Free Strange Land (The Young Ancients Book 15) by P. S. Power Page B

here as soon as you can."
    Then the line broke suddenly, moments after a sound in the other room, so far away.
    "Well," she said to nobody at all. " This seems like what was going to happen all along, doesn't it?"
    Then she started to get ready, since she still had work to do.
     

Chapter three
     
    "So, Sara... Ambassador from Tellerand?" The giant man towered above her, standing still, in the small secret chamber they used for secret communications and meetings. It was in the basement, and was, as far as she knew, the only thing down there. Buried under tons of solid rock, the cold and slightly dark space was about as protected a place to chat as anywhere on the Earth.
    The King, Richard, looked worn out. There were lines by the side of his eyes that hadn't been there four months before, when they last met. With a weary thump he sat in a large chair that was similar to the other four in the room. Casually he gestured to the one across from him. The table was made of wood, but had a plain air to it. The kind of thing that anyone might have. Even a commoner. Except that theirs wouldn't have been as tall.
    It always left her feeling like a tiny child, the oversize furnishings of the place too large for a merchant like her. The entire noble world was like that, when she stopped to think about it. Uncomfortably not designed with her in mind.
    She started to shrug, her own tiredness causing her to forget her manners for a moment, but caught the move and simply sat up straighter to report.
    "That's me. Ambassador Sara Debri. Or at least it is for the next forty hours or thereabouts, Sire. It was a lie made real by Terry so that I could get in the door here without too much work. As soon as I can I'm supposed to go and see what my little brother has gotten into on the Moon. Something about him raping someone, I think." Terry had said it wasn't exactly like that, but she knew Kurt too well to believe it.
    Her face was blank, and the King, rather than question her on what had been going on in Tellerand, which was why she was there, winced.
    "I'd rather heard about that. From Queen Tiera. It seems more of an inappropriate seduction than true rape. One of the women from Afrak? I hear that he pretty much made it seem like she didn't have a choice but to pleasure him. That wasn't really the difficulty however. As an adult, even one from a culture that is very passive, as hers is, Tiera believes that the lady is responsible for her own care and upkeep. She had the ability and power to say no, if she wished, even if the young man was being persistent. No, the actual problem is rather more political than that. In Afrak, when a man and woman have relations, it's considered that they are married. Kurt was told of this first and agreed, it seems, but then tried to claim he didn't understand the process."
    Sara blinked at that one, and slowly let her head start to nod. It was nearly as if the thing was moving on its own. So her little brother the pervert hadn't raped anyone really? Just gotten himself married? That didn't seem like much of an issue really.
    True, the women of Afrak were less sexual than those from other places, but this woman probably wouldn't insist that Kurt actually refrain from all other activity. Unless that was the problem? She didn't ask, not really wanting to know.
    Terry had spoken of it being a problem. For the moment she didn't see how it really would be. Even with different customs they could work out some kind of wedding ceremony.
    "So, Your Highness. Tellerand is still there. Crippled and barely hanging on. I wasn't jesting about their needing help, or coming to beg you for it. We could use people to go and give whatever aid they can. The big thing, now that they have food for the most part, is sturdy shelter. Their houses are all made of wood, and some of the storms are so large anymore..." That was a problem everywhere. The biggest thing was that they wouldn't live in magical dwellings, she didn't think.
    They