Soji pretended to read the tablet while Tam was once again deep in discussion with his commanders. Krut was always by his side as were a couple other faces that she was beginning to recognize. Their days had taken on a sameness that she found tedious. Long hours planning battles in far reaches of the universe about which she knew nothing. Counting and assigning men to stations as if they were pawns upon the chess board, a game that Tam had insisted upon teaching her during their long evening alone together.
It was not as if much else happened during those times. After their evening meal with the others, she guessed there were about five hundred people in this place. They all lived in the caves beneath the surface because its bright sun meant the heat there was not tolerable for humans. They had discovered this place when a Morian battle ship had shot down one of their own. It had crashed here, but the Morians had not bothered to follow it down once they took climate readings and discovered that the planet had surface temperatures of a couple hundred degrees.
The resistance had lost many of its fighters in the impact and many more in the hours that followed, baking under the red giant that was too close for comfort. But a handful had stumbled into a cave hidden in a rock face. It went on for several miles and could be adapted to their needs. And had become their primary outpost for several cycles, years she corrected herself, although the two were not quite the same.
So much was different with these people, beyond just their physical size. Their nature was more savage than even Tavian males. The need to conquer, an insatiable greed for power and material things had driven their culture for millennia. They had used up all the natural resources upon their once beautiful planet, destroying it completely as they moved into the universe to repeat the process upon countless other worlds. And now they were likely doing the same thing to Tavia.
She sighed; there was not much she could do about it. Her nurturing goddess of love, light and life had abandoned them to the Morian dark god of Fate. Or more likely her own failings as High Priestess of the rock had brought about this untimely destruction of all that she held dear. What did it matter really? Either way she was stuck on this goddess forsaken rock...with him.
And he was the real problem. Tam. Oh sure, he was nice enough, a bit possessive for her tastes. He rarely let her out of his sight for more than a moment. She looked down at the large, rough shirt that was belted about her waist. His taste in clothes definitely left something to be desired. Why he could not have simple had her robe laundered was beyond her? But no instead this monstrosity had appeared that first morning...after he...
She frowned. That most definitely did not bare dwelling upon. The man had become fanatical about seeing to her needs. For someone that was not Tavian, he would have made a hell of a primary. Bathing her each night, washing her hair and brushing it, sectioning it and plaiting it before bed. Bed, was most definitely worth thinking about. The way that he saw to her physical needs with his mouth and fingers would put the best primary to shame. She had probably not worshipped the goddess so well in a very long time, if ever. The amount of energy she had released the past days would power a small ship had they the technology to capture it.
She toyed with cold metal about her neck. She hated it, hated him for putting it on her. But most of all she hated him for giving her everything she always wanted...and nothing at all. She wanted out of this place...now.
She felt the soft tap on her shoulder and turned. The giant woman loomed over her. Ether was Krut's mate and the only Morian female on the base. She forced a smile in greeting to the other woman as she held out a cup of the dark liquid that these warriors seemed to prefer. Not even the sweetener could cover the bitterness of the steaming hot liquid. She frowned as she forced more of it down.
The other woman nodded, "Stupid beasts, I never could figure out why they like this crap so much." She smiled like they shared some deep conspiracy.
Soji returned the smile. This was what she missed, female companionship. There were only a handful of women among the hundreds of male fighters and while she could appreciate the tapestry of giant masculine bodies as much as the next woman, she missed the softness of her sisters. She missed their conversations. She missed having someone to share her thoughts with. "It is good to know that Tavian males are not the only ones that are truly inferior."
The woman chuckled, "Yes, why is it that the males think that their physical prowess make them stronger?"
Soji took another sip of the liquid as she watched the woman over the rim of her cup. In all her days here, this was the first time they had spoken properly. "I am Soji," she introduced herself.
"Yes, I know. Krut has told me much about you and your sisters. I must say as a Morian woman, I am intrigued by the idea of a race with a female god, by priestesses that rule in her name."
Soji shook her head, "It is not quite like that. The males still rule," she paused, a sad look came over her face, "Who ruled Tavia. We were merely their advisors. Their counselors to commune with the goddess, to bring them closer to her will so that they might hear her voice."
The woman looked down, "Oh, I had thought that perhaps you held real power, more control over your fates. Have you never wondered what it would be like if we ruled instead of them? If women were the ones to control their own destinies? Theirs too."
She frowned. It was not something that she had ever considered. Their ways were as ancient as Tavia itself, as old as the Temple, as certain as the goddess herself. But the woman had a point, if women ruled...without the male need to conquer, for more power, greed for things, would their world not be a much better place?
***
Tam watched as his mate spoke with his cousin's. Something about the woman always made him uncomfortable, although he could not say what exactly. Krut certainly seemed enamored of the woman, everything that a true Morian mate should be. But still, something was just off about the woman. Certainly she was of one of Moria's best families, a distant cousin of the king. Yet, she had followed her mate when he deserted his military post to join the resistance. She had become a leader of sorts among the few women that lived here.
There was no logical reason for his unease. But he had learned long ago that something did not need to make sense in order to be true. His instincts were rarely wrong about these things. And Ether was not to be trusted.
"That will be enough for today, gentlemen," he interrupted one of the lieutenants. Like many of the others, they felt it wise to make a second attack on Tavia. To capture more of the priestesses. Mates for their number. But Tam was not so certain. They could not risk such an assault on much greater numbers unless they were certain that the prize was worth it.
And as of yet, not even his mate surrendered to Fate, to what was between them. And the fact that the other priestesses had mates among their own kind confounded his theory that the tablet foretold of a mating between their races, between the dark god of Fate and their goddess of Love that would usher in a new age of faith, hope and charity. It was certainly not worth losing dozens of men in battle to capture a few women, who might or might not be true mates. Especially not when they had a traitor within their own ranks, someone that might well spoil it all and betray them to their brothers.
He shook a couple of hands, thanked them for their loyalty even as he doubted each man. He hated being like this, skeptical of his own men, but there were too many signs, he could no longer ignore the truth...there was a Judas among them. One of his own men was a Morian spy.
And having her here only made him more cautious. He had sworn his allegiance to her, would give his life to protect her. He pushed past them and made his way to where the women were finishing up their conversation. He smiled at his cousin's mate, "Thank you Ether for seeing to my mate's needs."
