******
Bal and Pantherus were sitting and enjoying the view and each other’s company when Princess Bellasaris sat down next to them. Queen Bal made a face of irritation and sat up. Princess Bellasaris grinned. “Well hello,” she said to Pantherus, totally ignoring Bal. “I’ve seen much of you, and I do mean MUCH of you, but you haven’t shared any of your…company with me. Why?”
“Well…I…” Prince Pantherus was still unused to the aggressive nature of these eastern females and totally clueless in complicated situations like this with women in general. Fortunately, Queen Bal would save him from saying something that could offend either woman.
“WE have been working hard to bring about peace between our peoples,” said Bal. “I would imagine that this would be seen as beneficial to the empire, no?”
“Yes indeed,” said Bella. “You’ve been working very hard. But, the king is the one you should be concentrating your efforts on.”
“I will sit down with him soon,” said Bal acidly. “You can count on it.”
“Hmmm, your dead eye has been healed,” observed Bella. “I wonder…not just any healer could do that. Who was it?”
“It does not matter,” snapped Bal.
“No. No, I don’t suppose it does. My lord,” said Bella to Pantherus, now totally dismissing Bal. “The relation between our two nations is not the best either. Your father is in favor of closer relations between our peoples and so is my mother the empress. I could be of great help in this area.”
“I think you should take your own advice and make your overtures to his father,” said Queen Bal standing up. Her face was red.
“And so I have,” purred Bella, now taking hold of Pantherus’s arm.
“You have?” said Pantherus, surprised by this revelation. He was even more surprised by her behavior. Bella, on the occasions they’d met, had behaved like…well like a male warrior. Yes, she was indeed beautiful and very well-made, but…she’d never approached him like a female with real interest. Well, at least not this sort of interest.
“Why yes,” said Bella. “I like your father. I believe that he likes me as well.”
“How fortunate,” said Queen Bal. “You can become his second wife and seal a union with Barrat and the empire yourself.”
Bella smiled at Queen Bal’s sarcasm and obvious jealousy. She had a sharp wit if nothing else. “No. He’s too old for me. I see him as an uncle or…father. It really is unseemly for a young person to go chasing after someone old enough to be their grandparent…or vice versa.” A vein began to appear on Queen Maya’s forehead. “I believe people should only mate with people their own age. Old people should stick to their own kind. Actually, King Roc is more of a match with you, granny. Perhaps you can…”
“Is not your mother several decades older than your father, princess!” said Bal, now quickly losing her cool.
“I have no control over the actions of my mother,” said Bella with a smile.
“You…My lord, I think I’ve seen enough water for today! Perhaps we should return to the village for some refreshments.”
“Uh, yes,” said Pantherus. His eyes were unconsciously appraising Princess Bellasaris’s form. She was wearing shorts, a low cut shirt and a vest over that. Not far away, the Akkadian President and his wife chuckled. The advantage of clothes, especially in a society were little were worn, was that they could be used as a lure, showing just enough (which in Princess Bellasaris’s case was still a lot) to draw a man’s attention, but not too much, thus making him wonder. The princess knew what she was doing, which genuinely surprised them. Despite her incredible beauty and figure, everyone had seen her as a tomboy. Indeed, some of the Mavie had been a little hopeful of her sexual preferences…until now. As for Queen Bal, she was on the brink of doing something that could destroy everything she had come to the empire to achieve and she knew it. The greatest irony of it all was that, she, a Mavie had attracted the young prince by behaving femininely, while the Illyrian had behaved like a ‘Butch’, thus giving her a decisive edge despite her age and disfigured face. Pantherus had seen Bella as a potential pal, not a potential mate. Who knows, maybe even he thought she preferred girls. But now she was reminding him that she was a woman and definitely not a lesbian.
“Let’s GO, my lord prince.”
“My son,” called King Roc, standing with the other Heads of States. “I’m going back now. Stay here and represent me. Oh, the princess has expressed a desire to know more of our people; I leave her in your hands.” With that, the king and his party departed.
“I’ll see you later,” said the younger Bellasaris telepathically to Queen Bal. “You did say you were ready to return to the village. You’ve been hogging this boy to yourself for too long anyway, Scarface.” Queen Bal stiffened at this and clenched her fists. “If you do something of a violent nature here on sacred ground, and to me of all people, the Akinlana will be all over you and the empress will not be pleased. I do believe the future of your nation is at stake here…old lady.”
Queen Bal stormed off with a growl. Her retainers, who had been keeping a respectful distance, quickly followed her. Prince Pantherus was left standing there still trying to process what had just happened.
“Now come along, my lord,” said Bella, taking his arm. “I’ve been here before. There is much to see and do of interest here besides the great falls.”
******
Illia, A Day Earlier
“Mother, I can’t believe that Prince Pantherus is actually attracted to that scar faced hag!”
Beral III looked at her daughter and shook her head. “Bella, my daughter, not everyone is swayed by outside appearances and Pantherus is feral. The woman is experiencing ‘The Hunger’ for probably the first time in her life. She’s in severe heat. Her scent and body language would affect him as much or more than her disfigured face. Also, her figure is most impressive. You call her a hag. That is not true. And I assure you, age means wisdom. This woman seems to know how to compensate for her disadvantages. Actually, I’m genuinely surprised that a Mavie would be so good at seducing a man. If you lose to her THAT would be humiliating.”
“I don’t intend to lose!” snapped Bella.
“Then stop acting like a man! You have every advantage over Queen Bal, but you behave like you were back among your warriors in some camp roughing it! If you grin and punch a man in the arm he’ll think of you as a comrade, a buddy. But if you walk up to him, smile shyly and take hold of his arm gently he will see you as a woman…a real woman. Show him your feminine side for crying out loud! If Bal had been proud and done just the opposite of what she did do when they first met she would not be being constantly pleasured by him now. Men fight one way, women another. Fight on their terms and you will lose in the war of love. A woman has many weapons. Tears are among them. Men can’t stand to see the tears of a woman. Bal disarmed Pantherus the moment she used them.”
“What? So you expect me to cry for him?!” cried Princess Bellasaris in disbelief.
The empress chuckled and said, “No, honey. Like anything else, one must know the right weapons and the right times to use them…especially crying. That is usually your trump card. For now…Well, you’ve inherited a very abundant figure from me and you’re very beautiful of face too, do I have to spell it out? Observe and learn. Act like a girl and you’ll be back in the game and the Mavie woman will have some real competition.”
“I won’t lose!” Bella said determinedly.
Actually, it was not Bella’s intention to knock Queen Bal completely out of the picture. Princess Bellasaris was Bellasarian through and through. Bal had bonded. Even Bella wouldn’t be so callous as to completely get in her way now, no matter how irritating it was. It would be incredibly cruel and heartless…and the law forbade it anyway. However, in every family with plural mates there is a pecking order. There could only be one that stood foremost in the heart of
the man (or woman) and therefore the only true wife or husband. Naturally, Bella intended that to be her.
Prince Pantherus was also a product of his culture. The Illyrian Princess desired him, and although Bal was becoming more and more in his thoughts, a little harmless fun with Bella wouldn’t hurt, such things were common when people of his class mingled. Indeed, under the Bellasarian concepts of courtesy, he would be seen as very rude to refuse her, even if she didn’t appeal to him. Unfortunately for Bal though, she did appeal to him…very much so.
Bella knew that if and when Pantherus agreed to enjoy favors with her it would be all over for the Mavie woman. She would use the women of her line’s secret weapon. The boy would be hers and the helpless Mavie woman would kneel in submission and accept her place as a subordinate mate. After all, what could she do about it?
******
Akinlana Town, The Present
It was late in the evening and Queen Bal sat expectantly in her private accommodations. The dimensional portal opened and a tall beauty with long white hair and a veil emerged. Queen Bal dropped to her knees before the elder. The older woman smiled.
“Queen Bal, it is very late. I am a little surprised to be contacted and asked to visit at this hour.”
“My apologies, great elder,” said Bal, still unaware of the woman’s true identity.
“Well, what can I do for you?” asked Bellasaris motioning the woman to rise. She had her suspicions. The battle between Bal and her descendant, Princess Bellasaris, for the Barattian boy must be heating up.
“Honored mother, I have need of your skill. Please…heal my face.”
“I thought you intended to fight for your potential mate as you are?” said Bellasaris in amusement. “Can it be that your opponent is…?”
“I won the battle,” said Bal in irritation. “The boy is mine and I am his! Now I must fight to keep him! The women of Illyria always get their way somehow. Even now, the prince is with Princess Bellasaris.”
“So?” asked the elder Bellasaris in amusement. “It is her right to ask the boy for a little pleasure. You are not his official mate. She need not ask your permission. Besides, it’s only for fun. If the boy is truly yours you need not worry.”
“That would be true with most, elder,” said Bal desperately, “but Princess Bellasaris is of the high Illyrian nobility. They and the other women of the Catonian royal clans ALWAYS get what they want where men are concerned! I will not be second in the heart of my man!”
“I thought you would only remove the scars once you’d achieved peace and restored honor to your people,” said Bellasaris, now toying with Bal.
“I don’t give a shit!” snarled Bal. “I’ve sacrificed much for these people, but Pantherus is MINE!!”
Bellasaris knew that once Bella had the boy in the sack she would try to bind him almost irrevocably to her. However, this would only occur if she was truly bonded to the boy. If she merely desired him sexually, with no deeper meaning, her salivary glands would not produce the chemicals needed to hold the boy as her mate. Because of his own bloodline, the bite would not be fatal, but he’d still be a bit ill (not to mention pissed off) and Bal’s worries would be over. But Bellasaris doubted that this would be the case. Bella had hungered for the Barattian prince the moment she saw his image. Naturally, she’d had lovers before, but she had been rumored to have foresworn all of them once she set her mind on Pantherus. The boy was almost certainly her destined mate. However, it would take more than love venom to overcome true love. Bella may claim the boy to a degree, but that didn’t necessarily mean she would be first wife. If he bonded with Bal she would be the one to lose and Bal was now pulling out all the stops. Bellasaris loved it! Besides…as a future leader in the empire and possible empress, it would be good for Bella to learn that she couldn’t always have things just the way she wanted them. She would have to learn the art of compromise sooner or later, so why not now.
“Alright, I shall do as you ask. There will be pain and blood. I must reopen those wounds, but I promise your face will be whole again.”
“Th…Thank you, honored elder!” said Bal gratefully, but then she swallowed. Something had been eating at her from the moment she first met this old woman. “Great Mother, I…I must know. Who are you?”
Bellasaris chuckled. “I am one who wishes to see your people, the Barratians and the empire one. That is all you need know for now. Besides…you have your suspicions already, don’t you? But enough of that, your face and that boy are the immediate issue, no?” Bal nodded, the hairs on the back of her neck rising. “Now, shall we begin?”
******
President Beverly Chambers never thought she’d be witnessing a romantic triangle of this sort when she and the others arranged for this trip. The twist and turns were more surprising and entertaining than her favorite soap operas back home.
When the morning came and Chieftess Akanke summoned her and the others to breakfast, Beverly was shocked to see the young Barratian prince with the empress’s roughneck daughter. She had a look on her face that confirmed what many of them suspected when neither of the two young people could be found after dinner. Obviously she had not been disappointed. Indeed, she was locked onto Pantherus like a leech and he wasn’t complaining. In fact, the boy seemed to be in a dreamlike daze. Then the Mavie arrived and the boy woke from his daze rather abruptly. Actually, everyone else, mostly the men, but some of the women as well suddenly found themselves in a daze. Everyone was shocked. Queen Bal walk into Akanke’s great hall dressed only a little more than a Melmorian woman, but her incredible figure wasn’t what now had everyone spellbound and amazed. The vicious scar disfiguring the side of her face was gone!
“I always suspected that the girl…er…woman was once very attractive before half her face was clawed off,” said President Chambers to her husband, “but my god! She’s…She’s…” The First Man could only nod speechlessly in agreement.
Queen Bal sauntered over to her people’s reserved place after paying her respects to their host and smoothly sat down. She looked casually at Prince Pantherus and smiled. The youth stood up without a word and left Princess Bellasaris, still sitting there slack-jawed, and seated himself right next to Bal. Slyly she looked at Bella and made a tiny face. The Illyrian girl stood up and ran crying from the hall.
Now as entertaining and shocking as these people were, Beverly felt that behind the scenes there were serious, real, social and political agendas at stake here and that people very high up were getting irritated…and she was right.
******
Angrily, Empress Beral III stormed to her private chambers. The news she had received from Melmoria was not good. It had nothing to do with the Earth people, but rather, her own political and personal agendas being derailed by a certain old fossil that just couldn’t mind her own business.
When she arrived she saw Bellasaris and Gorgo sitting and conversing with Lord Talos. The servants were serving them refreshments and the mood was very relaxed.
“Ah, Beral child,” said Bellasaris smiling. “I received your message and came right over. My, how popular I’ve become these days!”
The empress controlled her rage and calmly looking at the servants said, “Leave us.”
As soon as the door was closed Beral’s face lost its composure and her mind shot forth in fury. “What games are you playing…you…you…old FART?!”
Bellasaris and Gorgo jumped to their feet as did Talos. That the empress should speak to this woman, her own ancestor in such a way was shocking. Talos was appalled.
“What is the meaning of this disgraceful behavior?! These women are our ancestors!”
“You stay out of this!” said Beral III.
“Well it seems someone is forgetting herself,” said Bellasaris, looking at Gorgo out of the corner of her eye. “Do I have to give this impudent child a spanking to remind her of exactly who she is speakin
g to?”
Gorgo said nothing, but moved into a semi-defensive stance. Beral III wasn’t backing down and she was easily a match for Bellasaris. In fact, Gorgo wasn’t sure that even she was strong enough to handle Beral III. She looked at the High Lord, she knew that he was most definitely capable of restraining his wife, but she doubted very seriously that he would physically intervene if things turned violent. Men on Bellasaria rarely involve themselves in personal disputes among women.
“You dare to interfere in my affairs, old woman?” snarled the empress mentally. “Why are you trying to sabotage my daughter’s attempts to claim a mate? Not to mention my attempts to bring the Barratians fully into the empire?!”
“I don’t know exactly what you mean?” said Bellasaris.
“You have been secretly aiding the Mavie queen in her efforts to claim Prince Pantherus, the boy that Bella, your own namesake is after! Need I remind you that a mating between our house and that of King Roc’s will exponentially help in completely bringing his people peacefully into the empire?!”
“Silly girl,” said Bellasaris. “I help Bal because it would be pointless to help Bella. Or have you completely ignored the fact that the woman has not only bonded with Prince Pantherus, but she has found favor in his eyes as well? It is even likely that he has now bonded with her too. Besides…you and your daughter are behaving like humans, Bal too. It is our way to share rather than fight. Bella has bound the boy to some degree, but she will just have to learn that she can’t have everything her way! If they compromise, we will have it all, especially Bella. Have you forgotten that Bal is half human with inferior regeneration ability? In perhaps a hundred years or so Bella may have Pantherus all to herself anyway.”
The Mutant World Page 29