Chapter 11

“It was wrong.”

Ga’min sighed. She sat on a bench in her home, The Teaching Mother beside her. The Teaching Mother did not react angrily, but with a disappointing calmness.

Ga’min did not even have to tell her. The Teaching Mother already knew. She did not, but those did not question the ways and knowledge of The Teaching Mothers.

“The passion was not one to be avoided,” Ga’min replied.

“But it could have been. That had not been a true battle. There had been no deaths, not on either side. With your help, which has been avoided. The ritual need not be performed after such actions.”

“Then it was not a ritual, since pleasures had been exchanged, not received.”

Now it was the turn of The Teaching Mother to sigh. “That is not your way. Your way is to protect our people. You give them pleasure through victory, through life. It is not your duty to give them pleasure in any other way. Only to collect your just reward after the battle has ended.”

“What if I feel my reward is to give sex?”

The Teaching Mother gasped and stood suddenly. “Never have I heard a warrior say such words; never have I had such questions.” She impatiently paced the room, shaking her head and muttering before reclaiming her seat. “It is not to be done like that; it has been so for thousands of years. To do any other way could upset the very meaning of not only our world, but all that exists.”

“I doubt the galaxies will cease to exist because I gave sex to another woman,” Ga’min scoffed.

The Teaching Mother turned, looking Ga’min in the eye, putting her fingers under her chin to hold her gaze. “You’d best remember to follow what you are told, without question, even if you do not understand. If you give pleasure to this maiden, to this princess as you call her, who will be next? A nymph on the battlefield, a commoner, a whore? Will you feel such tenderness for a common soldier? For one of the enemies? What if you come across another person such as yourself during a battle? Will your heart grow soft for her, allow her to beat you?”

“My strengths as a warrior are not to be questioned!” Ga’min protested.

The Teaching Mother released the chin and folded her hands back into her lap. “They are not. Or they were not until now. A great tragedy can result from this incident, you do not realize. We must resume our teachings again so you realize the dangers of those ways, you must withdraw until you are focused again.”

Ga’min reluctantly nodded, got from the bench, and went into her bed, where she lay down, her eyes clouded with tears.