Bonus ch 13

Alkaia entered the room and was received by her sister and cousins.

“Tell me Alkaia, did your protégé accepted her gift?” Bremusa asked.

“She agreed to try him for a couple of days.”

“If she doesn’t like him I can take care of him for her.” Polemusa offered.

“No, if Pitonisa doesn’t like him, then he is mine.” Alkaia said.

“Is not a matter of if, is a matter of when,” Derinoe said.  “That woman is completely asexual.  None of the slaves had gotten her attention and she doesn’t show any interest in women either.”

“Just because she rejected you doesn’t mean that she doesn’t like women,” Iphito mocked her, “it just means she has good taste.”

“Shut up Iphito.”

“What? Don’t tell me you’re still angry that the filthy Imperialist rejected you?”

“Shut up! Both of you.” Alkaia said.  “We are not here to discuss Pitonisa’s sexual preferences.  She is here because we need her, and we are doing this because we need her to be happy with us.”

“Do we really need her? I still don’t see the advantage of having her here, the only thing she does is wasting time with your daughter.” Polemusa complained.

“Are you forgetting the times her warnings have helped us repel the Militaries attacks?  And we can’t deny how much my daughter has improved under her tutelage.”

“We don’t need her help to fight the Militaries, and sooner or later you will have to accept that your daughter doesn’t have what it takes to become the heiress.  Valasca on the other hand is ready to take the position.”

“You are not the only one with a daughter capable of taking over.”  Iphito said.

“I know that all of you are eager to see my daughter fail, but I’m afraid you will be disappointed.  My daughter has until her sixteen birthday to earn her name, there’s still time for that.”

“To be a leader you need more than a name.  Do you really think that our armies are going to follow a girl that acts as if she is a mute?” Polemusa mocked her.  “I just hope that when the moment arrives you will think about what is best for our Clan and accept that your daughter is not the heiress we need.”

“You are wrong about her sister.”

“Why? Because your new best friend says so?  Pitonisa is playing you, she tells you what you want to hear and you believe her just because you want to believe her.”

“In a few months we will see who is right.” Alkaia’s tone made it clear that it was the end of their conversation.

It was true that Alkaia wanted to believe Pitonisa, but also she didn’t have a choice but to trust her, she didn’t have anyone else.  Time would tell if she had been right in trusting her daughter’s future to the Empress of the Dark Empire.