“But it is not always like that.” Laura opined, adding to what Peter had stated calmly, without a note of unhappiness or dissatisfaction or envy in his voice. It was as if he had just been talking about the weather, as if he hadn’t just intoned that he was under his wife.
“Yes, the females are mostly endowed with more magic, but there are some cases whereby men are too. For example our last ruler was a male, so said my mother…”
“Did he have white hair?” I asked, interrupting her mid sentence, apologizing by lifting my two hands, but not retracting my sentence either way. It was best to put two questions together for her to answer. That will save time.
“Yes. Here, in this community, white hair signifies more power. And so leadership isn’t passed on hereditary basis, as other communities do, but in relation to white hair component; except the ruler’s child has the white hair blessing.” Laura answered, and I nodded, thinking back to the girl I had seen with the queen, and then the boy I had seen at the store. None had the white hair.
Did it mean that they would be usurped when a white haired witch or wizard surfaced, or was given birth to. Wouldn’t that put the white haired ones at risk of being murdered by witches who wanted to remain in power?
“Not at all..”
Laura must have read my expression again.
“They are protected fiercely, and the doctors here can’t be bribed.”
“Are the doctors’ positions hereditary?”
“Yes, they are. The gift is passed through the bloodline. So, my family have been healers for thousands of years.” She replied, her earlier discomfort dissipating slowly.
I nodded, getting understanding. It was no different from my pack. The doctors, I mean.
“So, about what I had been taking about before I was interrupted…” She winked at me before continuing. “In some families, the men are empowered more, and so they normally rule over their household. But in households where the female is empowered more, well, she has more bargaining power than the man. And yes, in some cases, the woman abuses that power and the man has no choice, but to stay low. That’s how it is. The man can choose to leave or remain. This happens on a few occasions though. The queen had made sure of that.”
How did she do it? I wondered, but decided to leave the question for another time. The clock was ticking away.
“She gave abusive women punishments, men counterparts too, to maintain the balance of things.” Peter said. He must have read my expression. Good.
The Queen. She had a good side, I admitted, but I was still unrelaxed about her. I remembered the look of adoration on the man’s face who had sat near her, and then remembered my next question.
“The man that sat beside the queen during the meeting today. Who is he? Is he her husband? Diana had mentioned during one of her tales, that the queen was a widow, her husband had died ten years ago. Did she remarry? Are queens allowed to do that?” I asked, darting glimpses at Laura and Peter. They glanced at each other, before shaking their heads in unison.
“That’s her brother, Hendel. Any yes, her husband is dead.” Laura answered, a furrow to her eyebrows. She was wondering why I was asking.
I shrugged my shoulders. “Just curious about the man, nothing much.” I answered, aware of the questions popping up in my mind about the Hendel.
Brother? How could that be? Brothers don’t look at sisters that way! Why would a brother look at a sister so affectionately? Why would he place his hand on hers so lovingly? Was that how siblings behaved here, or was the community blind to what I was seeing? They couldn’t be siblings for god sake; the sexual tension between them in the hall had been so palpable! Why couldn’t the people see that?
“Maya, are these all the questions you have?” Laura asked, breaking into my thoughts.
I shook my head. Of course not. I was just getting started.
“And that reminds me, Maya…” My ears perked up to hear what Laura was about to say. “Don’t look at the Queen eyeball to eyeball at a close range for as long as you had done at the office. She might have overlooked it because you were a new person. But that action is actually a punishable offence here. It is a sign of disrespect.”
I nodded, totally getting her point. After all, I couldn’t look Mr Brekan in the eye at a close range. We were always admonished to bow even before a respected elder of the pack, not to mention the Lycan king.
“I understand. I won’t do that again. But why the keen interest of the queen in me? Does she offer every new visitor the choice to stay at her place?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest, switching gears. The matter seemed disturbing to me.
“I am not sure about the reason, Maya. You are the second person that she is giving that offer. She never allows visitors to stay at a palace that is almost a sacred place.” Peter answered this time around, furrowing his eyebrows, most likely thinking on the issue too, shaking his head intermittently. He too, couldn’t make sense of it.
So, who was the first person to get the generous offer?
“The first person was Zande. She was the girl that I had referred to as my daughter at the store today. Her situation is similar to yours, only that she didn’t lose her memories. She had been ousted from her community for performing black magic on her parents. It was a setup though, one that had been resolved later. She had refused to go back to her community despite the apology rendered to her by her ruler, choosing to stay with us, to stay with us in particular. The queen hadn’t been happy with that. For some reason, I don’t know, she had wanted the girl to stay with her or with Dim. Nevertheless the girl chose us. I never understood the Queen and her son’s keen interest in Zande.” Laura stated, a tone of sadness cloaking her words.
I sighed. It seemed my next questions would have to be research work for me.
What does she mean by Zande and the Queen’s son? How had Zande died?