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Quickly, she added, “Do you understand what this means? Powerful unmated males want your daughters. You have the authority to force the men to yield to your demands.”
Miranda popped her lips again. “Yet it’s still only supposition. Birth a daughter now to prove it’s true, and you could force the males to give you what you want… if you offer them a mate in return.”
My womb was full of fertilized eggs held in stasis. Cyderial had taken great care in creating them—that much I remembered. On his office floor, rubbing my aching stomach, directly after he raped me.
Under my palm, every child I might ever birth was already sleeping within. And I promised each of them I would never give them to the academy.
Not to mention I was young, lacking all interest in motherhood.
Yet now I knew why the women had gathered in masse. Female eyes lingered upon me in eager anticipation. Practically pleading.
I had been cornered for a purpose, and it was not to extend a hand of friendship. It was to ask something awful of Cyderial’s young, naïve, and stupid mate.
Looking as if she were admitting a crime, Valentyna whispered, “The males are aware of this. General Boreal came into my office the day your mating was announced. You are not supposed to exist, yet you do. And now they know why.”
My gut response was easy. “I do not know what the academy was like in your years, but it is hell now. I cannot birth a girl into this world, knowing she would suffer the academy and also be shadowed by men with the drive to take her before she is ready. I don’t trust a single one of them to wait.”
“Cyderial waited for you,” Miranda urged, leaning on her elbows, all pretense of arrogance gone. “You must understand, sacrifice is required if you want to achieve your goals. Every last one of us knows that. Offer them your daughters, grow gravid, and you can assure a softer future for all our girls. Don’t do it, and nothing will change, no matter how sweetly Cyderial may promise his support. The men will not back you.”
Valentyna leaned closer, softly saying, “You could do a great deal of good, and all of us would be in your debt. You are not the only one who longs for change.”
Did they not hear themselves? “You’re asking me to birth a child who will be harmed!”
Her sweet face conveyed she was resisting the urge to stroke me, her hands fumbling in her lap, “We’re asking you to birth a child who will be obsessively loved by males almost as powerful as your mate. We are asking you to improve the world for all of us.”
Miranda cut in, eager to add, “Cyderial’s alterations to academy procedure have prevented many females from being harmed. He did that for your sake but did it in manic secret without the guidance of a female. Your daughters will not be a secret. You will have a say in their care. Cyderial will also protect his young as diligently as he protects you. Will you not be assigned to the academy, where you can watch over your child as she grows? Women at this table would kill for that opportunity.”
Dark-skinned with a deep voice, the female beside Miranda said, “We know you are young and ill-prepared, but when opportunity for change arrives, it must be taken. Please birth a daughter, so the daughters I wish to carry might have a better future.”
Miranda, brimming with a slow-simmering expectation, said, “Even if the humans were removed from the equation, even if the academy were no longer necessary, the handling of our daughters remains the same. Think on that after you run back to your mate. It’s only a matter of days before your friends graduate and it becomes their turn to be pinned down, knotted, and locked away. A precious child could be happily settled in your womb by then.”
10
Jumping when Cyderial’s hands came to my shoulders, I realized I’d been sitting in stymied silence.
I had not heard his approach, far too distracted with the women’s pleas.
And I was far too young.
Addressing the ancient hybrid female, Cyderial gave a warning growl. “Miranda, I would appreciate it if you stopped antagonizing my mate. She has already told me she is not ready for motherhood.”
“She’s an adult, boy. More than capable of verbally sparring with me.” Standing as if she had any chance of meeting his height, Miranda seemed every bit an intimidating force of nature. “Besides, your dove is charming, and I want her to have her way. But I don’t want her heartbroken when she realizes what it’s going to cost. Better she hears it from us than one of the men if they sneak up to her when your back is turned. It would not have gone over well for you, General.”
Kneading my neck as if his physical tricks might actually work when I was practically vibrating with tension, Cyderial said, “I have already told them our children are not a current option.”
He discussed such things with his friends without discussing it with me?
“This has been an enlightening conversation.” My words were stilted, the way I rose from my seat graceless. “It was nice meeting all of you.”
Abandoning my drink and the women that might one day be my friends, I let Cyderial escort me away. My mind consumed with the dilemma of responsibility I was far too unprepared to shoulder.
A baby could buy other females’ freedom.
A child of mine who would suffer if taken to the academy.
And I would be choosing to do that to my baby.
I would also birth her, knowing she would be coveted by at least one of the fixedly staring males in the courtyard.
