A SPARTAN'S WAR

Sehri finally pulled her arm from her mother's grasp as they were entering the doors for the lift. She gave her mother a gentle push into the elevator and slammed her hand down on the panel. Aleatia turned as the doors began to close.

"Sehri!" She screamed.

"I need to go mother!" Sehri rasped. "I need to go!"

Sehri turned and began heading back towards the STRIKER as the doors closed fully and alarms began to sound in the landing bay. Her wide eyes darted back and forth as she grew closer to the ship, trying to understand what she had felt surging through her during the brief connection. Sehri prided herself on being able to control her emotions and the physical portions of the wolf blood that flowed through her. Her Coming of Age fever as Eotharon had called it was far stronger than her mother had told her it would be. Sehri knew it was because of being on this ship and around so many Lycavorians that embraced their instincts, but it also served to confuse her immensely. Her brother was right, the Rothryn were essentially Lycavorians who could not shift their forms. Aside from that, the DNA tests had proven that there were no other differences in their genetic makeup. Being apart from them for so long and pushing back virtually all of the instincts of their blood because they didn't know any better was making it that much stronger now that she was among them.

Sehri was so wrapped up within her thoughts that she didn't see Eotharon's arm reach out and snag her around her waist. She let out a small scream in surprise and whirled to face him, drawing her hand up and preparing to unleash an Etheric attack until she saw who it was.

"Eotharon!" She gasped gripping his arm.

"You need to return to the bridge and be with your mother Little One." He told her.

"No! I need… I need to go Eotharon!" She stammered.

"It will not be safe Sehri." He told her. "We will be dropping into a maelstrom. Prince Androcles… he is like his father and he does not play at war Little One! You must have felt this when he touched you."

"I must go!" Sehri pressed. "I… Eotharon I…"

"Are you that sure of what your blood calls for Little One? If you… if you do this there will be no going back." Eotharon asked her.

Sehri met his eyes and answered with no hesitation whatsoever. "Yes." She replied.

Eotharon stared at her for a moment and then nodded his head. "Then let us get you a uniform. You can not go unprotected."

Sehri clung to his arm as he turned and began to lead her towards the ship.

Lunerr looked at the two Rothryn women as they exited the lift and rushed towards him. Lady Aleatia's two other daughters stood in the corner of the bridge with wide eyes at all the activity and they rushed to their mother's side as Aleatia came up to him.

"Captain… my daughter!" Aleatia spoke. "She pulled away from me! You have to tell Lisisa not to allow her to go!"

Lunerr looked at her. "What?"

"Sehri pulled away from us as we were entering the lift!" Harira explained. "She…"

"She did what?" Osbela demanded. "Is she stupid!"

"She said she needed to go!" Aleatia told her daughters. "She wouldn't listen to me! She was running back towards the ship they were taking and…"

"Captain! STRIKERS are away! KADEN is ten seconds from launch!" The officer barked from across the bridge.

"No!" Aleatia exclaimed.

"You have to recall them!" Harira demanded.

Lunerr shook his head. "I can't!" He told them. "If they return then they miss the window that Prince Androcles wants them in as cover."

Ibani gripped her mother's arms as Aleatia sobbed. "Sehri." Aleatia moaned.

Lunerr turned to his COM officer. "Get me the Princess's STRIKER. Low beam and secure." He turned back to Aleatia. "I can let you talk to her Lady Aleatia. They'll go dark in four minutes but you can talk to her before that."

Sehri looked with wonder at the Mark V ArmorPly that now encased her lithe form. It hugged her like a glove with added armor along the more exposed portions of her body. The armor was far more flexible and lightweight than it appeared and incredibly it was not hot or cumbersome to wear. She turned her head quickly when she felt hands on her waist and she saw Lisisa adjusting something.

"I certainly hope you know what you are doing." Lisisa told her.

Sehri met her eyes. "I have no idea what I'm doing Princess Lisisa." She admitted. "I am only… I am only following what feels right within me. I've never done something like that before."

"This is crazy you know. If… Sehri if what I sense between you and Andro and the others is right… if you get hurt… he will never forgive me for allowing you to come." Lisisa told her.

"Then why… why did you let me get on the ship?" Sehri asked her.

"Because there are only five people in the entire galaxy that could touch my brother when his shields are as high as they are now. Not even our father can do that without forcing his power on Andro. Those five are the women that command his heart and soul. Something tells me that you have just joined that small group. And if he reached out through you then he knows it as well." Lisisa told her. "I can sense his Mindvoice resonance on you as I sense it on Sadi and the others. I can sense their touch on you as well Sehri."

Sehri met her eyes. "I… I can't explain it Lisisa." She said.

"I can." Lisisa said. "Your fever is making you more attune to your body. Your instincts are telling you what you want. That is the wolf within you Sehri. Even though you can't shift your form you are still wolf and your instincts are starting to overpower what your people have forgotten through the millennia."

"What does it mean?" Sehri asked her.

"It means that you belong to them and they belong to you." Lisisa told her. "There is no other explanation. You would never have been able to breach his shields if you were not already part of him in some way." She moved closer to her in the press of bodies. "You've been feeling them within Mindvoice haven't you?"

Sehri nodded her head slowly. "Since… since the day we saw him on the monitor. The day he killed that man. All of them. I've sensed all of them within me."

Lisisa nodded. "Just be sure Sehri." She said. "With the way your fever is spiking it's going to affect all of them. Andro, Sadi, Ne'Veha, all of them that are wolf. This is all very new to you Sehri… and you are very young."

Sehri's eyes flared. "I'm not a child!" She hissed almost angrily.

Lisisa shook her head. "I'm not saying you are. All I'm saying is just be certain that it is what you want as well." Lisisa patted the small of her back. "The trigger to extend the Dragon Armor is on the inside on your right wrist. Touch the small button there and it will extend. It will feel funny for several seconds as it locks into place but once it's done you'll be fine. You are staying on the ship so you shouldn't need it."

Sehri looked at her shyly. "Thank you Lisisa." She said softly.

Lisisa nodded her head. "Now go to the cockpit and talk to your mother. Try and make her understand. She thinks you have gone insane. You got about two minutes before we go dark."

Lisisa watched her nod and then start moving around the bodies towards the cockpit. She felt Eotharon come up behind her. "Did you smell it on her Eotharon?" She asked.

Eotharon nodded. "Indeed I did." He answered.

Lisisa looked at him. "Six wives and mates. Just like our father." She said softly. "No matter how much he tries to run away from it… or tries to deny it he is more like our father than he realizes."

Eotharon nodded. "And that is why we would follow him anywhere. And any member of your family… including you." He stated calmly. He motioned with his head to Sehri's back. "Something is holding her back though Princess." He said thoughtfully. "She wants to embrace what her blood calls for but something is holding her back."

Lisisa nodded. "Well… it's not something we can worry about right now." She stated. "Let's get ready to deploy."

EARTH

CRANAE ISLAND

FEBRUARY 4TH, 1100 HRS, EST

"…don't know where other people got the notion that Andro doesn't like to fly." Sadi was speaking. "He's been flying with Elynth since he was four years old. He loves to fly with her. It is something that helps to clear his mind and give him peace."

"And give us fits with some of the stunts he does." Carisia added with a knowing smirk. This brought chuckles from all of them and Me'alla leaned closer thinking she saw an opening.

"He is reckless when he flies?" She asked.

Sadi smiled. "Andro and Elynth are so closely bonded together that at times it is almost as if they know what the other will do before they do themselves. They can do things when they fly that others can't. Not even the King and Torma. Well… perhaps not them." Sadi said with a smile. "I wouldn't call it reckless... I would call it beautiful."

"He doesn't even take interplanetary transport anymore unless he is going to Eden City or some distant location. Nor do we." Ne'Veha spoke. "Why would we when we have Elynth and our Bonded Brothers and sisters?"

Damn straight! Majeir commented causing Lu'ria to look at her and smile. What sister? She exclaimed. Walter said that all the time!

Me'alla leaned forward in her chair. "So you are saying that Senator Ulana is wrong in the recent statements she has made about the Prince not liking to fly? And the statements she has said about all of you."

"What Senator Ulana chooses to say or not say is of no concern to us." Sadi spoke. "She may profess to know him, but we are Andro's wives and mates. I think we know him far better than someone who only saw him intermittently for several months. For her to say that Andro doesn't like to fly is only one of the many comments she has made which only show she doesn't know him as closely as she would like to think she does."

"So she lied?" Me'alla asked.

Sadi shrugged her shoulders. "I wouldn't say she lied." She spoke. "She is ill-informed… that's all."

"Prince Androcles ended his relationship with her the same day that you reunited with him is that correct?" Me'alla asked.

Sadi nodded. "Yes."

"Senator Ulana states that several of the Prince's sister threatened her that same day if she spoke out about her relationship with the Prince." Me'alla said.

Sadi looked genuinely surprised. "Really?" She said. "I… I never heard that."

"Why would Ulana feel the need to speak out?" Lu'ria asked now. "What would be the reasoning behind that? Unless she wanted to besmirch Andro in public for some wrongdoing she perceived he made in dismissing her and ending what relationship they did have."

"As you are well aware, the Leonidas family is very close but we are all individuals." Sadi said evenly. "I will not attempt to speak for Andro's sisters. They know the Senator better than I and whatever they did… if anything… I'm sure it was their way of protecting their brother."

"Protecting him from what?" Me'alla asked.

"I don't know." Sadi said. "Perhaps speaking to one of his sisters will get that answer for you. We don't have it."

"And we don't care." Carisia added.

Me'alla saw all of them nod in agreement with that statement. She shuffled in her chair and then looked at Sadi. "It appears… it appears you are all of the same mind." She said.

"We are." Sadi said.

"Yet you are his Anome." Me'alla said.

Sadi nodded her head. "Yes." She answered. "What difference does that make? As with Andro's father and all the Queens, Andro loves each of us equally and without question. Just as Martin loves his mothers. Just as we love him… and each other. We can't explain it to you for there are times we don't understand it ourselves. But it is what we all feel within our hearts and minds. Of course we would speak with one voice, we are essentially one mind in many respects and that is how we see things."

"Doesn't that… doesn't it cause conflict between…" Me'alla began.

Me'alla was surprised when all of them laughed softly and shared coy glances. It was Carisia who answered the unspoken question and she did so with a very sultry look on her face and in her dark eyes. "I would say there is more than enough of Andro to go around for each of us." She said. "Even when we are all together."

Lu'ria nodded. "Indeed there is." She said with a knowing grin.

Sadi smiled and nodded in agreement. "Let's just say that Andro's stamina is superior to anyone I have ever met. He is a true Alpha male… like his father and thousands of other males within the Union who keep their wives and mates very happy." She didn't know it then, but that statement would earn Sadi and all of them many points of honor and respect from the male population within the Union, as well as the females.

Me'alla looked at her data pad and then back to Sadi. "Senator Ulana suggests that she has a much higher pureblood PCC level than you Princess Sadi. Can you confirm for our viewers what your PCC level is? And do you know Senator Ulana's?" Me'alla said.

Sadi shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know what Senator Ulana's pureblood PCC level is." Sadi answered. "Nor do I care." She smiled. "I don't even know my own to answer your question. It's not something that I ever really worried about."

"Isn't the pureblood PCC level of a Lycavorian used to determine potential Mindvoice ability?" Me'alla asked. "You studied at the School of the Mages didn't you?"

"The answer to the first part of your question is yes." Sadi spoke. "And yes again to the second part. I studied there for almost four years under several different instructors as well as the Feravomir."

"The School of the Oracles has recently released several bits of information from a classified report that lists you as a Category nineteen Etheric user based on the new measuring rules of Mindvoice ability." Me'alla spoke looking at the data pad she held. Her Channel Manager had been sending her information on the pad since the beginning of the interview to help her formulate questions.

Sadi's eyes narrowed. "Really?" She asked calmly. "That is interesting… since the entire report was supposed to be classified."

Me'alla pressed on quickly before Sadi had a chance to shut her down on this portion of information she had gotten. Her Channel Manager had not known where it came from, only that it had been sent at the beginning of the interview by an unknown source. "The report lists only five Category Nineteen users as the Director of the School of the Mages state. That includes Queen Aricia, Prince Denali, the former Pralor Wayonn, Prince Androcles's Captain Jomann and yourself. Category Nineteen users have the most potential to rise in power. Could you comment on that?"

Sadi shook her head. "No." She answered curtly.

"Are your fellow Crown Princesses also Category Nineteen Etheric users?" Me'alla asked.

"I don't know." Sadi answered. "Not that it matters."

"The King is listed as a Category twenty-one and Prince Androcles as a Category Twenty user. They are the only two who have such a high rating. Most of the Union has seen what the Prince is capable of after the Senate vote, at least a small portion of what he can do. And there are rumors beginning to circulate that the King has used similar abilities in the rescue of Queen For'mya. Do you or the other Princesses have these skills as well?"

"Why do you wish to know?" Ne'Veha asked.

"According to statements by the head of the DSM, it is his opinion that the abuse of these skills could take place. He believes all of the Royal Family needs to be tested again and then their use of Etheric power monitored and controlled by the DSM." Me'alla said. "Do you agree with this statement?"

Sadi shook her head with a small laugh. "Controlled by the DSM? No… certainly not." She said. "I'm sure it will give him a fit when he discovers Ne'Veha and I have now bonded with dragons as well. The DSM has no authority to do such things… he is a teacher… and the DSM is not part of the government. And there are many who do not follow his train of thought either. What exactly does he mean by abuse?"

"He doesn't go into detail." Me'alla answered.

"Yes… he doesn't go into detail because he doesn't know." She answered. "I know the DSM Me'alla… I studied under him for a year. He is a pompous and arrogant little man who can't not abide someone with abilities that surpass his. Why the Feravomir put him in charge is not something I understand, but she is the First Oracle of our people and perhaps she saw something within him I did not." Sadi shifted in her seat to get more comfortable. "Mindvoice abilities… or Etheric power as it is now known because of recent discoveries… is inherent in all our people and the majority of vampires and some elves. It has been this way for millennia."

Me'alla nodded in agreement. "That is true… but as we understand it more and become aware of what these abilities allow some to do… do you not worry about the abuse of such power?"

"Etheric power is based on pureness of blood. The percentage of Etheric users that even have the pureness of blood to advance this power beyond a Tier Three level is infinitesimal when held to the entire population of the Union." Sadi answered. "It has always been this way and for millennia it has never been abused in any way. You know as well as I it is even a crime for us to do some of the things our abilities might allow. Because one man says we should be concerned, a man who if I am not mistaken is only a Category Seventeen by the new standards of measuring, we should all just take his word and begin persecuting these men and women?"

"He doesn't advocate that Princess." Me'alla said.

"He hasn't said he doesn't advocate that either." Sadi told her. "It is well known what the King and Andro are capable of. As you have said yourself, most of the Union has seen part of what Andro can do. They have always had this power within them and in the twenty-seven years since Andro's father returned and took his grandfather's throne… has the King ever misused this power or lied to our people? No. Has Androcles? No. What the DSM wants is no different than what the Rothryn people must endure now and…"

"KertaGai!" Carisia gasped.

Sadi stopped as Me'alla's eyes grew wider. "Sibfla!" Sadi cursed under her breath.

"The Rothryn people?" Me'alla asked quickly. "I have never… who are the Rothryn people Princess? Have we… has a new race of people besides the Vanari been discovered and we do not know about them?"

Sadi thought quickly. "Our entry into the Beta Quadrant has allowed us to meet not only the Vanari but others species as well. I will say no more than that… I've already said too much. That is something that the Prime Minister will address at a later time. I will not comment on that any more. Period."

Me'alla could tell that the Princess knew she had made a mistake and to insure that she did not lose control of this interview and have it cut short she quickly went to another line of questions.

"As you wish Princess." Me'alla said. "Going back to PCC levels… does the PCC level also give an idea of how closely a Lycavorian is related to the Original Five Ruling Bloodlines on Lycavore?" Me'alla asked.

Sadi nodded her head and relaxed slightly. "To my knowledge yes."

"Would you be willing to be tested again?" Me'alla asked.

"For what purpose?" Sadi asked her. "To appease Senator Ulana's vanity?"

"She alleges that since her PCC level is higher… she has more claim to the position you now hold as Crown Princess." Me'alla said. "The position all of you hold for that matter as Crown Princesses."

"And what would give the good Senator that idea?" Ne'Veha asked. "To the best of my knowledge the PCC level of a pureblood has never come into consideration when Lycavorians find wives and mates."

"It only matters to Ulana because Andro is Crown Prince and next in line for the throne." Carisia commented with a touch of contempt in her voice. "Anyone with a small bit of common sense can see that."

"I am only stating things that Senator Ulana has already been quoted as saying." Me'alla spoke quickly. "I'm not assuming her intentions by her statements Princess… only that she has said them."

Sadi reached out and squeezed Carisia's hand tightly turning to looked at her. "It is fine Enylarcopri." She said softly. She turned back to Me'alla. "The facts are this… no matter what Ulana says or does, it will not change the reality that we are Andro's mates. That is not going to change simply because the Senator wishes it so. Andro does not desire her in any way, shape or form, and no matter how much she rants or screams about it, that is not going to change."

"And if she challenges that?" Me'alla asked.

Sadi canted her head to the side. "What will she challenge Me'alla? She can't force Androcles to make her his wife and mate. If she wishes to challenge me in some way then I welcome her to try." Sadi spat. "I have no problem putting the good Senator in her place if she wishes to pursue it. Andro did not scent her during their time together so she has nothing to base a challenge on."

"You are certain of this Princess?" Me'alla asked.

"We are Andro's mates and we have free reign within Andro's mind. He hides nothing from us. Nothing. We have seen his time with Senator Ulana and we would know if this took place. It did not, no matter how much Ulana wishes it, so she has nothing to challenge. I am also an Alpha female… and I… we… will defend what is ours. In any way we need too. And Andro is ours without question."

Me'alla was smart enough to know when to leave a subject before it got out of hand. It was very obvious that Senator Ulana was a sore subject with all of them, and being a female Me'alla knew why. The woman was attempting to insinuate herself into their lives and making claims and accusations that were angering many people, including the ones that her comments were mainly focused on.

Me'alla looked up. "Princess Ne'Veha… I was wondering if we could discuss your life before becoming the Prince's mate. You met him after Princess Carisia had joined their lives correct?"

Ne'Veha nodded in return. "I physically met him and Sadi after Carisia had joined them yes." She answered. "But as with all of us… we were already connected within our minds through Mindvoice. We just hadn't realized it yet."

"Can you tell us a little about it?" Me'alla asked.