by Jaye Peaches
“It’s a legacy, mostly, of when the queens had to protected. Now it’s just routine.” Jago shrugged off the protocols.
The door opened into a dome-shaped chamber. The ceiling was glass and directly under the lake. Water flowed around the glass, allowing sunlight through into the room. The air was surprisingly fresh and sweet smelling. Flowers grew in vases and cushions were scattered around two low tables. Kneeling at one was an ebony-haired woman with oval eyes and wearing a sparkling dress with long skirts. She rose to greet Shayla.
The queen was beautiful with a long nose, high browed, as tall as Kriss, and also broad in figure, although she moved with grace. She was older than Shayla, but not old like a mother might be after producing many offspring. Shayla really didn’t want to know how she managed to do it and stay looking sprightly.
Shayla bowed, as she’d been instructed to do during their pre-visit briefing.
“Your majesty,” she said politely.
“I am Queen Roisa, the thirty-third of Lakeland City.” Her voice was smooth and low. “Welcome.”
“Thank you.”
The queen waved her to a pile of cushions and Shayla sank onto them.
Roisa then turned to Jago. “Please leave us.”
Jago’s eyes widened. He’d expected to stay. However, an order was to be obeyed. He bowed, and with an equally confused Kriss, left the room.
“Would you like a drink?” Roisa asked. “I don’t have much. Just the juice of the migini tree, which is sweet and a little spicy.”
The queen hovered, uncertain. There were no protocols for this kind of visit.
“Thank you, that would be lovely.”
The liquid was icy cold, refreshing and tasted of peppered pineapple, and it left a tickle in Shayla’s throat. She covered her mouth and coughed.
“It’s nice,” she said swiftly. “Unusual.”
“Visitors are rare. Life for you, here on Odesta, must be unusual in many ways.”
“Yes.” Shayla placed the glass on the table. The queen sat opposite, her glass of migini untouched. There was a definite wariness in her eyes. Shayla would have to tread carefully.
“Are there other queens on Odesta?” she asked, hoping to create some semblance of friendship between them.
“No. There was, but the other two have retired. I am the only reproducing queen. So far, sadly, no replacement has been hatched. I wait—she will come eventually, they always do.” The smile was false. Was the queen unhappy?
Of course there would be another queen. The Gotti would make sure of it. Who exactly decided the fate of Roisa? When would her successor be hatched, and would there be a celebration?
“You’ve many questions.” Roisa’s stare was penetrating in many ways.
“Yes.” Shayla, after months of waiting to meet the queen, was now tongue-tied. What would her father expect her to say?
“According to Jago, you are curious about Hezara women. Or the lack of them.” She smoothed out her glittering skirt.
“On Earth, we have men and women in equal numbers, of equal status.” She didn’t mention the status of Gifts, as they were an exception.
“As did we once.” The queen tilted her head to one side. “So I’m told. Then the Beasts came.”
“The Beasts took your females?”
The queen spoke softly, as if in pain. “No, they did not take them. They enslaved them and defeated us. Devastated our world.”
Shayla sat up straighter. “Defeated you?” This wasn’t what the oracle had told her. According to the thought it transmitted, Hezara had reached a stalemate, something that had lasted a millennium as the two sides fought without yielding.
“They outnumbered us. Terrible things. Like reptiles on two legs. Very different from us, and you.” The queen looked across the room into the distance. “They killed most of our warriors. They ignored the women, consequently, our captive females starved to death. And what intrigued those Hezara that survived was that, being reptiles, they hatched many eggs, and bred so quickly.”
“You used to give birth, like us?” Shayla’s heartbeats were racing faster. The queen, for all her aloof mannerisms, was being open, less guarded with her thoughts.
She continued to ignore Shayla’s eyes, gazing at a spot on the wall. “Indeed. As far as I’m aware, we still can. But, it is quicker to harvest eggs and conduct matters differently.” She spoke with economy and obvious discomfort.
“So, I guess, you copied the Beasts.”
“We needed warriors. Many warriors. Initially, to aid recovery, all women were turned into queens, and scattered across the galaxy to incubators that had been established on many planets. Underground, hidden and protected from the Beasts. Hezara bred an army... of men, and only men. Generation after generation, and no women. Of course, except for a few designated to be the next queens. But really, it was men they needed.”
They? She didn’t allude to the Junta. Whoever had made the original decision was long forgotten.
“And the Gotti helped?”
The queen raised her neatly trimmed eyebrows. “Ah, you worked that out. Yes, the Gotti. They helped and they brought with them their oracles. They too were being attacked by the Beasts, so in return for a standing army of the finest Hezara warriors, we took their scientists, their womenfolk, because on their world, men are subservient and merely perform minor functions. The idea took shape that Hezara could do something similar.”
Minor functions meant mating; the idea for the Gifts came from the Gotti.
“But why not increase the ratio of women to men if you needed more for breeding?” she asked the fundamental question.
The queen took a sip of migini and her hesitation quickened Shayla’s pulse once again.
“The droids proved very successful. Too successful, because while our warriors, which are bred for war, were increasingly difficult to control, the sexdroids satisfied their primal urges and contained their aggression. It was decided that the men of Hezara were best served by droids even though it stagnated our population because, as you might have realized, only the comfort of a real woman can stem their Hunger and make them virile as possible.”
Shayla thought of the arena, the visceral power of many hungry men waiting to be unleashed. Great on a battlefield, but dangerous in the bedroom.
“You reward the most deserving with Gifts. Aliens like me, because it helps not only control them, but give you offspring?” Not quite humane, and nothing like she’d been told during her training.
“Yes.” Now the queen finally looked at Shayla—her cheeks were flushed. “It was a terrible thing to do. A truly bad time for us. We snatched thousands of women from the arms of their menfolk, their families, and turned them into slaves. It fed the Hunger, but the atrocities nearly tore us apart. As our population stabilized, and we started to push the Beasts to the farthest points of the galaxy, then our needs changed, and the truth became a lie.”
“A lie?”
“I think you know. You’re a fine woman with a natural beauty, and brains. We should never have underestimated the brilliance of the mind, even an alien one. The Gotti are exemplary of that ability.” The queen smirked, unable to hide her disgust. “Mercenary species. Quite despicable really. They are as much to blame with their secrecy.”
“You used the Violence as a bargaining chip? There is no threat, is there?” Shayla sprang to her feet. “The Gifts replaced captive females because you knew the Violence was not real.”
“Oh, it was real—we did not know back then if they might come for you—but not now, at least not in your part of the galaxy. We falsely used the threat of the Violence to prevent retaliation for taking captives. Once the agreement was in place, it has remained and solidified around the lies. Please sit down. Displays of anger will set off the alarms and you will be removed.” The queen’s authority was in the sharpness of her voice.
Shayla sat. “I’m sorry, but you have to appreciate, you have manipulated Earth, and other worlds. It isn’t r
ight. Not now.” Shayla seethed. What did the queen get out of the arrangement? A life underground, no friends, no family. Her existence was no different in some respects to a droid.
A sadness descended over the queen. Her bright eyes lost some of their fire. “No, it isn’t,” she said quietly. “I envy you. Your freedom. Not how you live here on Odesta, beholden to our rituals, but before you left—you had choices, and you chose to come here.”
“Kind of.” Shayla shrugged. “It was mapped out for me. I had the right to refuse, but the pressure is intense.”
The queen nodded. “I feel it, too. I would like to end all this...” She waved around her.
“You would?”
“We all would, we queens. We are a hive, a network, keeping in contact.”
“Then why don’t you?”
“Change is hard, isn’t it? The Gotti have what they want, and we have an army of mighty warriors. Too many of them. What do you do with an army when there is no enemy left to fight?”
“Give them something else to do?”
“They don’t know that they can.” The queen spoke so quietly, Shayla struggled to hear her.
“I don’t understand.”
“The queens can outlive many of them. We age slowly, so that we can keep reproducing, and we have been trusted with the knowledge of Hezara. Generations of wisdom is locked into our genetic code. We know things.”
A bright spark lit up in Shayla’s mind. “You’ve always had the ability to reproduce more females.”
“Yes. Things can be reversed. More females instead of males, and then as you do on Earth, we rely on selection by chance without interference.” The queen examined her long nails. “However, to rebel against the Junta is punishable by death.”
Shayla swallowed hard. Walls had ears, was that what Nieve had warned her about? Was this all a trap to get the queen to speak of treason, to have Shayla arrested again?
“I’m not asking you to do anything,” she said nervously. “I was only curious.”
The queen smiled. “It’s something of a relief to speak of it. But I think you know that your curiosity is a bit of a lie. You have been asked by somebody, somebody you trust.”
Shayla hung her head. “My father. But he wants peace, not war.”
“I believe you. You are no spy.”
The relief flooded through Shayla; she lifted her chin, regaining her confidence. “Then, what can you do to stop the Gifts? To end your silly captivity?”
“Silly? Perhaps it is to you. For us it is a way of life, years upon years. Is that easy to end? I think not. But maybe, we can try.”
“But the Junta—”
“Ah, well, there is something Jago and Kriss certainly don’t know. Nor do the Gotti. But I shall tell you.”
“Me?”
“I trust you. You have courage. I respect that, and I want to know you better.”
“Thank you.”
The queen rose, looked up at the blue water in the skies above, and spoke to the glass ceiling. “There is no Junta. They ceased to exist an eon ago. The judges rule the planets, the army has its generals, the Gotti control technology, and the queens are worshipped, bringing order where there should be chaos.” She looked down at the gaping mouth of Shayla. “I know. Deceitful. And I’m tired of it. As are many of the queens. Your arrival is portentous.”
“Me,” she gasped.
“You, Shayla, have changed your nestors. They speak of you in ways I’ve never heard. None of the nestors I have created have that look in their eyes. What have you done to them?”
Shayla swallowed. There was no holding back now. The queen had revealed many secrets, and it was Shayla’s turn. “I love them. And they love me.”
A broad grin spread across Roisa’s face. “I thought as much. Tell me more about love.”
* * *
Having summoned Jago and Kriss, the queen was determined to begin the process of revealing the truth. A small beginning, Shayla thought, given the scale of deceit that had been perpetuated.
Kriss blanched. Jago sat very still. While the queen talked, they listened attentively, never interrupting. Shayla fidgeted with the sleeve of her dress. It was only when Roisa mentioned the Junta that Kriss exclaimed in surprise. Jago said nothing.
“The Junta issued laws, rallied Hezara to fight the Violence, but to rule over so many worlds was impossible. Each planet had its own needs, so the queens and the judges rule in partnership, while the generals coordinate protecting our borders,” Roisa said.
“No Junta,” Kriss muttered. “Then who commands us?”
“The scrolls of Hezara stand, as the Junta dictated, but what evolved to replace the Junta is a network of committees.”
“What happened?” Jago asked.
“They fought amongst themselves. Some wanted to carry on conquering worlds and making slaves out of the inhabitants of those planets, others preferred diplomacy. While they squabbled, we—that is, the queens and judges—ensured stability. I gather there was a series of assassinations and... it was a long time ago. The request for Gifts grew after that because the queens wanted an end to slavery.”
Jago rose, turned his back on his queen, and walked away from her with his head bowed.
Roisa waited patiently for him to collect his thoughts.
“I suppose,” Shayla said, filling the void, “it explains why the laws and judgements seem barbaric, at least compared to Earth. I mean, no disrespect, but that arena is archaic. Judgement in one day, without any legal advice, it’s not very fair, or modern, is it?” She was rambling. It wasn’t helping.
Jago returned to stand before the queen. “We can create more females? What Shayla found out is true?”
The queen nodded. “With the help of the Gotti.”
Kriss frowned. “We need no help from anyone.”
Jago rested his hand on his nestor’s shoulder. “For now, we do. We need help from other planets, including worlds like Earth. We need to reach out and change things.”
The queen’s dour expression fractured a little. The softest of smiles formed on her face. She glanced at Shayla. They’d had a discussion before the men had returned. Change wouldn’t happen quickly, but there were little things that could be done to start the process.
Shayla cleared her throat. “My father. He is very keen to work with Hezara. He would know what to do.”
The queen stood. “We will contact the father of Shayla and ask him to come here. I shall approach the other queens; our network of hives shall be united behind this new adventure.”
“And the judges?” Kriss, the disciplinarian, wasn’t convinced.
“Will continue to judge. We can’t make new laws, yet. We need to shake off our dependence on aliens. Perhaps Hezara will even consider returning to birthing, and not hatching. I would like to have sex, like Shayla. What she has described is quite enticing.”
Shayla’s cheeks burned. Kriss’s mouth dropped open into a gape. Only Jago was unsurprised by the bluntness of the queen’s desire. “It will open your eyes, my queen. It is nothing like the artificial relationships we created with the droids.” He bowed. “We should leave you to begin this new journey. Do we have your permission to contact Earth and Shayla’s father?”
Roisa clapped her hands, a summary judgement that was like the stamping of the judge’s staff on the ground. “Yes. And... there is something else I wish you to do. You and Kriss.”
Kriss straightened his back. His loyalty hadn’t faltered after all. “What, my queen?”
Roisa took Shayla’s hand in hers. “Give Shayla your Hunger, not me. Allow her to be what you desire—your love angel. From now on, you are free to choose for whom your heart glows.” She summoned the men to her side. Each of them placed their hands on Shayla’s outstretched palm and bowed, and spoke in unison.
“We will.”
Tears pricked Shayla’s eyes, but she was far from upset: they were tears of joy, of optimism. The look of relief on Jago’s face was visible and Kr
iss swept her into his arms, kissing her lips with unbridled passion.
The queen applauded. Her eyes sparkled with delight.
* * *
When the day of the next Hunger arrived, there was no vessel in the room, just the two hulks of Kriss and Jago waiting for her to walk out of the bathroom and into their arms. The embrace would be swift. The Hunger remained what it was, an unyielding need and she would naturally surrender to it.
She smoothed her skin with sweet-smelling lotions. With a quick glance in the mirror, she gave herself a thumbs up. The first thing she noticed when entering the room were their glowing chests. She was convinced their hearts shone bright—the luminescence was clear to see, and they were beating faster, too.
Jago slipped behind her and kissed the nape of her neck, while Kriss pressed his groin into her hip and ensured she had a measure of his steely erection. She purred softly into the crook of his shoulder and nuzzled his collarbone. He smelled good, too. The welcoming embrace was completed and the gentle nuances of romance cast aside. She expected something else, after all this was the day of their Hunger, and they had whispered in her ear certain plans for her.
They might have treated Tina indifferently, but they both knew that the things they had described to Shayla were still playing on her mind, feeding her fantasies and to deny them would be doing all of them a disservice. She had exposed her inner thoughts, wicked daydreams that meant they now could test her mettle and explore a darkness that she’d tried to keep secret from them.
“Hush,” Jago said. He pressed his fingers to her lips. “No talking.”
She nodded.
“You’ll do as we say, understood?” Kriss lifted both of his eyebrows.
Her skin prickled with anticipation. She nodded again, and licked her glossy lips.
The ropes dropped from the ceiling hoist, bouncing slightly before settling into a sway. The cuffs at the end were metal. However, when Jago lifted her arms above her head and ringed one of her wrists with one, she noticed the metal was pliable, like plasticine or clay, and although cold, it molded itself around her wrist. He repeated the binding on the other arm.
The ropes went taut, forcing her up onto her tiptoes. She suppressed a wince, reminding herself this was how she wanted it to be—bound, silenced, and totally in their control.