Yania to join us, and she takes a seat at the edge of the bed.
“How are you?” I ask.
“The same as before.”
“Ah. So I guess Iraxion has already made an offering today.” My lips twitch as I suppress my laughter. “What did he do today?”
Yania sighs and closes her eyes briefly. “That male is quite vexing, but there have been no gifts today.”
“Yet.”
“Yet,” she echoes. Yania cocks her head, and her lips thin as she looks at me. “It is not my place to ask, Massela, but shouldn’t you be at the meeting with the Masse right now?”
“I didn’t know there was one.”
And that’s a problem. Jaxar has always included me in every meeting no matter the topic of discussion. And yet he didn’t mention it last night or this morning. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt and say it might have been last minute, but even then he would’ve told me. This, plus his excluding me from yesterday’s conversation, stirs my anger. Which is much preferable to tears.
After disentangling myself from Tika, I rise from the bed and quickly dress. Yania averts her gaze out of respect, but it doesn’t matter to me. She’s a sister to me now, and it’s not like I have anything that would entice her. Especially not while I’m as big as a house.
“Do you want me to watch over Tika?” Yania asks. “I assume you want to attend this meeting, and perhaps that is not the best environment for a youngling. But the choice is yours, of course.”
Even though a part of me wants to storm from this tent, the other part doesn’t want to leave Tika. I have never been away from her this much, and guilt is starting to take over. Choosing among being a mother, wife, and Massela is often hard, much harder than I’d like it to be.
“How about this?” I say, taking Tika’s sweet face between my palms. “I’ll go to this meeting, and then it’s just us girls for the rest of the day?”
She nods and grins up at me. “Promise?”
“Absolutely.”
Yania rises and holds out a hand for Tika. “Come with me. I will take you to play with the others while we wait for your mother.”
At the prospect of a playdate with other children, Tika gives me a quick hug and all but runs to Yania. I follow the pair outside and then veer off to find the tent used to conduct meetings. Back in our village, Jaxar used to have them in ours, but the one we have now is smaller. Even so, with the three Masses and their seconds-in-command, I’m not sure we would’ve been able to fit them anyway.
Male voices are easily heard once I near my destination, and for a moment I hesitate to enter. If Jaxar doesn’t want me in there, then I should assume it is for a good reason. But the churning in my stomach doesn’t subside with that logic. If anything, seeing my husband’s reaction to my arrival should tell me what I need to know.
I pull aside the tent flap and am immediately inundated with masculine stares as they land on my person. With my shoulders back and chin up, not to mention my belly out, I make my way over to the empty spot next to Jaxar. He assists me into a sitting position but does not greet me in any shape or fashion. Another warning bell clangs in my head, and it’s so deafening that several seconds pass before I can focus on the conversation that’s happening.
“The Dravians must be contacted,” Jaxar says. “We need their assistance if we are to defeat our enemies.”
Murmurs of agreement are heard, although some sound reluctant.
“The problem with this course of action is that it requires the use of the spaceship that sits on the border between the western and southern tribes,” Draal says. “That is now hostile territory, since we are no longer there to keep the western tribe members from trespassing.”
“There has to be a way.” Rozak, the Masse from the east, frowns, his forehead creasing in thought. “A strategy of some kind must be formulated to give us the best chance at securing the Dravians’ help. A large group of warriors is likely to be seen even if they employ stealth, but a small group may be able to sneak through the enemy lines and secure contact.”
Belvaire, the Masse from the north, rubs his chin in thought before speaking. “It will have