“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?”