by L M Lacee
The female with the straight black hair had gold piping on the seams of her uniform and the female, with blue tipped hair, had silver piping. The Warriors behind her only had purple piping, so logic said she was right and these females were someone who could get her into talk to the one who called herself the Star Daughter.
This was confirmed when the Warriors saluted the females. A pulse of fear had Medenna missing the sardonic look Melody gave the two males and the cheeky look they returned.
Lukkas said. ‘Greetings, Commander James, Captain Howl.’ Medenna was pleased with her reasoning, so they did have rank.
Melody ordered. ‘Greetings Warrior Naihal, report please.’
‘Commander. This is the third sister from the house of Oraintarre, she has not told us her name yet. Only that we must speak Coalition and we have to do as she says, or she will put us in tanks and then collar and chain us.’
Nikolas reported. ‘She also said we must move.’
Lukkas nodded. ‘Oh yes, that too.’
Melody wanted to laugh at the males dry recitation, these Warriors were two of the Terran’s favorite, probably because like the other younger Warriors, they had been quick to adapt to the new way of life, and with their acceptance they were helping the others to come to terms with their new life and being in a very different armee than they had been used to.
Melody would probably have told the female to get lost except for the threat to her Warriors. She felt Netta tense and looked at her. ‘What do you think?’
Netta eyed the female up and down. ‘Not much really, we could give her to the Turqualls but I am worried they would catch something.’
Melody snorted as Netta quirked an eyebrow up, when the female sucked in a breath at the slur against her. Melody agreed with Netta, this was not someone who mattered and as she was here, Melody would make sure that none threatened her Warriors again. She had seen the vids from the throne room and the Warriors from the tanks.
As the female went from pale pink to a deep pink of either embarrassment or fear, Melody really hoped it was fear she drawled. ‘I am inclined to agree with that.’ She looked at Medenna and snarled. ‘Know this sister of the house of Oraintarre, you have no standing here.’ Melody’s voice hardened and her eyes became deadly as she said. ‘I will assume, you thinking you can order my Warriors around was a mistake, this one time. Although Captain Howl may find it hard to excuse your threats to her friends.’
Medenna looked over at Netta, who had by now unsheathed her ten-inch knife and was cleaning her nails with the tip. Medenna almost released a whimper of fear from between dry lips at the size of the knife.
Sucking back a burst of laughter at her sister, Melody said. ‘I realize you are in a difficult position.’
Medenna swallowed and hastily agreed. ‘I am… I am… my sister sent me here. I did not wish to come.’
Melody smiled, and Medenna took a step back. It was not a nice smile. ‘I am sure you did not. No, that is not the difficult position I was referring to. What I was thinking was, that you must be worried whether I will throw you to the Turqualls, the Warriors, or just have fun with you myself. Yes, I can see how that may confuse you?’
‘You forgot about me?’ Netta whined. ‘I never have any fun now.’
‘True.’ Melody replied without looking at her, knowing she would let loose the laugh she was holding back. Almost scarlet with fear now, Medenna’s body started to vibrate and her voice trembled as she began to plead. ‘Plea... plea… please do not.’
Melody looked her over and let her disgust show in her eyes and voice as she snarled. ‘You should feel very lucky that the Star Daughter has stayed my hand for now, sister of Oraintarre, because if not for her. I would have wiped you and those useless family members of yours from the planet.’ The menace in the softly delivered words made the threat all the more real for Medenna.
‘Remember the threats you make against Warriors are made against the Maikonia Empire as a whole. In other words, you stupid, insipid female, you just threatened to collar and chain the Star Daughter and her people. I wonder how she will feel when I make my report, maybe she will rescind her orders now?’ She dismissed Medenna with her eyes as she demanded. ‘Now tell me what you want sister with no name before you run along home and report my warnings to that family of yours, so the mistake is not made again.’
Stuttering a little, she said. ‘My... my name is Med... Medenna, third sis… sister to the Matriarch of Oraintarre. I wish an audience with the one you call Star Daughter.’
Melody’s temper spiked again, and she just kept her hands from the female’s throat, although her renewed anger was conveyed in her stance and hard laugh as she said. ‘She is the Star Daughter, you idiot, and why would she want to speak to you, the third sister. She would not, if the second sister. Eddea, wants to talk to the Star Daughter, you tell her to get off her throne and come on down here. We will be here until all our Warriors are found. Now leave my sight, unless you wish me to show you what happens when a Maikonian gets angry?’
She then turned her attention to Lukkas, Nikolas and the Turqualls, issuing an order. ‘No one but the second Sister or the Matriarch is to be admitted from now on, understood?’
They saluted her and the Turqualls stepped forward, forcing Medenna out the door she had come through only moments ago. Once she was outside the port doors, she turned and fled and was positive she could hear the female’s vile words as she retreated.
‘Run away, little girl, and I suggest you don’t return. I am very close to treating you how you treated our Warriors, and if I do, you will be very sorry… very sorry indeed.’ Devilish laughter followed her all the way home, real or imagined it made no difference to her as she ran. She forgot that the sisters from the house of Oraintarre did not run, in fact she forgot every lesson she had ever been taught about what a sister from the house of Oraintarre did and did not do. She only remembered the number one rule taught to her from the cradle. Keep thyself safe.
Medenna feared she would never feel safe again as she ran into the only home she had ever known, especially when she believed she felt the icy hand of the desoul female on her neck. She went straight into the dining hall, where the rest of her family had gathered. The remnants of food on the table along with glasses and jugs of water and wine made her stomach churn. Still she drank down glass after glass of the imported alcohol that had been found, and then she went through the containers looking for whiskay, the strongest alcohol they had.
Her family looked worse for wear, several of them had bruised and swelling faces, others had scratches and marks on their arms and necks. Her eldest cousin Innca had hunks of hair missing, and she was so drunk she was snoring with her head on the table. Medenna took her cousin’s half-filled goblet and downed the liquid in one swallow, she then refilled it as the rest of her family, Eddea included, watched.
When she refilled her goblet for the third time, she told them. ‘They have the port closed and guarded by Warriors who will not take orders from us. They have demanded all the Warriors be returned, all of them.’ She drank another filled goblet in two swallows, then told Eddea. ‘She will not meet with anyone other than you or Sennha.’
Eddea preened with importance. Obviously the female would not want to meet with anyone other than her. After all she was the second sister, with Sennha off planet it was obvious the female would only want to negotiate with her now her tantrum had run its course. Sending Medenna had been a ploy to see if this female purporting to be the Star Daughter was intelligent or only full of puffed up self-importance. If she had been as aggressive as she had already shown herself to be, Medenna would not have survived.
Which on one hand would have solved a problem for Eddea in her bid to be the next Matriarch? Unfortunately, on the other hand, Sennha liked Medenna’s counsel and would not have been pleased by her demise, so on the whole she felt she had made the best of a bad situation.
Now she knew who she was dealing with, someone who thought
she had power with her party tricks and a few Warriors at her disposal. Eddea knew how to negotiate with someone like her. It was all about showing females who thought they were powerful, what you wished them to do and making them think it was their idea. Persuading this female to return control of the world back to her would be no harder than having Sennha do as she wished. She would go and talk to the female and explain who actually owned this world, and it was not some petty hiesie with tricks and enforcers.
Medenna collapsed onto a chair, looking around at the destruction of the dining hall. They had been without power and their servants less than two days. Something would have to be done, they were unable to continue as they were, soon they would run out of food, especially the way her family demolished everything in sight. She shuddered at the thought of what the kitchen had been reduced to.
Unless they started to clean-up after themselves and ration the food and alcohol, there would be nothing left in a few days and they would be reduced to living in squalor. Unfortunately she knew that was unlikely to happen unless Sennha arrived home, they were doomed, she muttered. ‘We are dead, dead I tell you. Their Commander is a female desoul, the one that was with her, a Captain. She is a poho and very… very scary. I cannot go back there again. We have to try to call Sennha.’
Eddea drummed her chipped nails on the table, making dents as she did. She looked around at the frightened females and the slump of Medenna’s shoulders and sneered lightly. ‘Well, we will not involve Sennha just yet. Not that I can see how we could go about doing that as all communications from the planet have been taken away. So unless you have a way to make that happen, we the house of Oraintarre will continue as we always do with grace and decorum.’
She then stood and screamed at her sisters and cousins. ‘Now. Clean. This. Furin. Mess. Up!’
To Medenna’s look of disbelief, she snapped. ‘I can fix this but we will have no more fighting, we will restore order here and across the world.’
‘How do we do that?’ Henna, her sister asked.
‘We will send out a public announcement saying that the outsiders have disrupted the power by releasing some kind of contaminate or something into what makes the power and the world work. We are restoring it as quickly as we can, it is all under control. Then we will tell the populace they must stay at home until we tell them that it is safe to go out. I will go and make nice with the scallut of the Stars and all will be well and back to normal.’
Cousin Addee whined. ‘I miss my pet, make sure we get the pets back. Tell the scallut we will pay whatever she wants, as long as they are returned.’
The others echoed the same requests except Medenna, who opened her mouth to issue the warning about the Warriors, which the Commander had given her. But the scup look on Eddea’s face stopped her.
Sometimes Eddea annoyed her as she did now, so she would let her find out for herself what they were up against.
Eddea felt secure in the knowledge that she had everything she needed to get rid of the interlopers and regain control of the Warriors and have the world back to normal, all before Sennha returned.
Looking around the table at her disheveled family she smiled inwardly. When she had the world turned on again, her family would owe her and maybe the time to be First Sister was upon her. ‘Stop whining. I have it under control. They will be back, as will the servants. Now I must dress, Anna and Sanna, I am trusting you to see to the public broadcasts.’
They bowed their heads, pleased to be recognized, and together left immediately to go to the building that housed the announcement people. There was of course a short bloody scuffle when they arrived, watched by the technician in horrified silence as to who was to write and read the announcement.
Anna was the victor. She was to read the announcement after Sanna wrote it, but it was all to no avail. There was to be no recording or public broadcast without power. The sisters returned defeated to the Empirer to tell Eddea as she was leaving.
She listened to her sisters explain about needing power to make the sound speaker work. Like her sisters she had no idea how these things operated, finally she drew herself up to her full height and waved the twins inside assuring them. ‘It makes no matter, we will have the world back to normal before we need an announcement.’
After the twins disappeared inside, she was once more blindsided, this time by a driver of the transporter she had summoned to the Empirer to take her and her sisters to the port. The male had arrived to explain that the regular transporters were not operational, but the small land hoppers used by the outer plains people still worked and would be available later that day.
He had not managed to say anything more than the vehicles would not work, when the sisters started screaming at him and demanding he fix the problem, as though it was his fault. He had smirked at the shoes they wore and again at the height of Eddea’s heels when she stamped her foot. Then he had shaken his head in disgust and shoved his hands into his pockets and wandered away, Eddea was positive he was whistling.
This left the three sisters stranded in the street, as though they were common people. Lulua screeched after him that he would be sorry, and he was not allowed to disrespect the sisters of the Matriarch. She was sure he laughed at her. She sniffed and eyed the male’s retreating back she would deal with him later.
Together, the sisters dismissed him from their thoughts. Eddea with her fourth sister Henna and fifth sister Lulua found themselves doing something they had not done for as long as they could remember. Walk the streets of their town. Entering onto the walkway to start the trek to the port, they came to a sudden halt, when the walkway would not move regardless of how much of a temper tantrum Henna threw.
So instead of walking on the road where traveling would be easier, the sisters proceeded along the immobile walkway, infuriatingly they had not thought before leaving the Empirer, to ask Medenna how far the port was from their home. Eddea said to her sisters as she panted and puffed her way along the immobile walkway. ‘One would think the port would be closer, we should look into the distance when things return to normal.’
Neither sister answered her as they were focused on breathing.
It was an uncomfortable feeling of vulnerability the three sisters felt when they passed citizens who looked at them as though the world coming to a stop was their fault. Even if a little voice in the back of Eddea’s mind said she knew it was, and she should never had ignored the calls from the Maikonian ships. Still, that was no excuse for the sneers and looks of anger directed at her. She was the second sister, how dare the people look at her that way, it was disrespectful. She held her head up and refused to look at any of the people they passed for the remainder of the torturous walk.
A long sixty mins later, they could see the port in front of them. Sweaty and sore footed, their shoes while beautiful to look at were definitely not made for walking and now the three sisters understood the smirk the male had given their shoes.
Outraged at the pain she was suffering, Henna thought she would make an example of the male when her pet was back for not explaining how shoes could look pretty but hurt.
Their legs ached from the high heels and using muscles unused to exercise, they had forgotten to bring shades to hide themselves from the suns, which made them sweat and their dresses stick to their bodies. It was an intolerable situation but being sisters from the house of Oraintarre they persevered, and ignored the pain and heat and marched on, cursing the female who made their world stop with each painful step they took.
TEN:
Finally, they arrived at their destination. Usually the port was a bustling, thriving place of business, now it stood abandoned, lonely and empty except for the gleaming blue and purple ships docked in bays usually reserved for the trader’s shuttles.
The building itself held Warriors and Turqualls. Eddea and her sisters stopped before the entrance doors where she was informed by the Warrior on duty that she would have to wait for verification. As if he did not know who she and her s
isters were. The rudeness at her own port astounded her.
The Captain was called for and when he arrived he had the audacity to refuse them entry, saying they would have to wait until the Commander was able to attend them, which was a long hot fifteen mins later. Eddea swore she could feel her skin crisping from the suns as she shifted from foot to foot. Her anger started to spike at the indignity of it all, when a female in uniform arrived. She said through the door as they had still not been invited into their own port.
‘I am Commander James, a Maikonian officer. Who are you?’
Eddea inclined her head royally and bit the inside of her cheek to stop the contempt she felt when she eyed the female Commander from showing. So this is the one that scared Medenna. The female did not look so terrifying, how sad that Medenna became frightened of a female wearing male clothing. Eddea almost snorted her contempt at the idea that this female could scare a sister of Oraintarre. With a small motioned, Eddea asked for Henna to make the introductions. Stepping forward, Henna said. ‘Commander James, allow me to introduce Eddea, second sister of Oraintarre. I am Henna fourth sister and this is Lulua fifth sister.’
Unimpressed, Melody asked. ‘I gather you wish to see the Star Daughter?’
Eddea used the voice they had all been schooled in when dealing with adversaries and simpered. ‘Yes Commander, my sisters and I would like an audience with the Star Daughter.’
Melody almost laughed at the female, knowing she masked her anger behind the polite facade. ‘You will submit to a search?’
Melody could almost see the hot words hovering on Eddea’s tongue and watched as the female seemed to swallow those words and instead incline her head with a thin-lipped smile as she snapped. ‘Of course we have nothing to hide.’
Melody motioned to a Warrior, and he swiped at the tablet in his hand, releasing the locks on the doors. Eddea looked at the tablet and wondered how she would be able to obtain one. She watched as he slipped it back inside his jacket, sighing with regret as her hopes were dashed. A quick thought to just order the male to give it to her crossed her mind, but a look at the Commander who stood with an amused look on her face, made her think again on doing so. It was possible the female may take exception to her ordering her Warriors, the possibility of the tablet being password protected never occurred to her.