Chapter Fifty: Caline And The Astorians Take A Stand
Three hours later in the meeting hall.
"WHAT????" the Astorians and their companions exclaimed.
"I can't believe the nerve of those three men!" Dirkan, who was
sitting next to Shalila at the meeting hall table, hissed. "Refusing to ally
with us just because Tayla has changed her mind about marrying that Calmagian
upstart! Queen Kildara, please tell us that this is a bad joke!"
Queen Kildara held her regal head down in shame. She had already
been distressed since her people had arrived on Calmag and informed of her
beloved sister, Tika's death twelve years ago. Kildara had spent much of her
time during her family's visit mourning her dead youngest sister, despite the
best efforts of her sisters, Homina and Toria, to console her. Kitchator had
insisted that his now submissive wife deliver the bad news to the Astorian
people. The Clan of Chloe visitors, their servants, and their friends were now
gathered in the meeting hall.
"It is true," she told her family gravely. "My husband, his son,
and his grandson are the only ones who can sign the treaty here. It is out of
my hands, I am sorry."
Tayla was sitting between Shalila and Gracina, with Caline sitting
between Gracina and Lektron. Caline had grown very close and attached to
Gracina and Lektron in the past few days. She thought of them as a new set of
parents. Gracina and Lektron had grown to love her, and they wished that they
could take her back home with them. Caline's fear of Alberm had thankfully not
expanded to all men, and she looked up to Lektron, who was touched by her
growing filial adoration for him. She spent as much time with Gracina, Lektron
and their children as possible. Bajal and Alora were sitting next to them.
Alora was feeding their daughter, Rina, a chocolate sugarplum.
Tayla whispered ashamedly to Shalila, "This is all my fault, isn't
it? I should have never agreed to marry Ridikar in the first place."
Shalila patted Tayla's shoulder, trying to remain calm. She was
furious at Ridikar and his family for acting the way they were. Tayla was only
a child; they should have known better. "Don't blame yourself,
dandelion," she told her gently, "Ridikar must have started this; he's acting
like a spoiled little boy who has been denied a favorite toy. You had no idea
that things could go this far, and neither did we. Do not let this concern you;
we will handle it. You are not going to be forced to marry anyone."
Bajal hissed, "The nerve of that little bastard! Trying to
blackmail my sister to marry him! If he thinks we are giving in to this
blackmail, he and his father are sadly mistaken! Nama, I insist that you allow
me to challenge that brat, Ridikar! I'll show him who's-"
"No, Bajal," Shalila said sternly. "We are not going to create
additional problems. Solving problems does not always require a fist, a ki
blast, or a sword. I will speak to Kitchator and Kildara alone; this is
ridiculous, allowing a sixteen-year-old boy who is not even king yet to run
things around here. I will nip things in the bud."
"A fist, a ki blast, or a sword may not always solve problems, but
it can solve them faster," Alora argued, backing up her husband. "I'd like to
be alone with that teenage brat myself! Who in the hell does he think he is?
Tayla is only twelve, barely old enough to go fight in battle, let alone marry
someone. What does anyone know of romantic love and marriage at that age? King
Kitchator and Prince Amitar have no common sense, insisting that a child be
forced to marry a boy who acts less maturely than her."
Rina, who was only three, swallowed the last bit of chocolate that
she had and said to her mother, "Why Mamma and Pappa mad?" Rina resembled her
mother, and she had a tail as long as her small body. She watched her mother's
tail bristle with indignation, as it tightened around her waist.
"Mamma and Pappa feel like beating someone up, and neither one of
them are allowed to do it," Alora told her daughter, as she gave her another
sugarplum to distract her.
"I wish that I hadn't started this," Tayla said, feeling miserable.
"Tayla, don't worry about it, I said," Shalila told her firmly.
"Engagement agreements are not meant to be written in stone. No contracts were
signed, and you are still a child. No one should have to marry anyone against
his or her will, and it won't happen to you. You were within your rights to
back out of marrying Ridikar."
Queen Kildara approached Shalila and Dirkan. "Aunt Shalila, Uncle
Dirkan, would it really be so bad for Tayla to marry Ridikar? We do need you as
our allies, and Tayla would become a Queen, like myself. She would be well
cared for here-"
"Do you call Ridikar's trying to rape her taking well care of her?"
Dirkan roared, his voice suddenly a few decibels higher than before. "Queen
Kildara, your grandson tried to force himself on her a few days ago. No girl
should have to endure that. He is no better than that cretin, Alberm!"
Everyone turned around to stare at Dirkan just then. Shalila and Tayla were
embarrassed, but they said nothing.
"Kildara," Shalila told her niece-by-marriage-to-Bajal quietly, "You
are Astorian yourself, and you know what your husband, stepson, and his son are
doing is not right. What has happened here is one of the many reasons why I
outlawed arranged marriages without consent of both bride and groom. Ridikar
trying to force Tayla to marry him is no different then when the Saiyans of our
time forced Astorian women to be their concubines. Ridikar tried to rape my
granddaughter, who is also your niece and Tika's daughter."
"Ridikar surely wouldn't have done that," Kildara protested feebly,
not liking to be caught in the middle of this cold war between the rulers of
Calmag and the rulers of Astoria. "Perhaps he made a normal advance, and
Tayla mistook it for something else. I can consult him on it, if you wish.
Ridikar has always been a good lad, as far as I know-"
"Well, he's not!" Dirkan hissed at her. "Tear the blinders from
your eyes, Kildara!" he roared, deliberately not addressing her as Queen.
"Calmag has been invaded, and your men seem more worried about a twelve-year-old
girl now refusing to marry a sixteen-year-old boy who has less sense and
scruples than she does than they do about saving this planet! Tayla is not
going to be forced to marry anyone that she does not wish to. Ridikar is not
worthy of her, especially after what he tried to do to her, and you know it! I
know rape or attempted rape is not considered a serious crime on this planet,
but that does not make what Ridikar tried to do to Tayla right!"
Caline left her chair next to Gracina, and she walked over to her
grandmother and took her arm. "Grandmamma, please don't force Tayla to marry
Ridikar. I'm afraid he's going to hurt her the same way that Alberm hurt me."
Her large electric-blue eyes looked up pleadingly into the similar blue eyes of
her grandmother. Those lovely eyes began to cloud over with tears, as she
continued, "Grandmamma, I never wanted to marry Alberm, but Father made me, and
you and Granpappa stood by and did nothing. Alberm beat me up and raped me, and
I tried to tell Father and Ridikar, but they ignored me, saying that I had must
have displeased him in some way."
She looked over at Gracina and Lektron, who looked back at her with
understanding and parental love in their eyes. Then she looked at Tayla, who
was smiling at her encouragingly. Caline smiled back at all of them gratefully;
she had learned so much from Tayla and her family in the past couple of weeks.
She was slowly learning from them that she was someone to be respected and
cherished, not a piece of property to be used and abused at will. Gracina and
Lektron had constantly reassured her that no one had a right to beat on her,
talk down to her, or rape her, and that Alberm was the one who was bad, not her.
Their words were slowly beginning to sink in. Caline had been watching the
kind, tender way that Lektron treated Gracina, and the way that the Astorian
parents considered their daughters equal to their sons. Caline had never been
around people like the Astorians before, and she never allowed herself to think
of the day when they would leave Calmag to go home to Astoria. She was afraid
to ask them if she could go with them, for fear that they would have to tell her
no.
The little Calmagian princess went on with her speech, "Many times,
I begged Alberm not to hurt me or force himself on me, but he did so anyway. I
cried out for help, but no one heard me or cared until Tayla and her family came
along. Tayla was the first person to ever stand up for me and tell me what
Alberm was doing was wrong." Caline's tears begin to cascade down her
milk-white face, and she did not brush them away. The little girl looked around
the room, seeing if everyone was paying attention to her, and she discovered
that they were. The entire room was silent now, listening to Caline's speech.
Never in her eleven years of life, had an entire crowd of people pay attention
to her as they were doing now.
Caline looked at Tayla gratefully. "Some say that it was wrong for
Tayla to agree to marry my brother and then refuse, but I don't. I want to look
up to Ridikar and love him as my brother and future ruler, but I can't. I know
what Ridikar is like, and Tayla is not the first girl that he's tried to hurt.
He's done things like that before, and sometimes he has succeeded. Ridikar has
Alberm's attitude about females, although he has hidden it better than my
husband has. Tayla will not be happy with Ridikar, if she is forced to marry
him. No one should have to marry someone that they don't love or who would
treat them poorly."
She turned to a stunned Kildara, who had never heard her normally
quiet, shy, passive granddaughter say so many words at once in her life. Caline
raised her pale head and said bravely, "I don't support my father or my
brother's actions in this matter. Tayla does not deserve to suffer the same
fate that I have. She has only changed her mind, and changing your mind is not
a crime, nor is refusing to marry someone that you don't wish to. Tayla has
saved me, in more ways than one, and no matter what happens to me in the future,
I will always be grateful for her friendship and protection. Tayla has spoken
up for me, and now it is time that I started to speak up for myself. She, and
her family, has taught me that there are those who will stand up for others and
for what is right, no matter what it costs them."
She turned from her grandmother, and the eleven-year-old Calmagian
princess addressed Shalila directly, "Superior Gran Shalila, you are very
fortunate to have Princess Tayla Chloe as your granddaughter. I am sorry for
the trouble that has happened between our families, and I hope that the men in
my family will see reason and agree to ally Calmag with Astoria, but even if
they don't, I will always think fondly and lovingly of your family, especially
Tayla, Gracina, and Lektron." She walked over and leaned closer to Shalila and
whispered softly, yet loudly enough for those near Shalila to hear, "And Tayla
is very fortunate to have you for a grandmother, for you have raised her; it is
from you surely that she has learned what she has. Don't give in to my family's
blackmail; please don't make Tayla marry my brother, if she does not wish it.
This is harsh for me to say, I know, but he is not worthy of her. No alliance
treaty is worth giving up someone that you love. The Astorians are strong
enough to be on their own, if they need to be."
Caline closed her eyes briefly, and after opening them again, she
leaned in between Shalila and Tayla and hugged Tayla fiercely. "Thank you," she
whispered to her, as Tayla hugged her back.
She went down to sit between Gracina and Lektron once more. Gracina
hugged her close and whispered some private things in her ear that made Caline
smile shyly and blush. Lektron ruffled the girl's white-blond hair, as if she
was one of his children. They, Tayla and the others were amazed by how much
Caline had already grown up; this self-assured, confident, new Caline was not
same frightened girl that had nearly died at Alberm's hands. She was no longer
the same little child bride who had begged Tayla not to intervene in her marital
problems. She was not the same repressed, terrified little girl that had cried
in Gracina's arms when Gracina had first comforted her. Caline had discovered
something important: that she was a worthy person who had the right to love and
be loved, and that she was a survivor. She would find a way, her own way, to
overcome what Alberm and the men in her family had forced on her; she would go
on, and she would survive. Caline was not afraid anymore, at least not as much
as she used to be.
Shalila drew Tayla close to her and hugged her, and Tayla hugged her
back. Tayla whispered in her Nama's ear, "She's right, Nama. I am fortunate to
have you for my grandmother, and I wouldn't want anyone else."
"I consider myself fortunate to have you, my dear," Shalila
whispered back with a smile. Dirkan squeezed her hand, and she squeezed his
hand back.
Tayla whispered softly, "Caline sure has changed much, hasn't she?
She seems, I don't know, stronger, happier?"
Shalila said gently, "She's growing up, and so are you, my little
dandelion. Caline will be okay; she will grow and survive."
"She'd grow and survive best in our family," Tayla told her firmly.
"Couldn't we take her home with us, Nama?"
Shalila grew quiet then. She and Dirkan looked at each other,
afraid to answer Tayla's question. Finally she said, "We'll see, dandelion, no
promises, not a word to anyone."
"Yes, Nama," Tayla said, looking over at a calmer, serene Caline.
Shalila released Tayla and arose from the meeting hall table to
address Kildara. Dirkan arose with her. "Kildara, we request a meeting with
your husband, your stepson and Ridikar-immediately," Shalila told her firmly.
Immediately came much sooner than Shalila and Dirkan expected, for
Kitchator, Amitar and Ridikar entered the room. Kitchator addressed Shalila and
Dirkan directly, "Well, what is your decision?"
Dirkan told him severely, "Tayla is not marrying Ridikar."
Shalila added sternly, "I am not going to allow my granddaughter, or
my people to be blackmailed, Kitchator." She deliberately did not address him
as king. "Tayla is not going to marry anyone that she does not wish to marry.
Your grandson tried to rape her six days ago, and I will not allow her to marry
someone who would treat her with such disrespect. If you refuse to ally with
us, fine, but if you do, there will be no point in us remaining here on your
planet. I will take my people off of your planet within two days, instead of
two weeks like Dirkan and I had planned. I am hoping that it will not come down
to that, for Frieza's minions are now on your planet, and you will need our
help, whether you think so or not. Do you want any more of your people to die,
Kitchator, because of your spoiled grandson not having his way? Your people are
dying more and more every day. My people are willing to fight with you, since
Frieza is our enemy also, but I am not going to put them in danger for those who
would try to blackmail or abuse us. We need to be fighting alongside each
other, Kitchator, not against each other."
Kitchator had been thinking the same thing, but before he could
speak, Amitar interrupted rashly, "We Calmagians are a strong people, and we can
fight Frieza's forces alone, if we had to!"
"That's right!" Ridikar declared, agreeing fully and foolishly with
his father.
Shalila and Dirkan shook their heads, and most of the Astorians
groaned and grumbled. Bajal mumbled something about Calmagian royal idiots, and
Alora glared at Amitar and Ridikar in disbelief.
Amitar then noticed his daughter, Caline, sitting between Gracina
and Lektron at the meeting hall table. "Caline," he told her decisively, "It is
time for you to go with us. You have spent more than enough time with the
Astorian people. As soon as I have your marriage to Alberm dissolved, which
will be in a matter of days, I will have a new husband for you shortly
afterwards. His name is Filcor Sedemeyer, and he will be a good match for you.
He is only twenty years older than you, and he has three cities, four wealthy
businesses, and almost a million acres of land. He is also a strong warrior as
well. He is much richer and stronger than Alberm ever was. I will admit that I
made a mistake in marrying you to a would-be-murderer and traitor, but this new
marriage will more than make up for it."
Caline gasped in horror, her new self-confidence and peace fading
away at the prospect of being married again to someone that she didn't love.
She knew Filcor Sedemeyer well, and she thought him no better than Alberm.
Filcor was loyal to her father and grandfather, but he was a tyrant, greedy and
gluttony and just as abusive as Alberm. Filcor and Alberm had been once been
close friends and business associates before Caline and Alberm's marriage, and
Filcor himself had once asked Amitar for Caline's hand-in-marriage. Amitar had
refused Filcor because Filcor did not have the diplomatic or close connections
to the royal family like Alberm had once had. Caline remembered having to dodge
Filcor's advances a year ago when Filcor had tried to pull her on his lap and
kiss her.
She swallowed the terror rising up in her throat and told her
father, in a mixture of fear and defiance, "No, Father, I refuse."
"What?" Amitar roared. "Caline, we are not going through the same
thing that we did with Alberm; you gave me a hard time about that marriage too.
You will marry Filcor; he is a fine match for you. Don't be a foolish girl
now!'
Gracina put her arm around Caline to give her support, as Caline
told her angry father, "Father, I love you, but I am not going to marry
someone just to please you. My next husband, if I choose to have one, will be
of my own choosing, my own choice. If Tayla is too young to get married, then
so am I, for I am a year younger than she is. I am only eleven-years-old, far
too young really to have a mate."
Ridikar barked at Caline, "You will do what Father says! If he says
you will marry Filcor, then you will do so!"
Caline looked into her brother's eyes and said calmly, "No, I
won't."
Ridikar and Amitar were stunned; Caline had never openly defied them
like this before. Amitar then decided that the Astorians were definitely a bad
influence on Caline, and he knew one way to end that influence. He unbuckled
his brown belt and slipped out of the belt loops. He folded the belt in half
and brandished it like a whip. Amitar was furious; he was going to put Caline
in her place.
Caline's eyes widened in fear at the familiar belt that had been
used on her several times in her life. The last time that her father had
whipped her with a belt was when Caline had ran away from home in order to get
out of marrying Alberm. Caline had been found and brought back home to face the
brutal belt that Amitar was once again wielding.
Amitar pushed past several Astorians to leap across the table at
Caline with his belt. Amitar knocked over mugs and glasses, causing hot tea and
chocolate to fall upon the Astorian occupants. He tried to seize Caline's arm
to pull her across the table, but Lektron grabbed his arm that held the belt
before Amitar had a chance to take Caline.
"How dare you?" Amitar roared at Lektron. "She is my daughter, not
yours!" Amitar rudely shoved Lektron to the floor, and then he managed to grab
Caline by her arm before Gracina could stop him. Gracina then grabbed him by
his collar to force him to release Caline. Not entirely realizing what he was
doing, Amitar shoved Gracina's chest with his fist, pushing her to the floor
next to Lektron. Gracina reached for her sword that was on her side, but Amitar
kicked at her hand before she could pull it out. Caline grabbed her father's
arm and begged him to stop.
"Father, please!" Caline cried. "You don't need to do this!" She
tried to pull her father away from Gracina, and Amitar used that opportunity to
whip her side with his belt.
Tayla jumped up in outrage. "Hey! How dare you!" she shouted, not
caring if Amitar was Caline's father or not. But before Tayla could intervene,
Lektron had flung himself onto Amitar from the floor, and he pulled Amitar away
from Caline. Lektron punched Amitar in his jaw hard, cracking it. Shalila
pulled Tayla back down into her seat and made her stay still.
"That one was for my wife! No one hits my wife!" Lektron roared at
Amitar, as he landed his other fist into Amitar's stomach. "And that one was
for Caline! Who the hell do you think you are, beating your own child like
that?"
"How dare you intervene in my family matters?" Amitar hissed,
crashing his fist into Lektron's ribs. Lektron seized Amitar by his collar then
with his free hand and threw him into a wall, causing Amitar to crash into it,
breaking bricks and bones. Amitar recovered quickly enough, and he threw
himself at Lektron, who punched him in his stomach. Amitar then shoved Lektron
to the floor and leapt upon him. He and Lektron began wrestling each other,
punching and kicking.
"Amitar, stop!" Kitchator ordered.
"Amitar, please stop this!" Kildara cried in horror.
The Astorians debated amongst themselves whether to break up the
fight, or let Lektron continue to give Amitar what he probably deserved.
Finally, when Dirkan realized that Lektron was going to win this skirmish-and
likely kill Amitar in the process-he ordered Bajal, Raakon, and Cletos to help
him break things up. The four men from Astoria ran over to the two fighting
men, and they began to pull Lektron off of Amitar. Lektron struggled against
his cousins and Dirkan, demanding to be allowed to finish his fight, but the
four men held firm.
"That's enough, Lektron!" Dirkan ordered him loudly. "You'll kill
him, if you fight him anymore!" Amitar was now lying still, barely breathing
and very bloody.
"Good, he deserves it!" Lektron roared, fighting to free himself
from his captors. "No one will miss him!"
"Lektron, that's enough, Dirkan's right," Raakon scolded, as he held
one of Lektron's powerful legs. "Beating him to death will only make things
worst between Astoria and Calmag. He's not worth it."
"Take some deep breaths, allow yourself to calm down," Cletos told
him. Lektron finally obeyed, and the other men guided him to a chair against
the wall, and they all stood around him to ensure that he would not attack
Amitar again. Lektron sat down, finally allowing himself to catch his breath.
Gracina and Caline ran to him to make sure that he was okay. Gracina pulled out
her healior's kit, and she began retrieving medicines and ointments to treat his
many wounds.
"Oh, Lektron," she whispered fervently, "Are you okay?" She wiped
his bloody mouth with her handkerchief.
Lektron grinned saucily at her. "Sure! I won, didn't I?" he
chuckled. The group attending to him, except for Bajal, groaned, for they knew
that they would hear Lektron brag about this fight for days. Bajal chuckled
along with him, and he slapped Lektron's back companionably.
"No Calmagian can ever beat an Astorian! Astorians are still the
best of the lot in this galaxy!" he boasted, and he and Lektron laughed. Dirkan
cuffed both men, only he didn't cuff Lektron as hard because he was already
injured enough. Gracina sighed and tended to her husband's wounds. When his
wounds had been treated, Gracina pulled Caline away from the men, and felt the
girl for wounds. She looked under Caline's dress, and she finally determined
that Caline would just have a nasty bruise. Caline hugged her gratefully, and
then she went back to Lektron and put her arms around him carefully, so that she
would not hurt him.
Kitchator, Kildara, and Ridikar ran to Amitar, and Ridikar ordered
some guards to get the family doctor to tend to his father's injuries. Ridikar
hissed at Lektron, "You'll pay for what you did to my father! I will challenge
you myself when your wounds heal!"
Bajal abruptly rushed over to Ridikar and declared angrily, "Why
don't you challenge me instead? I've been wanting to finish that beating on you
that I started for some time! You'll pay for what you did to my little sister!"
He balled up his fists, preparing to make mincemeat out of his sister's
suitor/assailant.
"I will marry your sister yet!" Ridikar told him defiantly. "There
will be no alliance, I will see to that, if she does not agree!" Ridikar stood
up and prepared to fight Bajal. Bajal was more than ready to satisfy him when
Dirkan put himself between the two of them.
"There will be no more fights today!" the Namek ordered severely.
"At least not until we meet up with Frieza's fighters! Bajal, you will go sit
down on the floor, next to Lektron, now!" Bajal sulked, but he went away to do
Dirkan's bidding. Dirkan then turned to Ridikar, and before Ridikar knew it,
Dirkan had him in the air by his collar.
"I am not going to give you the beating of you life like you
deserve-at least not today," Dirkan told Ridikar harshly. "But if you ever, I
mean ever do anything to Tayla, or even come near her again, I myself will send
you to an early grave, understand? I will be willing to risk arrest and death
to ensure that you will not touch Tayla!" And with that, he flung Ridikar to
the floor next to his father. Ridikar gasped for air.
"There will be no alliance!" Amitar choked, and Ridikar spat out in
agreement. Amitar said to his father, Kitchator, hoarsely, "We will not be
signing anything."
Kitchator was stunned into silence; he was debating what to do or
say next when Ridikar addressed Tayla directly, for Ridikar still had much nerve
left:
"Tayla," Ridikar said evenly, "I know that we had our silly little
differences, but we can get past them. I want you to be my bride and my queen.
I won't touch you until the wedding night, if you insist, but I will not give up
trying to make you my wife. It would be best for both of our planets, if you
and I were to wed. Can't you give up your resistance and agree to be my wife
again?"
Tayla shook her head. "No, Ridikar, I won't. I don't love you, and
in fact, I don't even like you anymore. You tried to rape me, even though I
told you no. You don't respect me or care for me, admit it. My family was
right about you; there is nothing worthy in you. After we leave this planet, I
want to forget that you ever existed," she told him quietly. She turned to
Shalila and asked, "Nama, may I be pleased be excused? I am suddenly very
tired."
Shalila nodded, and she allowed Tayla to leave the meeting hall.
The rest of her family slowly began to leave, following her behind. Dirkan
ordered Bajal and Lektron to go with them, fearing that the two men would lose
their heads again and come after Ridikar and Amitar. Caline left with Gracina
and a wounded Lektron. In a few minutes, only Shalila, Dirkan, Gorna, and
Kitchator's family were left.
Shalila told Kitchator sternly, "King Kitchator, if you do not agree
to stop this nonsense about forcing my granddaughter to marry your grandson, we
Astorians will not help your planet against Frieza. From the looks of things
now, your people do not stand a chance without us. You better consider which is
more important: your family pride, or your people's lives." And with that, she,
Dirkan, and Gorna left the meeting hall.
Three hours later in the meeting hall.
"WHAT????" the Astorians and their companions exclaimed.
"I can't believe the nerve of those three men!" Dirkan, who was
sitting next to Shalila at the meeting hall table, hissed. "Refusing to ally
with us just because Tayla has changed her mind about marrying that Calmagian
upstart! Queen Kildara, please tell us that this is a bad joke!"
Queen Kildara held her regal head down in shame. She had already
been distressed since her people had arrived on Calmag and informed of her
beloved sister, Tika's death twelve years ago. Kildara had spent much of her
time during her family's visit mourning her dead youngest sister, despite the
best efforts of her sisters, Homina and Toria, to console her. Kitchator had
insisted that his now submissive wife deliver the bad news to the Astorian
people. The Clan of Chloe visitors, their servants, and their friends were now
gathered in the meeting hall.
"It is true," she told her family gravely. "My husband, his son,
and his grandson are the only ones who can sign the treaty here. It is out of
my hands, I am sorry."
Tayla was sitting between Shalila and Gracina, with Caline sitting
between Gracina and Lektron. Caline had grown very close and attached to
Gracina and Lektron in the past few days. She thought of them as a new set of
parents. Gracina and Lektron had grown to love her, and they wished that they
could take her back home with them. Caline's fear of Alberm had thankfully not
expanded to all men, and she looked up to Lektron, who was touched by her
growing filial adoration for him. She spent as much time with Gracina, Lektron
and their children as possible. Bajal and Alora were sitting next to them.
Alora was feeding their daughter, Rina, a chocolate sugarplum.
Tayla whispered ashamedly to Shalila, "This is all my fault, isn't
it? I should have never agreed to marry Ridikar in the first place."
Shalila patted Tayla's shoulder, trying to remain calm. She was
furious at Ridikar and his family for acting the way they were. Tayla was only
a child; they should have known better. "Don't blame yourself,
dandelion," she told her gently, "Ridikar must have started this; he's acting
like a spoiled little boy who has been denied a favorite toy. You had no idea
that things could go this far, and neither did we. Do not let this concern you;
we will handle it. You are not going to be forced to marry anyone."
Bajal hissed, "The nerve of that little bastard! Trying to
blackmail my sister to marry him! If he thinks we are giving in to this
blackmail, he and his father are sadly mistaken! Nama, I insist that you allow
me to challenge that brat, Ridikar! I'll show him who's-"
"No, Bajal," Shalila said sternly. "We are not going to create
additional problems. Solving problems does not always require a fist, a ki
blast, or a sword. I will speak to Kitchator and Kildara alone; this is
ridiculous, allowing a sixteen-year-old boy who is not even king yet to run
things around here. I will nip things in the bud."
"A fist, a ki blast, or a sword may not always solve problems, but
it can solve them faster," Alora argued, backing up her husband. "I'd like to
be alone with that teenage brat myself! Who in the hell does he think he is?
Tayla is only twelve, barely old enough to go fight in battle, let alone marry
someone. What does anyone know of romantic love and marriage at that age? King
Kitchator and Prince Amitar have no common sense, insisting that a child be
forced to marry a boy who acts less maturely than her."
Rina, who was only three, swallowed the last bit of chocolate that
she had and said to her mother, "Why Mamma and Pappa mad?" Rina resembled her
mother, and she had a tail as long as her small body. She watched her mother's
tail bristle with indignation, as it tightened around her waist.
"Mamma and Pappa feel like beating someone up, and neither one of
them are allowed to do it," Alora told her daughter, as she gave her another
sugarplum to distract her.
"I wish that I hadn't started this," Tayla said, feeling miserable.
"Tayla, don't worry about it, I said," Shalila told her firmly.
"Engagement agreements are not meant to be written in stone. No contracts were
signed, and you are still a child. No one should have to marry anyone against
his or her will, and it won't happen to you. You were within your rights to
back out of marrying Ridikar."
Queen Kildara approached Shalila and Dirkan. "Aunt Shalila, Uncle
Dirkan, would it really be so bad for Tayla to marry Ridikar? We do need you as
our allies, and Tayla would become a Queen, like myself. She would be well
cared for here-"
"Do you call Ridikar's trying to rape her taking well care of her?"
Dirkan roared, his voice suddenly a few decibels higher than before. "Queen
Kildara, your grandson tried to force himself on her a few days ago. No girl
should have to endure that. He is no better than that cretin, Alberm!"
Everyone turned around to stare at Dirkan just then. Shalila and Tayla were
embarrassed, but they said nothing.
"Kildara," Shalila told her niece-by-marriage-to-Bajal quietly, "You
are Astorian yourself, and you know what your husband, stepson, and his son are
doing is not right. What has happened here is one of the many reasons why I
outlawed arranged marriages without consent of both bride and groom. Ridikar
trying to force Tayla to marry him is no different then when the Saiyans of our
time forced Astorian women to be their concubines. Ridikar tried to rape my
granddaughter, who is also your niece and Tika's daughter."
"Ridikar surely wouldn't have done that," Kildara protested feebly,
not liking to be caught in the middle of this cold war between the rulers of
Calmag and the rulers of Astoria. "Perhaps he made a normal advance, and
Tayla mistook it for something else. I can consult him on it, if you wish.
Ridikar has always been a good lad, as far as I know-"
"Well, he's not!" Dirkan hissed at her. "Tear the blinders from
your eyes, Kildara!" he roared, deliberately not addressing her as Queen.
"Calmag has been invaded, and your men seem more worried about a twelve-year-old
girl now refusing to marry a sixteen-year-old boy who has less sense and
scruples than she does than they do about saving this planet! Tayla is not
going to be forced to marry anyone that she does not wish to. Ridikar is not
worthy of her, especially after what he tried to do to her, and you know it! I
know rape or attempted rape is not considered a serious crime on this planet,
but that does not make what Ridikar tried to do to Tayla right!"
Caline left her chair next to Gracina, and she walked over to her
grandmother and took her arm. "Grandmamma, please don't force Tayla to marry
Ridikar. I'm afraid he's going to hurt her the same way that Alberm hurt me."
Her large electric-blue eyes looked up pleadingly into the similar blue eyes of
her grandmother. Those lovely eyes began to cloud over with tears, as she
continued, "Grandmamma, I never wanted to marry Alberm, but Father made me, and
you and Granpappa stood by and did nothing. Alberm beat me up and raped me, and
I tried to tell Father and Ridikar, but they ignored me, saying that I had must
have displeased him in some way."
She looked over at Gracina and Lektron, who looked back at her with
understanding and parental love in their eyes. Then she looked at Tayla, who
was smiling at her encouragingly. Caline smiled back at all of them gratefully;
she had learned so much from Tayla and her family in the past couple of weeks.
She was slowly learning from them that she was someone to be respected and
cherished, not a piece of property to be used and abused at will. Gracina and
Lektron had constantly reassured her that no one had a right to beat on her,
talk down to her, or rape her, and that Alberm was the one who was bad, not her.
Their words were slowly beginning to sink in. Caline had been watching the
kind, tender way that Lektron treated Gracina, and the way that the Astorian
parents considered their daughters equal to their sons. Caline had never been
around people like the Astorians before, and she never allowed herself to think
of the day when they would leave Calmag to go home to Astoria. She was afraid
to ask them if she could go with them, for fear that they would have to tell her
no.
The little Calmagian princess went on with her speech, "Many times,
I begged Alberm not to hurt me or force himself on me, but he did so anyway. I
cried out for help, but no one heard me or cared until Tayla and her family came
along. Tayla was the first person to ever stand up for me and tell me what
Alberm was doing was wrong." Caline's tears begin to cascade down her
milk-white face, and she did not brush them away. The little girl looked around
the room, seeing if everyone was paying attention to her, and she discovered
that they were. The entire room was silent now, listening to Caline's speech.
Never in her eleven years of life, had an entire crowd of people pay attention
to her as they were doing now.
Caline looked at Tayla gratefully. "Some say that it was wrong for
Tayla to agree to marry my brother and then refuse, but I don't. I want to look
up to Ridikar and love him as my brother and future ruler, but I can't. I know
what Ridikar is like, and Tayla is not the first girl that he's tried to hurt.
He's done things like that before, and sometimes he has succeeded. Ridikar has
Alberm's attitude about females, although he has hidden it better than my
husband has. Tayla will not be happy with Ridikar, if she is forced to marry
him. No one should have to marry someone that they don't love or who would
treat them poorly."
She turned to a stunned Kildara, who had never heard her normally
quiet, shy, passive granddaughter say so many words at once in her life. Caline
raised her pale head and said bravely, "I don't support my father or my
brother's actions in this matter. Tayla does not deserve to suffer the same
fate that I have. She has only changed her mind, and changing your mind is not
a crime, nor is refusing to marry someone that you don't wish to. Tayla has
saved me, in more ways than one, and no matter what happens to me in the future,
I will always be grateful for her friendship and protection. Tayla has spoken
up for me, and now it is time that I started to speak up for myself. She, and
her family, has taught me that there are those who will stand up for others and
for what is right, no matter what it costs them."
She turned from her grandmother, and the eleven-year-old Calmagian
princess addressed Shalila directly, "Superior Gran Shalila, you are very
fortunate to have Princess Tayla Chloe as your granddaughter. I am sorry for
the trouble that has happened between our families, and I hope that the men in
my family will see reason and agree to ally Calmag with Astoria, but even if
they don't, I will always think fondly and lovingly of your family, especially
Tayla, Gracina, and Lektron." She walked over and leaned closer to Shalila and
whispered softly, yet loudly enough for those near Shalila to hear, "And Tayla
is very fortunate to have you for a grandmother, for you have raised her; it is
from you surely that she has learned what she has. Don't give in to my family's
blackmail; please don't make Tayla marry my brother, if she does not wish it.
This is harsh for me to say, I know, but he is not worthy of her. No alliance
treaty is worth giving up someone that you love. The Astorians are strong
enough to be on their own, if they need to be."
Caline closed her eyes briefly, and after opening them again, she
leaned in between Shalila and Tayla and hugged Tayla fiercely. "Thank you," she
whispered to her, as Tayla hugged her back.
She went down to sit between Gracina and Lektron once more. Gracina
hugged her close and whispered some private things in her ear that made Caline
smile shyly and blush. Lektron ruffled the girl's white-blond hair, as if she
was one of his children. They, Tayla and the others were amazed by how much
Caline had already grown up; this self-assured, confident, new Caline was not
same frightened girl that had nearly died at Alberm's hands. She was no longer
the same little child bride who had begged Tayla not to intervene in her marital
problems. She was not the same repressed, terrified little girl that had cried
in Gracina's arms when Gracina had first comforted her. Caline had discovered
something important: that she was a worthy person who had the right to love and
be loved, and that she was a survivor. She would find a way, her own way, to
overcome what Alberm and the men in her family had forced on her; she would go
on, and she would survive. Caline was not afraid anymore, at least not as much
as she used to be.
Shalila drew Tayla close to her and hugged her, and Tayla hugged her
back. Tayla whispered in her Nama's ear, "She's right, Nama. I am fortunate to
have you for my grandmother, and I wouldn't want anyone else."
"I consider myself fortunate to have you, my dear," Shalila
whispered back with a smile. Dirkan squeezed her hand, and she squeezed his
hand back.
Tayla whispered softly, "Caline sure has changed much, hasn't she?
She seems, I don't know, stronger, happier?"
Shalila said gently, "She's growing up, and so are you, my little
dandelion. Caline will be okay; she will grow and survive."
"She'd grow and survive best in our family," Tayla told her firmly.
"Couldn't we take her home with us, Nama?"
Shalila grew quiet then. She and Dirkan looked at each other,
afraid to answer Tayla's question. Finally she said, "We'll see, dandelion, no
promises, not a word to anyone."
"Yes, Nama," Tayla said, looking over at a calmer, serene Caline.
Shalila released Tayla and arose from the meeting hall table to
address Kildara. Dirkan arose with her. "Kildara, we request a meeting with
your husband, your stepson and Ridikar-immediately," Shalila told her firmly.
Immediately came much sooner than Shalila and Dirkan expected, for
Kitchator, Amitar and Ridikar entered the room. Kitchator addressed Shalila and
Dirkan directly, "Well, what is your decision?"
Dirkan told him severely, "Tayla is not marrying Ridikar."
Shalila added sternly, "I am not going to allow my granddaughter, or
my people to be blackmailed, Kitchator." She deliberately did not address him
as king. "Tayla is not going to marry anyone that she does not wish to marry.
Your grandson tried to rape her six days ago, and I will not allow her to marry
someone who would treat her with such disrespect. If you refuse to ally with
us, fine, but if you do, there will be no point in us remaining here on your
planet. I will take my people off of your planet within two days, instead of
two weeks like Dirkan and I had planned. I am hoping that it will not come down
to that, for Frieza's minions are now on your planet, and you will need our
help, whether you think so or not. Do you want any more of your people to die,
Kitchator, because of your spoiled grandson not having his way? Your people are
dying more and more every day. My people are willing to fight with you, since
Frieza is our enemy also, but I am not going to put them in danger for those who
would try to blackmail or abuse us. We need to be fighting alongside each
other, Kitchator, not against each other."
Kitchator had been thinking the same thing, but before he could
speak, Amitar interrupted rashly, "We Calmagians are a strong people, and we can
fight Frieza's forces alone, if we had to!"
"That's right!" Ridikar declared, agreeing fully and foolishly with
his father.
Shalila and Dirkan shook their heads, and most of the Astorians
groaned and grumbled. Bajal mumbled something about Calmagian royal idiots, and
Alora glared at Amitar and Ridikar in disbelief.
Amitar then noticed his daughter, Caline, sitting between Gracina
and Lektron at the meeting hall table. "Caline," he told her decisively, "It is
time for you to go with us. You have spent more than enough time with the
Astorian people. As soon as I have your marriage to Alberm dissolved, which
will be in a matter of days, I will have a new husband for you shortly
afterwards. His name is Filcor Sedemeyer, and he will be a good match for you.
He is only twenty years older than you, and he has three cities, four wealthy
businesses, and almost a million acres of land. He is also a strong warrior as
well. He is much richer and stronger than Alberm ever was. I will admit that I
made a mistake in marrying you to a would-be-murderer and traitor, but this new
marriage will more than make up for it."
Caline gasped in horror, her new self-confidence and peace fading
away at the prospect of being married again to someone that she didn't love.
She knew Filcor Sedemeyer well, and she thought him no better than Alberm.
Filcor was loyal to her father and grandfather, but he was a tyrant, greedy and
gluttony and just as abusive as Alberm. Filcor and Alberm had been once been
close friends and business associates before Caline and Alberm's marriage, and
Filcor himself had once asked Amitar for Caline's hand-in-marriage. Amitar had
refused Filcor because Filcor did not have the diplomatic or close connections
to the royal family like Alberm had once had. Caline remembered having to dodge
Filcor's advances a year ago when Filcor had tried to pull her on his lap and
kiss her.
She swallowed the terror rising up in her throat and told her
father, in a mixture of fear and defiance, "No, Father, I refuse."
"What?" Amitar roared. "Caline, we are not going through the same
thing that we did with Alberm; you gave me a hard time about that marriage too.
You will marry Filcor; he is a fine match for you. Don't be a foolish girl
now!'
Gracina put her arm around Caline to give her support, as Caline
told her angry father, "Father, I love you, but I am not going to marry
someone just to please you. My next husband, if I choose to have one, will be
of my own choosing, my own choice. If Tayla is too young to get married, then
so am I, for I am a year younger than she is. I am only eleven-years-old, far
too young really to have a mate."
Ridikar barked at Caline, "You will do what Father says! If he says
you will marry Filcor, then you will do so!"
Caline looked into her brother's eyes and said calmly, "No, I
won't."
Ridikar and Amitar were stunned; Caline had never openly defied them
like this before. Amitar then decided that the Astorians were definitely a bad
influence on Caline, and he knew one way to end that influence. He unbuckled
his brown belt and slipped out of the belt loops. He folded the belt in half
and brandished it like a whip. Amitar was furious; he was going to put Caline
in her place.
Caline's eyes widened in fear at the familiar belt that had been
used on her several times in her life. The last time that her father had
whipped her with a belt was when Caline had ran away from home in order to get
out of marrying Alberm. Caline had been found and brought back home to face the
brutal belt that Amitar was once again wielding.
Amitar pushed past several Astorians to leap across the table at
Caline with his belt. Amitar knocked over mugs and glasses, causing hot tea and
chocolate to fall upon the Astorian occupants. He tried to seize Caline's arm
to pull her across the table, but Lektron grabbed his arm that held the belt
before Amitar had a chance to take Caline.
"How dare you?" Amitar roared at Lektron. "She is my daughter, not
yours!" Amitar rudely shoved Lektron to the floor, and then he managed to grab
Caline by her arm before Gracina could stop him. Gracina then grabbed him by
his collar to force him to release Caline. Not entirely realizing what he was
doing, Amitar shoved Gracina's chest with his fist, pushing her to the floor
next to Lektron. Gracina reached for her sword that was on her side, but Amitar
kicked at her hand before she could pull it out. Caline grabbed her father's
arm and begged him to stop.
"Father, please!" Caline cried. "You don't need to do this!" She
tried to pull her father away from Gracina, and Amitar used that opportunity to
whip her side with his belt.
Tayla jumped up in outrage. "Hey! How dare you!" she shouted, not
caring if Amitar was Caline's father or not. But before Tayla could intervene,
Lektron had flung himself onto Amitar from the floor, and he pulled Amitar away
from Caline. Lektron punched Amitar in his jaw hard, cracking it. Shalila
pulled Tayla back down into her seat and made her stay still.
"That one was for my wife! No one hits my wife!" Lektron roared at
Amitar, as he landed his other fist into Amitar's stomach. "And that one was
for Caline! Who the hell do you think you are, beating your own child like
that?"
"How dare you intervene in my family matters?" Amitar hissed,
crashing his fist into Lektron's ribs. Lektron seized Amitar by his collar then
with his free hand and threw him into a wall, causing Amitar to crash into it,
breaking bricks and bones. Amitar recovered quickly enough, and he threw
himself at Lektron, who punched him in his stomach. Amitar then shoved Lektron
to the floor and leapt upon him. He and Lektron began wrestling each other,
punching and kicking.
"Amitar, stop!" Kitchator ordered.
"Amitar, please stop this!" Kildara cried in horror.
The Astorians debated amongst themselves whether to break up the
fight, or let Lektron continue to give Amitar what he probably deserved.
Finally, when Dirkan realized that Lektron was going to win this skirmish-and
likely kill Amitar in the process-he ordered Bajal, Raakon, and Cletos to help
him break things up. The four men from Astoria ran over to the two fighting
men, and they began to pull Lektron off of Amitar. Lektron struggled against
his cousins and Dirkan, demanding to be allowed to finish his fight, but the
four men held firm.
"That's enough, Lektron!" Dirkan ordered him loudly. "You'll kill
him, if you fight him anymore!" Amitar was now lying still, barely breathing
and very bloody.
"Good, he deserves it!" Lektron roared, fighting to free himself
from his captors. "No one will miss him!"
"Lektron, that's enough, Dirkan's right," Raakon scolded, as he held
one of Lektron's powerful legs. "Beating him to death will only make things
worst between Astoria and Calmag. He's not worth it."
"Take some deep breaths, allow yourself to calm down," Cletos told
him. Lektron finally obeyed, and the other men guided him to a chair against
the wall, and they all stood around him to ensure that he would not attack
Amitar again. Lektron sat down, finally allowing himself to catch his breath.
Gracina and Caline ran to him to make sure that he was okay. Gracina pulled out
her healior's kit, and she began retrieving medicines and ointments to treat his
many wounds.
"Oh, Lektron," she whispered fervently, "Are you okay?" She wiped
his bloody mouth with her handkerchief.
Lektron grinned saucily at her. "Sure! I won, didn't I?" he
chuckled. The group attending to him, except for Bajal, groaned, for they knew
that they would hear Lektron brag about this fight for days. Bajal chuckled
along with him, and he slapped Lektron's back companionably.
"No Calmagian can ever beat an Astorian! Astorians are still the
best of the lot in this galaxy!" he boasted, and he and Lektron laughed. Dirkan
cuffed both men, only he didn't cuff Lektron as hard because he was already
injured enough. Gracina sighed and tended to her husband's wounds. When his
wounds had been treated, Gracina pulled Caline away from the men, and felt the
girl for wounds. She looked under Caline's dress, and she finally determined
that Caline would just have a nasty bruise. Caline hugged her gratefully, and
then she went back to Lektron and put her arms around him carefully, so that she
would not hurt him.
Kitchator, Kildara, and Ridikar ran to Amitar, and Ridikar ordered
some guards to get the family doctor to tend to his father's injuries. Ridikar
hissed at Lektron, "You'll pay for what you did to my father! I will challenge
you myself when your wounds heal!"
Bajal abruptly rushed over to Ridikar and declared angrily, "Why
don't you challenge me instead? I've been wanting to finish that beating on you
that I started for some time! You'll pay for what you did to my little sister!"
He balled up his fists, preparing to make mincemeat out of his sister's
suitor/assailant.
"I will marry your sister yet!" Ridikar told him defiantly. "There
will be no alliance, I will see to that, if she does not agree!" Ridikar stood
up and prepared to fight Bajal. Bajal was more than ready to satisfy him when
Dirkan put himself between the two of them.
"There will be no more fights today!" the Namek ordered severely.
"At least not until we meet up with Frieza's fighters! Bajal, you will go sit
down on the floor, next to Lektron, now!" Bajal sulked, but he went away to do
Dirkan's bidding. Dirkan then turned to Ridikar, and before Ridikar knew it,
Dirkan had him in the air by his collar.
"I am not going to give you the beating of you life like you
deserve-at least not today," Dirkan told Ridikar harshly. "But if you ever, I
mean ever do anything to Tayla, or even come near her again, I myself will send
you to an early grave, understand? I will be willing to risk arrest and death
to ensure that you will not touch Tayla!" And with that, he flung Ridikar to
the floor next to his father. Ridikar gasped for air.
"There will be no alliance!" Amitar choked, and Ridikar spat out in
agreement. Amitar said to his father, Kitchator, hoarsely, "We will not be
signing anything."
Kitchator was stunned into silence; he was debating what to do or
say next when Ridikar addressed Tayla directly, for Ridikar still had much nerve
left:
"Tayla," Ridikar said evenly, "I know that we had our silly little
differences, but we can get past them. I want you to be my bride and my queen.
I won't touch you until the wedding night, if you insist, but I will not give up
trying to make you my wife. It would be best for both of our planets, if you
and I were to wed. Can't you give up your resistance and agree to be my wife
again?"
Tayla shook her head. "No, Ridikar, I won't. I don't love you, and
in fact, I don't even like you anymore. You tried to rape me, even though I
told you no. You don't respect me or care for me, admit it. My family was
right about you; there is nothing worthy in you. After we leave this planet, I
want to forget that you ever existed," she told him quietly. She turned to
Shalila and asked, "Nama, may I be pleased be excused? I am suddenly very
tired."
Shalila nodded, and she allowed Tayla to leave the meeting hall.
The rest of her family slowly began to leave, following her behind. Dirkan
ordered Bajal and Lektron to go with them, fearing that the two men would lose
their heads again and come after Ridikar and Amitar. Caline left with Gracina
and a wounded Lektron. In a few minutes, only Shalila, Dirkan, Gorna, and
Kitchator's family were left.
Shalila told Kitchator sternly, "King Kitchator, if you do not agree
to stop this nonsense about forcing my granddaughter to marry your grandson, we
Astorians will not help your planet against Frieza. From the looks of things
now, your people do not stand a chance without us. You better consider which is
more important: your family pride, or your people's lives." And with that, she,
Dirkan, and Gorna left the meeting hall.
