Chapter 39: Short But Sweet

Early next morning...

Time: January 2, 8240 5:20 AM

I awoke from a deep dreamless sleep, my mind perfectly at peace. I wondered a moment for the reason for my profound state of relaxation, and then realized I was still holding Abby in my arms. She was perfectly still, but I could sense she was awake, and somehow she also knew my eyes were open. As I kissed the back of her head, she sighed and turned and smiled at me.

We kissed playfully for a moment, and then she asked, "Do you need to get ready for morning Prayers?"

I smiled back. "Nope. I have declared this entire day to be one of inner mediation for me. My deputies will be handling everything until tomorrow."

Abby's eyes lit up. "Excellent! The other wives will be so happy!"

"Are they still asleep?"

Abby shook her head. "Michal got up an hour ago, and then Sheffie took her into the living room to explain things to her. I'm not sure, but I think Chanah is up too."

I nodded and sighed. "It was so nice to see you all again."

"Oh, for us too." Abby reached over and touched a control, making a large eastern bank of windows transparent to the day's first rays of sunlight. It was strictly a one-way affair. With the Heisenberg shields at full power, from the outside the bedroom still appeared to be covered with a blurry gray foam.

Abby petted me for a moment and grinned. "Wow! You sure are in excellent shape! I don't think I've ever seen you looking so muscular!"

I caressed her lower back, tracing her spine and smiling at the compliment. "Thanks!"

Abby continued, "We were all wondering if political life would slow you down. I guess not!"

I chuckled. "It does happen to a lot of Royalty, maybe most of them. I wound up doing daily exercises with my guard."

"The special weapons teams?"

"Yeah."

"Wow. How did it go?"

"It was great, very challenging. I liked it a lot, as long as I stayed away from their competitive games."

Abby blinked. "Competitive games?"

"Well, not really games at all. Their Prayer of Weakness is both competitive and brutal, with a strong emphasis on performing through extreme pain. Those workouts I just avoided."

Abby squinted at me, wrinkling her nose, and then she shook her head in disbelief. She pushed me back to lie flat on my back, and then she mounted me, sitting on my groin and stroking my cheek. "Oh, you men! You have such different minds. I can't imagine women ever doing something like that, at least not willingly."

I kissed her hand and nodded. "You are perfectly correct. Women are so obviously the superior half of the species."

Abby laughed and bent down to lie on me. She playfully kissed my cheek. "Very good Ilias! You are so smart to see that!" She paused for a moment as my hands came up to hold her waist, and then she wiggled her hips firmly into my groin and laughed again. "Hah! What would Bel'dar think if he heard us playing like this?"

I laughed back. "Yeah, probably not be too pleased. I think I just violated all eight of his faith pillars in one sentence."

Abby rose up and blew a breath of air through her cheeks, smiling for a moment, but then a frown erased the laughter from her eyes. "It's not that hard to do. His whole first chapter, it's really only one pillar, one great awful pillar of hate, a single sick candy bar packaged under eight different wrappers."

I sighed back. "Not a bad analogy..."

Just then Chanah poked her head in by the bedroom doorway and gave me a beaming smile. "Good morning, light of my life! Ready for a nice breakfast?"

I looked at her startled. "Uh, sure."

Chanah nodded happily and disappeared. I turned to Abby and whispered, "Good morning, light of my life?"

Abby giggled. "Oh yes. Chanah has become addicted to some of the fictional writing from the crystals." Her fingertips brushed my temple. "They're called romantic novels."

"Romantic novels?" I spoke the unfamiliar name thoughtfully and considered. "Novels of the Roman times?"

My question returned Abby to her playful mood. "No! Man and woman relationships were so different before the war Ilias, so unbelievably different! We have so much to tell you!" She rose up and ran her hand lightly across my naked chest one last time. "And I think I have enjoyed you to myself long enough. I can't be this selfish. Come! Let's get dressed and join the others."

We sat down with the other wives in a breakfast area a short time later. I looked around at my new home as my wives busily prepared the table for our meal. The room was nice, simply furnished and very clean, with magnificent views of the mountains through the large, shielded windows.

I was surprised to find my mind making comparisons with my other homes. My quarters here were very similar to my cathedral at Karbala, none of the rich splendor I had enjoyed at Dakar or the capital. Had I grown used to opulence? Certainly all the high-tech gadgets at Dakar were fun to play with. But did I miss them, want them here? I thought for a moment and decided to let each of my homes keep their native qualities as much as possible. It's the diversity of life that makes it so interesting.

Our breakfast was a wonderful time for us to reacquaint ourselves. We used to have an unspoken rule not to discuss business during meals, and I think we all felt the desire to continue that tradition, remarkably even Michal. So we talked of personal things, letting each other know how our likes and dislikes and interests had evolved over the ten months of our separation. We didn't finish until close to 8 AM.

And then finally, it was time for business. After cleaning up from the meal, we trotted off to a small conference area near my private office. My mind was bursting with curiosity about what their months of research might have uncovered, but I wound up going first. I spent more than an hour describing how the world had changed over the last ten months, and the new political reality.

My wives were silent throughout my explanation, holding back their obvious questions. There was a long pause after I had finished, and then surprisingly Michal spoke first.

"You?" she whispered. "You'll be the next Cunif Califar?"

I blushed. "Well, the politics of this are always in motion, but right now it looks that way." I sighed and leaned back and thought for a moment.

I had given my word to Faisal last year that I would tell no one about Abdul Quddus's medical condition, and yet I had broken my word without hesitation and told my wives everything. As a seasoned politician, was it so easy for me to lie now?

I thought for a moment and realized my promise of secrecy to Faisal was conflicting with my promise to the true Holy to end female mind mutilation, and I had without thinking decided where the deeper truth lay and subordinated my promise to Faisal. Life makes such situations unavoidable, I realized. With our limited abilities to see the future, we are bound to have such confrontations within our integrity. And if we limit our promises to what we are absolutely sure we can keep, we will never promise anything of value.

I looked at Michal and tried to explain the politics. "Unless something changes, a year from now I'll move up to CL-29, becoming High Tech's senior member on the council. The opening will be there because Utility's CL-29 Ajib will advance and join Faisal as the council's second CL-30. Health will be allowed a second councilman in the slot I'll be vacating. It'll probably be CL-27 Qusay, though Health is still undecided on that part of the plan."

Michal stared at me. "You know about these things so far in advance?"

I smiled at the familiarity she was using with me. During our breakfast, she had started off being quite shy with me and calling me sire, even Grand Mufeto once. But even after our ten-month absence, her heart was quick to accept me again as a husband who loved her. "Yes. The Health faction has changed the political world. I see it now as a brilliant political plan. They still hold all the physical power of their medical arts, and now have aligned their welfare with the interests of the other factions. It really was a very crafty bit of maneuvering."

Abby nodded. "Agreed. And you became their lynchpin for holding this all together."

"Well, I hate boasting, but to be honest, yeah. As a newcomer to the political scene, I don't have the history of back-stabbing of the other councilmen. That was a tremendous advantage in acting as an intermediary in all the negotiations. Everyone on the council has learned to trust me."

I paused for a moment and then smiled. "I'm the only member who is acceptable to everyone as the next Cunif Califar. I think even Abdul Quddus realizes that."