by J. Naomi Ay
I followed my mates to the restaurant but did not wish for food and so instead, returned to our cabin. I was tired from the traveling and from climbing up the ladders of the Allied Discovery. I would be pleased to return to the service of tending to the Little Prince who would kiss me and call me his Nana T and comfort me when the scar on my chest ached too much to play his games.
I removed my shoes, which I never could get accustomed to wearing, having spent my first twenty years with only the dirt protecting the soles of my feet. I lay down on my bed, which I shared with my mates, and ran my finger down the length of my scar. I thought of the Discovery doctor who gave me this scar when he took my middle breast because it was filled with a cancer. He sat beside me when I woke up and held my hand and told me how his women of Earth had only two, and I should not be disappointed to be as they.
Still, I was envious of my Siria with her three, and soon they would be filled with milk for the infant and our mates would cherish her in a way that I would never know. I was sorry, too, for the Discovery doctor who looked at my Katie with such love in his eyes. If they were of Andorus, they would have taken each other for a mate, as well. The Great Emperor would not have it though, and it was said by my mates that he would kill the Discovery doctor before letting him touch my Katie.
“Everyone has a cross they must bear,” the Discovery doctor said to me, and though he smiled, there was a deep sadness in his eyes. I did not understand how this cross could be my lost breast, but I do know now that good things and bad things are so mixed up together that sometimes it is difficult to tell which is which.
The vid rang just then, and it was my Fruph. I gazed at his big smiling face on the screen above where I lay, and I was glad that soon I would be in his presence for my Fruph could comfort me in a way that the others could not.
My Fruph and I lived as children in huts that stood side by side in the mud flats of the village where we were born. We knew each other from our earliest memories and would wander the fields in search of fallen tubers and queue up beside each other to collect our rations. Fruph had two mothers and three fathers, and I had one mother and three fathers, as well. His mothers were like mine and worked hard to keep the walls of our huts steady, boil the brown water which we collected to drink, and cook the tubers and greens that we children pulled from the fields. Our fathers received the rations and sat upon the boxes and boulders that made up our furniture, watching the pictures that flashed upon the vid, day in and throughout the night.
“Once,” Fruph had told me when we were not quite grown, yet old enough to think beyond the ache of hunger in our bellies. “Our fathers would venture from our huts and go places where they would build things with their hands and sell things to other fathers and mothers.”
I could not believe this then as never had I seen even one of my fathers venture forth from our hut.
“But why would they do this?” I asked Fruph who was then still not mine.
“They received money and used it to trade for rations and other things that then they could buy.”
“Such as what?” What things were ever in this world beyond the rations? What need had anyone beyond that of eating?
“Once there were clothes to wear, shoes for our feet, things for our huts to keep them warmer and drier. Once there were books, stories that could be read and games that could be played. Once there were strange machines with big round disks that would spin and take you to places. All this that we are given by the Alliance,” Fruph said, picking up a handful of empty plastic food wrappers strewn upon the ground at our feet. “All of this, we of Andorus once made for ourselves.”
“It is better we are given this,” I said, finding a crust of bread in one of the wrappers and sharing it between Fruph and myself. “Then we will always have it.”
“No, Tilia,” Fruph said, insisting I eat it alone. “We do not know anymore how to make these things for ourselves. We can do nothing now except sit upon our boulders, faces trained on the vid and receive with our hands outstretched. I will not be like this. I will not be like my fathers.”
When we were old enough, after all of us had become mates, we joined the Allied Spaceforce. They fed us every day. They gave us strange but clean and warm clothing to wear and tasks to do. I liked this very much. I liked to wake up in the morning and know that I might spend the day with my hands busy and belly full. I liked to take the money the Spaceforce gave to me for doing these tasks, and I purchased things with it.
The first thing I bought was a book. My Fruph and I read it together, pronouncing each of the words carefully and discussing the meaning. We learned about our home, Andorus, from this book. It said all the things my Fruph had told me before, of men going out and working to buy that which they desired. It told of a time when each had only one mate, and it was not hard at all to create an infant. In fact, each mother might have more than one or two. I showed it to my Siria who laughed at it and declared it untrue.
One day, my Fruph came to us and told us of the changes on Andorus. The Rehnorian Crown Prince was now our Overlord.
“He will take evil from Andorus and turn us back into the men we should be,” my Fruph declared. “I worship him. He is my god. We will all serve him now.”
My Fruph left the Spaceforce and using the money we saved together, he purchased a ticket to the planet Rozari. There, he stood outside the doors of the company, SdK Corporation, every day until finally the Human called Thad stopped to speak with him.
“I will work for the Rehnorian Crown Prince,” my Fruph declared.
The Human called Thad asked him what he could do since he was neither a doctor nor an engineer.
“How big are you anyway?” the Thad asked. “Eight feet tall? Four hundred fifty pounds give or take a hundred or two?”
My Fruph nodded. “I served in the Allied Spaceforce,” he said. “I will protect the Rehnorian Crown Prince with my life.”
“Good idea,” the Thad nodded.
“The Rehnorian Crown Prince is a powerful and loving god. I worship him.”
“Yep, we all do,” the Thad replied, hurrying away. “Love that dude. Just don’t piss him off.”
Much change had since come to my Andorus, and I had seen it with my own eyes. I had gone to visit in the last year when my small father had left, and my mother was saddened.
Since the Great Emperor became our overlord, the rations were cut, and the fathers were angry. They blamed the Great Emperor and said he was heartless, and some fought the Rehnorian Guardsmen that came to rule us. My small father said the Great Emperor was powerful for he had killed the Great Srutow and humbled the Great Mrufe and that anyone who fought him now would suffer the same fate.
“But how shall we eat when our rations are gone?” my mother despaired.
“I will go out and seek work,” my small father said and pointed at my other fathers so they might do the same.
My other fathers refused and stayed upon their boulders, and when the rations were cut, they looked to my small father to feed and provide for them.
“I will do this no more,” my small father said. “I work not for you but for me. I will leave this house and no longer be your mate.”
“But I am your wife,” my mother cried and begged him to stay.
“I do not wish to share a wife with two others. I wish to have a wife who is young and only with me.”
“You are insane,” my mother cried and threw her best pot at him as he walked out the door. My other fathers laughed for the Alliance announced they would still provide our rations although Andorus belonged to the Empire of Rehnor.
“That fool will pay taxes to Rehnor while we collect rations from the Alliance.” My big father bellowed, but my mother was saddened for she had lost the mate who was youngest and most satisfying.
Now I had heard that this was quite common with many small fathers walking out to seek work.
“How is my Siria?” my Fruph called to me. “How does my infant dwell in her belly?”<
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I smiled and nodded and told my Fruph they were well and tried not to wish for an infant in mine.
“We will all see each other soon,” my Fruph said and waved his good bye. “Soon we will all be together as one family of mates and my Siria’s infant.”
I wondered how faired my former small father. Did he find only one and did he love only her? What if she too had a belly that was empty? At least now I had my Siria and could care for her infant.
In my heart, I felt a little evil stir. It told me I did not wish to tend to my Siria’s infant but only my own.
The door of our room opened, and now my other mates had returned and were laughing and joyous because their bellies were full of the good food from the restaurant. My Siria laid down next to me as the infant made her tire quickly and together we slept until the Lady Berkan rang and told us it was time to go down to Mishnah.
Chapter 5
Katie
“I’m so glad you are here now,” Luci said, forcefully brushing my hair. “I've got so much to tell you, so much has happened, and I absolutely love your darling little Shika who is the best of friends with my own darling little Petya. And of course, he adores Marik, too, but not as much, being that Marik is four years older, and Petya is nearly the very same age. But you know all that already.” She giggled nervously and took a deep breath.
“How is Shika?” I asked anxiously. “I haven't spoken to him since we went dark. Can I ring him now?”
“Oh he's grand! Of course, Madame, you can ring anyone you want! Berkie and I just think it's so wonderful that Shika can be friends with our boys, and funnily enough, it turns out that they are all cousins. I just know we're going to be the best of friends because isn't that how it's supposed to turn out?”
“Um, Luci? I thought we were already friends. We've been friends for years. You don't have to call me Madame.”
“Oh, but I do!” Luci gasped and paused over me with the hairbrush. “And I know we are good friends.” She leaned down and cautiously hugged my shoulders. “I just can't get over it though. Look at me, just a plain old girl from the suburbs attending to you, the Empress of Rehnor, right now. Never in a million years would I have ever dreamed that I would ever be in such a place.”
“Let me tell you, Luci.” I sighed and got up from the beauty salon, heading toward the sofa. “Never in a million years would I have ever dreamed I'd be in such a place. Sheesh! Can't we all just try to live normal lives and pretend that Senya's just got a new job? He's just running a different company instead of SdK?”
Luci laughed, sort of. “Well, it really doesn't work that way, does it?”
“Well, why not?” I shrugged off my shoes and lay down on the sofa, putting my feet up on the arm rest. I surveyed the nice purple bruise on my left thigh and scratches up and down my arms.
“Because you don't make someone King, Emperor really, and then expect him to be behind you in the checkout line at the Shopmart picking up chickens on sale for dinner!” Luci cried.
“What?”
“You get the point though, right?” Luci asked, and her face turned as bright red as her hair.
“Uh…sure.” I closed my eyes and massaged my temples. I really could use another couple Excedrin right now.
“Don't worry, Madame,” she said cheerfully. “It will all sort itself out. You will get used to it in time.”
“Right. Anybody can get used to anything, I guess. So what are we supposed to do next?”
“Oh!” Luci jumped across the room and picked up her tablet. “Of course. Well, today we'll find you a lovely outfit to wear so you'll look quite appropriate when we get there and then tomorrow I'll introduce you to the other ladies and take you around the Palace again so you can get your bearings and then we'll have our first press conference tomorrow evening.”
“Whoopie,” I mumbled. “I'm just going to ring Senya for a minute and then chat with Shika, and we can get started doing whatever is next.” I reached in my pocket and pulled out my cell.
“Oh,” Luci said, looking suddenly flustered. “Well.”
“Well what?” I pushed the speed dial button for Senya’s cell. “He's not answering. What's his new office number?”
“Actually, Madame,” Luci said and bit her lip fretfully. “It's not possible to ring him anymore like that. I'll ring Berkan's under, under secretary and we'll see if we can get you a callback when he's got a moment or two. In the meantime, you can call the nursery, and they'll put little Shika on, I'm sure.”
“You're kidding, right? I'll just call Kinar then."
"We shall have to get Berkan's under, under secretary to patch you through to Kinar.” Luci blushed deep red again.
"I can't even call Kinar?"
“Well, I can try to call Berkie,” Luci suggested quickly. “We'll just see if we can get you expedited. Berkie told me that HIM is most anxious to see you. Well not see, but you know what I mean.”
“HIM?” I shrieked.
“Oh!” Luci laughed. “Of course I'm already using a Mishnese acronym without even explaining what it means. It's an acronym H-I-M. It stands for His Imperial Majesty, but all of us just call him HIM because it's so much easier. See? HIM.”
“HIM,” I repeated. “I’m not going to call my own husband, HIM. That’s absurd. I can’t believe I can’t even ring him, HIM, unless I have an under, under secretary initiate it.”
“Or HIM could initiate it, Madame,” Luci suggested. “He can call you direct and undoubtedly he will. Soon. Very soon.”
“This is insane.” I collapsed back down on the sofa.
“Well,” Luci offered apologetically and shrugged. “There are a lot of new protocols for you to learn. You'll get used them, I sure.”
“I've been married to him for more than a dozen years.”
“We all have to get used to this new life,” Luci sat down next to me and patted my hand. “No more going out to the Cowboy Corral, right?”
I couldn’t respond. I looked out the window at the blur of stars flying past, taking me out of the Alliance, out of my old life. I was Alice tumbling down the rabbit hole, spiralling out of control into unknown depths.
“Katie,” Luci squeezed my hand. “There are worse things. We are all here with you. You're not alone in this. We are friends and we are family and we will get through this together.”
I turned and looked at her with her bright orange-red hair and open round face. I remembered how she yelled at that nutcase Dr. Markoff, defending Senya with a strength that came from deep within. She was a tough cookie when she needed to be.
“You know what, Luci?” I squeezed her hand back. “You’re right. Thank you for being here. Thank you for being on my team.”
“It's my duty, my honor, and my privilege, Madame,” Luci replied. “Now let’s get you dressed.”
I was in gold today, elegant and imperial but not overly festive. Luci fixed up my hair and covered my bruise with makeup. When I looked in the mirror it took me a few moments to recognize the face of the woman looking back.
We shuttled down to Rehnor and took a swing over the city of Mishnah so Luci could point out to me how it had changed since my last visit when Shika was a baby and Senya was ill. It had changed, indeed. New Mishnah had grown and spread across the River Nika and into the hills on the far side of the shore. In the center of the city, speeders were flying everywhere and there were huge new buildings reaching up into the clouds.
“There’s the new SdK headquarters,” Luci cried, pointing at a large complex of buildings on one of the hills. SdK flags and flags with the Eagle Crest flew atop each of them. “Look how much larger it is than when we were located at the old Clock Tower Mall!”
The most striking difference now was not the growth of New Mishnah but the cleanliness of Old Mishnah. The skies were clear and blue above it, and the old buildings and brick streets practically sparkled.
“Beautiful isn't it,” Luci sighed wistfully. “So much here has changed.”
“How? Why?” I asked.
“Because someone wanted to change it, maybe?” Luci offered. “Someone wanted it to be better.”
We landed in the massive courtyard of the Palace which was shaped like a giant oval. The center was filled with gardens of gorgeous flowers and shrubs, fountains and works of art and a few spots for a limo or a spaceplane to securely bring us in. The sun was beginning to set over the ocean and the colors of the marble were reflecting pinks, purples, and every imaginable shade of blue.
“My goodness, it’s so beautiful,” I gasped because truly it was breathtaking. "It wasn't like this at all the last time I was here.”
“We’ve had a bit of renovating going on since HIM arrived,” Luci smiled. “Wait until you see the inside!”
The cabin door opened and in raced three boys.
“Mommy!” Shika leapt into my arms.
I had missed him so much. I kissed him and held him, breathing in the sweet little boy scent of him that was disappearing all too quickly. Well, at least one thing was good about this situation, I concluded, burying my nose in his soft golden hair. At least I wouldn’t have to leave him anymore. No more dark cruises for me.
A moment later he was jumping on Tilia and Siria. Then, taking Tilia’s hand, he pulled her outside. I greeted Luci’s boys, Marik and Petya, before they too ran off after Shika.
I was shown to my room which looked similar to the one I had stayed in each time I had been at the Palace. I had a large bedroom with a balcony that had steps down to the ocean, several very large closets and dressing rooms, a bathroom that had a bath that looked more like a swimming pool, a small kitchen and a living room.
“You have an office downstairs which we can visit tomorrow if you like,” Luci said.
“And where does Shika stay?”
“Oh, his suite is right next door.” She showed me a door off the sitting room that led into an almost identical chamber though it was decorated like Shika's old bedroom at home with spaceships and firetrucks. His bedroom had two sets of bunk beds for Luci’s boys to stay here as well.
