The Mutant World (47 page)

******

“What?!?” cried Princess Sandra.

“Our brother,” said Jawara in disgust, “plans to elevate a human slave to the status of his mate upon either Father’s retirement or death.”

“I knew of his attachment to this human slave,” said Sandra. “They had been close since they were very little. I never thought it good for mutant children and human slave children to play together. I looked the other way for some time now I am ashamed to say. I shou-,”

“Don’t!” snapped Jawara. “I too knew of this. But I never dreamed the boy could be so stupid. If he kept the creature as his lover in secret and took a mutant mate I could overlook this folly, but he plans to reject a princess of the Bellasarian Empire for her. Is he mad?!”

“The boy is in love,” said Sandra dryly. “A fool in love is not rational. I believe that he thought he had time to think of a way to…”

“Time?” laughed Jawara bitterly. “Does he believe we are some lower class of mutants? He has the blood of Illyrian high nobility in his veins.
He
has all the time in the world. The human would be either an aged crone or moldering bones by the time Father stepped down, and him looking little older than he does now! He’s a fool! That’s another reason I didn’t interfere or tell Father. Hell, if you and I knew, maybe he does too!”

“I doubt it,” said Sandra. “Unlike us, he is far too preoccupied to pay heed to such things. Besides…
men
in this land, unlike women, do as they please. Tidor is not the first mutant to have a tryst with a human girl or
girls
. Some have even fallen in love and made them their mates.”

“Yes, but they were NOT royalty,” replied Jawara, “or at least the situation was different. This fool has the daughter of the most powerful and ancient family in the empire throwing herself at him! Do you have any idea of what it will mean if she learns that he spurned her for a human? Faugh! And not any noble human either, a human slave! He had the wits to keep his oddness discreet until now. Why has he suddenly become so stupid?! ”

“He was definitely trying to wait for an opportunity or the proper time and situation to declare this female his,” said Sandra. “But this new development has pushed everything to a new level. It’s even thrown my life a curve!”

“How do you mean?” said Jawara.

Sandra sighed and said, “The Illyrian girl had promised to find me a mate among her people. I could have finally gotten a man of worth in every way and escaped this land in the bargain! But if that fool spurns her…”

Jawara, who was more concerned with the fate of his entire family and the country, grunted. He couldn’t blame his sister for her misplaced priorities. She had suffered long and in many ways. “Something must be done,” he said. “We can’t kill the girl. She is innocent and our brother will hate us forever if we do. We need to get the princess out of the picture without bringing down the wrath of the empire on Barrat.”

“How?” said Sandra.

“Leave that to me,” said Jawara. “I am the bastard remember, the shame of Barrat. Whatever insult I give or action I take, no one will blame the family proper and Father will be absolved of any blame. It will all be on me.”

“What are you going to do?” said Sandra in distress. “You’re not going to kill her are you?”

“Of course not!” snapped Jawara. “I’ll find some way to give offense of an unforgivable nature! Naturally she’ll storm back to Illyria in fury and our foolish brother will be off the hook…for a while.”

“But…But what if…” stammered Sandra.

“It’s the only way other than killing the human girl,” said Jawara.

“You have always been too soft, Jawara,” said Sandra. “I don’t see the problem there. We could do away with the little monkey and make it look natural…or like an accident.”

“And if Tidor is truly
bonded
with her?” said Jawara in irritation.

“Oh,” said Sandra.

“I’ll do this my way,” said Jawara. “Believe me; this may work to everyone’s favor. The elders and conservatives will finally be rid of me for good when I’m banished. You and the family will be free of my stigma on our house and I’ll be free to leave this land altogether and found my own kingdom.”

“You’re a fool if you think that Father, or any of your siblings, is ashamed of you,” said Sandra with tears in her eyes. “We love you!”

“And I love you,” said Jawara. “That’s why I have to stop this now. Nothing good will come to our house if I don’t.”

******

Lady Lana looked at Princess Miko as she once again drank down her suppressants. It was so obvious, but the princess was stubborn. A moment later Miko threw her glass angrily against the farther wall where it shattered. Quickly Lana motioned a retainer to clean it up.

“It’s not working!” growled Miko. “Why isn’t the drug working?! I haven’t felt this way since I was twelve going through puberty and in my first heat! But Goddess this is worse!” Miko looked at her guards who had entered the room when the glass broke. They were both male. For some reason the very sight of them made the princess even more frustrated. “Get OUT!” she screamed, and the men hurried out of the room.

Lana and the other female retainers kept their distance. Bellasarian women were known to be irritable and violent when “The Hunger” took control. They had been known to even kill when in heat and the hunger had been resisted too long and the particular man chosen as their mate was either unwilling or not around. Lana looked on in misery. Miko had bonded with a Barratian of the king’s family, but not the one
she
intended for her mate. Her mind had chosen one son, but her body had chosen another, and no one could resist “The Hunger” forever. This was terrible. If the princess didn’t face reality soon she would become a danger to anyone and everyone around her. Lana trembled. The princess might be able to last another day…maybe two. Then she’d go insane. She’d kill anyone who stood in her way and hunt that boy down and…

Suddenly there was a loud commotion from the other room. There were angry shouts and swearing, the sounds of men being flung around and the screams of women. Princess Miko swore and reached for a massive mace.

“Fucking Barratian animals!” swore Miko. “You’ve picked a
bad
time to start some shit in MY house!”

Lana trembled in terror as the princess transformed into her stony form. In her condition and under these circumstances she would certainly kill whoever it was out there without hesitation…and maybe even her own people if they got in her way. Miko charged into the outer rooms of her quarters and saw the giant panther man throwing the last of her guards across the room. He was bleeding in places, but the wounds were not deep. This in itself was impressive, for the warriors of her guard were mutants of such strength that they could cut through iron beams like butter.

“Woman…come here!” growled the semi-transformed Jawara.

Miko recognized the giant man-beast from the night of the welcoming feast. It was the form Lord Jawara had taken when he was about to kill Stragg. She swallowed and gripped her weapon tightly.

“What is the meaning of this, Lord Jawara?” said the Illyrian girl, her voice trembling. “I had thought you the only man of true worth in this mountain shithole.”

The ebony complexioned youth’s plan had been a simple one. Force his way into the princess’s private chambers and feign an attempted sexual assault. The Illyrian girl would fight him off naturally and he would flee the palace. This, being the foulest crime a mutant could commit against a mutant woman, would totally derail the planned union of his brother, and Tidor would be off the hook without personally rejecting the girl and her kin himself. Tidor would still have the other dilemma concerning his love life, but that was Tidor’s problem. As for him, such an affront would demand only one response from the Illyrians. Being a bastard, the Barratian council would repudiate him and willingly agree to hand him over to their justice. But by then Jawara would have flown back to his holdings, gathered his people and mother and fled beyond the regions known to either Barrat or the empire. That was the plan.

But upon entering the Illyrian’s chambers it hit him like a hammer. The female’s scent was so strong that as ridiculous as it was, Jawara would swear even a human could smell it. The female was in severe heat. Jawara naturally assume
incorrectly
that this condition was brought about by her desire for Prince Tidor and his refusal to accept her advances. This could only mean the girl had actually bonded with the fool. For the first time in his life, Lord Jawara now both envied and hated his brother. An Illyrian Princess the likes of which that had every lord drooling since she arrived and he would rather mate with a
human?!
Worse, Jawara was now doing everything he could to control himself. A male Bellasarian reacted this strongly to a female’s heat only under one condition. This confirmed what Jawara had feared. He had chosen her for his mate. Her scent was overpowering, especially in this form. At this rate he might rape her for real! He had to revert back to human form and quickly! But in that form he doubted his chances against the Illyrian. The female was deep in the hunger. Only her
real
mate could expect to come close to her without being mercilessly attacked and killed, and she was armed and fully transformed now. For Jawara it was just as well. He had bonded with her, but she had not bonded with him. Only death or hate could break “The Bonding” and he hadn’t known her long enough to learn to hate her. It would be better for the Illyrian to put him out of his misery now than endure the torture and probable death later. Jawara returned to his human form and approached the now larger woman. Shockingly she too returned to human form, but menacingly warned him back with the club. It was obvious to all why and what he came for now.

“Stay back!” said Miko trembling.

“No,” said Jawara. I’m taking you…now!” Immediately after saying this Princess Miko’s scent became much stronger and Jawara completely forgot everything he had intended before and after entering that room. “The Hunger” had now taken complete control.

For a moment nobody moved. Even in human form, both of these mutants were powerful well beyond what was considered truly strong among Bellasarians. The term a human would use was
“Off the charts”
. Princess Miko had proven her first night in Barrat that she was a dangerous woman to provoke, even at the best of times, but now in heat, she was as dangerous as a rabid cave lion. Unless Prince Tidor, who
almost
everyone thought was the one she had bonded with, arrived, this was certain to turn real ugly, real fast.

But to the shock of all, (except Lady Lana) Miko, now trembling uncontrollably, threw down the huge mace and in terror, shook her head, turned and fled!

Jawara sprang, covering the distance in a flash and seized the larger, seven foot tall Illyrian girl and threw her over his shoulder, all 500 plus pounds of her, and fled from the room scattering anyone and everything that got in his way. Later the battered guards confirmed that he had fled the palace and into the night with the struggling Illyrian Princess. Despite her desperate situation one of the guards could swear he heard her giggle as they disappeared. It was agreed that Jawara had probably struck the man a little too hard in the head.

******

Newport City, Akkadia

The summit was concluding. For the humans, other than getting a close up view on certain aspects of Bellasarian culture (much of which they could do without), technology and geography, they had accomplished very little in regards to trade or acquiring useful technology…military or otherwise. In fact, most of the world leaders and representatives wondered why Beral III had reopened talks with them at all. To their minds nothing of any great import had been accomplished.

“We agree that the Earthmen are too irresponsible for our technology at the moment?” asked Beral III. There was a unanimous ascent from the gathered rulers of Bellasaria.

“It has been agreed,” said retired Queen Bellasaris, “that some of our healers, both mutant and human, will open a Bellasarian grade medical complex on Bain. From there we can teach your mutants and human physicians Bellasarian medical skills ranging from cosmetic surgical techniques to limb regeneration. As ambassador Hatton there can testify, they can make a human woman in her sixties look like a woman in her thirties again.”

It was true. Ambassador Hatton of Israel had volunteered to have a Bellasarian mutant healer and her human colleagues that specialized cosmetic surgery, demonstrate their skill on her using tried and true Bellasarian medical techniques like flesh manipulation and regeneration. The results were astounding. Her husband certainly wasn’t complaining. The mystery of how so many women of human stock on Bellasaria looked so good, sometimes even past middle age, was solved.

The Italian ambassador leaned over to President Chambers and said, “Great, we came here for trade, mining rights and perhaps the means to protect ourselves in the event of another mutant attack. But instead we get beauticians and cosmetic surgeons.”

“Tell me, Ambassador Agassi,” said President Chambers, “if you have the chance to look like you did at age twenty five again would you be complaining? Would you say then that we came back completely empty handed? Besides…the skills of regeneration are applicable to many areas. Would you rather have a prosthetic leg after an accident or war injury, or would you rather have a real limb grown right from your own body…your
own
leg.”

The ambassador turned back around.

“Of course,” said Beral III, “in exchange for these professionals, we request that nations freely allow any mutants willing to obey our laws and follow our customs to relocate either to Bain or Bellasaria. Naturally, those nations whose representatives did not offend us will be allowed to open embassies in Bain and on Bellasaria. Of course, we shall have such embassies in their lands as well.”

“What of our discussions on mining and development rights?” asked President Chambers.

“In time,” said the empress, “we may agree to allow limited mining under our supervision with those nations whose leaders and representatives pleased us, and
only
those nations. Naturally I’m speaking of those nations whose representatives did not spurn the hospitality of Tabon and The Great Forest Kingdom.”

A number of the delegates nervously looked at one another. It only made matters worse that they now knew they had avoided those countries without reason and that the Akkadians could do nothing for them as far as trade and technology without the empire’s support.

“Well, that is all,” said Bellasaris.

******

In private, the rulers of Bellasaria and Akkadia gathered in much less open conditions and relaxed. Bellasaris and the empress were laughing together as others mingled and talked around them.

“The humans looked green and disappointed today,” said Bellasaris. “Many wonder why they even came to Bellasaria. Others feel that this great summit was a waste of time with no real accomplishments to boast of. But that is not the case for us, is it?”

The empress grinned. “Oh, much was accomplished as far as I’m concerned. Many young princes and princess’s bonded here during this great event. The Barratians and Mavie have been joined and brought almost completely into the imperial fold by the union of Prince Pantherus, Queen Bal and my daughter Bella. And if all goes well in the western mountains the Barratians will be completely brought back into the family. The humans were unwitting but useful tools in making all of this happen.”

“It took a little while,” said Bellasaris, “but I finally reasoned out why at this time you chose to open relations with our homeworld and twisted cousins.”

“Yes,” said the empress with a grin. “All I needed to do was get all of our leaders together with these people and wait and observe. The Earthlings’ petty insecurities, ambitions and schemes would be revealed to any spying telepath or empath. The hatred of mutants and desire to see us all dead or enslaved in many of them was
very
good motivation for these quarreling people to become worried, even the Barratians. Even the best of them were planning on getting a toehold here and then, get this,
civilize us!
They were going to change our ways and bring reason and morality here whether we wanted it or not. I do believe that you of all people knew where that would end.”

“Yes, and so did everyone else,” laughed Bellasaris. “Well, it would seem that you managed to kill several birds in one sweep. I congratulate you.”

“Thank you, honored ancestor,” said Beral III.

On the other side of the room King Roc and several of the other leaders were drinking. Indeed, some of the Bellasarian queens were now warming up to him and vice-versa. They were all drinking and speaking of the events of the summit and the humans. The best was yet to come though. When the humans went home there was going to be a whole lot of marriage meetings and a shitload of weddings. The feasting and celebrating could be going on for some time. Many independent and semi-independent chiefs had been bound to the empire by their children bonding with children of various rulers in the empire or even themselves. This summit had brought more Bellasarians together than any time after the reign of Bellasaris herself. Roc was even warming up to Queen Bal. Both had toasted to a happy new future for Mavieland and Barratia and many grandchildren. To be honest, Roc was very nervous about this and on his guard even more. Not because he doubted Bal’s sincerity, but because every time there seemed to be peace,
real
peace, between Barrat and Mavie something always happened to confound the whole thing utterly! But all of Bal’s people were here and many had actually found friends among the men here. No this time there would be no trouble.

King Roc was now so relaxed that he didn’t see people approaching with Akkadian escorts, people who should not have been there.

“Elder Terrence?” said Roc, surprised to see the Elder there for many reasons. “How…How are you here? Wait!
What is it?!”
he said telepathically, now alert and apprehensive again.
“How did you get here so quickly without a teleport? Have the Mavie…,”

Terrence quickly shook his head.
“No, Your Highness. I…That is…The Illyrians had a portable device with them to use in case of emergency. Naturally under the circumstances I and Princess Sandra…,”

“What?!”
cried Roc
. “Sandra’s here too?!?”

“Yes, Sire,”
said Terrence
. “She felt that under the circumstances she should come along with our party and…”

Even as Terrence stammered mentally trying spit out what he wanted to say, Lady Lana was hurrying over to the empress and Bellasaris along with several imperial aides, her subordinates, Sasha the slave and even Princess Sandra. People were beginning to become aware of something odd happening and the room was beginning to quiet down a bit, apprehension spreading.

Roc leaned back in horror as Lord Terrence finally came out with what he was trying to say.

“WHAAAT?!” he cried verbally.

“Sire,” said Terrence, now also speaking verbally. “Lord Jawara, your bastard, has carried off the Illyrian Princess!”

******