Even Leif looks disturbed, crossing his arms over his chest. His massive shoulders twitch with an agitated breath.
My lips tighten into a grim line. “Women have had to fight for a lot of things, in the time I’m from.”
Shock and horror have her eyes drying up immediately. “Are we not human? Do we not bleed the same color?”
I dip my chin in agreement, but also wonder if I’ve made a terrible mistake filling her in on the setbacks of women’s rights.
“What horror have men inflicted on women?” Leif asks, his face twisted in fury. “Women fought side by side with men when I sailed the seas. They were left in charge of money, farms, and schooling children. Gods, there wasn’t a single thing women couldn’t do. When I was a human.” He thumps his fist upon his chest. It sounds like a war drum.
I shift from foot to foot, knowing my explanation might send them both into a rage, but the wine has obviously loosened my tongue. “For a long time, women couldn’t own property, or make their own money. It all belonged to their husbands or fathers. They had to fight for the right to read.”
Boudicca visibly bristles, while Leif looks on, disgusted. His long beard twitches with the clenching of his jaw.
I continue on. “In my time, women had to fight for the right to marry if they loved a woman, the right to choose if they wanted to have a baby, or to leave their husbands.”
Leif chucks his mug of mead onto the floor. The remaining liquid inside splashing all over his leathers, and mine. “THAT IS AN OUTRAGE!” His booming voice causes the hall to go quiet and people to turn our way and stare. Lachlan, not far from my side, begins sliding through the crowd.
“What gives men the right?” Boudicca seethes.
I shake my head, hating the words that are about to come out of my mouth. “The people did.”
“Why are we even fighting for them?” she asks, bewildered. “If they would enslave their own women?”
Lachlan reaches my side and rests a hand on the small back.
“Is everything alright?” he asks, his accent made deeper by the mead he’s consumed.
My breath comes out shaky, but I reply, “I may have told Boudicca and Leif about the setbacks in women’s rights. And now they’re wondering why we’re even trying to save the humans…”
His brows raise comically high on his forehead. The green of his eyes glows so brightly. “And ye told them?”
Boudicca’s words still rattle around in my mind before I can formulate the words.
“We fight for the ones who are leading revolutions there. To give them a chance.”
Boudicca looks to Leif, his chest still heaves with each breath.
“To revolutions,” he says, swiping a pitcher of mead off a nearby table and raising it high.
“To revolutions!” The room echoes.
A dark shadow catches my eye in the corner and I excuse myself, slipping out of Lachlan’s grip and making my way towards Joan.
“Révolution,” I say to Joan, raising my glass in greeting.
Her brow raises sharply as if tugged by an invisible string.
“Oui, my queen.” I think this is the first time she’s ever spoken to me.
But with the promise of historical tales being shared, hers is a story I can’t resist.
“And what is your opinion on them?” I ask, studying her dark eyes.
“They can be dangerous, and full of betrayal.”
That is more words in a row than I’ve ever heard her speak to anyone. I study her, from her short dark hair, to the men’s black tunic and pants.
“Joan, you were an incredible hero that was betrayed by the very kingdom you led to victory.” My words cause the color to drain from her face. She clutches her goblet tightly, whitening her knuckles.
