Marcella smiled. “I will ply my skills to him with a fervor that would make our mother proud.”
“I’m sure you will, dear sister,” Helena said. Then, turning to Claudia, she said, “Tender Claudia, your ship is the Minotaur. This vessel has seen the most battles and their captain is a woman. You have a difficult task, as some of the devices the rest of us will use cannot be used on your captain. I trust you will find a way.”
Claudia smiled and said, “Thank you, sister.”
“Prisca, dear Prisca,” Helena said. “Your vessel is the Saturn. The captain is a man of science. You two should have much to discuss.”
Prisca tilted her head and said, “Thank you, sister.”
Helena turned to her youngest sister and her heart changed its rhythm. Terentia looked so much like their mother! Helena shared her father’s love of the youngest daughter, but their success depended upon all seven sisters. It was unfair for Helena to ask so much of her sister, but sometimes the most precious of jewels are forged in adversity. Her mother said those exact words to her once. Perhaps it was foresight.
“Young Terentia,” Helena said. “I have watched you blossom from a quirky girl into a beautiful and poised young woman. If the emperor agrees to include you on this mission, do you feel you are ready?”
Terentia obeyed protocol and replied, “Yes, sister.”
“Very well, then,” Helena said. “Your ship is the Mars. This is the newest of all the battleships and the captain is still working through system glitches and malfunctions on a weekly basis. I felt, with the added confusion of this vessel, you would be well-placed to deceive and ultimately destroy the vessel.”
“Thank you, sister.”
Helena’s heart thumped with pride. Though she sensed excitement in Terentia, her sister kept herself under control and within the bounds of protocol.
“Each of you now has a detailed report of both your vessel and Human customs. I will make my battle strategy against the Proxans available to you tomorrow,” Helena said. “I suggest you study all materials over the next week before we all depart for Terra. My new calculations bring our success rate to over eighty-percent. We must not fail, my sisters. Our lives and our culture depend upon our actions over the next few months.”
“I want you to meet with each of them privately,” Agreios said. “Answer their questions and prepare them for their task.”
“Yes, Emperor,” Helena said.
“Now, my daughter, I sense a great deal of fatigue in you,” Agreios said. “Please rest. You will all need your strength.”
“Thank you, Father,” Helena said.
Helena waited for her sisters to leave the room and she gently closed the door behind them. She needed to be alone with her father for this discussion.
“You wish to discuss Terentia,” Agreios said. He was in her mind, searching for a way to keep Terentia safe.
“Yes Father.”
Agreios sighed. “I know, and I will eventually agree with you. So, let’s just skip to the part where I plead with you.”
Taken aback, Helena said, “You do not plead-”
Interrupting her, he said, “Terentia is my last joy, the final connection I have to your mother. She looks so much like her. I cannot lose Terentia. Not her. Promise me you will keep her safe. I don’t know how you will do this, but just promise me.”
Helena calculated the risk in her mind and said, “Father, I cannot make such a promise.”
“I know you can’t. Please, just lie to me this one time.”
Chapter 23
Helena decided to confront her most difficult task first – her meeting with Valeria. Though they were rivals, Helena respected her sister’s ability to both invade and control another mind. Valeria required little guidance, but Helena had to follow her father’s orders to conduct a private meeting with each sister.
Before she reached Valeria’s dormitory, Duronius met with her in the halls of the palace.
“It’s good to see you again, Praetorian,” she said with a tilt of her head.
“You as well,” he said. “I came to tell you that my retirement is final. The emperor has released me from my duties with honor.”
“If I am able, I will attend the ceremony,” she said. “And I won’t forget your bravery during our mission to Terra. You have my personal thanks, Praetorian.”
“Thank you, My Lady. That means much to me.”
“Go with peace and wisdom,” she said.
“You as well, My Lady.”
She watched him head towards the armory to relinquish his arms, most likely. Men like Duronius would likely be needed if they failed. Though she didn’t have the gift of foresight like her mother did, Helena reasoned Duronius might return to the armory before this whole gambit was concluded.
Helena sensed anger and heightened emotions from behind Valeria’s door, so she rushed inside. She found her sister practicing with her sword.
“Oh,” Helena said, “I-”
Valeria stopped mid-motion and glared at her sister, trying to gain entrance into her mind. “You are getting sloppy, Heir,” Valeria said. “Your time with the Humans has made you weak. I can sense it.”
As Valeria returned her sword to its resting place, Helena followed. “I’m sorry to have disappointed you, sister,” Helena said.
Wiping her forehead and chest with a towel, Valeria said, “We’re alone. No need to obey tradition. Father isn’t watching.”
Helena studied her sister for a moment. “Where does your anger for me dwell?” she asked.
“Right here,” Valeria said as she balled her fist and placed it against her heart. “You really don’t see it, do you?”
Helena shook her head.
“We were born minutes apart,” Valeria said. “But, you gain all the favor. You are the Heir. Do you think it was easy for me to watch our mother favor you? Our father? You got everything you ever wanted and I was left with scraps.”
“You know that’s not true,” Helena said. “You are loved.”
“By you?” Valeria grinned. “No, I don’t sense love for me. Disapproval and frustration hold a special place in your heart for me.”
“What do you want from me?” Helena said. “Tradition dictates that the dynasty pass to the eldest child. Do you think I view the throne as a prize to be won?”
Valeria shook her head and tossed her towel over her shoulder. “You won the moment you were born before me,” she said. “No amount of skill or dedication on my part can change that fact.”
“Since we’re disregarding tradition here,” Helena said. “What dedication? You rail against your duties and openly defy our father every chance you can. Your decisions are rarely thought out and you act from your heart instead of your head. How is any of that royal?”
“Royalty? You speak of royalty? We are plotting to massacre two civilizations. Do you really think our father’s actions are noble?”
“His plan will keep us safe-”
Valeria waved her hand. “You can do better than that. Don’t spout his words as if you are a lapdog. You demean yourself.”
Helena sighed. “I do believe in his plan,” she said. “Perhaps my sister needs another lesson in probability?”
“Don’t you dare,” Valeria said. Her words were laced with venom. “Don’t you talk down to me like I’m wet behind the ears. You and I both know my analytical skills surpass yours.”
“Valeria, if we were calculating the effect of a multi-tier tax adjustment for the entire city of New Olympus, I’d gladly step aside for your superior computational powers,” Helena said. “But we’re not. We’re talking about rulership. And, frankly, you’re not ready. You may never be. Even if you were the eldest, father would still have named me Heir.”
“Well,” Valeria said, “aren’t we a little high on ourselves after our big trip to Terra? I read your report and I’m not impressed. You told them too much. They know more than they should about our mental discipline.”
“What
are they going to do, mimic our powers? I divulged what I needed them to know so we could gain a position on their battleships. Everything is falling into place.”
Valeria studied Helena for a moment and Helena felt her rummaging around in her recent memories. She was so very skilled!
“Maybe for you,” Valeria said. “While you were gallivanting with your captain, we were studying and preparing. Is this how you show your people that you are ready to be empress – by sharing meals with your Human lover?”
Helena’s heart quickened at the intimate possibilities with Nathan, but she closed the lid on those thoughts as soon as they surfaced. Valeria could read them.
“We are not lovers,” Helena said, sticking to simple mental images.
Valeria glanced at the iridescent orange globes affixed to Helena’s hair and snorted. “Whatever. Your heart is conflicted and I will tell father of your weakness for these Humans.”
Helena had no answer for her sister’s accusations. They were accurate. She was weak when Nathan was near. Would her vulnerability endanger her mission? No, it couldn’t.
“I will succeed in my task,” Helena said. “My befriending of the Humans is nothing more than leverage.”
“Don’t lie to me, sister,” Valeria said, “I can see right through you. Someday, everyone else will as well.”
“And what do I look like through your eyes?”
As if she had the answer prepared, Valeria said, “You are a weak woman who has no business ruling Antares.”
“Better weak than empty,” Helena said. “You have nothing but your spite. And, for that, I do pity you. One day you will awaken alone and despised. When that day comes, I will not be there for you. Your prison will be of your own making and none of us will save you from it.”
Valeria narrowed her eyes and said, “Careful, sister. Take care to keep your insults buried deep where they are safe.”
“Insults? Since when is the truth an insult?” Helena said. “Unless you are ashamed of your past actions, then I can understand. Remorse is a path you can yet choose.”
Valeria reached for her sword and Helena stepped to the dueling paired blade.
“Are you serious?” Helena said. “You wish to duel me? Now?”
“I wish to give you a nice scar to regret your insult to me,” Valeria said.
Helena grasped the blade as Valeria attacked. She parried her sister’s strikes and swept around to a better position. “I am not your enemy,” Helena said.
After jumping over Helena’s leg sweep, Valeria said, “You are wrong in that, my sister. We are enemies, just not mortal ones. Do not fear, the Humans have my ire for now. So long as we share that common enemy, I will not raise my hand against you.”
Helena grunted as she blocked a vicious strike from her sister. “And what do you call this? You’re not holding back!”
“Should I be?” Valeria said as she moved closer. “The Humans will give us no quarter. Why should I?”
Helena gritted her teeth and waited for her opening. She assaulted her sister’s mind and sword with the contained fury of a tigress, as her mother had taught her. Her physical movements came automatically as Helena broke down Valeria’s mental barriers. When Valeria was out of control like this, the task was far easier.
“You can’t win,” Helena said as she disarmed her sister and kicked her midsection.
Valeria fell to the floor and laughed. Her mood swings were as extreme as the vast desert.
“There’s the violence I so love in you, my sister,” Valeria said, extending her hand to Helena. “There’s the tigress.”
Helena helped her sister to the sofa and they both fell into the soft pillows. For a few minutes, they panted and calmed their running hearts.
“Do you remember when mother would call us that?” Valeria said.
Helena smiled and said, “She was a good teacher. The image of the tigress is always in my mind when I enter battle nowadays.”
“Mine too.”
Helena reached out and embraced her sister. This was the closest the two had ever been to each other since they shared the womb. Helena sensed her sister’s surprise, but also a flicker of warmth. Perhaps there was hope for Valeria, after all.
Helena whispered, “Our people need us. Let us be tigresses.”
Chapter 24
“Why are you so flushed?” Justina asked. “Here, sit and allow me to get you some tea.”
Helena accepted the tea and said, “I just came from Valeria’s. We fought… physically. But it’s not as bad as it sounds. I think we found some common ground for once.”
“Facing death has a way of covering old wounds,” Justina said. “Though the wound is still there, we are oblivious to the pain it once caused. This too will pass.”
“Speaking of old wounds,” Helena said, “I’m here for two reasons. We need to discuss strategy. However, first I want to talk about what our family has done to Antaran religion.”
“As you know, I am a woman of faith,” Justina said, “I believe in the Gods and the Light. I do not worship the emperor, or myself, for that matter. Deification of our rulers will only end in a theocratic state. No good can come of it. Religion has no place in politics.”
“Slow down,” Helena said as she touched her sister’s arm and smiled. “I agree with you.”
Taken aback, Justina said, “You do? Then why didn’t you support me years ago when I confronted our father about this?”
“I wasn’t strong enough then,” Helena said. “But I am now.”
Justina shifted on her chair to face her sister. “What, exactly, are you telling me? You know my station as high priestess. You can’t just casually talk about such things with me.”
“I know,” Helena said. “But I do not wish to upset our father. So, this must stay between us for now, okay?”
“Of course,” Justina said.
“Once I am Empress, I plan to set things right with our religion,” Helena said. “I will denounce my own divinity, and I’ll need your help to do it.”
Justina held her hand to her mouth. “Valeria will unseat you.”
“That’s why I need a plan. And a little help,” Helena said.
“Why the sudden change of heart?” Justina asked as she attempted to sort through Helena’s recent memories. “What happened to you out there?”
Helena looked into her cup of tea as if it held some answers. “I’m not sure,” she said. “I suppose my eyes were opened for the first time. It’s a vast universe out there and I think I’m finally starting to see my part in it.”
“Self-purpose is one of the first steps in the path of Light,” Justina said. “I’ve been hoping for this in you. Your soul may yet be saved.”
Helena held a hand towards her sister. “I’m not ready for a spiritual revival or anything,” she said. “I’m just beginning to see the larger picture and I don’t think a theocracy is what our people need.”
“We are in total agreement there,” Justina said.
“Our father believes that religion gives solidarity to our governing – that we are somehow given an absolute identity with a divine past, present and future authority,” Helena said. “What better place to find meaning than in our Gods?”
“Individual meaning for one’s existence is the path of Light,” Justina said. “Our father has warped that into a controlling force wielded against the masses. It’s perverse.”
Helena held her index finger towards the ceiling. “It’s brilliant,” she said. “Deified, we wield naked power and undeniable authority. Our logic and reason are inscrutable when it comes from the Gods.”
Justina wrinkled her nose, sending her freckles in all directions across her cheeks. “You don’t sound changed now. You talk as if you are resolute in our father’s path to theocracy. I’m confused”
Helena smiled. “While I respect the power we now have through our theocracy, I do not believe it is the best way to rule our people. In the past, we educated our rulers and they were hel
d accountable for their actions. We must return to that, lest we devolve into a mob of godking-worshipping followers, incapable of individual thought or knowledge of self-worth.”
Justina eyed her and said, “This is quite a turnaround for you. I’m sensing the Humans had something to do with it.”
Helena tilted her head towards her sister and said, “True, I won’t deny my journey has left an impact on me.”
“On your soul,” Justina corrected.
“Very well,” Helena said, “I can accept your terminology in this matter.”
“Whether you believe in your own soul or not, you have changed. That change will affect everything you do from this point forward - much like a new layer of molten rock below our planet’s crust pushes the layers above in new and dynamic directions.”
Helena considered her sister’s words and said, “Your insight is remarkable, as always.”
“I thank our mother for my gift of insight,” Justina said. “I wish she were here now to guide us in our darkest hour.”
“Her delicate hand and wise eye would certainly be a boon,” Helena said. “She’d also make a better diplomat than I. I’ve made some errors in judgment in all of this.”
“Mistakes are but pebbles on the path to enlightenment,” Justina said. “Study them, learn from them, grow stronger from them. Too often, we view our mistakes as failure. Instead, we should see them as a sign of growth or a step towards a greater understanding of our world and universe.”
Helena put her hand on her sister’s leg. “Sometimes when you speak you remind me so much of her.”
Justina held Helena’s eyes for a moment and said, “Thank you, my sister. Your words are too kind.”
“It is true, you are so much like mother…” Helena said as she reached into her gown and handed their mother’s prayer beads to Justina. “These helped me find my way on Terra when I thought all was lost. Now, I think they should return home.”
For Duty (Antaran Legacy Book 1) Page 16