Kresaya sat in the silence of her personal cavern. She had her legs folded beneath her and her eyes closed as she focused on the living things that surrounded her and tried to push beyond the stress and discomfort of the day. It wasn't working.It had been months now, something should have occurred by now. There was a sound at the entrance as a leather curtain was pulled aside. She opened her eyes to find one of the Elder women entering the tent. The old woman, an amazing total of forty years old, took a seat across from Kresaya on the stone floor of the cave.
"How soon should I begin replacing my men?" Kresaya asked.
The Elder shook her head. "I have been over the tests many times Warlord Kresaya, but the sands of Mars do not lie. The news I have for you is not good."
Kresaya narrowed her eyes. "Then get it over with so that I may carry on with my day."
The elder woman took a breath, calmed her nerves and began. "Your men are fine...the problem lies within you."
Kresaya stared at the woman, as if uncomprehending.
"It seems the stasis chamber...caused...damage." The woman continued. "You are...no longer capable of carrying children."
Kresaya stood without warning. The Elder gasped and nearly fell over as she brushed past her and out into the caverns. After a moment the Elder stood and went after her. "Kresaya you should talk with som..."
Kreaya spun on her abruptly, pointed a finger in her face and opened her mouth to say something...but stopped, no words came out. She lowered her finger, turned and walked out of the caves and onto the sands of Mars. It was once outside in the cold winds of the inhospitable planet, hospitable only to the He'Draxi. She looked out at the harsh planet and continued to walk. Kresaya was miles from the underground village of the He'Draxi, away from the eyes and ears of her tribe when she finally released the emotion she had been holding back.
Her scream was primal, like the rage of a wild animal. Kresaya's anger was barely controllable, it had been a minor miracle she hadn't torn the throat out of the woman who had given her the bad news. She balled her hands into fists so tight her nails dug into the skin of her palms and released white blood down the calloused hands of the warrior. Her scream lasted for more than a minute before at last she had nothing more to add to it. She took in a breath for the first time and stared down at her shaking hands as blood dripped into the sand.
Her eyes closed, flashes of a child she'd barely known ripped through her mind like a hurricane. She had almost come to terms that she would never know her son...but in part because she expected to eventually have more children and maybe a girl this time, an heir...now that had been taken away from her...taken away by the same decision that had robbed her of the formative years with her son.
The decision then had been almost automatic, a mother's decision to protect her son. She had surrendered to the people who were overturning the order of Warlords. They had gone after her son and she had presented herself for surrender so they would leave him alone...so he could escape. Now though, now it seemed as if she'd been robbed twice by the same people.
The Elders had brought weakness to the He'Draxi, egalitarianism and pacifism, they had cost lives in hiding from the Andromedans and again when Kresaya had gone to war to force a suitable peace. She was wiping out all signs of their ridiculous society and replacing it with the old order. Female warlords now dominated the tribes and Kresaya was their leader.
Just now...she didn't feel like one. She could barely call herself a woman. Warlords were to be leaders in every respect, they were to be powerful warriors unchallenged in their own tribe, they were to have virile men in their harems and they were to have heirs....but it was more than that. Kresaya hated what she had learned not because she might fail in the eyes of her peers...but because she would never, ever know the all too brief joy of a child again.
Kresaya took a breath and looked to the sky where some of the ancient flying creatures of Mars were circling over head. I will find a way to recover from this, I will be stronger, I will lead better...I will build the He'Draxi to heights they have never seen before.What choice do I have now?
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