makes me.”
He squeezed me in return. “Then I’m happy also. You seemed so upset when I woke you.”
I was starting to bubble up with tears again. The emotional rollercoaster ride of the day had made my insides raw. “I was, but you’ve made everything right.” I leaned back to stare up at him with my teary eyes. “I love you.”
Elentinus closed his eyes and made a kind of rapturous shudder. He pulled me back against him for one of his intense kisses.
Uh oh. I wasn’t ready for sex. My lady bits were still sore.
I broke free from his kiss with some difficulty. “Um…sweetie? Can we just snuggle for tonight? I still haven’t…recovered.”
He smiled at me. “Will you show me how to snuggle, Maritza?”
Aw! His sweetness got my tears going again. I ran my fingers through his silky hair.
“I would love to.”
***
Elentinus had to leave early for his work the next day. I felt sorry for him. He’d had, what? Four hours of sleep? I would make sure he got to bed tonight without any drama.
As for me, I had a mission now. Yes, I slept in late because I was a lazy Earthling, but when I did get up…well, I showered and had breakfast. But after that , I was ready to change my world!
I’d be thumbing my nose at that bitch who’d harassed me yesterday. Elentinus had shown me that I could do much more good for my ‘desperate sisters’ here than anywhere else.
The implications of my new power exploded in my head exponentially. If human brides became equals with their Dak-Haliah husbands we’d be influencing their entire empire. Maybe we could nudge them away from their planetary conquest agenda. If we were able to raise some of those kids we’d be having (a topic I would definitely broach with Elentinus later on) we could infect them with our compassion. Heck, if all the Dak-Hiliahs going forward had human blood who was to say their very natures wouldn’t change? Maybe I was conceited about how great human nature was, but it probably couldn’t make things worse, right?
Before I could write my treatise on marriage I had to know the full scope of everything taken away from women so I could make sure they got it all back. I bucked up and summoned Kang.
“I need a history lesson. And a lemonade.”
I asked for paper and pencil, but of course such primitive implements no longer existed. The people of the future were completely sustained by those tablets that I still couldn’t access. I insisted on getting something, even if it meant going outside and writing in the dirt with a stick. Kang took me to a room with what looked like a conference table. The far wall was a giant white board that I could write on with my finger.
“The druid Shindray attained the holiest seat 135 years ago. At that time—”
“Wow, 135 years? And he just died recently? How long do Dak-Hiliah normally live?”
“Dak-Hiliah men live an average of 88 years. Dak-Hiliah women live an average of 93 years. Druids, however, live an average of 142 years. One high druid even lived to be 180 years old. Please bear in mind that there is a six day time differential between Dak-Hiliah years and Earth years. There is also a 38 minute time differential between Dak-Hiliah days and Earth days. The equivalent Dak-Hiliah time unit to an Earth minute is only 57 Earth seconds.”
This boggled my mind, but I shook it off. The time differentials didn’t seem significant enough to matter. “Interesting. Please continue.”
“At the time when Shindray took the holiest seat, the empire had not expanded its boundaries in forty years. Shindray said the stagnation was due to Dak-Hiliah women gaining unprecedented influence in the empire. He ordered that Dak-Hiliah men reclaim their manhood, and that Dak-Hiliah women learn their place.”
“Oh boy.” I sat at the conference table while
He squeezed me in return. “Then I’m happy also. You seemed so upset when I woke you.”
I was starting to bubble up with tears again. The emotional rollercoaster ride of the day had made my insides raw. “I was, but you’ve made everything right.” I leaned back to stare up at him with my teary eyes. “I love you.”
Elentinus closed his eyes and made a kind of rapturous shudder. He pulled me back against him for one of his intense kisses.
Uh oh. I wasn’t ready for sex. My lady bits were still sore.
I broke free from his kiss with some difficulty. “Um…sweetie? Can we just snuggle for tonight? I still haven’t…recovered.”
He smiled at me. “Will you show me how to snuggle, Maritza?”
Aw! His sweetness got my tears going again. I ran my fingers through his silky hair.
“I would love to.”
***
Elentinus had to leave early for his work the next day. I felt sorry for him. He’d had, what? Four hours of sleep? I would make sure he got to bed tonight without any drama.
As for me, I had a mission now. Yes, I slept in late because I was a lazy Earthling, but when I did get up…well, I showered and had breakfast. But after that , I was ready to change my world!
I’d be thumbing my nose at that bitch who’d harassed me yesterday. Elentinus had shown me that I could do much more good for my ‘desperate sisters’ here than anywhere else.
The implications of my new power exploded in my head exponentially. If human brides became equals with their Dak-Haliah husbands we’d be influencing their entire empire. Maybe we could nudge them away from their planetary conquest agenda. If we were able to raise some of those kids we’d be having (a topic I would definitely broach with Elentinus later on) we could infect them with our compassion. Heck, if all the Dak-Hiliahs going forward had human blood who was to say their very natures wouldn’t change? Maybe I was conceited about how great human nature was, but it probably couldn’t make things worse, right?
Before I could write my treatise on marriage I had to know the full scope of everything taken away from women so I could make sure they got it all back. I bucked up and summoned Kang.
“I need a history lesson. And a lemonade.”
I asked for paper and pencil, but of course such primitive implements no longer existed. The people of the future were completely sustained by those tablets that I still couldn’t access. I insisted on getting something, even if it meant going outside and writing in the dirt with a stick. Kang took me to a room with what looked like a conference table. The far wall was a giant white board that I could write on with my finger.
“The druid Shindray attained the holiest seat 135 years ago. At that time—”
“Wow, 135 years? And he just died recently? How long do Dak-Hiliah normally live?”
“Dak-Hiliah men live an average of 88 years. Dak-Hiliah women live an average of 93 years. Druids, however, live an average of 142 years. One high druid even lived to be 180 years old. Please bear in mind that there is a six day time differential between Dak-Hiliah years and Earth years. There is also a 38 minute time differential between Dak-Hiliah days and Earth days. The equivalent Dak-Hiliah time unit to an Earth minute is only 57 Earth seconds.”
This boggled my mind, but I shook it off. The time differentials didn’t seem significant enough to matter. “Interesting. Please continue.”
“At the time when Shindray took the holiest seat, the empire had not expanded its boundaries in forty years. Shindray said the stagnation was due to Dak-Hiliah women gaining unprecedented influence in the empire. He ordered that Dak-Hiliah men reclaim their manhood, and that Dak-Hiliah women learn their place.”
“Oh boy.” I sat at the conference table while
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