by M. K. Eidem
Ull frowned at that. Is that what he had done? He searched his mind and realized it was truth.
Trisha watched as Ull frowned and was surprised when he didn't immediately deny her accusation. He actually seemed to be considering it. Was that something a real chauvinist would do?
"Has a female never told you what to do before?" she asked.
"No," he admitted.
"Not even your mother?" Trisha found that hard to believe. Her mamá had told her what to do all the time when she'd been growing up.
"No, because I rarely see her, although I have recently learned she kept me with her for as long as possible before turning me over to my manno."
"How old were you when that happened?"
"It was just before my second presentation day. She presented Vali, my brother, several days later."
"And after that, you rarely saw her?" Trisha found that hard to believe. After all, Ull's mother hadn't left as she'd been told other Tornian females did.
"It is the Tornian way." But he now knew that his mother did very few things the 'Tornian way. She'd been more involved in his life than he'd ever realized and she'd watched him, watched all her males, from her windows in the female level.
"Well, it's the wrong way," Trisha told him, "And you'll find very few Earth females willing to agree to such a thing."
"So, I've been told," he acknowledged.
Trisha could see Ull was struggling with all the changes that were happening in his world. It was something many on Earth would soon be experiencing for themselves. If she was going to be able to help anyone, she needed to start with Ull. She needed to fully understand the differences between their cultures, or this wasn't going to work for anyone.
"So, what are you struggling with the most?" she asked quietly.
For a moment, she didn't think Ull was going to answer, then he growled. "That you may be right, and I'm not the fit and worthy Warrior I always believed myself to be."
Trisha felt her mouth drop open. Of all the things Ull could have said, that wasn't even close to what she had expected. "What would make you think that?"
"A fit and worthy Warrior would never challenge his Lord. A fit and worthy Warrior would never envy a brother that the Goddess has chosen to bless with a female that loves and will never leave him. A fit and worthy Warrior would never speak to his mother as if she were beneath him."
Trisha found her throat tightening at the list of sins Ull seemed to think he'd committed. It showed a vulnerable side of him; she honestly hadn't thought existed. Was it because Tornian Warriors weren't allowed to show it? Or was it something else?
"All children, especially sons, argue with their fathers," she began.
"Not Tornian ones," Ull argued. "Especially not when their manno is also their Lord."
"I can understand that." At Ull's puzzled look, she chuckled. "I'm the niece of the President of the United States, Ull. It's not unlike being the first male of a Tornian Lord as Tío Aaron considers me his daughter. Because of that, I'm followed and photographed. I have to watch what I say and where I go, so it doesn't reflect badly on him.”
"I see."
"Do you?" she demanded. "Do you realize how lucky you were that no one saw you take me? If someone had, it would be all over the news that 'aliens' were kidnapping women, and there would be no chance of a treaty."
"But that is what's happening," Ull reminded her.
"But not by the Tornians." She gave him a pointed look. "Right? You have only taken females the one time?"
"That would be truth," he told her.
"Then we can work with that, as the Ganglians are the ones who took everyone you are helping the Kaliszians return."
Ull thought about that and realized she was right. If it were discovered that the Tornians had females that they weren't returning, it would only cause problems. "The Goddess must have been watching over me," he murmured.
"Goddess?" Trisha asked.
"She is the deity we worship," he told her.
"You worship a Goddess, but treat your females as little more than breeders? How is that possible?" It was a massive contradiction in her mind.
"A female should always be cared for, protected, and cherished until she leaves a Warrior," he told her.
"And if she doesn't? Leave that is?" Trisha asked.
"Females always leave since the Goddess caused the Great Infection," Ull bit out.
"Your mother didn't leave," she reminded him, "And it’s my understanding from the educator that the Great Infection happened because one of your Emperors, Emperor Berto, raped his two young females while a Ganglian watched, and a Kaliszian looked the other way, in exchange for a better trade agreement."
"That is truth," Ull agreed. "They were punished for their crimes. The Goddess had no reason to punish the rest of us with the Great Infection."
"Would you have been that forgiving?" Trisha asked quietly. "If your young females were raped? Or your mother?"
"No," he reluctantly growled.
"So why should your Goddess, especially when you don't treat your females differently than your Emperor did."
"How can you say that!" Ull demanded. "We don't abuse our females!"
"There are all kinds of abuse, Ull," she told him. "Physical. Emotional. You've convinced your females their only value is in the number and type of offspring they can provide. That who they are and what they want isn't important. Maybe what the Goddess wants you to realize is that each one of your females is a gift and is important, not for what she can give you but for who she is."
After a moment, Ull quietly admitted, "That is something I never considered."
"Well, maybe you should, starting with your mother."
"My mother is an anomaly," he told her.
"I don't think so," she disagreed. "I think she's what your Tornian females once were. Strong. Fierce. Willing to fight for what they believe in, even if no one else supports them." Trisha found herself thinking of her own mother and what she'd gone through and knew Patricia Garcia-Burke and Ull's mother would have been kindred spirits. "I would very much like to meet your mother one day."
Ull gave her a shocked look. "You would? Why?"
Trisha just shrugged. "She sounds a lot like my mamá."
"Your… mamá?" he said the word carefully.
"Mother," Trisha corrected.
"You are close to her?" Besides Queen Lisa, Ull knew of no mothers that remained in contact with their offspring.
"I was until she died two years ago." Trisha found it hard to believe it had been that long. There were days it still felt like yesterday. "She was an amazing woman."
"She remained in contact with you after she presented you?" Ull asked.
"It wasn't contact," Trisha corrected. "She raised me, mostly alone."
Ull's eyes widened in shock. He hadn't been informed of this, hadn't known it was possible. "But your manno…"
"Died," she told him quietly, "When I was two. He was a soldier," she looked to Ull. "A Warrior. My mamá's family wouldn't accept him because of the color of his skin. So, Mamá was on her own when he died, well except for Tío Aaron."
"What was wrong with his skin?" Ull asked, looking at the caramel beauty of hers. "Was it diseased?"
"No!" Trisha found herself chuckling at that. "He was white, Caucasian, similar to you only without the rose or pearl effect. My mamá's skin color was like my tío's."
"I see, so skin color on Earth indicates status?"
"Not really, but there are some who discriminate against those who don't look like them. Isn't it that way in the Tornian Empire? You have different skin tones."
"Our skin tone only represents the original line from which we descend," he told her.
"So, you're all related?" Trisha frowned at that.
"Only to a point," he told her. "It's why it is so important for a male to be a fit and worthy Warrior because if one is disgraced, it affects everyone in his direct bloodline."
"Doesn't that get conf
using?"
"No, especially not as our numbers continue to decrease. For example, Bertos Guttuso, whose House my brother is now Lord of, was disgraced when he and his Warriors attempted to overthrow the Emperor. They were killed in battle along with Bertos’ female, Risa, when she attempted to kill the Empress and her newly presented princess."
"So, they're dead."
"Yes, as is Bertos' first male, Luuken, who fought alongside his manno. But Bertos had a second son, Brice. He now carries the burden of his unfit and unworthy parents and will be shunned for the rest of his life because of it."
"He refused to fight with his manno and brother?" she asked.
"As he's only three, he was not there."
"You would blame a three-year-old for what his parents did?" She didn't try to hide her shock or disbelief.
Ull shrugged. "It is the Tornian way."
"Well, that needs to change. Where's this Brice now?" Trisha demanded.
"Lady Abby has claimed him, and while my brother supports this, they are making a mistake."
"How can you say that?" Every time she thinks she's starting to understand Ull, he goes and says something like that.
"Because it is truth," he told her without a hint of remorse. "His parentage is known throughout the Empire, and no matter what he does, he will carry that burden."
"That's not fair!" she exclaimed.
"Few things in life are," he told her.
While Trisha didn't like it, she realized Ull was right. Her mamá’s family had never really accepted her, and now Brice would be experiencing the same, only from his entire world. Her heart went out to that little boy, and she prayed that Abby and Ull's brother would be able to make up for it.
"Unfortunately, that's true," she murmured. "Perhaps I need to meet Brice too."
"Why!" Ull demanded in disbelief. Why would she want to meet someone from such an unfit bloodline?
"Because I understand what it's like to be shunned for something you had no control over," she told him.
"What?" he looked at her in confusion. "I have seen how your tío looks at you. He does not shun you."
"No, Tío Aaron would never do that, he loves me. But the rest of his family, my mamá's family, does. My father was a fit and worthy Warrior, Ull." She used the terms Ull seemed to feel were so important. "He loved my mamá, loved me, but he wasn't someone Mamá's family was ever going to approve. Not because of something he did but because of something he had no control over, the color of his skin. Just like Brice has no control over who his parents are or what they did. He needs to know some won't judge him for that. He can still grow up to be a fit and worthy male. If not in the Tornian Empire, then perhaps on Earth."
"Your people would be willing to accept him?" Ull couldn't believe it.
"They might. If we," Trisha gestured to the two of them, "can figure out a way for Earth and Tornians to get along."
"You don't feel you'll have a problem with the Kaliszians?" Ull didn't like the thought of that.
"Not since all they’re asking for is a trade agreement, and then there's the fact they are returning all the abductees they've found."
"While we are not," Ull said quietly.
The room was silent for several moments before Ull quietly said. "I still find it hard to believe anyone would shun you. You are the most beautiful female I've ever seen."
Trisha's eyes widened at that, and she felt her breath catch at Ull's lowly murmured admission. "Thank you," she said when she was finally able to speak.
"You should never thank someone for truth," he told her.
"Well, beauty is in the eye of the beholder." She gave him a gentle smile.
"I don't understand what that means."
"It means that different people have different ideas about what is beautiful," she told him.
"That can't be truth. Beauty is beauty,” he said.
"Do you believe your brother finds Abby beautiful?" she asked.
"Yes," Ull replied, but he seemed to have to force the words from his mouth.
"Do you?" Trisha asked because she wanted to make a point but found she wanted to know his answer. She had no idea what Abby looked like, but he'd said how he envied his brother for having her, and for some reason, that bothered her. When Ull didn't immediately answer, she wondered if her question had backfired.
"No, but that isn't why I find myself envious," he finally admitted.
"It's because she truly loves him and refuses to leave him." Finally, she thought she understood what was behind Ull's words and actions. He wanted to be loved for himself, just as his brother was, and even though his mother hadn't left him, he felt abandoned by her.
"Yes," he admitted quietly.
"Just as Lisa loves King Grim, as the Empress loves the Emperor, and from what Jakob has told me, the way Mac and Jen love their Kaliszian Warriors." She paused for a moment, then added. "Just as your mother loves your manno and refuses to leave him."
"I… that is truth."
"Everyone wants to be loved, Ull." She put a gentle hand on his arm. "It doesn't make you unfit or unworthy to want it for yourself, and I'm sorry that I said you were." Sometime during their conversation, they had moved closer to one another.
"It should," he said, looking down to the soft hand that contrasted so sharply with the rosy pale skin of his hard bicep. It soothed him even as it revealed their many differences.
Male. Female.
Tornian. Earthian.
Warrior… Warrior.
It surprised him to realize that because she was a warrior. She was fighting for her people just like he was. This was what Veron had been trying to get him to see.
"If it does, then I'm unfit and unworthy too," she told him quietly, unaware of where his thoughts had gone.
"What?!" Ull's eyes shot to hers full of disbelief.
"Did Lisa ever tell you how we met?" she asked.
"No," he admitted, "and I never asked." He regretted that now. He found there were many things he was beginning to regret.
"Because she's female." Trisha nodded as she gave him a small, understanding smile. While she didn't agree with Ull's attitude toward women, she'd been taught by her mamá that when you dealt with people, you had to be able to put your own beliefs aside and see the world through theirs. It was the only way to understand them, and she was beginning to understand not just Ull but all Tornian males.
"Lisa and I met in the hospital," she began.
"Hospital?" he asked.
Trisha thought about how to explain it. "It's a place where people who are either hurt or sick go to get treatment."
"Treatment?"
"To get better." She tried again. Lisa hadn't included any of that in the educator, but surely Tornians got sick. "Heal. You don't have such a place?"
"No, we have Healers and repair units."
"Those things that heal without leaving scars?" She suddenly remembered him talking about them. "Unless it is from Tornian steel."
"Yes."
"Well, Earth doesn't have those, so when we get really hurt or sick, we go to the hospital."
"And you met Queen Lisa there," he said, now understanding what she was saying.
"Yes, my mamá was sick, and so was Trisha's husband, Mark. They both had cancer but different kinds."
"What is cancer?" Now he was confused again.
Trisha felt her throat tighten up but forced herself to explain. "Cancer is a disease that can affect anyone at any age. Different kinds attack different parts of the body. Sometimes it’s curable. Sometimes it’s not."
"By not, you mean people die from this 'cancer'?" He'd never heard of such a thing. Yes, warriors died, but it was either in battle or from old age. It was the same for their females except instead of battle it was during presentation that they were most at risk.
"Yes," she told him quietly.
"And it is what your mother died from." Seeing the sadness in her eyes, he saw he was right.
"Yes, she fought it for near
ly five years, but finally, she succumbed to it. Lisa and I met during Mamá's last two years. Lisa had just had Miki, and my mamá loved to hold that little bundle of joy while she was getting her treatment. She said it filled her with hope to see how life went on."
"Miki. She is the smaller one, correct?" he asked.
"Yes, but don't let her size fool you. She's precocious and not afraid to say what she thinks."
Ull remembered how the little one had spoken to him before he'd left Luda. “Beware the darkness that speaks to you.” she had said. “It knows where you are most vulnerable, and when you are at your weakest. It then lies to you with the truth, making you believe and do things you never otherwise would. Terrible things. Beware the darkness, Warrior Ull.” He had ignored her at the time, but now he wondered.
"Ull?" Trisha's voice jarred him back to the present.
"I believe you are right. King Grim will have his hands full with her in the future."
"Of that, I have no doubt," Trisha chuckled in agreement. "So, back to my story. Lisa and I bonded during those treatments." At his confused look, she explained further. "Became very close. If one of us was having a bad day or needed something, we knew we could call the other one, could rely on them, and that they would understand."
"As brothers-in-arms do after a battle." He nodded his understanding.
"Yes, and that's what it was, a battle, for both of us. Watching someone you love suffer, and know there's nothing you can do to stop it, rips your heart out." She had to pause as tears clogged her throat. "Mamá died nearly a year before Mark, and even though Lisa was juggling two little kids, a sick husband, and knew soon it would be Mark passing, she still came to Mamá's funeral."
"That was an honorable thing to do." Ull wanted to say more, wanted to ease the pain he saw this still caused her but knew he couldn't. Suddenly he began to understand what she and Queen Lisa had gone through. Goddess, these females were stronger than any Warrior he'd ever met, including him.
"After that, Lisa and I didn't see each other quite as often, but we'd still talk on the phone, and I'd come over and either watch the girls when she took Mark in for treatment or take them to the park so Mark and Lisa could have some time alone."
"You were a good friend." That shouldn't surprise him even though Tornian females weren't that way. He'd seen how the Earth females interacted, and how they supported and defended one another.