“Drayga said she wanted an adventure. And it just made sense for her to go. She’s a Demalyn and she can shift so she should be able to get there faster than I can.”
“She is not a Demalyn.” Antonio didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t have to. The authority was in every word. “Drayga is a Solviso, like you are.”
Chapter Ten
The blood drained from Vitoria’s face and a sick feeling settled in her stomach. It couldn’t be true.
“But she said she was born here. Her parents are Demalyn.”
“And she is Solviso. Matilda, we need to call Caleb.”
Matilda was already on her feet and walking out of the room.
Vitoria’s chest tightened painfully, and she struggled to get air into her lungs. What was going to happen to Drayga?
Antonio stood and walked behind her. He placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. “Drayga is going to be fine. Cal’s in one of the Western towns, near the Kiiswa border. He may be able to intercept her before she even leaves Kiilasalia, and if not, he will find her and bring her home.”
“Who is Cal?”
“Caleb is her…” Antonio paused. “He’s the person who should be protecting her.”
“I thought she was Demalyn.”
Why didn’t Drayga tell her? Elbows on the table, she rested her forehead against her palm, dragged in another laboured breath and blinked away tears.
“Drayga is responsible for her own actions, and knowing her as well as I do, I’m sure she would have gone had you agreed or not. That girl is reckless. She seeks out trouble. But you should have told us your plan.”
Matilda walked back into the room and Vitoria raised her head to look at her. She looked fierce, her eyes blazing.
“She should have come to us with the problem, not to Drayga,” Matilda said. “I’ve spoken to Cal. He’s leaving now.”
Matilda fixed her gaze on Vitoria and Vitoria lowered hers.
“Your rules are simple. If you’re upset or worried about something you’re expected to talk to us about it.” Matilda’s voice was firm. “You are not to put other people in danger. We give you very few rules to follow yet you have managed to break two with one action.”
“I’m sorry,” Vitoria said. “Truly, I am sorry. You can’t imagine how sorry I am.”
Matilda walked to the sofa and sat down. “Come here.”
Vitoria’s legs shook as she stood. She wasn’t sure she would make it all the way to the sofa. Antonio placed a hand on her lower back and guided her towards Matilda. He wouldn’t let her fall. Even though he must be just as furious as Matilda, she knew he wouldn’t let her fall.
Matilda fixed her with a steely gaze, her mouth set in a straight line. “Over my knee,” she said.
Heart hammering, she continued forward, the short walk from the table to the sofa feeling like miles. Matilda was going to punish her and though she knew she should feel scared, the tightness in her chest had eased and her breathing felt a little easier. The cocoon around her heart was a reassuring warmth.
They came to a stop in front of Matilda and Vitoria hung her ahead, staring at the ground.
“Do you remember your safe word?” Matilda asked.
“Yes.”
She looked up at Matilda, her eyes wide with surprise.
“Am I allowed to use it during punishments?”
“Kitten, you can always use your safe word. You say the word, we stop what we’re doing. Are you going to use it now?”
She shook her head.
“No.”
Her voice sounded small.
Antonio helped her drape herself over Matilda’s lap. She wriggled, trying to find a comfortable position and Matilda stilled her with a palm against her back.
“Tell us why you’re being punished,” Matilda said.
Vitoria’s mouth felt dry with nerves and she took a moment to respond.
“I put Drayga in a dangerous position and I didn’t tell you until too late. And I didn’t come to you with my problem.”
Matilda ran a hand over Vitoria’s bottom. When she moved her hand away, Vitoria closed her eyes and braced herself. Matilda’s hand came down hard and Vitoria cried out in pain. Any hope that Matilda might go easy on her fled as Matilda rained down blow after blow across her arse cheeks.
“Please,” she whimpered. “It hurts so much.”
Matilda’s hand came down on one thigh and then the other before returning to her cheeks.
“You broke the rules, you put your friend at risk. Now you accept your punishment.”
Tears fell from her eyes and dripped down to the floor as Matilda continued her punishment.
“I’m sorry, mistress,” she whimpered. “I’m so sorry.”
Matilda continued to spank her. Her bottom stung and tears pooled on the floor. Eventually Matilda stopped. She ran a hand over Vitoria’s burning bottom but even that hurt. Then she felt Antonio’s hands soothing some kind of lotion over the place that Matilda had punished. When he was done she slid to her knees on the floor, put her head in her hands and cried. Matilda eased down beside her and gathered her up in her arms. She held her tightly and Vitoria leaned her head against Matilda’s shoulder. Antonio stroked her hair.
“It’s okay, kitten,” Matilda said.
“No, it’s not,” Vitoria sobbed. “Drayga is still gone. What if something happens to her?”
“Drayga’s going to be fine,” Antonio assured her. “Cal will bring her home, you don’t need to worry about that.”
How could she not worry? She’d sent her friend into danger. Drayga lived in a damn palace. She wasn’t like Vitoria, she wouldn’t know what dangers lurked out there for a lone Solviso. Life in Kiilasalia was nothing like life in Calibrai. Everyone here had a home and food. The officers who patrolled the streets didn’t beat people. You didn’t have to sleep with a gun next to your bed in Kiilasalia. It wasn’t like that beyond the borders.
“What if she’s been hurt already? What if she’s- “
“She’s not.” Matilda cut her off. “Caleb would know. He has a connection to her and he can sense when she’s hurt. She’s fine and he will find her.”
“You don’t understand because you’re not Solviso. In Calibrai we get taught about the dangers outside of our borders. We’re taught from a young age that there are marauders to the north of our border and pirates at sea just waiting to capture wandering Solviso. It’s why so few people leave and why travellers from outside of the region are so heavily monitored. If they find Drayga…”
“We know these things, Vitoria, but she is Caleb’s responsibility and right now she is fine. You’ve been punished for what you did and your punishment is over now, so you don’t need to dwell on your wrong doing.”
She thought about that for a moment. She’d been punished already. She didn’t have to beat herself up about what she had done because Matilda and Antonio had already punished her.
“We must take some responsibility,” Antonio said. “We have been exceedingly easy on you before now. It does not benefit a submissive to have a master and mistress who do not instil discipline. We will not be letting things go from now on.”
Vitoria bit down on her lip and nodded. In that moment, all her reluctance to submit to their rules and discipline seemed silly. This time Drayga would be fine, but what about next time? She might not be so lucky. She needed them to stop her from crossing that line again.
Vitoria didn’t know how long they sat on the floor in silence. She hadn’t finished her meal and her stomach rumbled. Antonio stood and reached down a hand to help her to her feet. The three of them walked to the table and Vitoria winced as she sat down. Her bottom hurt.
“How did Drayga come to live here?” Vitoria asked.
“She was born here,” Antonio responded.
“Her parents are Solviso?” But Drayga had said herself that her parents were Demalyn. Were they pretending in an attempt to fit in?
He shook his head. For a moment he did n
ot respond, he exchanged a glance with Matilda before speaking.
“Her parents are Demalyn. It’s happened on occasion that a Solviso, Mazatch or Dengara is born to Demalyn parents.”
How could that be? Solviso were born to Solviso, Demalyn to Demalyn.
“Perhaps the parent who birthed her had a relationship with a Solviso that you don’t know about,” she suggested.
“When we realised it was happening, we thought that too. It’s rare, but there are Demalyn with non-Demalyn mates, and of course some of them have children, but most of the people having non-Demalyn children were mated to other Demalyn. We found all kinds of ways to explain the appearance of non-Demalyn children. You have read the book of Lencura?”
Vitoria nodded. “Yes. Of course. In Calibrai we learn it at school.”
Vitoria was not religious. Her parents had been rationalists, and any faith she had had deserted her when her father passed over. If there was a goddess, she cared nothing for Vitoria and Vitoria cared nothing for her. Still, she knew the teachings. Schools were run by Lencurinas, the priestesses who devoted their lives to the goddess, and their education was compulsory. She had been taught little else but the book of Lencura.
“Then you know how our regions were formed. There was chaos, with the four designations mixing together, living alongside each other. We could not co-exist. Lencura tried to pass on a message through the Lencurinas that all the designations were to live in peace, respecting each other’s differences. But the people would not listen, so she took the common form and came among her people. She decreed that people would be split by ability. Those who could shift were gifted the lands of Calibrai, those who could fly the lands of Malita and those who could perform magic the lands of Herdoona. The Solviso, whose blood could sustain and save the other designations were given Calibrai, separated from the other designations for their own protection.”
She remembered that part well. It had been drilled into them.
“The Solviso were precious among the designations, a gift from Lencura that gave life, and the other designations had abused Lencura’s gift,” she recited the passage that had been repeated over and over in her education. She didn’t much like being reduced to a gift created for the other designations, but then there was little that she liked in the religious text. “They were to be separated from the brutal strength of the Demalyn, the cunning manipulations of the Mazatch, and the seduction of the Dengara, for their protection and longevity.”
Like that had ever worked in their favour.
“So, you can imagine our surprise when children of all designations were born to Demalyn.”
She didn’t believe there was a goddess, she didn’t believe that the goddess had taken common form and had sent the designations to their regions. But somehow the race had been separated, somehow, they had been classified by ability, and now…
“So suddenly there are people having children of a different designation? Why now?”
Matilda shook her head.
“Not just now. Always. This has always happened. We have studied the history books and there are many examples of it. The Demalyn and Dengara used to have an exchange.”
Chills ran down Vitoria’s arms at the thought of people swapping children, giving up their own offspring because they were different to them.
“For a time, the blame was placed on the bird shifters,” Matilda continued. “They were once known for their practical jokes, and other Demalyn thought it was a joke gone too far. They were driven from their nests by our ancestors, the monarchs of this very monarchdom, and it is only recently that they have been allowed to return.”
“That’s awful,” Vitoria said, hugging her arms around herself.
“Yes. There are many wrongs that we still have to right with the birds,” Matilda said. “We are sure that other regions had their own experience of children being born outside of their designation, and their own explanations, but of course we cannot just put it out there, not without endangering our non-Demalyn population.”
“So, you just pass them off as Demalyn?”
Matilda nodded.
“As far as we can. It’s one of the reasons we voted to open the borders of Palici to Dengara and Solviso. If we can integrate our region perhaps this won’t be a concern.”
“And the other Demalyn countries?”
“We haven’t raised it,” Antonio said. “The peace between the countries is still so fragile, and our non-Demalyn population is so vulnerable, there is too much at risk to raise this issue right now.”
“What will happen to Drayga if people find out?”
“I don’t know,” Antonio said. “Within our own monarchdom few people know of this. We have kept it as quiet as we can and trained a select few midwives so that they can intervene when it happens. It is a mystery to us how this is happening.”
“At one point, we lived alongside each other,” Vitoria said. “Surely, before the Separation, children of all designations were born to parents of different designations. What do the history books say about that?”
“The book of Lencura…” Antonio began.
“Is not a history book,” Vitoria interrupted and then blushed. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt you. I’m not religious. I don’t believe that the book of Lencura is anything more than a story book, and it no more tells us about the world as it was than the romance novels I read tell me about Palici.”
Antonio didn’t seem to mind her interruption. He leaned forward and placed his head on his hands.
“But your romance novels do teach you about the world, do they not?”
“To an extent, but part of it is fiction, and in thousands of cycles people won’t know which part was fiction and which was reality. It‘s the same with the book of Lencura. We know that the designations are separated, the archaeological evidence and written accounts from the time confirm that at one point we all inhabited all parts of the continent, but it is quite a leap to then think that a goddess took common form and compelled us all to separate.”
“If not a goddess, then what? Tell me what would keep the other designations away from the Solviso? Our life spans are shorter without Solviso blood, yet you believe that anything other than a Goddess could separate us.”
“The rationalists…”
“Is it not illegal to be a rationalist in Calibrai?” Matilda asked. When Vitoria looked at her the other woman seemed amused, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.
“It is, but organisations still exist.”
“And how came you to know of these organisations?” Antonio asked with a frown.
“My father was a rationalist. My mother, too.”
She hadn’t even thought of telling them a lie, though it was a secret she had been keeping her entire life.
“And how do the rationalists believe the designations were separated?” Antonio asked.
“There was an uprising of Solviso. We gathered together and-”
“Defeated the three more powerful designations.”
Antonio looked amused now.
Vitoria raised her eyebrows, held Antonio’s gaze defiantly.
“You underestimate the Solviso.”
“Precious one, the Dengara can fly, the Demalyn can shift, and the Mazatch can conjure up illusions. Solviso have no particular skill, are not strong or fast or powerful…”
Vitoria felt anger so intense she could have sworn her vision clouded with red.
“Well, oh powerful Demalyn, this slow, weak, unskilled, powerless Solviso is going to bed.” She stood and turned away from them. “In my own room.”
“Vitoria,” Matilda said. “You know it wasn’t meant like that. The strength and skill of a Solviso is just different, not less.”
She continued to her room, not pausing to listen to Matilda. She closed and locked the door. Of course, they didn’t see her as their equal. They never had, and she was deceiving herself if she thought they ever would.
Chapter Eleven
&nbs
p; Vitoria sat on the bed, knees pulled up to her chin. It had been at least an hour since she had shut herself in her room. Antonio had knocked on the door shortly after she had locked it. She hadn’t responded, and he hadn’t attempted to enter the room.
“I’m sorry, precious one,” he had said through the door. “I didn’t mean to upset you. Our door will be open when you’re ready to see us.”
And then he’d left.
It was quiet now. She couldn’t hear anything from the room beyond hers, so she assumed they had retired to their bedroom for the evening. Her temper had dulled and she only felt an echo of the rage that had consumed her before. Their view of Solviso was wrong. They knew nothing of what life was like in Calibrai. It had been an eventful evening and she didn’t want to think about life back home. She didn’t want to think of the good or the bad, the people she missed and the things she hoped never to encounter again.
She climbed off the bed, holding onto one of the posts to steady herself. Her bottom stung, but it was nothing compared to the pain in her ankles and hips. She hoped the pain relievers would kick in soon.
She limped to the door and unlocked it. Outside of her bedroom, a single lamp was dimly lit, enough to light the way from her room to theirs. She walked to their bedroom and slipped through the open door. Antonio was sitting up in bed, leaning against the headboard, reading. His chest was bare, the blankets covering him from the waist down. He looked up, their eyes meeting. She stood still, not sure of where to go next or what to do. He had said that the door was open for her, but what if they’d changed their mind? She looked around for Matilda. Light spilled out from under the door of their bathroom. She looked back to Antonio who had pulled back the covers for her, and she went to the bed and climbed in, scooting to her place in the middle. He put his book down.
“Are you okay?” He asked. A frown marred his brow and he stared intently at her, his gaze meeting hers.
She nodded and scooted closer to him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned her head against his chest. He stroked her hair soothingly and kissed the top of her head.
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