Duality

Up to Chapter 18 for first tier patrons, and 19 for second tier.

"Never speak of her like that again." The Mother Queen said firmly. Lixiss, with her hand lightly touching her new golden collar, stood beside her new mate, and nodded.

"The goddesses have said this is something you were to find out when her little soul gains enough strength to survive on this world." Lixiss said. "Duality is adamant that you never talk of that again." Lyra knelt beside the bed.

"They saved her?"

"They can not say. If they did, you have to remember what Merla said. No manna. No warm voice. No mommas. Alone. Those are memories that should be weakened, but those thoughts give them strength again. You understand what that means." Lyra looked down at little Merla, and nodded.

"Whether she is my little Merla from twenty years ago, or our little Merla we just met, she is still our Merla. My little daughter. My precious baby." A tear leaked down onto Merla's cheek, which made Merla twitch.

"Momma not cry. Merla here." She whispered. The Mother Queen had her bearers back out of the room.

"Introduce your daughter to the tribe soon, daughters. I would like to meet her properly." Their Mother Queen said. Lixiss smiled.

"I have to go take care of my Mother. Make sure you take care of my little niece, and bring her to see us soon." Taen nodded, and knelt on the floor beside the bed.

"Baby, are you sleeping?" Taen whispered. Merla cracked open her eyes a sliver and saw both women looking down at her. "Are you hungry?" Merla nodded slowly.

"Momma, you sad?" She asked, still a little bit disturbed.

"Sad? Why would I be? I'm pregnant with your sister, and I have my baby at home." Lyra smiled. "Mother wants to see you, baby." She said softly. "She wants to meet our daughter, then we'll have the birthing party we missed when you were born." Lyra said gently. "Now wake up, baby. You need to eat, and practice your magical expressions so you can get stronger. You need to protect your sister in the future." Merla opened her eyes fully this time.

"Yes. Protect sister." Merla sat up and stared at Lyra's swollen belly. She leaned inward and lightly kissed Lyra's belly. "Little sister grow big and strong. Merla gonna protect sister Talyn." Her eyes glowed, and a symbol appeared on Lyra's belly.

"A naming." Lyra whispered, and smiled gently. "Thank you for giving your sister a proper name."

* * *

"Okay, baby. You've already used manna today for the naming, but it didn't drain much. Your manna veins are near to bursting, so you have to try and train your ability for magical speech." Taen said and watched Merla's eyes while in her arms.

"Momma, what Merla do?" Taen tilted her head.

"You mean, what do you do next?" She nodded her small head. Taen smiled gently. If not for the fact that she looked like a full grown human, she would have all the mannerisms of a child orc.

"Put out your hand like last time." Merla did so. "Now, firmly push out, like this." Taen pushed her palm out. "Straighten your arm, Merla. If it's not straight, the power of the speech will push your hand back towards you. It won't be under control, and you might hurt yourself, or someone else."

"Oh." Merla said, and pushed her arm out straight.

"Good. Now, this expression is for water. The forest sometimes gets dry, so we often have to put out fires, or water the trees." Taen said. "We'll use fire expressions in the training ground when your legs get stronger." Taen said.

"Okay, momma. What ex-press-sion?" She asked in that small child's voice that tickled Taen's heart. Now that she knew Merla was their daughter, the one they lost in battle, it made her feel more full inside, and happier.

"It's a water one, so picture a rain shower. Say 'Pur Shuer' which means rain shower." Taen said quietly, and let her think carefully.

"Light rain." Merla tried to picture it within her mind, and tilted her head. Unfortunately, her mind wandered, and the expression changed along with it. "Fluer Speeng!"

In front of her eyes, Taen watched as a balcony post was transformed into a pipe with a wide head that had several holes in it. It looked like a flower head that began to sprinkle water from the head.

"Oh oh." Merla said. "Made shower. Not rain shower."

"Where is the water coming from?" Taen asked, and quickly held out her hand to scan the flower shower. "Oh my goddesses. It's a manna device with a reservoir of manna that can be refilled to produce water." She looked down at Merla, and saw her blush brightly.

"Merla oops." She said in a sad tone. "Thought rain shower." She tapped her temple. "Pictured cloud. Became flower. Flower shower." She pouted. "Sorry, momma."

"I see. You pictured a flower, and imagined water coming out of the flower head." She said, and watched Merla nod. "Okay, this is not a bad thing, but magical speech requires you to focus, Merla." Taen hugged her gently. "That's why it can be dangerous while practicing. If you don't focus on the picture, you might imagine something else. Like a fireball on a person." Merla gasped. "Yeah, baby. It has happened, so it's not impossible, but the child who does it feels horrible."

"Merla understand. Not want make momma sad." She hugged Taen's neck. Taen smiled gently.

"Just remember your promise, baby. No magical expressions unless we say it's okay. Emergencies are fine, but sometimes things can go wrong. Like with that shower. You don't know what can go wrong, but we know lots of expressions. Your two moms will know, okay?"

"Merla know. Momma smart." Merla giggled and hugged Taen warmly. Unknown to Merla, Taen looked at the flower shower and smiled a little.

If they could teach Merla more magical expressions, and she learned how to focus, she could begin making magical devices, and become an important orc within the tribe.

* * *

"The rubies are ready, Mother Queen." The young orc said as she held a pillow on her palms. Three blood red rubies were on top of the pillow, which made the Mother Queen smile.

"Where is she?" She asked.

"Cleansing her body, Mother Queen. Your wife is eager." The concubine candidate started to shiver as the Mother Queen's gaze turned towards her, and she sounded unfriendly.

"She's my slave wife. Remember her position in the tribe." This was a warning. Lixiss now possessed the second most important position in the tribe. Normal wives were common, and even if their mates wanted to claim their wives and take them as their slave wife, no one could before the Mother Queen finished their bonding ritual.

To humans on their world, slave was a dirty word. To the orcs, who didn't keep slaves like humans did, a slave had a different meaning. It was a title. A slave wife was the second half of the tusker who bonded with her. Her body would become bound with magical expressions, tattoos, and pierced jewelry to show off the tusker's affection for their slave wife. The more manna that was spent to embed, or weave the bonds, the higher the importance the slave wife had.

This position was almost equal to the Mother Queen herself. The young orc knelt down.

"I apologize, Mother Queen. I can only blame my ignorance on my youth, and failed to properly appreciate the level of love you hold for your slave wife." The young orc said, while the Mother Queen stayed silent and watched the young orc.

"Momma, please. Don't frighten her anymore. If she is to help you properly, she needs to be in the proper mindset. You can't scare her. You have to motivate her." Lixiss stepped forward, her green ivy dress made the Mother Queen look at her, and stop all movement. Her hand reached out.

"So beautiful." She whispered. Lixiss smiled shyly, and was drawn onto her mother's lap. "I should have taken you as my slave wife long ago." Lixiss blushed, and waved her hand at the young orc.

"Go get your sisters. Momma and I will get warmed up."