called him the ‘Bastard Prince’, ‘Blue Bastard’ or simply, ‘The Bastard’! Aye, he
would
be a good king, a great king! But you NEVER would have accepted him before now. And now he is gone. No doubt he is so far away from here that he’ll never be heard of or from again…if we’re lucky.” Again there was silence. “Do you STILL think it will mean freedom if we cave?! Do you still think King Stragg and I were being selfish and self-serving by acting when and the way we did? I tell you boys, war
was
coming!”

Only that wily old bastard Terrence could have talked his way out of such a sticky situation like that
and
saved Stragg’s neck in the bargain. But it was only partially successful. Most of the nobles in the capital had supported Stragg, now they were stuck with him. Only death awaited them in the camp of the vengeful Bellasarians. Seventy percent of the chiefs refused to fight for Stragg any longer. They would defend their own strongholds and domains and that’s it. Others saw the Bellasarians as invaders that needed to be driven back. They could always settle with Stragg when it was all over. As for Stragg, he was secretly planning to lead his clan and those tribes truly loyal to
him
west. It really was their only option. Fleeing west was risky. Many enemies lived beyond the mountains. But if he could fight his way through the border tribes he’d be in good shape…or maybe not, but it was better than the alternatives. The other chiefs would absolutely demand that he actually lead them into battle the next big offensive. He didn’t like the idea of facing Empress Beral or any of her kin in battle. He also knew that once the Bellasarians had been driven off the other tribes would kill him. If the reverse should happen and the Bellasarians’ got ahold of him they would almost certainly hand him over to their women. Stragg shuddered. If that happened he would be seeing death as a mercy by the end of it. So for Stragg, staying in Barrat was a death sentence one way or the other. For now, he would have words with Elder Terrence. The old advisor had all but thrown him beneath the bus during the council.

******

“Why did you tell them you had nothing to do with what happened to Lady Ayala?” said Stragg angrily.

“Because it was true, fool!” said Elder Terrence.

“That’s not what I meant,” said Stragg, red-faced. “The way you spoke. It was…And you name me fool?!”

“Yes!” snarled Terrence, now completely fed up with Stragg. “You have been an utter disappointment to me almost from the moment I set you upon the path. I tell you, that IS saying something. I didn’t think it possible for you to fall shorter in my estimation of you than you already were!”

“You said I had grown in your estimation!” snapped Stragg.

“I lied,” said Terrence.

“You said I was the man the kingdom needed to stay free of the empire,” said Stragg.

“I was wrong,” said Terrence. Stragg looked stupidly at the elder. “I always knew you were a sadistic perverted bully and moron,” said Terrence, “but I never believed that you were so far gone. Frankly, I’m actually surprised that you were smart enough to keep your mouth shut at the meeting and let me do most of the talking. I told you not to be lured into a major battle without being absolutely sure of your ground and your advantages! I told you NOT to order an attack until you were absolutely sure of the empress’s location. If you had but waited a day we would have gotten our spies’ report and saved the lives of thousands of our men! YOU are a pathetic king! If you had at least
been
there yourself you could have salvaged your reputation and even gotten some glory out of it. But instead you stayed here and telepathically communicated with your kin giving commands from safety. I can’t stand the sight of you!”

“Why did you come to me if you thought so little of me?” said Stragg, for once restraining his temper. “Obviously there were many others who you felt were much more up to the job.”

“Indeed,” chuckled Terrence,
“too
up to the job.” Again Stragg stared at Terrence, still not comprehending. “Also, I chose you because you had fighting spirit and courage,” continued Terrence. “Or at least I thought you did. You know, everyone knew your short-comings well, and you had a LOT of them. But cowardice was not one of them. History, both on Earth and on Bellasaria, has proven that if a man had balls and led from the front, men would love and idolize him no matter what his other faults were. Because of this, and because you were the only one among the nobles or chiefs strong enough for the job, I planned to have you mate with Princess Sandra. This would check the Bellasarians and preserve my well-loved brother’s bloodline. I owe Barrat everything. I wouldn’t see his seed disappear. Well, you did a good job of bungling everything! How
did
you become so craven anyway?!”

“You dare!” said Stragg. He took a half step forward, but stopped dead in his tracks. Elder Terrence never flinched, but slowly hair began to sprout on his face, arms and other exposed parts of his body. He was grinning evilly and Stragg could see his teeth begin to grow out. Stragg stepped back.

“A wise choice,” said the elder. “Now answer my question. How did you become a cur? What has you so frightened of combat now?”

Stragg swallowed and slowly confessed his feelings. “I…I always believed in my strength,” said Stragg. “I was humbled a little by the Illyrian Princess, but that was only because I underestimated her. Then that bastard Jawara humiliated me. But…The night we attacked King Roc. I was…The king…I never came so close to death in my life. I never really saw the king in real battle before. And now his kin are here. And many of them are just as strong or stronger with the same abilities. I…I…”