Chapter 9
~ Cassidy ~
Cassidy glared at the Krylon prince. “I don’t have control over how the women perceive you people. Your shitty decision got you into this mess, not me talking about it.”
“The clan system has served our people for thousands of years. It’s the cornerstone of our civilization.”
“Which civilization are you referring to, the one on the Krylon home world, blissfully unaware of this controversy? Or are we talking about the new one that you’re creating here on the Sylon home world? The way I see it, you just settled three additional new species on your planet and you plan to share a ruling interest with them. What better time to modify the rules of clanship?”
“It isn’t my place to change the rules that other males have built their entire lives around. My Krylon brothers forswore their allegiance to me based on the assumption that they could lead normal lives on this world.”
A soft female voice spoke, “Perhaps there’s another solution to be had.”
Both heads spun around to look at the only other person in the room. The newly minted princess, Selene sighed. “You both make good points in your never-ending verbal sparring match. We’ve been at it for two hours with no compromise in sight. My prince is right. We cannot change up a system on the spur of the moment with no thought to what kind of system to replace it with.”
Prince Korban smiled smugly. “Thank you, my feisty little escape artist.”
Cassidy rolled her eyes. “I see my Daron isn’t the only warrior still trying to figure out human expressions of endearment.”
Selene nodded her agreement. “It’s a hit or miss, that one was a definite miss. Anyways, you’re right about us casting aside perfectly good warriors for no justifiable reason. We need to put a stop gap measure in place to limit the damage of de-clanning for warriors who have committed no crime.”
“We have no courts to determine who is a criminal and who isn’t. We rely upon clan leaders to make such determinations. In their absence, the ruling family must decide a male’s fate. We’d be flooded with hundreds of cases from many worlds if we allow it. I refuse to spend all my days hearing these warriors speak to their innocence and then trying to verify their words.”
Selene turned to her prince. “If you’ve got any better ideas, I’d love to hear them.”
“Force the women to accept a fair share of Krylon warriors.” His voice didn’t sound like he was convinced of his own plan.
Rolling her eyes, Selene shook her head. “Great. How do you suggest we do that? Maybe we should assign them all husbands and tie them down for their wedding night.”
“My warriors would mutiny against our rule for merely suggesting such a thing. Women must be treated with dignity and respect at all times. Even the grey-haired one was received with much fanfare by our older warriors and council members.”
Cassidy folded her arms across her chest stubbornly. “We’re only asking you to treat your own warriors with the same kind of respect and consideration you profess to have in your hearts for us women.”
“You annoy me greatly.”
Selene laughed. “Don’t be too awfully upset. He tells me that all the time as well.”
“I’ll consider it a badge of honor then.”
“I like you, Cassidy. You’re tough and savvy, like me.”
“Except my warrior is clanless and yours is a prince.”
“My head is pounding. I’d almost trade places with him right now.”
Selene stood up, walked over, and gave him a little shoulder rub. “See there, you answered your own question.”
“What do you mean, devious one? I cannot switch places with… ah, you’re correct. The answer to the question was there staring me in the face the entire time.”
Turning his attention to Cassidy, he announced, “We’ll simply create a clan for the clanless. Problem solved. You and your mate can waste all your time hearing their endless stream of complaints. The ones who are worthy, you can accept into your new clan and the ones that aren’t will have to make their way in the verse on their own. That will tip the scales back into balance for males disavowed by their clans for frivolous reasons.”
“But…”
“No, I’ll hear no more on the matter. I hereby declare Daron to be clan leader of the House of Darolon and you’ll be his clan mother. I’ll award the clan preferred land on the eastern continent. It’s rich in natural gemstone if one can get to it.”
Cassidy looked to Selene who gave a quick nod of her head. “It’s an acceptable solution. Your mate will be in a position to do right by his clanless brothers. I trust the two of you to look out for them.”
Prince Korban sat, tapping his fingertips together. “Yes, we’ll hold a public clanning ceremony this very night. When the women see us do right by the clanless, they will flock back to us. All my warriors will be happy and I’ll stop getting complaints about this. If you’ll excuse me, I must prepare.”
Selene shrugged as he strolled out. “He’s got meat cookies, and Terillian ale to see to.”
“Don’t knock those meat cookies. They’re fantastic.”
“I discovered them.”
“What, growing in the wild?”
“Okay, I didn’t actually discover them. I was the first human to eat them. I’ve shoved one in every human’s mouth since.”
“That almost sounds like a public service of some sort.”
“You’ll fit right in around these parts.”
“Sorry to give your prince such a hard time.”
“He deserves every bit of it, trust me on that.”
Cassidy was shocked, and it must have shown on her face.
“It’s a long and hilarious story. We’ll get into it sometime. Right now, we need to get you and your warrior some clothing for the occasion.” As they walked, Selene made polite conversation, “Is it true you and your sister fought over who would sacrifice themselves to make peace with the insectoids?”
“That’s not far from the truth. The Maruvians call me the defeated one. How’s that for a crappy title?”
“Do you want to know what the princes call you?”
“A pain in their collective backsides?”
Laughing, she corrected, “They call you Arbiter of Peace. You’re being hailed as the ambassador of ambassadors.”
“That would be hysterically funny if it weren’t so far off the mark. Speaking of strange titles, I’ve discovered a pretty strange one. The male everyone on the Galactic Council thinks of as the Maruvian ambassador is called an actionator by his people.”
Crinkling her nose, Selene asked, “What in the verse is that?”
“His job is simply to put all my sister’s commands into action.”
“They didn’t work very hard to come up with that title. It’s a bit like calling your fish Swimmy or your dog Barkley.”
“That’s what I thought.”
“Still, it’s an awesome concept. I need an actionator of my own.”
“Don’t look at me. Your darling husband already piled my plate pretty high with this clan mother business.”
“I know a few really nice ones. I’ll hook you up, so you know what to expect.”
“I’m pretty clueless about Krylon culture in general.”
“With the exception of my prince, Krylon warriors are easy to figure out. They’ll pretty much do whatever you ask, they’re honest to a fault, and will protect you with their dying breath.”
“That pretty much describes my Daron. You’re piquing my curiosity about Korban though.”
“Let’s just say he plays loose and fast with the facts. He paid the captain that brought me here a huge number of credits, but also reported him to the Galactic Council. Guess he meant to have me either way. Honestly, I love the man like crazy, but if his lips are moving, I’m looking for the lie.”
Cassidy laughed at her new friend. “I’m sure you’re exaggerating.”
A female form shimmered out of thin air. “If she is exaggerating, it’s not by much. My brother is a snake in the grass.” Turning to Selene, she asked, “Did I get that human saying correct, strange alien creature?”
“You did, crazy princess person.”
Cassidy watched as the two women bumped hips like old friends as they laughed together. Selene shook her head and tried to explain, “Sorry about that. This is Imperial Princess Shafra. She is Korban’s sister, and my very best friend. We don’t really call each other names like that.”
Shafra’s curious dark eyes turned to her. “We used to call each other such things when we first met. Now we do it for funsies.” Glancing at Selene, the other woman nodded that she’d gotten another human saying correct. Her expression turned mischievous and her tone of voice changed to a challenging one. “I’m working on increasing my human vernacular in order to be more alluring to human males.”
A huge Krylon warrior shimmered into view. Without a word, he tipped Shafra over his shoulder, slapped her playfully on the bottom, and walked off with her. For her part, the imperial princess grinned and waved a fond farewell to them.
Cassidy turned to Selene. “I’ll assume those two are a couple.”
“You better believe it.”
“Is anyone around here ever serious?”
“Besides my Korban and the other two princes? No, not really.”
“I’m really starting to like it here.”
“I thought you might.”
“Now, why would you think that?”
“All the women talk about you. They say you were a prankster without a cause until you met your warrior.”
Tears stung at the back of her eyes. “I suppose that’s one way of looking at it.”
“I’m not trying to make you emotional, but word of your exploits has spread among our people. The way you turned the tables on the insectoids, figured out what they wanted, and brokered peace with them has made you a legend. It has been decided that your actions will be taught to our young as part of their primary educational process. I’m sure you standing up to Korban and demanding fair treatment for the clanless will be added to the curriculum.”
“Jesus, that’s all kinds of wrong. I wasn’t trying to be heroic. I was just trying to survive.”
Jerking a thumb to her chest, Selene stated, “You’re looking at the woman whose various miscellaneous escape attempts are standard training for first year warriors.”
Shocked, she gasped. “Your escape attempts?”
“When I was brought here, I didn’t know Korban was some lovesick prince, hell bent on meeting me. None of the human languages were in the multi-language virus, and I sure as hell wasn’t smart enough to figure out what they were saying. For all I knew, they were selling me as a slave or even meat.”
Catching her drift, Cassidy nodded. “So, you tried to escape.”
“Of freaking course, I did. It took about a half-dozen attempts before I was successful. Korban and his aid used to watch the security feeds for entertainment, marveling at how sneaky and underhanded I was.”
“Hate to say this, but it does sound interesting. Can I get a copy? You never know when that kind of information will come in handy.”
Selene’s outraged voice lashed out. “Hell no, you cannot have a copy. I was just trying to say that I can empathize with the whole teaching about you in school issue. Now, I wish I hadn’t bothered.”
“Don’t be a spoil sport. I was just kidding.”
Selene’s dark expression cleared. “God, I feel like I’ve known you forever.”
“You and I are definitely cut from the same cloth.”
“Except I never tried to convince a ship full of women that a targeted hallucinogen was being added to the ship’s air processing units to make the warriors appear more attractive.”
“One, they were stupid for believing something so ridiculous. And two, they were falling head over heels in love with these big, muscular dudes at first sight. I was just trying to get them to think about what they’re doing for a minute.”
“When you put it that way, it was practically a public service.”
“Exactly.”
Turning serious, Cassidy addressed her new friend, “I know you said we need fancy clothing, but there’s something that would make this evening so much more meaningful for our newly established clan.”
“Tell me. If it’s within my power, I’ll make it happen.”