Imperialist: The Voyage

Chapter Eleven; Council Meetings

Kelita felt like her world as she knew it was imploding.

One of the things she had been looking forward to as regent, was the power to make Tigrita as miserable as possible and force her to leave the palace. The further from her husband, the better.

Never one to control her temper, Kelita had flown into a rage and thrashed the imperial bedroom when she discovered that her husband had sneaked the bitch Tigrita onto his ship for the voyage. She would never have believed her husband capable of such deception. But he was.

While Sheba prowled outside the door and prevented anyone from disturbing her mistress, Kelita had smashed the mirror, dumped Moutassim's clothes and armour out the window and taken a knife to the bed they shared.

It took hours before she had finally calmed down. Kelita had sat in a corner, seething in jealousy, until a scream and Sheba's loud growls roused her from her dark thoughts. She had gotten up and made her way through the feathers on the ground to the door.

When she had opened it, it was to find a terrified servant girl curled up in a ball against the wall, with Sheba growling menacingly in front of her.

"Down, Sheba, down!" Kelita commanded. Licking her chops, Sheba had slinked away. The servant girl was crying now.

"Oh for God's sake, stop crying and tell me what you want!" Kelita snapped, all patience forgotten. She just wanted to be left alone, to nurse the anger and hurt she felt. Nurse the fear of being replaced.

The servant girl scrambled to her feet and wiped her nose. She looked around fearfully, but Sheba sat some distance away, a distinctly bored look on her face.

"It's... It's news from Bremon, your majesty. The... the Princess has run away. No one knows where."

Kelita stared at the girl. Sahelia had run away? Where? And in a flash, she connected the dots. Sahelia could only be in one place.

Screaming in frustration, she attacked the servant girl. The girl was still preoccupied with the lioness and so was unable to defend herself against the onslaught of blows.

"Out! Out! Leave me!" Kelita screamed at the cowering servant girl, who scrambled backwards. Sensing her mistress's distress, Sheba stepped forward. Turning, the servant girl ran.

Kelita pushed her shaking fingers through her locks. She needed to think, to form some kind of plan. To be alone. But clearly, the universe had other plans for her because Morabi suddenly turned the corner. Sheba moved close to her, hackles raised and brown eyes fixed on the lanky Chief minister.

Morabi came to an abrupt halt when he saw Kelita and her lioness in the corridor. He raised his hands, but the sight of the gleaming cane made Sheba growl.

"I don't want any trouble." Morabi said, staring at the lioness.

"There will be if you don't leave me alone." Kelita said, her voice shaking.

"I'm sorry if now is a bad time, but all the representatives are demanding a council meeting. I myself would strongly recommend you immediately call a council meeting."

"I am the Empress regent, Morabi," Kelita snapped. "I call council meetings when I feel like. And right now, I don't feel like calling one."

"No, that is where you're wrong," Morabi said evenly. "You call council meetings when matters of state must be discussed. That's what your husband always did. That is what he would expect you to do. The situation in Bremon must be discussed. Your sister's flight has left chaos, one that her unit cannot handle without her."

Kelita wanted to scream at him, for being so logical, so rational, when she wanted to vent. But she closed her eyes.

"Summon the meeting for this afternoon then." She said finally. Morabi nodded and quickly retreated.