To Ellis’s delight, Micheal and Isabella had joined them for dinner in the abnormally large dining room in the palace. Isabella was excited to have ‘her children’ living nearby so that she could visit whenever she wanted and Ellis couldn’t help but feel the same. Also, she couldn’t turn down the cookies that Isabella had brought as a housewarming gift.
She nearly shrieked in excitement. What a bad example of a mother she was. She munched on them quickly without regard for the shocked eyes. Sue her, she liked cookies.
She wanted in her head: “Must leave one for Logan. Logan should eat my favorite treat. Half a cookie, then.”
The compromise went on and on.
Logan didn’t trust anyone else to prepare the food for the babies, so he cooked the food himself. When he came back bearing a tray of food for all of them, he set it down at the center of the table. Ellis had little dinner, instead, she shoved the cookies do
“Emancipate the Kolns,” Ellis said in short.Micheal pulled a piece of paper and pen out and scribbled it down. After that, he read it out loud. “All Kolns in the Empire are henceforth and forevermore, free. Any Kolns that take up arms in defense of the Empire shall be granted full rights of a citizen.”There was long silence. Leo was the first to speak up. “We can’t make them full citizens! That would mean they have the right to get mates, right? In the database too?”“No, only fertile men of age are entered into the database. We have never included those that are infertile or too old to reproduce.” But then, he was silent again. Something grated on his mind.Leo fell silent. “But it just… doesn’t seem right.”“What about voting rights?” Isabella interjected.“Strong believer in universal voting rights,” Ellis said softly. “But it al
First, as to the protection of Kolns, we can't offer any on the Capital, not until we retake control of the planet. Secondly, the Kolns should be automatically included under things like the minimum wage laws, right? A lot of the abuses that oppressed communities suffered were things that were already illegal, but no one enforced the law for them. We have to make it clear that we will enforce the law."Isabella shook her head. “People are going to be angry that their Kolns ran off to help fight the rebellion. You have to think of a way to reimburse the owners so as to encourage them to let their ‘property’ leave.”Ellis noticed another bright moment about Isabella. She was a good orator. She understood people and she would have been a better advocate than many other people in the government.“You fear Koln owners to join the rebels, don’t you?” Ellis thought out loud. “It is possible. They might say that the monarc
In the morning they met the minister of finance, the first nerd she had seen in Zothea. He was thin to the point of emaciation and his poor tail was nearly bald from the way he nervously plucked at its hair. She wondered if he suffered from the same color-blindness as the drones because the brown tunic he wore with blue pants clashed terribly.When Logan told him Ellis's plan, the minister sighed and tossed down his pen. He rubbed his eyes as he spoke. "Emperor, I simply do not have the funds. Any reduction in revenue at this point would be catastrophic when we still haven't recovered from losing a planet. We're already struggling to pay for our obligations, let alone the things we need to fight this war. We need ships, but building them would take too long, and the merchants aren't willing to sell us theirs at a decent rate. I keep telling them that they won't have any business left anyway if the Federation crumbles but they either don't believe me or they don't care. We nee
“A few women from the planet have mated with Zotheans in the past but not many. I don’t know if she will bear any children either. There are stories of princesses being forced into marriages and mating, but I don’t know if they resulted in pregnancies.” Logan brought his daughter to rest on his best and put his arm around her. Isabella purred and yawned, getting ready to nap. “He offered to support us against the revels. His planet is rich and used to war, so they have ships, weapons, and soldiers that he could give us if we agree to the match.”Ellis closed her eyes. She understood the strain in his voice now. If they united with the planet, the war could be over quickly. Thousands of lives could be saved.“If it were my happiness and life that needed to be sacrificed for the people, I would do it without thinking,” Logan said softly. “It would kill me, but I would do it. But I can’t put that on my children.
Laurel spent the night on the bed beside Ellis. Ellis knew for a fact that she didn’t get any sleep because Ellis woke up several times to check on the babies and Logan and found Laurel sniffling each time. She laid back down in the bed and stayed away from Laurel, giving her friend the privacy to cry, be angry, and grieve.She knew how Laurel felt, especially having run away from her mate herself. It would be hell and everyone would judge her. Not Ellis, though. Not Ellis.“Laurel,” she shook her awake. “Let’s go take a bath,” she hissed. How the roles had reversed.“Oh, go away!” Laurel groaned. She had gone to sleep in the early morning, so she was beyond tired.“Get up! I’m taking revenge for all the times you dragged me out of bed. Moreover, don’t you want to see the royal bath?” She tried her hand at enticing.“When you put it like that…” she grumbled.
“I have nothing to say,” Mitch responded to the question being asked by the reporters that surrounded him. “The human whore is determined to destroy our culture and societal rules. What she did not count on was the loyalty the Kolns have for us. They were a part of our family and loved us. So, do not fear any uprisings and disregard rumors you hear about Kolns running away,” he said. His tone was deeply sarcastic as if the idea of the Kolns would willingly leave their slavery was too ridiculous to even consider.“One has to be impressed with a guy who can lie so well,” Ellis said, clicking off the tab. “His background could have plumes of smoke rising or bombs dropping and he could still make people think there was nothing worth seeing.” She shook her head. “And he can lie with a straight face, too.”Laurel, Isabella, and Ellis were in the storage rooms, packing up boxes of Logan’s father’s clothin
Ellis shook her head. “It does me no good to go on a show right now. I don’t know what I would say either.”They gathered the clothing and Ellis and Laurel set off for the Koln shelter. Some of her own clothes were in the bags, as well. A handful of women had come with some of the Kolns. Some were widows who had fallen in love with the Kolns who served them. A few had left behind husbands, a dangerous situation which would require palace guards to be present.When they arrived at the shelter, Ellis was swarmed. Nin hadn’t exaggerated when she said the Kolns loved Ellis. They wanted to touch the hem of her clothes and Ellis had to bear stoically. Nin, too, was surprisingly gentle as she moved the crowd back a few feet away from the Empress.Ellis and Laurel were passing out the clothing. A man and a woman knelt in front of her and Ellis automatically held out a woman’s tunic to her. Ellis was surprised to see a face she knew…a
As Laurel was otherwise occupied, Ellis stayed with the children. She sent a message to Logan that she wanted to speak to him when he could spare a moment and then flopped down next to the babies.She gently nudged Little Isabella’s tail out of her mouth and made a mental note to tell Logan that the chip insertion appointment had been made. She must have dozed off because she awoke to Logan settled behind her, nuzzling her neck.She put out a hand and it met with empty pillows. She jolted up, only to be pulled down. “They’re will Laurel and Dorian,” Logan said quickly.“Are Dorian and Laurel doing okay?”“They appeared to be deep in conversation and Laurel wasn’t leaking. So, that is a positive sign.”“Crying,” she corrected, hiding her smile.“I got your message. Sorry it took so long for me to return. There were forms and meetings I needed to tend to…” he