The Alpha and the Omega: Act I | Chapter 4
17 Aug 2018User1355
ACT I - CONQUESTCHAPTER 4
The capitulation was as swift as the Crone had promised. First a trickle and then a torrent of clan leaders made the journey to prostrate themselves before Sola, bowing low with words of fealty spillingfrom their lips. All day and all evening they came, from all across New Cambria and Pegasi alike, even the strongest of them seeking terms with the Clan Morgana. It wasn’t only about securing the most ready
source of Quirium in the sector- it was about survival, as the example made of Clan Talog had proven.
In fact Sola said and did very little, accepting gifts today in return for negotiations tomorrow. Nor did she need to. The stick had been firmly applied- now was the time for the carrot, to once again leverage her clan’s monopoly on Quirium to ensure that the Morganas alone possessed the means to leave Pegasi. The woman chuckled to herself, making sardonic jest of the situation.
I have not been with child in over a decade, she thought, yet it is my teats on which the clans now suckle for life.
The crisp nighttime chill of New Cambria washed over the woman’s skin as she retired, strolling upon the balcony of her estate, the darkened hills of the world that was now hers stretching into the distance. There was no moon that night, perfect darkness having settled over the land. The lights of the settlement beneath reminded her of how far she’d come.
Sola Morgana, first Matriarch of the Morgana Clan and master of all she surveyed closed her eyes, allowing the darkness to fill her essence. Though she and her Clan had made an auspicious start, she knew better than to allow hubris to take hold. It wasn’t long before the old, familiar presence was at her side. The rest of the world faded into blackness and Sola cast a dreamy gaze toward the Crone.
Tell me, she implored. Tell me how this ends.
The presence intensified, enveloping the young woman with shadowy tendrils. Its voice was a hiss, unaccustomed to being commanded so.
The years ahead are many, it began, and they will be filled with death and new life alike. Sola stiffened, repulsed at the idea. Already she knew the Crone’s meaning.
Have I not fulfilled the obligations of warrior mating already?
A sinister chuckle echoed in her ears, heard everywhere and nowhere.
To the worm who cowers at your side, yes. But yours is a destiny too great for one such as him.
The woman scowled, nauseated but knowing the perils of pushing too hard against the presence.
She held out her arms, trying and failing to get a clear look at the misty apparition that surrounded her.
I’ve come this far on my own, she insisted. My body is mine alone, and thus it shall remain.
A tendril traced across her belly, chilling Sola’s womb as it passed.
Then no further shall you rise, it hissed. You will be queen of the dirt beneath your toes. You will be Matriarch of withering flesh. The body which you own so proudly will betray you, and too late will you realize the power that you have forfeited.
Memories tugged at the edge of Sola’s consciousness, when the presence had taken her to the grove of natural beauty, the man and woman joined as one amid its fertile splendour.
You’ve mentioned that before, she said. But there is no power to be had as a man’s broodmare. Only humiliation. Only abjectivity.
For the first time in as long as she’d known of the presence, disappointment filled its tone, sending Sola on edge.
Your mate is nothing, it hissed. The life that swells within you will be yours to mold and shape for all its years. And that is true power.
Sola steeled herself, seeing the two paths before her.
If I choose to rise further, she said.
If you choose to rise further, the voice confirmed.
Sola turned her back on the presence, feeling that a great decision was before her. With a hard look in her eyes she glanced behind her shoulder.
And if I do so?
A dark glee intensified around her, its tendrils wrapping themselves around the Matriarch. Then the Void itself shall know your name, it whispered. Your life will span an era and never again will a man look down upon you.
Sola summoned the courage to jest.
Well, why didn’t you say so?
A coldness seized her, spinning her around to gaze into the presence. It was a shadow, like a hag wearing a shawl, but also a thing of the Void.
It is no laughing matter, it hissed. The path forward will be hard, and you will draw upon all your cunning and treachery alike. Yet you will die on a throne. A throne of fire and darkness, your sons and daughters at your feet, all conceived in hatred- yet all surviving to honor your legacy in the way that you’ve taught them. That is my covenant with you.
Even amid her disdain for the prospect of future children, maternal concern welled inside the Matriarch. Sola Morgana’s destiny unfolded before her.
You show me mercy even as I have shown none, she said. And I would be a fool to refuse such a pact.
The presence faded into the darkness, a tendril caressing Sola’s cheek even as it, too, faded.
Yes, it agreed. You would be.
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