Chapter 6
"This is becoming nothing but a witch hunt. I think we need a change in tactics. We need to send more males into the wastelands. We need to get them to scour the earth. We need every last piece of–" Before she could finish, she was cut short by a feminine voice, low but filled with authority.
"We do not need a change of tactic. What we need is for you to stop your constant whining, Edna," Lady Astrid Frey, queen of the House of Frey and queen of Astra City, proclaimed as she walked into the room, her voice laced with nothing but mockery.
She wore a dark silk robe reaching down to her legs, her cleavages exposed and enticing. She had white skin, but that wasn't all that described her beauty. Her lips were red as cherry, and her striking figure could make men drop dead.
"You're late, Astrid. Do you not think us worthy of your time?"
"Oh, come on, Nadia. You know how things are here at Astra City. It's hard to run the largest city in the world, and you know it," Astrid shrugged her shoulders before placing a wide, mocking smirk toward the holographic figure.
This was an official meeting between the queens of the last five cities on Earth: Lady Astrid Frey, the feared ruler of Astra City, ruthless and psychotic, as some people would call her. For years, she's been the supreme ruler, feared by all Slumborn, as she would have the head of a male for even causing her the slightest inconvenience, like looking at her the wrong way.
Lady Nadia Morna, the supreme ruler of Aria City, had a calm face, almost bored. But deep beneath the calm display of character was a raging psychotic bitch.
In the new world order, as much as there are those who treat the males like filth, discard them, and in some cases torture them for nothing but for the fun of it, there are also a few who see this as plain madness. These kinds of people still believe in an old-world term known as Human Rights. The Matriarchs mocked that ideology of human rights; they laughed at the idea of equality amongst genders. They now believe in Woman Rights. It was almost a bizarre thought to think that there was once a time in history when the men ruled the world.
So, basically, in truth, there are three kinds of persons in the new world: the brutes, the male rights activists, and then there is Edna Nyxen.
Edna Nyxen, a combination of a raging psychotic bitch and a calm, unbothered ruler, queen of Argo. She takes pleasure in torture, murder , all kinds of brute acts one could think of. Regardless of that, she picks favourites. One has to be extremely lucky to get on her good side. She's just as dangerous as Astrid, maybe even more.
On the right side of the four holographic figures displayed in the grand halls of House Frey was Valeria Thalyn, queen of Valeryan City, named after her ancestors and her city.
And lastly, Astra Fort, queen of Xeno City. She is mysterious and elusive. Words have spread across the five cities of House Fort engaging in unsanctioned and dangerous experiments, possibly to bring back the Flare Virus, but in the end, it was mere speculation to cause panic amongst people. Regardless, deep down, there seems to be a little bit of truth in the matter.
–
Astra yawned, stretching out her arms dramatically in a fashion that was designed to mock the rest of the council.
"We've been at this for centuries. It's becoming fruitless. Slumborns are dying, we're running out of man power," Nadia Morna said.
"Since when did you start caring about Slumborns? I thought you couldn't care any less about their existence," Valeria asked.
This was a usual conversation starter, not just amongst the queens but all women in general. All they did was try to undermine each other, it was, in a way, unnecessary. Historians had it that without men to keep them in check, women are just 'flawed, complicated, and unstable.' The historian who made this statement was sent to the wasteland to die.
'A horrible, complicated, and unstable death,' was what the Matriarchs of that century commented during the trial. One would say it was petty, others would say nothing about it, they didn't want to be next.
"Why are you so quiet today, Astra?" Astrid said, picking her nails like she wasn't one bit interested in whatever they were talking about.
"I don't have anything to say, but that doesn't mean that this meeting is irrelevant, so I don't understand why you're treating it as such. Would you stop playing with your fingers, Astrid? What are you, five?"
At this point, Astrid stopped instantly, slowly raising her head and then shooting a death glare at Astra's holographic figure. Astra didn't flinch, she kept a straight face all through, and that seemed to bring a rise out of Astrid. She stood up slowly from her comfortable state, walking over slowly to Astra's hologram pad, slow and deliberate, like a predator reaching for its prey. She stood a few meters from her, scanning her like she's nothing compared to herself.
"Just because you bear the name of my city, does it give you the guts to speak to me how you wish."
"You talk like someone made you the queen of queens. You hold as much power as I do here, Astrid," Astra cut her short, with one hand raised up, shushing Astrid.
"Ladies, ladies…" Valeria gestured, raising both hands, trying to diffuse the growing tension. "There's no need for any of this hostility. Edna is right, we need to change a few things. The fate of Womankind depends on it."
"Well, we could go further on this matter when the tournament comes up. Right now, we need to prepare for the official 217th annual games," said Nadia.
"Well, in that case, the meeting is adjourned," Astrid finally said as she pushed a button, and the four holograms before her vanished, the machine powering down. As soon as the light dissipated completely, standing before her was a male, tied up to an electric pole in the middle of the room, electric current surging through his body. Two poles were buried inside his body. How he was impaled with them was a mystery. How he was still alive and strong enough to even scream was another mystery on its own. His screams were muffled with some sort of sound dampener.
She grabbed a terminal from the counter next to her, and with a click, the screams echoed through the halls. She cleared her throat before displaying a sinister smile on her face.
"So, what did I hear about you calling me a what... a raging bitch..?