“I understand it is far, far away from our domains in the very heart of Illyria,” said Princess Jayna of Borrenqi, Queen Shanis’s granddaughter.
“My women are right,” said Jawara looking at Beral III. “With your technology it would be a simple matter to just teleport any close kin and important people to Dinos. Also, it would be just as easy to visually transmit the entire ceremony throughout your empire. There is no need for me to go so far. I have no intention of doing so. This wedding ceremony can be held right here. Or better yet, in my old domains and Castle Fang. I was happiest and have many friends there.”
“Your principle ‘Bonded’ mate is Illyrian and a Bellasarian Princess,” said the empress. “This is a great honor, my son.” Jawara looked at Princess Miko. “I feel offended that you would suspect treachery after all we’ve been through,” continued Beral III, knowing all along that she was plotting to keep him in her land indefinitely. Jawara though seemed a little ashamed.
“Why Ramia?” said a tall black warrior. He was recognized immediately as Princess Nandi’s father, King Kona. The empress’s sharp eyes noticed Queen Shanis looking at the large Matabe King. Both of their mates were dead, and from the looks of her daughter, Sada, he was her type.
“I suggested Ramia,” said Bellasaris, entering the great chamber along with Cato, Gorgo and several other ancient elders. Immediately all the kings and queens stood and bowed.
“Welcome, honored ancestors,” said the empress. The other rulers straightened themselves and the elders took their places in the chamber. Bellasaris then addressed the Matabe King again.
“Because of the summit and even the war, there were many bondings among the great houses and imperial family. Ramia is indeed in the center of our realm making it ideal for the unions to be formalized in one great celebration. Believe me, there are others who will be just as far away from their homes as you. Besides,” said Bellasaris turning to Jawara, “you are joining my family. What reason would we have for trickery?”
“Indeed,” said Beral III, “I negotiated the marriage with your father myself. You are of my house now.”
“And as a member of our house,” said Bellasaris, “you should be thinking of the empire as your home. Before his death, your father pledged you to us.”
“His father?!” cried a very dark skinned woman who looked like she could be Jawara’s sister. “My son was not recognized by that man! If you wanted to make a binding contract you should have come to me!” Mother Rainy looked around at the various Barratian chiefs and spat. “So you all want him now,” she said in disgust, “well you can’t have him. And as for the empire, my son is not bound by that man’s word!”
“Slave!” snarled one of the Barratian chiefs. “You dare to open your mouth here and dictate to us?! You were nothing but the king’s plaything!”
Angrily, Jawara jumped up and the man leaped forward, but before anyone could intervene, and with blinding speed, they were just there.
Roxanne, the busty redhead, had her blade to the man’s throat, and the black girl, Carrie, had another at his privates. The stunned chief didn’t dare move, much less speak.
“No one attacks our lord or disrespects the Great Lady,” hissed Roxanne.
“Say the word and I’ll make him a woman!” snarled Carrie.
The empress jumped to her feet. “Release him! I will have order!” She was blatantly ignored.
“Give us the order,” said the redhead, the edge of her blade already drawing blood.
The empress had been told of these two by Princess Miko. They were Jawara’s personal bodyguards and most intimate companions, that is, until Miko came along. They would obey only their master. The empress looked at the women closely. They were both sweating and in a very bad mood. Their scent was strong and recognized by every feral mutant in the room. The desire to kill was being driven by severe need and frustration. Obviously, Jawara had been too busy to take care of them lately. Not with the war and so many newcomers in the picture. The room was as quiet as a library.
“Apologize,” said Jawara coldly at last. Roxanne’s blade pressed a little closer against the man’s throat.
Normally, at times like this, the guy would make some sort of remark about the other man needing women to do his fighting for him. But in this case, everyone knew Jawara was more than capable of killing him himself. Besides…the Barratian didn’t want to lose his balls.
“I…I take back my words!” gasped the man.
“Release him,” said Jawara.
Reluctantly, the man was released and he staggered back to his place. Both women now shakily took places behind their lord. Jawara’s mind went forth, “I’ll see to your needs today. I swear it.”
Mother Rainy cleared her throat and spoke. “I say again, my son cannot be bound by King Roc’s word, nor will he. The late king never publically recognized him as his son.”
“No, Jawara will be bound by his word,” said Bellasaris. “Did you not swear to me that you would make it right for taking Princess Miko by force, Prince Jawara?”
Jawara sighed and nodded, “Yes, high elder. I did.”
“Taken by force?” laughed Rainy. Everyone else laughed at this as well, even the Barratians.
“Did you leave that room and palace willingly?” said the empress to her daughter.
“No,” said Miko. “But-”
“There, you see?” said the empress before she could say more.
“Bah!” snapped Carrie. “Force my ass! Their love-sweat was mingling almost as soon as they left the city. She was practically raping my lord! We had to put both of them under and keep them under in order to escape. She was absolutely in heat for him. No one can resist ‘The Hunger’ especially one who has bonded.”
“Yes, you should know,” said the empress looking at the bodyguard, not without sympathy. But be that as it may, Jawara was in control before he entered that room and even planned the whole abduction beforehand. Also, the affront to my family by his younger brother cannot be ignored.”
“What affront?!” snapped the copper skinned princess.
Damn! I like this bitch, thought the empress. “Prince Tidor,” she said, “was going to spurn my daughter for the sake of his human slave girl. I (chuckle) can’t even say that she was a particularly remarkable one at that. He has already made her his mate. Is this not true, Prince Jawara?”
Everyone looked at Jawara. The black youth couldn’t keep his head up for this, but quietly nodded. The gathered mutants were shocked. The humans were shocked as well. This was common among the lower class mutants and it was not unknown among the male nobility either. But spurning an imperial princess of Miko’s caliber for a human slave? This had never been heard of before. Quickly, the entire situation was explained up to the night of the abduction. Angrily the red girl looked at Prince Tidor standing among the Illyrians and shook her fist at him.
“Shame!” she cried and this was taken up by other mutant women. Tidor did not respond, but kept his eyes forward. He did not regret his decision, but he also knew that he looked like a complete rat in the eyes of the mutant women and a politically incompetent fool to the men. His brother had been right.
“Is there anyone here who still believes that we are without rights here or that he should not make restitution?” There was no reply, not even from Mother Rainy. “You will come to Ramia…yes?” said the empress, now addressing Jawara.
“I will,” replied Jawara. “But…”
“Yes?” said Beral III.
“I have obligations here,” said Jawara. “I cannot stay long. I have sworn oaths and…It is complicated.”
“I know, I know,” said the empress. “I think you need to take care of a couple of things now though before the situation becomes deadly.” She nodded towards the two bodyguards Carrie and Roxanne. “You know this is more than just heat, don’t you?” There was a percepti
ble groan from Miko and the other princesses.
“I shall take care of it,” said Jawara.
“No!” cried Princess Miko. “This is too much! They are not even of noble blood!”
“They are mutants,” said the empress, “that is all that matters.”
“We were by our lord’s side long before you came into the picture, Illyrian!” snapped Roxanne. “And we shall ever be by his side, even in Ramia!”
“They shall be accepted among you,” said Jawara looking at the women sternly. None of them looked happy, but the law was clear. As for Jawara, all he could do was close his eyes; he was in deep up to his eyeballs in naka shit and in many ways.
******
It was late that evening and the empress, Bellasaris and the women of the empire were having a private little meeting on their own.
“I told you he would come,” said Bellasaris.
“Yes, but he is determined not to stay,” said the empress. “Oh, his mind is working. He doesn’t intend to remain in Ramia or even the empire one day longer than is necessary. He doesn’t trust us.”
“And rightly so,” said Gorgo with a chuckle.
“Well, he may be as sharp as a razor, but there is always a way to declaw a cat,” said the empress. “His women will see to it that he lingers and enjoys his honeymoon. They’ll want to see and enjoy all there is in Ramia. We’ll motivate him to stay in other ways. A cub from the wild frontier will almost certainly be stunned by the technology of a Bellasarian city and all it has to offer. A would be king would want these things for his people as well.”
“But first he’d need to understand such things himself and of course he’d have to negotiate for them,” said Bellasaris.
“The rulers of the western tribes will be trouble,” said Gorgo. “Their daughters are his women. They may see to it that he doesn’t stay too long even if he and the girls wants to.”
“Fear not,” said Beral III with a grin. “I’m already working on it. Queen Shanis desires King Kona. I will play matchmaker; they’ll be grateful, I promise. Queen Atepa has other daughters and sons. I will see to it that certain of our unattached kin of their age are introduced to her.”
“And the smaller tribes?” said Gorgo.
“They are of little import right now,” said the empress.
“What of the Barratians?” said Mavie.
“Ah, believe it or not, they’ve requested that Princess Sandra return and become their queen,” laughed the empress.
“A woman?!” cried Mavie in shock.
“Yes,” said Beral III shaking her head. “Actually, I understand. No one will accept Tidor. And both Jawara and Pantherus will soon be of the Catonian house. Sandra is the only Barrat left, and I’ve given her my word that the man she chooses from our house for her mate will take her clan’s name. So, the Barratian line will continue. An heir from the imperial family’s direct house with potential to become empress is more than these people could have hoped for. Besides…many were secretly tired of the old ways anyway.”
“Poor Elder Terrence,” said Mavie shaking her head. “His actions brought about the very thing he feared most. I know the feeling. I…I would like to speak with him someday.”
“That may not be possible I’m afraid,” said Bellasaris. “The man has gone into deep depression. He may not survive. And even if he did come out of his funk, Jawara and the others would demand his head.”
“Well, that is enough for tonight,” said Beral III. “The war is done and finally the Barratian problem has been solved. Not the way I intended, but all in all, it could have been much worse. Now ladies, let’s retire. We have much to do. Our dead must be honored and then, after the proper time for mourning is done, we must prepare to have all of these kids, (giggle) and some adults, married. Ramia will not host another event like this again anytime soon. This will be the biggest wedding anyone has ever seen on this planet. There will be feasting and partying for days. I can’t wait!”
******
One Year Later
“This is Stacy Santiago and here now the news. Two years ago, President Chambers and a multinational delegation of world leaders and various representatives went to the mutant ruled world of Bellasaria to negotiate trade. They had high hopes of bringing back advance technology, mining rights and hopefully the means to defend ourselves from possible mutant attack. Unfortunately, when she came back with nothing to show for her two weeks of talks but healers, cosmetic surgeons and Bellasarian ambassadors she was widely ridiculed. However, already there are a great many folks out there who have nothing but praise for her. Nations have been sending their doctors and medically inclined mutants to Bain to study under their healers in increasing numbers. At this rate, the prosthetics industry’s days may be numbered. Many traditionally trained surgeons are beginning to sweat as well.
Also, some leaders have already begun implementing environmentally friendly energy alternatives in their nations with initial minor inconvenience, but great potential. And I must say, with some success. This has brought pressure on many nations by environmental groups, the U.S included, to adopt such practices in our countries. Conservatives, like Senator Heathcliff, claim that it is too early apply such practices in the U.S. Critics counter that the conservatives are stalling to protect the big corporations that would be crippled by these new and undeniably proven planet healthy practices.
In all honesty, the big oil companies would almost certainly take a hit. Aside from fuel, oil is used for making everything from plastics to nylon. Ironically, that is one of the things many visitors to Bain have noticed during their stay; the complete lack of any plastic products from containers to drinking cups. Everything is glass, wood, ceramic or even rust resistant metals like gold, silver or copper. There are also no synthetic garments either. In light of all of this, I don’t see certain manufacturers or Americans in general, going completely over to the Bellasarian way anytime soon.
On another topic, and one that had many worried here, almost as soon as the president and other leaders left the planet, war broke out in a very real and ugly way. Curiously though, the entire bloody affair was fought out with very primitive weapons despite the highly advanced and formidable military technology we know they possess. The overall damage to land, cities and civilian populations was very small indeed. And the impact on the Island of Bain, their territory on Earth, was nil. Interaction continued between the two realms through Bain and we were not affected by the conflict in any way. In fact, while the empress and her vassal queens and kings were fighting it out, the Bellasarian Prime Minister was making diplomatic visits to the U.S and various other nations here. That said; it is obvious that our people’s visit had some unforeseen results of another sort for the Bellasarians. Indeed, a large number of young nobles, as the Bellasarians say, bonded during that summit. Even three of the empress’s children we are told. And now, after a year of preparations, a huge multi-wedding ceremony has taken place in the old capital city of Ramia.
The President and several other Heads of States who made a good impression on the Bellasarians were invited and are there now. Let’s take you to Byron Phelps who’s in Ramia covering the festivities now. Before we go to Byron I must remind viewers that, as always when seeing images from Bellasaria, the probability of partial or complete nudity is very high. We will try to block as much of this as possible, but we again must warn those who might be offended. We are now going to Byron in Ramia. Byron, Byron can you hear me?”
“Yes, Stacy, I can…somewhat. The music is almost deafening here.”
“Wow! I…I’ve never seen anything like it. Where exactly are you?”
“Well, I’m right here in the middle of Ramia City and the partying has been going on for three days straight and shows no signs of stopping anytime soon.”
“It’s incredible even on the transmission. Can you tell us what it’s like actually being there, Byron?�
��
“Well look around, Stacy. Think of carnival in Brazil and then multiply that by twenty. Whoa!”
“Goodness! Um, you seem to have a half-naked centerfold model around your neck, Byron. I see that what they say about Bellasarian women is true…everything.”
“Uh, yeah, Stacy. It seems so. This is a celebration though. Normally they’re not this-”
“What’s she saying?”
“I’m sorry, Stacy. She’s speaking Americ. And even though its origin is English, I haven’t quite got the dialect down. But…I think I can still guess what her intentions are. Oh, God. She has a friend. Uh, ladies…Oh, crap. You don’t have to take those off. Stacy I think this might be a good time to…”
“Well, back to the studio. Ahem! I do apologize for that. I’m certain a lot of guys out there wish they were Byron right now, but not when his wife gets ahold of him. I promise you that. Well, maybe we can go back and…Oh. Okaaay! Well, maybe not. In any case, we’ll try to get some coverage of the palace and the president at some point later today.”
******
CHAPTER TWENTY THREE
WOMAN TROUBLES, BERAL III TAKES STOCK
Lord Talos shook his head as he walked to the training hall of the imperial palace. The floor literally shook as the empress and her new daughters trained on a level few besides himself could with his wife. The guards bowed and moved aside. Talos entered and was surprised to see that only the empress and Princess Coahoma, the copper skinned girl, were training. His daughter and the other two western princesses were watching on the sides.
Both women were of equal size (in every way) and strength, or nearly so. Beral III was being pushed as no mutant besides her husband had pushed her in training before. The other women saw Talos as he entered, but he quickly motioned that they should remain as they were and to be silent. Talos was getting a real treat now and he didn’t want to alert his wife to his presence. The red girl was pretty tough. He didn’t want her distracted.
The Mutant World Page 54