Shadows of the Night (Kingdom Key Book 2)

by TylerRose.

  Dorn stared after her, stunned that she should speak to him in so disrespectful and derogatory a manner.

  “You will punish the female on my behalf, Royal Brother.”

  “No, I won’t,” Shestna replied. “She’s not mine to punish. Nor yours or anyone’s. Keep me informed of your investigation. If you need to speak to my Neverseens, I will make sure they comply.”

  Dorn glowered at his oldest brother, unable to press the matter of the rude female any further. He activated his personal teleport device, one of three people on the planet allowed to use one, and returned to their father’s palace. Shestna knocked o1n Tyler’s door.

  “He’s gone?” she asked, having opened it.

  “He has, yes. Please forgive my brother Dorn. He is our father’s Security Minister and has been raised to uphold the strictest rules of our society. Females bear children and do little else. Encountering one equally as smart or even smarter than himself is rather a shock to his sensibilities.”

  “Are Voranian woman actually less intelligent? Or just treated that way?” she challenged.

  “To that, I will have to say both. Some are less intelligent. There is a subspecies that is very simple indeed. They cannot help it. Evolution did not favor them. Some men simply treat all women that way. Our females are tightly controlled and largely kept in the home.”

  “I thought you said I’d like it here,” she scowled.

  “Let’s go to the market so you can see for yourself how life is.”

  “Okay. I like a good market.”

  “We have many customs. An important rule for keeping you safe and unmolested is the wearing of this,” he said, and held up a silver brooch with a white oval.

  Two inches wide, one inch tall with a sturdy mounting and pin and he put it on her himself, on the center of her bustier. Several symbols in gold read “Honored Guest of the Emperor and 1st Prince Shestna.”

  “This will prevent unwanted advances. You must wear it any time you leave the house, even when you are with me. We could be separated for a moment and that one moment is all some men need to make an indecent proposal.”

  “I can take care of myself, Sta.”

  “I know that you can, but we are not a psionic people. Only a few of us have telepathic abilities. It would be better for you to keep your talents to yourself and not use them in front of the populace.”

  “That wasn’t what I meant, but okay.”

  They walked over one street and up several more, passing a playground filled with children playing all over the climbing equipment. They watched the children while they walked by to enter the open market at the next corner. She saw women of all ages running stalls and selling merchandise, making food, laughing and bantering, joking and teasing. Intelligent enough, but not educated beyond what was needed to run their stall. Many pregnant women were shopping.

  “A man’s worth is judged by how many children he sires,” he told her when they sat at a table at his favorite stall, just as they had on the Congressional station. “Female children are actually more prized than males.”

  “I find that surprising,” she had to admit. “How did that come about?”

  “About three thousand years ago, we were invaded by a traveler with tremendous power not unlike the man who invaded Earth earlier this year. His name was Imnytep. Our men did defeat him, by taking the power of the Emperor’s crystal to fight with; but so many of our people were killed that we were in danger of becoming extinct ourselves. We were smaller groups of tribal people back then, not unlike your American Indian tribes. This was the impetus to become a united people.”

  He paused a few seconds, considering, proud of what he was about to say.

  “We are a three thousand year old cohesive society with a single, continuous monarchy. An unbroken chain of Emperors passed from father to son starting on that day. More female children born meant more females to breed us back to full population. Our Emperor’s most important job, aside from ruling us, is to produce as many children by as many females as he can manage. Most sons become his soldiers and aren’t allowed to marry or breed until they are released from service. Females are married to important men to continue to breed. The general populace is free to marry and breed as pleases them, as many wives as they want and can afford.”

  “Interesting,” she said absently, phone out and dialing the number Im Reesana had given her weeks earlier. “Reesana, I have a question for you. How did Adamantine get his power?”

  “He defeated another marauding conqueror named—“

  “Imnytep?” she finished for him.

  “Yes. How did you know?”

  “Scour Earth records for any references that could mean the same man or someone like him tried to take Earth between two to three thousand years ago,” she said rather than answer.

  “I will let you know what I find,” he said, and she put the phone away.

  “Who is that?” Shestna asked.

  “Someone I met five hundred years ago and recently found again. Not jealous, are you?”

  “I have no claim on you to be jealous over,” he said, trying to make that sound noble.

  “Yeah, you hide it better than most of the others, but you have your own ulterior motives where I’m concerned.”

  “What makes you say that?” he asked.

  “I can feel it. Without even going into your thoughts, I can feel a part of you that you try to hide from me. You don’t want me to know that you know…something. So out with it.”

  He glanced around to the bustling market, and waited as the stall keeper brought their platter of foods. Using the serving spoons, they selected what they wanted and moved it onto their individual plates.

  “This is not the place, Femina,” he decided. “It will keep until we are alone in my home. Let us enjoy this time. I’ve long looked forward to showing you my home world.”

  “Six months isn’t that long,” she denied with a fresh scowl, and bit into a sausage.

  He stared, not as amused by her tone and audacity as he might have been another time.

  “You’ve developed a surliness that does not become you. I’m sorry for it,” he said.

  Her eyes met his, rock-hard blue orbs that had lost their joy for life and their mischief. “I don’t need your pity. I need information.”

  “What information?” he asked.

  “What would happen if suddenly no one obeyed Earnol? Why doesn’t someone depose his corrupt ass? Why does he lie about why the space station was originally there? So some people with psionic abilities believed their own hype and pretended to be gods. They can’t have been the first and that cannot be the entire story.”

  He chuckled a delighted sound. “Femina, your matters and what I have not said are much one and the same. It must wait until we are alone.”

  “No one can hear us if I don’t want them to,” she said. “I can make them not notice.”

  “How do you do that?” he asked.

  “The same way Julian and Alen and everyone else could teleport in and out around me on a beach and no humans ever noticed. General suppression of the peripheral and counting on people to not notice what is directly in front of them. I’ve been practicing it the last few weeks by teleporting to and from the mall and a beach.”

  “While you are at it, practice discretion. All things in their appropriate place and this is not the appropriate place.”

  “Your place is?” she challenged. “When there’s a Neverseen guilty of stealing the Emperor’s favorite nonsexual pastime? I’m supposed to trust the ones in your house to not listen in and sell information?”

  “These things happen now and then among the best and most honorable of servants. The one who is guilty will be executed in the greatest shame in the presence of all the Neverseens so they are all reminded of the sacred nature of their duty. Several will leave service and will be replaced, no doubt. We do not live our lives in fear that one forgets himself. We deal with it when it happens. What happened to make you s
o very angry, Tyler?”

  “Now who is asking things that should be discussed in private?”

  Mouth a thin line, head slightly cocked, he regarded her with a series of metered blinks. Thinking. Reasoning. Identifying.

  “This is how you are with him, isn’t it? You are contrary and confrontational, prone to acting out. He’s going to hit you regardless how you behave, so you’re damn-well going to provoke him and earn it.”

  She said nothing, holding her ground and her tongue.

  “I had a Seven Day wife exactly like this some twenty years ago,” he said, leaning forward to refill his small plate. “She was the most foul-mouthed wench I ever knew until I met you. Turned out she’d been sexually abused by an uncle and routinely beaten by her father or brother for the smallest of errors. The more surly she was, the rougher she wanted to be handled. So you go right on being churlish and hostile, Femina. Eventually you’ll break a law and I will be required to issue a punishment, because you are a guest of my home; and you will get exactly the rough handling he has apparently made you accustomed to. I admit I will enjoy every second of it.”

  “I could insist on diplomatic immunity,” she said.

  “There is no such thing on this planet for a female. Especially when she is not currently on any official duty. You’re going to have to behave, Tyler, or you’ll end up across my lap while I whip your ass.”

  She grinned. “Now you’re talkin’ dirty.”

  He laughed and gestured to the plate between them. “Eat your meal.”

  “What’s a Seven Day bride?” she asked.

  “There are two forms of marriage here. One is a seven day trial. The male offers his chosen female a sacred Psala flower in white. If she accepts, she is his wife and he her husband in every way for seven days from that moment. He has all rights to her and no one else may touch her for that time. At the end, she can choose to remain his bride and they take oaths before family and friends or she can walk away.”

  “You’ve offered women the flower?” she asked, her oddly hostile mood dissipated and letting her eat her share of the meal.

  “No. They had been tricked into accepting the flower, tricked into the marriage arrangement, and I challenged the man who had done it. I have never offered a Psala. I would not offer a seven day arrangement. I intend for all of my proposals to be permanent. Such a marriage is expected to be one of passion. The flower offered is red.”

  “You’ve not had any permanent wives?”

  “None.”

  “But you have a large number of children,” she said.

  “I have ensured that each was carrying my child when I released her,” he nodded. “I have had a place in their lives and provided for each child and each bride so that the female never had to marry again if she didn’t want to.”

  “So you make a habit of rescuing women.”

  “It is not illegal to trick the female by dropping a flower into her hand; but it is underhanded and I don’t approve of the tactic. When I see it happen and see that the female is not happy, I intercede on her behalf.”

  “What happens to the one you challenge? He’s shamed or something?” she asked

  “He is usually dead.”

  Hand halfway to her mouth, she stared up at him. “Seriously.”

  “Very seriously. A challenge for a mate is almost always to the death.”

  She left it at that. They finished the meal and walked through the market. He bought a number of things for their meal later in the day, and selected a dress for her.

  “Why? I have my own clothes,” she said while he searched a rack.

  “Yes, but if you’re going to meet my father, nothing you brought would be appropriate for being presented to him,” he said, holding the material under her chin to see if he liked it. “Nor do I have a suitable gown for you.”

  “I’m sure the old coot would prefer I be presented to him naked on a leash as a gift.”

  “Were you a Voranian female, I should beat you for calling him that; but you happen to be correct,” he smirked.

  “I’m puzzled by something. What difference does it make if non-member planet K’Tran has abolished slavery when women here are treated little better than breeding slaves and Voran is a founding planet of the Congress?”

  “I’m sure I could not tell you,” he said, putting the first dress back and selecting another. “Blue, I think. A blue Psala flower means unending friendship. I think that would be most appropriate.”

  “So your father knows who I am?” she asked as he paid for the dress.

  “He does. I had to obtain his permission for Pisod to be your escort on K’Tran.”

  Pisod. She’d almost forgotten about him. “He must feel terrible about what happened.”

  “He does,” Shestna confirmed, and took her hand on his arm to walk back to his home. “You will see him at some point, I have no doubt. He will want to confirm for himself that you are unharmed.”

  Hearing music, he steered her over one block and they walked through a wedding celebration. The wedding had already taken place, permanent with vows rather than done with the flower. The bride had dozens of thin gold and enamel bracelets on her arms.

  Recognizing their Prince, for this was a Principality, the entire wedding congregation bowed to Shestna. He had a bracelet in his pocket and added it to the bride’s already heavy burden.

  “May the Nareeva grant you many female children,” he said with a cordial smile, and kissed her hand. “Enjoy your celebration.”

  He continued on with Tyler.

  “Prince Shestna,” bowed another man on the edge of the party, just arriving to pay his respects.

  Grey furred around the edges of his face, he looked for all the world like a Persian cat.

  “Lady Tyler, I present the Mayor of my Principality. Mayor Wollock. Mr. Mayor, my guest Lady Tyler. She is of Sistarian heritage.”

  “An exquisite creature she is,” the Mayor bowed to her, thinking if she wasn’t wearing that brooch, he’d be all over tricking her into holding a white Psala flower.

  Shestna continued on, turning right at the corner. She kept silent for the couple blocks, shaking off her own annoyance. More men who saw nothing but a piece of fuck meat when they looked at her.

  “There are no buildings more than three stories tall,” she noticed, looking over the skyline and trying to find a more neutral topic and not be contrary again so soon.

  “It was forbidden by the first 1st Prince. Not one since has changed it. There are larger cities with taller buildings. We have kept our Principalities as the small, more tribal communities they were intended to be,” he explained. “There are some twenty nine at the moment. The first son of each wife is given a Principality and my father currently has thirty four wives. All but five have birthed him sons.”

  “Newer ones most likely to have not?” she asked.

  “Three newer and two who have been with him more than four years. They birthed a daughter or two. One is currently carrying a son, so he will inherit his Principality upon his twentieth birthday.”

  “What if the Emperor passes? Do they keep their land?” she asked.

  “Until their death, yes. Then the land passes to the new Emperor for him to bestow on his own sons when they are old enough.”

  “Interesting.”

  They followed a long stone wall that turned into a doorway. His fingerprint opened the door and they were home.

  “There is a door in the kitchen that will let you out into my yard. You are free to enjoy the grounds as you choose. Let me know before you leave the grounds if you want to go out on your own. I have to attend the work I let sit earlier.”

  That was it. He walked around the sitting area and into the office room. She retrieved her journal and picked a spot on one of the two sofas that ringed the sunken area. About half an hour of puttering a few words here and there, she realized how tired she was. Lying on the softness, she was quickly asleep.

  From solid out to awake in a
second, she pushed up from the sofa to see Shestna watching her from the steps on the other side of the round space. He smiled.

  “You are enough to tempt the Ilramic himself, Femina.”

  The Peace Promoter, a man who helped to smooth over feuds between families and broker agreements, known for their objectivity, their neutrality, their celibacy. Almost like a monk, but they were celibate so there could be no bribing them with sexual favors.

  “If you want to freshen and change clothes, Pisod will be coming for supper shortly.”

  “Supper? It was only the midmeal,” she said, sitting more upright.

  “Yes, five hours ago. As you say in your slang, you crashed. I did warn you about the warmth of our planet.”

  “It wasn’t that. It’s so profoundly quiet here. Psionically quiet. At least for now. In my apartment on Earth, I can hear everyone within a couple miles of me. They never shut up. It’s exhausting. Sitting here with my journal, I realized I was hearing silence. I suddenly got so tired I had to lie down.”

  “Is it quiet? I hadn’t noticed. I suppose you would perceive that. The Emperor’s Crystal is immense. It is only thirty miles from here. Maybe it dampens the thoughts of the people.”

  Continued discussion was halted by a knock on the door. The Neverseen on duty appeared and opened the door.

  “Prince Pisod,” she bowed, and stepped backwards to open the door for him to come in. “Welcome.”

  Shestna’s eyes went up to see his brother and came back down to Tyler’s. “Forgive him. He needs you to.”

  Pisod stood at the near steps to greet his brother with smiles and arm grasps before coming around to lower to a knee in front of her.

  “Can you please forgive me for leaving you on the ship? I should have pressed the issue and demanded to remain. I could have and they would have yielded. It is my fault you were abducted.”

  “There is nothing to forgive, Pisod. You did nothing wrong. In the end, it was my decision. It is not your fault, nor mine, that a criminal chose to do a criminal thing. The blame is his alone. If you must hear the words, then yes, I forgive you. Don’t carry any guilt on my account. Excuse me. I’ll be out shortly.”