Chapter 3
Release the Caged Bird
Orange and tan feathers darted across the clear sky, soaring up and down, accompanied by a sweet trilling music. Thin yellow feet landed lightly on a branch. The bird flapped its wings a bit and puffed its throat. It gave out a few bold notes, hopped down the length of the branch, then back up again.
Another bird of similar coloring answered from its perch in a neighboring tree. The first bird hopped again, then dove back into the air, once again trilling its song. Brown edged leaves fluttered down from the branch it had vacated.
Dark, angular eyes followed the descent of the litter from a large window. The eyes closed, then opened slowly again. A sigh momentarily fogged the glass and the watcher turned away.
It's autumn again, Mai noted. She wasn't sure why it should matter. Spring always brought a taint of sadness with it, since that was the season her and her mother had been found. She wouldn't easily forget the sight of Rea's purple blood staining the grass, its color almost matching that of the flowers they had been admiring seconds before.
Summer now held its own horror. Rachi's suicide and the execution of Furyo and Toriko was two months past, though the memories were still fresh in her mind.
But autumn held nothing. There were no events of note that had happened, no losses, no harsh beatings. Perhaps she should be grateful it brought no feelings of grief or anger.
Then again, it brought no joy either.
She sighed again and sat down on the window seat. A gentle snoring caught her attention and she glanced sideways. Brussi had taken up an entire couch, one arm slung over the back and the other over the arm of the furniture. Her head was propped in the corner. The Saiyan's long legs stretched over the cushions, leaving no room for anyone else to sit, if they had a mind to.
Mai grinned. Not that anyone would try. Brussi didn't take kindly to being awoken for something as insignificant as someone else wanting to use the couch she was on. She would just growl and tell the other to put their ass on one of the other chaise.
Brussi might not have the favored status of Dorei, but she wielded her own sort of power within the harem. Dorei might be able to influence the Emperor into punishing one of the women, but Brussi was powerful enough dish out her own brand, in person, if she was provoked to it.
The thought made Mai grin wider. It wasn't that she liked the thought. Rather, it was the knowledge that Brussi rarely ever followed up on doing such a thing. She might berate, threaten and stomp around. She could glare a hole through anyone who annoyed her. Yet, the times Mai had seen Brussi actually use her strength were very few and almost always when the other had attacked first.
A hint of mischief gleamed in her eyes as she picked a grape out of the fruit bowl on a nearby table. She took aim, flicked her wrist and sent the small object straight for the sleeping woman's head.
Brussi's hand shot out and caught the grape before it reached its target. She opened one black browed eye.
"Thanks, I am hungry but one puny grape isn't going to fill me up," she commented, then popped the bit of fruit into her mouth.
Mai chuckled. She stood and picked up the bowl. Skirting around another table, she handed her burden to her reclining friend. "I thought you would be awake soon."
"Mmm..." was all Brussi offered to that. Delving into the assorted food, she brought out a small red pear and tossed it to Mai. Then, settling the dish on the cushion beside her, she picked out a large orange for herself. "You haven't eaten a lot lately."
Mai shrugged and sat down on a padded stool. She twisted the stem off the pear in an absent manner. Hunger wasn't something she was familiar with. No matter how little she ate, she never experienced the pangs Brussi complained off if she had to go without for long. Thirst she knew well, but not hunger.
Her inherited memories didn't help there as they only confirmed that her people ate mostly for pleasure, not necessity. Warriors might eat to help replenish their energy stores. But given time even they would recover without it.
It seemed to be a recent enough development that no one had quite pinned down the reason for the change.
Mai rubbed her thumb over the smooth skin of the pear. She used to enjoy eating. The different colors, tastes, smells and textures of the food her mother found in the forest had always delighted her. The mixing of spices and herbs with other plants had seemed like some sort of magic. Her favorite had been the earthy mushrooms lightly cooked in seed oil and sprinkled with a white mineral her mother found in a small cave.
Yet she found no real joy in eating the food provided here. It was tainted with too much sorrow, too much despair. It reminded her of how she was kept alive simply for the perverse pleasure of a man. Even the sweetest fruit left a bitter taste in her mouth.
Mai placed the fruit back in the bowl, which had become noticeably less crowded while she had been thinking.
Brussi's brows drew together. She picked up the pear and tossed it back to Mai. The Namek caught it. She shook her head, then put it back in the bowl. Brussi scowled, plucked the pear out and nearly threw it at Mai's chest. "Eat."
"I'm not hungry," Mai replied, her face setting into a defiant expression.
"Brat. Don't know what's good for you," snapped Brussi, becoming irritated at her friend's disobedience.
"You're not that much older than me!" countered Mai. She glared at the Saiyan, some part of her mind rebelling at the thought of eating anything that came from Emperor Seisan. "I don't need to eat!"
Unlike some people who seem to need a forest full, she mentally tacked on.
Brussi grumbled and settled back onto the couch. She accepted defeat for the moment, only because she still couldn't comprehend someone not needing to eat at all. In the fifteen years she had been in the seraglio, she had never known anyone who could survive without food for more than a month. And that was some weird reptilian species that slept half the time.
She shrugged, feigning disinterest now, figuring hunger pains would eventually catch up with Mai. If the Namek was stubborn enough to let it go too far, she'd just hold her friend down and shove the food in.
Mai took Brussi's silent concession gracefully. She didn't really want to fight with the woman. It was the constant uneasiness she felt since the executions that had her on edge. This life, this captivity was getting to her. Realistically, she knew she could outlive the Emperor. If she wasn't put to death for some reason or other, it was possible for her to escape. She only had to wait.
But the thought that escape was impossible was growing more and more difficult to ignore. How long, really, did she have? How long would the Emperor indulge in a female that couldn't give him what he craved the most?
On her arrival, she had witnessed one such "female" being taken away, never to return. The pale, androgynous being seemed to sense its coming doom and had struggled madly. Its whispery voice begged to be allowed to return to its home, to its people, if the Emperor was truly weary of its presence.
The pleas had gone unanswered. Mai didn't understand the significance of the event until Dorei had joked that the Emperor couldn't stand to have more than a few "living statues" in his harem.
So how long before someone came to replace her?
She didn't know, couldn't even guess. Maybe if she was living for herself, she could be resigned to her fate. Maybe come to terms with the universe and fate for placing her here. Maybe even find a little touch of happiness here and there before her death.
But Mai couldn't give in. She couldn't resign herself and fade into time as one more forgotten tragedy of the Emperor Seisan's rule. Her mother, Rea, had been sent here for a specific purpose. She had managed to keep herself alive and well. And when she had realized the rescue might not come before her own death, had given birth to a daughter to succeed her, even though it nearly cost Rea her life in the process.
Mai was, in essence, the female side of her people. Her gender was rare enough under normal circumstances. The terrible storms that ravaged her home world would certainly have cut the number down even more. Predictions of mass death had prompted the exodus of both male and female children to other planets in the hopes of some surviving long enough to be retrieved later.
No one had come yet. Or if they had, were stopped by either previous rulers or the current Emperor Seisan. She didn't think her weakened race could mount a militant rescue. She had accepted that she might live her whole life here unless she could find a ship to use.
But the thought that she might be killed, that one more part of her people might be wiped out forever, frightened her. She was prepared to risk her life to give birth to a daughter if she had to. It was dangerous for females to reproduce by egg, but it was the only way to preserve that bit of her heritage. Egg-birth couldn't pass on any genes that weren't stored within the parent and the small chromosome that determined gender was unpaired.
None of the surviving males would have it available to gift to their own egg-born children. Just as she could never give birth to a son herself.
Perhaps... if reproducing by egg wasn't so costly in itself whichever gender decided to use it, she could let it go. If each generation of egg-born didn't shorten the lifespan of her species...
No. This was the way they were. Until they evolved into a newer state, this was the method nature had given them. Egg-birth was a secondary means of continuing their race.
"KaMai?"
"Hmmm?" Mai focused on Brussi again.
"You were lost," Brussi said. Her forehead was furrowed with worry.
Mai smiled a little. "I suppose I was. I was just... thinking."
"Hmph. Probably hunger affecting your brain," Brussi groused. She didn't move to throw any more bits of food at Mai, though, so the Namek shrugged it off.
Mai got up and wandered back to the window. She raised her eyes, studying a dark cloud overhead.
Unusual, she thought. The rest of the clouds were a much lighter gray. She swept her gaze over the sky, looking for any other signs of a storm. She frowned as she came back to the dark spot and followed a column of similar color down to the ground.
Mai pressed a hand against the window, shouting to her friend, "Brussi! The garden is on fire!"
Great tongues of flame were coursing over the lower terraces, devouring the rich foliage that had began to wither and dry in preparation for the coming winter.
"What?" Brussi leapt off the couch. As she moved toward the window, Mai turned and opened in her mouth in shock.
The wall next to Brussi exploded inward. Chunks of the hard marble that formed the exterior blasted into the common room. The force of it knocked Brussi down and sent her skidding a few feet away.
Shards of glass shredded Mai's dress, slicing through the soft green parts of her skin. She instinctively raised her arms, red patches out, to shield her face and neck. Braced against the shock, she slid back an inch or two on the tile, but did not fall.
"What the hell was that?" Brussi demanded from under the debris that covered her. She grunted as she pushed off a large piece of marble, then stood a bit unsteadily. She flicked the remaining rubble off her shoulders and strode over to the gaping hole in the wall.
Mai lowered her arms, somewhat assured for the moment that no other attack was coming. Brussi leaned forward and peered outside. The Saiyan grinned.
"Looks like some Doku-jin have had enough of Seisan. There's a bunch running around down there with weapons, fighting off palace guards," she observed.
Mai backed away from what was left of the window. "Brussi get away from there!"
Brussi made an annoyed sound and frowned at Mai. Her heart was beating fast with the call of battle. The older woman desperately wanted to leap down into the garden. She didn't know if those rebels would welcome her help or not. Frankly, she didn't care. The idea of paying back the guards for her years here was invigorating!
She was about to give in to that urge when the doors to the common room swung open, banging against the walls.
A small group of motley clothed men rushed into the room and looked about. One that wore navy arm bands over his dirty, cobbled together uniform, nodded to the others. "It's just the Emperor's harem. We'll have fun with them later. Move out!"
He waved to his men and they filed out again, not concerned with the bunch of pampered females they were leaving behind. One rebel tossed a leer over his shoulder as he exited, promising with a look that he would be back to enjoy the spoils of their little war.
Several of the women who had been in the room during the attack were huddled behind the furniture or squeezed up against the walls. Many had glazed eyes and some where sobbing hysterically.
A few heads cautiously emerged from the heavy curtains that were draped in the alcove openings. Fear and uncertainty could be felt in the air.
Brussi stood a moment, contemplating the open doors. Then she began to walk slowly towards the portal.
"Brussi!" Mai hissed, waving her hand at her friend.
Brussi didn't show that she had heard. Instead, she stopped within the doorframe. She looked to the right, then to the left. She half-turned back to Mai.
"They're gone."
"Brussi..?" Mai studied the other woman. There was a strange light growing in Brussi's eyes. An expression the Namek hadn't seen before.
A grin spread slowly on Brussi's face. Her dark eyebrows came down, giving her a satisfied, cold look.
"This is our chance," Brussi said in a low, hungry voice. "Now! While the rebels and palace guards are busy killing each other!"
Mai's eyes widened. Her voice rose a bit high as she said, "Brussi, are you insane? They have weapons! Do you think they'll care if they hit us?"
Brussi scowled deeply and snapped. "I don't care! If I die, so be it. At least I won't be waiting around passively for someone else to decide whether or not I deserve to live! I'll die in battle!"
With that, she whirled around and raced out into the hall.
"Brussi!" Mai shouted but knew it was no good. A Namekian curse slipped off her tongue, "Tsuato!"
Mai raced out after her friend.