Chapter 9 #2
“Right,” Sojee said. “These women make pets out of the animals. Most of the girls have never tasted a steak. They don’t know what a pork sausage is.
The grills that were left behind when—” Sojee swallowed, dampening down an anger that never left him.
“The grills from before the men and women were separated are still here. They need cleaning but they work. I want this island smelling of beef. And chicken.” When he added the last, his eyes flicked up toward the balcony, an apology to Mekos of the Order of Swans.
The men were silent as they digested what he’d said.
“Cutting Games are easier,” a man muttered.
When Sojee said no more, they started to get up.
“There is one more thing,” Sojee said and they sat back down. He hesitated as though what he was about to say was embarrassing.
“Shirts are optional.”
Their faces showed astonishment—and puzzlement.
Sojee shrugged. “Don’t ask me to explain women to you. Go naked and the women will run away. Go shirtless and they’ll nearly
faint with lust.”
“But if we’re not to touch them, what use is that?” a man asked.
“None whatever,” Sojee said, “but it won’t hurt to remind them of what they’d get if you did touch them.”
The men still looked confused. That “logic” was beyond their comprehension.
One of the men laughed. “Tools and listen, no fighting, no sex. All on top of a shipload of beef and all done shirtless.”
Another man laughed. “We’ll be blistered by the sun.”
“And lust?” a man said. “I like that word.”
They looked at Sojee. “You really think this will work?”
“It has to. Queen Olina has full power and I want no excuses for this to fail.” He took a breath. “Don’t forget that tomorrow
you’ll be free to impregnate any woman on the island who’ll have you.” He narrowed his eyes. “Only women who want you!”
The men stared at him. “You didn’t tell us about the second day.”
“Didn’t I?” Sojee asked with fake innocence. “Must have slipped my mind. Just know that what happens tomorrow depends on if you can keep it in your pants today. Any more questions?”
The men looked at each other and shook their heads no.
“Good!” Sojee said. “The next ship will be arriving soon. I suggest you again go over the rules with your men. You know who
the troublemakers are and who can’t follow rules. If you have to, chain those idiots to a rudder.” He paused and looked at
them. “Above all, remember this—you are in a battle to the death with a queen who is used to ultimate power. It’s your choice
whether you win this war or lose it.”
The men nodded in understanding. They weren’t going to mess this up.
Minutes later, Aradella and Mekos were downstairs. As they approached the exit door, he pulled her into a dark corner. “I
hear people standing outside. I think they want you.”
“I’m sure it’s Olina.” Aradella stepped into his arms. “I’ve had too much freedom and no doubt she’s angry that I’m not dead.”
He held her close. “She’s going to be furious if the men last until tomorrow.”
“She gave the promise of having an orgy on the second day so she’d be praised—and loved. She only did it because she’s absolutely
sure that today the men will erupt into violence. Then she’ll send them away. The lack of intimacy won’t be her fault.”
Mekos stroked her hair. “Let’s see if the men can hold to Sojee’s plan.” He moved his head sharply to one side. “There are
guards waiting for you, as well as those women.”
She knew he meant the three odious maids. “The queen’s spies.” She held him tighter. “I want to stay with you.”
He kissed the top of her head. “I don’t mind knowing that you’ll be safe today.
Sojee has more faith in the men than I do.
Some of them look on women as wild, exotic creatures.
I don’t know if they can restrain themselves.
” Bending, he kissed her, then held her at arm’s length.
“Your jailers are getting impatient. Think of tomorrow.”
“Everything is ready?”
“Grandpapá is bringing the dragon. It’ll keep Nessa busy while you and I . . .” He didn’t finish, just kissed her again. “Go!”
Reluctantly, Aradella went to the door. She took a deep breath to give herself courage, then looked back at Mekos, but he
was already gone. She opened the door to see that waiting for her were the three spy-maids with four of the Queen’s Guard.
With Aradella in the front, they started walking toward her prison.
“The queen has ordered that you’re to be protected,” a maid said, her lips held tightly, primly. “The Cauldron has been locked
against those . . . those . . .” She could hardly say the word. “Men. Those barbarians from Selkan.”
“We will be spared what will happen, unlike our beloved friends who are in the other guilds. They don’t have the safety of the
Cauldron.” The second maid was wiping at her fake tears of sorrow that she supposedly felt for the unfortunate women.
Aradella grit her teeth, then turned and began to walk backward. “You’re right to stay here in safety. I heard that the men
brought special food that will give them the potency of gods. It’s said to be so delicious that it makes women’s bodies quiver
with desire. And their ship is loaded with tools that have been specially made to give pleasure to women. However, only the
men know how to use them. And . . .” She lowered her voice. “All of the men will be half naked. All those sweaty muscles will be exposed.” She shivered in disgust.
The spy-maids looked faint and even the well-trained guards’ faces showed shocked interest.
Aradella smiled sweetly. “It’s good that we’ll miss all that. I think we should play cards today. All day. Perhaps we can
get a court musician to perform so we can drown out those nasty screams of pleasure from those poor women. I heard that the
men’s tools pound very hard. I’m sure the whole island will echo with the cries of the women.” She gave an even stronger shudder of revulsion. “How truly dreadful!”
One of the maids stopped walking. “I believe the queen needs our help.”
“Yes! We are very loyal to her and if she needs us, we must go.”
“We have to . . .” The third maid didn’t finish, just hurried away with the others, heading toward the front gate. Each step
they took got faster.
“What about our card game?” Aradella called after them.
One spy-maid waved her hand but the others didn’t bother.
Aradella looked at the four guards. “I’m sure that two guards at a time will be enough to protect me. If you’d like to have
some time off, please take it.” She didn’t wait for an answer, but turned her back to them. She smiled all the way to her
little apartment. Once inside, she went straight to her library.
At the wedding, Jobi had given her a new stack of books and she very much wanted to see them. He’d said they were from the
stash that Rita, Kaley’s grandmother, had brought from Earth. “You may recognize some of the stories in this one,” he’d said.
The book was titled The Greatest Fairy Tales Ever Told. She began reading—and yes, some of the stories were of things she’d seen or had been told about.
It was hours later that a divine smell reached her. She looked up to see Hale standing in the open doorway. In her hands was
a great earthenware bowl full of . . . “What is that?”
Hale rolled her eyes in what looked to be ecstasy. “Beef, but this is like nothing we’ve ever tasted. The men are cooking
great piles of it.”
Aradella closed her book and followed Hale into the sitting room. There was a big jug of beer on the table. “Tell me what’s
going on. How many guards are still here?”
“One, and she’s on the roof looking for her companions to return so she can leave.
” Hale dished out a huge serving of beef.
“I don’t think they’ll come back.” She took a deep drink of her beer.
“Out there, it’s wonderful. The men are putting this place back together.
I know we have carpenters and plumbers, but the men .
. . Oh! But they are fast. It’s like they’re full of some wild energy and they’re trying to use it up.
Hammers, saws, I’ve never seen such workmen! ”
“So they’re keeping their lovemaking quiet, then?”
“There is none!” Hale grinned. “You should see the women. They’re wearing so little clothing they may as well have on nothing.
They bend over buckets and tables and toolboxes. They walk with their legs so far apart, you’d think they just got off a horse.
But the men barely look at the women. Yet when a scantily clad woman shows up, the men seem overcome with enormous strength.
They pick up . . .” Hale shook her head. “Three of the Beauty Girls walked by and I saw a man pick up a wagon—horse and all.
It was extraordinary!”
Knowing what she did, Aradella couldn’t keep her laughter in. Between the beef and beer and the images conjured, she laughed
hard.
“I’m glad you find some humor,” came a familiar voice. They looked up to see Arit buzzing into the room. “It’s awful out there.
I was afraid one of those men would swat me all the way to the lake. May I have some of that?”
Aradella got up, took her silver thimble out of her sewing basket, washed it, then filled it with beer. She turned over a
teacup, showing the ridged pedestal on the bottom, and filled it with beef. Her big needle for leatherwork was the best she
could do for a fork. She put everything on the low table, with a soft pincushion serving as a chair. “Tell us everything.”
Arit said thank you, then sat down on the cushion and started on the beef and beer. “The women are working to get the attention
of the men but they’re being ignored.”
“I bet Olina is angry about that,” Aradella said.
Arit took a drink of beer and smiled. “Yes, she is. She’s riding around on her horse and frowning at everything.”
“Where’s Ian?” Aradella asked. “You two have hardly been apart since you met.”