Maya’s body trembled slightly at this and the other woman, now remembering certain elements of the queen’s history with Barrat, was sorry for being so honest.
“I am pleased this unjust wrong has been reversed,” said Queen Maya bitterly with a trace of envy. She then looked away from the other woman. “Would that all of the horrible mistakes of that time could be reversed,” she murmured to herself.
“My queen?” said the other woman nervously.
“Nothing,” said Maya quickly, “what is the message from the elders?”
The redhead cleared her throat and said, “King Barrat will not cease the forced breeding of all captured Mavie females in the western mountains and allow them to return home. All children sired and birthed during their time there will remain with their fathers, both male and female. He will not make peace with you, but he won’t take any more territory for a while. He will honor a truce for two years. He has released those deemed innocent of truly evil deeds as a show of sincerity of this truce. After the two years have passed, the war continues. He says that so long as ‘The Child-Killer,’ her mother and her unnaturally conceived daughter continue to live in this world he will never cease his war against us. He said to tell you…” The woman hesitated.
“Go on,” said Maya coldly.
“He says…He says he will hate you forever,” continued the other woman, saying the last part very quickly.
Maya stood up and walked from the throne room. She ignored all attempts by various noblewomen trying to talk with her. She ignored the cowering males, both human and mutant. She headed straight to her own living quarters. When she arrived, she ordered her attendants to leave her. She stood in the middle of her chambers alone and then collapsed to the floor and wept bitterly.
******
CHAPTER NINE
THE END OF MADNESS
The war renewed with greater ferocity as Queen Maya led the Mavie and their new recruits from the imperial states to recapture her lost territory and end the abuse going on in the Barratian Mountains. The battles were hard contested, but the Mavie had slowly gained back much ground. It was a bitter pill for many Mavie to admit, but this success was due in large part to the men from the east fighting in their ranks.
However, although the Mavie had managed to reclaim all of the lowlands lost, the Barratians had turned and dug in at the foothills and savagely held their ground. They would retreat no further. Death on this scale between mutants hadn’t been seen since the Tarrack War and the Akkadian conflict. Reports of the savagery had reached the empire and the high council wasn’t happy. Empress Shoko II had sworn not to make open war on her kinsman, Barrat, but destroying the Mavie was another story. Indeed, to the empress’s mind, this would be the perfect way to bring a stop to the war and to prove to Barrat that the women who rule in the east were a breed apart from the Mavie. Besides…the Mavie had clearly started this conflict and had committed the first horrendous acts. They should be the ones to feel the might of the empire. Unfortunately, the council and all too many women in the empire (although sympathizing with Barrat) were horrified by what the Barratians were doing to the women in their domains. Furthermore, Barrat was not completely sane. They wanted no part of an all-out war on a female ruled mutant state. So, like it or not, unofficial aid was sent to Queen Maya ‘The Child-Killer’. This caused some grumbling among the male Bellasarian population, and much to the empress’s and council’s shock, warriors fighting for Barrat were recognized by some of the Bellasarians with Maya’s armies as men of the Forest Kingdom. King Sakuba was accused of defiance to the empire, but he responded that he had not sent warriors under his banner into the conflict. Those of his people who chose to fight for Barrat could do so, just as the empress had chosen to allow such people to fight for Maya. The council had no response to this. Indeed, once returning warriors, both those fighting for the Mavie and those fighting for Barrat revealed that King Barrat was rumored to be a son of “The Great Cat” himself, and had been treacherously and unjustly imprisoned, tortured, castrated and his son brutally murdered by Queen Maya, the boy’s own mother, the male nobility were screaming for justice. Women were equally outraged, but would not lend military support because of Barrat’s methods of retaliation against the Mavie. Young men however, began taking up arms and heading west, and they made it clear that they were not going to fight for the Mavie. Empress Shoko ordered that such men be turned back, much to the surprise and outrage of many. It was clear that the empress and high council were playing favorites. At least that is the way many male Bellasarians perceived it. The imperial court argued that the war was getting out of hand and that they were trying to keep it from escalating. The goal was not to help Mavie and the guilty rulers of their nation, but the victimized innocent women being abused. If Barrat ceased his brutal policies towards his captives, they would cease all aid to the Mavie. This seemed fair, but it still looked bad.
Finally, the attempt of a Melmorian prince and his retainers to mass teleport into the war to aid Barrat, his kinsman, in complete defiance to the empress, was a clear warning to the court. This germ had to be eradicated before the entire empire was infected!
******
Queen Maya looked at the cold beautiful face on the monitor screen. She listened quietly as the empress addressed her.
“Hear me, Queen Maya. No more warriors will be coming from imperial lands to aid you. You will bring this conflict to a close. Your people started this war and now they must end it. Barrat should be willing to talk, now that he is whole again.”
“No,” said Maya. “Unless you have a miracle healer who can bring back the dead Barrat will never sit down with me. He has vowed to kill me, but first my daughter before my eyes, so that I can know his pain. The fool, I suffer more than he.”
“I had wanted to believe that this was just a distortion of facts,” said the empress, “just a vicious lie. But now I know it to be true. You murdered your own muteling!”
“Yes,” said Maya quietly.
“You are as bad as a human,” said Empress Shoko in disgust. “That someone such as you could be born a mutant is frightening! And now your sickness is spreading. Do you realize the trouble you and that cow have caused the other queens, the high council, and especially me! Cato is ancestor to most of us. Barrat is our kin! By all rights we should be fighting you! I’ll be frank. I wanted to wage war on you and mount your head on a spike for what you’ve done. But the council chose otherwise because of what the man you drove mad is doing to the women of your region.”
“Empress,” said Maya, “if I could take everything back I…”
“NOW,” said Shoko, not interested in her excuses, “I am blamed by our young men for helping you when I never wanted to do so to begin with! Well, ‘Child-Killer’, you’d better end this quickly. I don’t care how. Barrat is mad. It will be a mercy to kill him. If he kills you perhaps that will be a mercy for you as well. Personally, I would prefer that you both die, but one can only hope for so much. Our men are hearing rumors about Barrat’s ancestry and at least one of my beloved kinsmen rose in near revolt over this. Thank the goddess the boy was checked before he’d gone too far. I won’t let your sickness infect my healthy people. End it! If you don’t, I’ll send legions to crush the both of you!”
With that the image on the screen vanished and Queen Maya and her mother sat in silence for a moment.
“I will send word to Barrat. I will meet with him,” said Maya quietly.
Mavie shook her head. “It’s no use. He will not talk peace. He wants your head, that’s the only way it will end.”
Maya laughed bitterly. “No, Mother. He wants my head and Dalia’s head because she’s my daughter. And your head, because YOU are the root of all of this evil! Surrendering myself and you to Barrat to do with as he please, I’d gladly do if it meant peace. I deserve to die for what I did. And I hate you. You too, deserve to die. But Barrat wants my daught
er, and that is not justice. I will challenge him to a duel to the death. He will agree. If I win, all Mavie slaves will be freed and the Barratians must lay down their arms. They may keep all lands beyond the lowlands and their independence. If he wins, he will have the heads of all he have grudges with…real or perceived, but there must still be peace. Have no fear, whatever happens, he will not survive the fight. I have already been making preparations for this duel.”
“Trickery?” asked Mavie.
“No. That is your style, Mother.” Maya motioned that Mavie should follow her. In silence they walked to the palace armorer and Maya announced herself. “Lady Shanna, it is I.”
“Ah! Please, my queen, enter,” replied a husky female voice. The master smith, Lady Shanna, was a short, but powerful woman with short blond hair tied back in a top knot. Although a bit rough looking in one way, she was built like a true Bellasarian, curvy and quite busty. Shanna was not popular with many Mavie. She wasn’t interested in females, although some might at first make her for a butch. Actually, she was quite pretty, but she had a strong attraction to men, and so, was disliked by many Mavie. Indeed, she even had a male mate now who helped in the forge. He was actually one of the Bellasarians who had come west to fight for the Mavie and soon had a predictable change of heart. Fortunately for Maya, he met Shanna and began working in the forge to avoid fighting the Barratians whom he now sympathized with. He hadn’t intended to stay long, but then he bonded with Shanna and that was that. However, both wanted the conflict to end soon. Shanna’s mate had promised to take her back to Tabon with him once the war was finished, and as far as Shanna was concerned it couldn’t be fast enough. “The weapon is finished, Queen Maya. It will cut through anything. I bet my reputation on it!”
Mavie looked on in awe as a huge spear was produce that had a point that looked like a sword rather than a spearhead.
“This weapon was two years in the making,” Maya said. “It will pierce even Barrat’s hide, and with the proper strength, which I have, will be driven home through his dense muscles and sinew to the king’s vital organs. Most likely I may not survive either, since Barrat won’t die instantly, but he will die. My daughter, Dalia, no longer see’s your twisted logic and our perverse society in the same light as she once did. I suspect she is a very disillusioned young girl now. She pities some of us and is embarrassed by all of us. Yet I believe she is the one who can make a lasting peace with Barrat’s son if I don’t survive.”
Mavie looked at Maya with great sadness and regret. Maya loved Barrat still. Her feelings for him had reignited (if they ever truly died) once she realized she had been duped and he was innocent of the charges against him. This was long before she actually had the proof and the true culprits, and far too late to make any difference. Now Maya lived in constant agony and shame. The name ‘Child-Killer’ whispered even among her own people in disgust. Her husband and firstborn child were forever beyond her reach and her daughter was now known to be the child of the true rapist with her grandmother the accomplice and mastermind of the whole disgusting plot. As for Mavie, she remembered the daughter who loved and admired her and the grandson she adored and played with. They were both gone now…because of her. Maya’s hate for her was like a thing alive. She could literally feel it. Even Dalia despised her now, was her beliefs really worth the loss of her children? No, they weren’t. Queen Beral was right all those years ago. It had been proven in the acid test called Mavieland. The society she founded was not a healthy or natural one and it was now corrupting everything around it.
******
The Plain Of Nan, One Month Later
King Barrat and Queen Maya faced each other again in the very same place where they had first met twenty or more years ago. Their armies were gathered on the field as well. Empress Shoko had even come, along with King Sakuba and other rulers of the empire; very few of these people had any true sympathy for the Mavie. However, everyone wanted to see this war ended and the madness stopped on both sides. As far as the empress and high council were concerned, Maya’s challenge to Barrat was the first right thing done by her since this whole shameful and bloody affair began.
Shoko looked over at Queen Tynan and shook her head. The Melmorian queen had retired some years ago and was the same age as her own ancestor, the retired; Queen Beral I. Queen Tynan was a very big and well-endowed woman. Her Mate, Lord Marius, was even bigger! Tynan’s reptilian eyes looked over the battlefield with disapproval. She had resumed the throne because her latest descendant, former queen Melossa was weary of the job and a suitable female heir was not yet chosen. Besides, Melossa knew that Tynan, or more precisely, Tynan’s mate, was the only one capable of controlling her son. Prince Ras was a very powerful mutant who had inherited many of the gifts of both the Melmorian and Catoinian lines, and he had been spoiling for a fight with the Mavie ever since he learned that King Barrat was his kinsman and what they had done to him. The empress herself had barely been able to keep him out of the war, almost having to take military action herself against him, as he tried to lead several hundred of his young men against Queen Maya. Ras had arrogantly accused the empress of deliberately aiding Queen Maya against her own wronged kinsman because she was a woman (a sentiment that was growing among many young noblemen) and he would not abide her injustice. The empress dealt with the matter delicately because the boy was partially right, but also because she didn’t want Barrat’s lineage to become widely known.
So far, only a few people knew for a fact that Barrat was Cato’s son, for most it was merely rumor. If it was made widely known that Barrat was really an Illyrian Prince, the male lords and kings and even some of the queens, would rise and march west and the whole empire could be embroiled over this shit. She quelled this little incident without bloodshed or undue attention, but it was a close thing. The newly arrived Lord Marius quickly put the prince in line. Prince Ras was here now, but he was now the picture of correctness. It was agreed that Queen Melossa was wise to ask Tynan and Marius to take over at this time.
Barrat and his chief warriors walked towards the empress’s seat among the Bellasarians and their lords, ladies and warriors. Queen Maya did so as well.
“Here they come,” said Shoko’s consort, High Lord Kang.
The empress nodded. Maya, she’d rather not see face to face, the woman disgusted her. King Barrat was another story. She had been eager to meet this relative from the west. Suddenly, her eyes widened in shock as she saw the two attractive white haired elders with the Barratian King. Quickly the empress jumped to her feet, but Bellasaris raised her hand and smiling sent forth her thoughts.
“Please empress, don’t make too much of us. Most of the people of the empire already believe us to be dead or decrepit little old hags by now. It is advantageous for us that people continue to believe this. And yes, King Barrat knows who we are.” Shoko nodded in understanding and then looked again to the king.
“Honored kinsman,” said the empress to Barrat, “I am most pleased to see you face to face at last. I and indeed all of your kin have longed to see you.”
Barrat nodded and smiled in return. “I too have wanted to meet my family, but I’ve been busy with serious matters here. I still have reservations about doing this, but the elders here,” said Barrat motioning to Bellasaris and Gorgo, “convinced me to bring my family here to see you. They have sworn on their own lives their safety. My legions will see that this oath is kept should any evil befalls them.”
Empress Shoko II’s eyes widened at this open threat against Bellasaris, Gorgo and perhaps herself. His tone was definitely sinister and his eyes deadly serious. She sent forth her mind and recoiled in sadness. There was much pain and distrust there. Bellasaris and Gorgo had earned his trust to a very large degree, if not completely, but he was wisely reluctant to expose his children and mate to the Mavie. Indeed, if it were not for the fact that the ‘Great Mothers’ had requested it and that she, the empress, was also present, these
people would be as far away from the battlefield as possible.
“It saddens me that noncombatants, even children and pregnant females, cannot watch a contest in safety in this land,” said Shoko II. “Have mutants become little better than humans in these western regions? Be at ease, kinsman. Any attack against your family will be seen as not only a dastardly act of treachery, but also an attack against my family as well, as indeed they are.” Shoko II looked at the assembled Mavie coldly. “The blood of one of my own innocent kin has already been shed I understand, a muteling of tender years. A horrible crime! A crime repulsive to even humans!” Shoko then looked again to, Barrat. “I grieve for the loss of your son, King Barrat. I pray that deed be avenged this day!” she said mentally to the king, who nodded in grim resolution. “No treachery will be tolerated by either side,” said Shoko verbally, loud enough for all to hear.
The watching Mavie and their leadership had little doubt as to whom the empress favored in this duel. Nor could many hide their shame of their misdeeds. Barrat motioned his family forward to meet the empress. The Lady Sonja bowed before the empress.
“I am honored to meet you, Your Highness,” said Sonja.
“I too am honored,” said Shoko.
The empress smiled and looked the woman over. She could see that Barrat had a Catonian’s taste in women. There really wasn’t much left to the imagination as far as her body went. Like most of the people of the Forest Kingdom and the tribes and nations beyond, she wore very little in the way of clothes, but with a face and body like hers, no one was complaining. The empress looked at the large youth beside her. The boy was definitely of her line.
“This is our son,” said Sonja proudly. “Prince Ken.”
The prince nodded, in respect, but did not smile or bow. The empress found the same distrust of all things female (aside from his own mother) in his mind as those of most of the males she’d met in this sad land. Surly little cub! Shoko thought to herself in amusement. If I could get his ass back to my land the women there would fix his thinking. I dare say my daughters wouldn’t mind showing him around Illyria themselves.
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