“No. All males eat together in a common area while I would eat in my chambers,” Isis told her.
“How… lonely.” Abby reached out to squeeze Isis’ hand comfortingly.
“Yes, Isis agreed.
“Eat Abby,” Ynyr encouraged quietly, gesturing to the plate, he had filled for her while she had been talking to his mother.
Looking down Abby gave a startled laugh at the amount of food he had placed in front of her.
“Seriously?” She asked, smiling up at him, the sparkle returning to her eyes. “Did you leave anything for everyone else?” Her question had the tension leaving the room.
“You did not have last meal yesterday and there is much we need to do this day. You will need it.” Shaking her head, Abby picked up her fork and began to eat.
For several minutes everyone silently ate, then Korin spoke. “My Lord, last night while you were…” he paused, searching for a word that would not offend, “resting, Lord Oryon and I discussed the areas of Etruria that would need to be addressed first.”
“You felt you had the right to discuss the issues of my House with another Lord, Warrior Korin?” Ynyr looked at him with hard, cold eyes.
“I asked it of him.” Oryon spoke up from where he sat on the other side of Isis. “I meant no disrespect, but wanted to understand what the challenges were that lay ahead for you and to see if House Rigel of Betelgeuse could be of greater assistance to House Rigel of Etruria.” With his manno’s words the tension left Ynyr’s body.
“What areas do you believe to be most pressing Warrior Korin?” Ynyr asked, leaning back in his chair.
“The first area would be the guards on the walls….” Korin began and so it went on throughout the meal. Korin filled Ynyr in on the males he felt would best support him. Ynyr asking questions, his manno and brothers offering suggestions and ideas that Ynyr would either accept or argue why he felt they were wrong.
Abby was amazed at how his mind worked and got a better insight into the male that he was. He actually thought about what he was being told, whether he liked it or not. He was not just reacting as Ull seemed to do.
Where was Ull?
Why wasn’t he here?
He had been there when she had stormed into the room yesterday. Reaching out, she put a hand on Ynyr wrist. His response was instantaneous.
“What is it Abby?” He asked.
“Where’s Ull?” She asked. “Why isn’t he here?” Silence met her question. Looking to Isis, Abby saw a deep sadness in her eyes.
“He is a first male Abby and has other things he needs to attend to,” Ynyr told her, the look in his eyes told the others to remain silent. From the minute he had walked into the room and seen Ull was not there Ynyr knew his brother was not going to support him in his new responsibilities. It saddened Ynyr for it was something he would never have done to Ull but so be it. He had more important things to worry about than Ull’s hurt pride.
“Oh.” Before Abby could question him further there was a pounding on the exterior door. Chairs flew back, crashing to the floor as five Tornian males instantly rose as one, placing themselves between the entrance and the females. It shocked Abby, who looked at Isis and saw her just shrug.
“It is their way,” Isis told her quietly.
At Oryon’s nod, Zev moved to open the door and immediately stepped back, bowing to whom he found on the other side.
“Good morning Zev,” came a voice Abby immediately recognized as Kim’s. When every male in the room bowed, she could see she was right, but it wasn’t just Kim, who stood in the doorway holding Destiny in her arms, but also Wray, whose eyes quickly scanned the room, as he kept a protective hand on Kim’s waist. Behind them were at least twenty guards. “May we come in?” She asked, still smiling at Zev.
“Oh! Of course, Empress!” Zev stuttered and backed up so quickly that he tripped and would have fallen had Oryon not steadied him.
“Thank you. Wray needed to come speak to Ynyr,” Kim moved into the room. “So we,” she smiled down at Destiny. “Decided to tag along so we could visit with Abby and Isis. I hope that’s okay.”
“Of course it is,” Abby said, as she walked around the table, not realizing it was Oryon who should have been answering the Empress. To the shock of every male there Abby hugged the Empress as if she were just any other female then she looked down at Destiny and cooed at her. “Well hello there princess. My goodness, aren’t you getting big.” Her attention was rewarded with a happy gurgle.
“She is,” Kim said, smiling lovingly at her daughter. “I still can’t believe that just a week ago, she wasn’t even in my life.”
“Kim,” Wray said quietly.
“Yes, I know.” Kim barely stopped her eye roll. She knew Wray had wanted her to stay in their chambers, where he knew all the secret passages entering it had been discovered. The rest of Torino was still being searched. It was why he had brought so many guards. “Is there somewhere we can go so these guys can talk in ‘private’?” Kim asked, looking to Isis.
“We can go to my chamber,” Isis informed them. “It has been searched and is fully secure.”
Kim looked up to Wray and waited.
“That will be fine. Jaqua you will take ten with you, verify the room is secure then set up a perimeter.”
“Yes, majesty.” Jaqua immediately replied, then spun on his heel to obey.
Leaning down Wray gave Kim a hard kiss on the lips before leaning down further to place a gentle one on Destiny’s forehead. “I’ll see you soon, little one,” he whispered to his daughter who responded by reaching up for him. When Wray would have taken her Kim turned, blocking his move and stepping out of his reach.
“Oh no you don’t,” Kim told him. “If you take her now she will throw a fit when I take her back. That’s why I carried her here. Now you go have your ‘male’ meeting and we will have our ‘female’ one. You can carry her back to our chambers.”
Every male in the room watched in shock as with a deep sigh Wray nodded. “You are right my Kim. If you have any problems you will let me know?”
“I promise,” Kim told him, then reached out to touch his cheek one last time before turning to Isis. “Lead the way Isis.”
Every male waited as the Emperor watched the females until they were out of sight. When he turned back to them, he was once again the ruler they all knew.
Chapter Seven
Once they were in Isis’ chambers Kim settled Destiny in Isis’ outstretched arms, then turned her attention to Abby.
“I wanted to come and check on you yesterday, to make sure you were okay, but Wray convinced me that Ynyr would see to it.” Kim’s eyes ran over the outfit Abby was wearing and smirked. She remembered when all she had to wear was Wray’s shirt. “I can see it went well.”
“Uh, yeah,” Abby said, blushing, “there are still some things we need to work out, but for the most part it went really well.”
“Good.” Kim nodded. “So first, Lisa sent me your clothes before the Searcher left.”
The females’ luggage had been loaded on the Searcher before the Assembly met yesterday because Grim wanted to leave after so they could return to Luda.
“She did?” Abby eyes lit up at the thought of having the clothes Caitir had made for her. Kim had her clothier start making clothes for the women before the Joining Ceremony, even though they had originally shunned her, knowing they would need them. Abby’s excitement quickly dimmed though when the rest of Kim’s words sunk in.
“They have left already?” Abby whispered quietly and the disappointment in her voice pulled Isis’ eyes from Destiny. “I didn’t get to say goodbye.”
“I know.” Kim leaned over and squeezed Abby’s hand. “But Grim was impatient to get them back to Luda where he could better protect them.”
“Do you wish you were with them Abby?” Isis asked, not sure she would like the answer.
“No,” Abby said, turning her eyes to Isis, “but now I really am really alone.”
&nb
sp; “You are not alone,” Kim told her firmly. “Not really, you have us.” She gestured to herself and Isis before reaching into her pocket, pulling out a Comm unit. “And you have this. It’s a Comm unit. It’s like the cell phone’s we use back on Earth. It is already programmed with Ynyr’s, Lisa’s and my codes and as soon as I know Isis’ I’ll put that in too.”
“I don’t have a code,” Isis told them, cooing at Destiny, making the little princess smile.
“Of course you do,” Kim told her frowning. “It’s on your Comm.”
“I have never had a portable Comm.” Isis told them absently. “Why would I? No one has ever wanted to talk to me.” The silence that greeted her statement had her looking up. “What?”
“No one ever contacted you?” Kim whispered in horror.
“No. Why would they?” Isis frowned at her.
“But…”
“Tornian females don’t ‘contact’ each other,” Isis informed them. “The only times we ‘communicate’ with each other is when there is a Joining Ceremony or the Assembly of Lords meet and you saw how well I was accepted by them in the females chamber.”
“But the other females… especially the ones with Risa… they talked to each other,” Abby argued.
“Yes, but that was more about them trying to position themselves for their next male. Finding out who was becoming available, what they would be able to offer. Risa was a powerful female, she had that information. Many would give her what they had been given by their current male to obtain that information. It had nothing to do with friendship or support.” Isis shrugged dismissively. “As I was never leaving Oryon, I was ignored and never spoken to.”
Abby and Kim looked at each other in shock. They had known Isis had been isolated, but this…
“They never talked to you?” Abby couldn’t imagine it and watched as Isis just shrugged.
“I preferred it that way. You saw how Risa was.”
“Yes.” Reaching over Abby squeezed Isis’ arm understanding. “She was a major bitch.”
“Well, she is gone now and you are no longer alone Isis,” Kim told her firmly. “You have friends and we are going to want to talk to you, especially Abby, so I will make sure you have a Comm unit with all our codes.”
“You would do that for me?” Isis couldn’t hide her shock.
“Of course. Isis…” Kim moved to sit next to her on the couch. “What you have done… Alone... I could not have done that. It has been hard enough for me here and I had Caitir to talk to. You stood by your beliefs, even when your own people criticized you for it. You have presented and raised not one, not two, but four fit and worthy males. Something that has not been done in the Tornian Empire for centuries. You are an amazing female and I know there are a great many things that I can learn from you.”
“As can I,” Abby told her.
“I…” Isis felt her eyes fill, never in her life had she had such support. Never had she been found worthy… especially not by females.
“So it is agreed?” Kim quizzed, looking from one to the other. “We will all contact each other. What? Once a week? We will keep each other informed on what is happening in our lives and with our males.”
“Agreed,” Abby immediately replied.
“Agreed,” Isis said and found her heart filling with the unexpected warmth of friendship.
“Good. I’ll let Lisa know. Now there is something else that Lisa and I discussed and we decided that you are going to need it before you leave for Etruria.” Reaching into the concealed pocket Caitir had created in her covering, Kim withdrew a long, thin box and handed it to Abby.
Abby held the rectangular shaped package in her hand and wondered what it could be. It didn’t seem to have much weight.
“Open it,” Kim encouraged.
Slowly Abby lifted the lid, then gasped at what she found inside. It was a dagger. “Why?” Abby asked, looking for Kim.
“Because you are going to need it where you are going,” Kim told her in a voice that had turned hard voice. “You are going into the Viper’s Den, Abby. Risa’s viper den and you are going to need it to be able to protect yourself.”
“You do not think my Ynyr can protect her?” Isis demanded angrily.
“Was Grim able to protect Lisa from Luuken?” Kim fired back. “Was Wray able to protect me from Risa in our own resting chamber?!!” Kim demanded angrily, then tried to calm. “I am not blaming either male Isis, but the truth is that we need to be able to protect ourselves until they can and this,” she gestured to the blade, “is the best chance any of us have against your large males.” Kim’s eyes returned to Abby. “They never think we will fight back and we have to use that to our advantage, especially you Abby.”
“Why me?” Abby whispered.
“Because the Etruria Region is a bigger mess than anyone thought. Bertos ruled it with an iron fist. No one was allowed to question his decisions. Those that did, suffered the consequences, brutal consequences, delivered by his Captains, in front of every member of his House. Lucky for us most of his henchmen died on the Assembly floor so Ynyr won’t have to deal with them. The problem now is that those left behind are fighting amongst themselves, hoping to eliminate the competition for the positions that will need to be filled and they are doing it in the way Bertos taught them.” Kim rubbed her forehead, trying to remove the worry she felt for her new friend. “The Warriors Wray sent have had to take some drastic measures to control them. You can cut off the head of the snake Abby, but the body doesn’t immediately die and in Etruria there were two snakes.”
“Risa,” Abby whispered.
“Yes, we may never know the true extent of her influence, but no one doubts she was involved. She had to be.”
“Why?” Isis asked, for while she didn’t doubt Kim’s logic, she wanted to know what brought her to it.
“Because she had worked too long and too hard not to be. She spent her entire life from the age of sixteen, trying to become Empress. She set Grim up to die. She poisoned Adana. She had a hand in Van’s death. There is no way she would just stand by and let Bertos handle it all.”
“I can agree with that,” Isis told her, “but you are thinking like an Earth female and are forgetting one very important thing.”
“What?” Kim asked.
“Risa was a Tornian female and no matter how crazy she was, no matter what she was able to do, there were still things she would never be able to do and that is because Bertos was a Tornian male and that means he would never give a female any power within his House. To do so would reduce his own and make him look weak in the eyes of his warriors and that he would never have allowed. House Guttuso was his and his alone.”
“It is House Rigel now,” Abby said in a tone that had Kim’s eyes widening. She had never heard Abby speak in such a tone before.
Isis had. It was the one Abby had used when she had defended Ynyr. When she had made them all face their own part in what had happened to the Earth females.
“You are correct Abby my apologies.” Isis bowed her head slightly.
Kim silently stared at Isis then slowly smiled. “I knew I would learn a lot from you Isis.”
“Ynyr doesn’t want me to go to Etruria with him,” Abby whispered, her voice breaking as her eyes returned to the dagger.
“What?” Kim’s head swung back to Abby.
“It is one of the things we still haven’t worked out yet. We got… distracted.”
“Yes. Wray can ‘distract’ me that way too, but you need to be there Abby, at his side.” Kim insisted.
“Why?” Abby asked.
“Because Ynyr is going to need you. He is going to need your support, your help and your understanding, but most of all he is going to need your love. I truly don’t believe he can do this without you.”
“But you just said the males there would see me as a weakness.”
“And they will, in the beginning because that is what they have been taught their entire existence. Females take. They don’t
give. They leave. They don’t stand beside and support a male, especially not when things are tough. Females are power. Males are dispensable, even to their own mothers.” Kim gave Isis a regretful look. “You saw how the Assembly reacted to Lisa touching Grim. To her standing by him, defending him, even though she had been attacked while under his protection.”
“Yes. It was amazing,” Abby whispered. “But I’m nothing like Lisa. I’m nothing like you. I’m just Abby Jamison.” Abby felt her eyes fill as she looked at first Kim then Isis. “Oh God, what was I thinking? I can’t do this? I’m going to fail Ynyr!”
“You are not!” Kim immediately knelt at Abby’s feet, pulling away the hands she had covered her face with. “Abby, no one is asking you to be like Lisa, or me. You are fine just the way you are.”
“No, I’m not. I’m not strong. I’m not brave.” Abby told Kim fisting her hands.
“Then just who was it that stood up to my Oryon and told him he was wrong?” Isis demanded forcing away the shock that the Empress would kneel at another female’s feet. “Who made him face his mistake? It is something no Tornian male would be brave enough to do. You defended Ynyr to his brother, a first male and a future Lord, again, something no Tornian male would do.”
Both women looked to Isis.
“That was different.” Abby started.
“No, it is not.” Kim cut Abby off her eyes returning to her as she suddenly realized why Abby had felt she needed to defend Ynyr. “If you can defend Ynyr to one of the most powerful Lords in the Empire, then the males of the Etruria Region don’t stand a chance.”
“I wouldn’t know where to even start.” Abby whispered.
“You start by loving Ynyr.” Kim ducked her head to make sure Abby was looking at her. “You do love him don’t you?” She asked.
“Yes.” Abby told. “More than I ever thought possible.”
“Is it because he is now a Lord?” Kim asked even though she already knew the answer.
“NO!” Abby vehemently denied, startling Destiny so much that she started to cry. It had Kim immediately rising to take her from Isis.