Ahe'ey - 1 Beginnings (2 page)

"We've made arrangements for you at the Pierre. I trust you'll enjoy your suite and views of Central Park."

"Sounds really delightful," she replied.

As they walked, Gabriel seemed to be somewhat nervous. He was polite and attentive, but at the same time, he scanned the surrounding area continuously. As a man ran in their direction, Gabriel abruptly used his arm to lead her behind him, placing his body in between her and the running man. The man rushed past them, probably late for his flight. Gabriel stepped out of her way, placed his hand on her back, and encouraged her to move forward. He started moving faster; his expression was somewhat pensive and preoccupied. Opening the door of the limo, he led her inside.

She felt slightly overwhelmed by his nervous energy and by the proximity of his body. As if on cue, Gabriel relaxed, smiled, opened a bottle of sparkling water and added a piece of lime to it. As he handed her the water, he also placed a plate of fruit—strawberries, blueberries, and green peaches—beside her. She smiled; it was exactly what she needed and what she liked. She was puzzled and grateful for his precision.
What a happy coincidence that my preferences and desires are met so effortlessly.
 

She was completely drained of energy, and yet she felt an unusual inner peace. She ate a strawberry, sunk into her seat, and relaxed. James was at the front of the limo, talking to Carl. She could not hear them through the partition that separated the front seats from the back.
 

"You may want to sleep a little. The traffic at this time is dreadful. It'll take us about an hour to get to the hotel." His voice was calming, considerate, and hypnotic. She closed her eyes and fell asleep.

She woke up as they reached Manhattan; the hustle and bustle of town woke her. It was a warm and bright winter day in late November. The Christmas lights were already up, and the Christmas shopping crowd navigated around the traffic, carrying their bags and packages. As they arrived at the hotel, he opened the doors and gently but decisively attempted to move her and the rest of the group inside the building.

She was not sure what bothered her most, the fact that he constantly touched her back and took a clear position of authority or the fact that she was complying with and enjoying it. She rebelled against the captivity of his charm. As he tried, once again, to rush her inside, she stopped, took a step to the side, away from him and started walking slower. He looked at her, puzzled, surprised, and perhaps slightly irritated. She smiled, amused by his reaction and happy with herself.

He seemed to relax as they got inside the hotel. Black-and-white marble tiles adorned the floor of the high-end hotel, making a clear introduction to the luxury that was yet to be experienced by the guests. Colourful murals depicting Greek gods adorned the walls of a rotunda that led to a marble staircase. The vivid trompe l'oeil paintings borrowed their style from the Renaissance. They did not have to check in and went straight up to the grand suite.
 

Morgan was amazed by the size and sophistication of the suite. She had her own private terrace, a master bathroom bigger than most hotel rooms she had ever stayed in, and a huge living room that was separate from her bedroom.

"I assume you are too tired to dine out today? I have made arrangements for a light dinner to be served in the suite's living room in a couple of hours. I'm staying in the hotel, and with your permission, I'll join you for breakfast tomorrow morning so that we can discuss this week's plans."

She nodded gratefully. "Good night. Thank you, Gabriel."
 

He smiled and turned to leave. She felt overwhelmed by his beauty.
Looks are worth nothing
, she thought, dismissing the butterflies in her stomach.

I Will Find You

Thirty-four years ago - Ahe'ey

Sky's heart raced, overwhelmed with fear and guilt. She sprinted through the forest, away from the Yi'ingo village. It was the night of the Summer Solstice, and she knew most of the Yi'ingo would be drunk, gathered around fires celebrating the fertility of the earth, and engaged in rituals that culminated in the dissemination of their seed. She ran in the direction of the Ange'el village in search of help. The girl stopped when she saw the figure of a tall man standing in the middle of the road between her and the village entry.

"Come here," ordered Sathian. Sky attempted to fight the man's persuasion powers, but his skills were too strong. The mind and feet of the strong-willed girl followed the command of the man's smooth voice. As she approached Sathian, Sky noticed that blood covered half his face, coming from a hole that was recently occupied by a missing left eye. From the left gouge he cried blood, but from the right eye, he cried salty water. He contorted his mouth in pain and grief, and his long dark hair absorbed the briny red river that streamed down his face and neck. As the girl got closer, he lifted her by her neck until her feet were off the ground. Sky gasped for air.

"Who are you?" He asked.

"S…Sk…y."

He pulled her face closer to his right eye. Sky's mind ordered her legs to kick, but her body refused to oblige. She realised she was under his control, a hopeless slave to his mind's eye.

"The queen's granddaughter. One of four children of the bloodline. A pure-blooded mare." He laughed and released her. She fell to the ground and gasped, attempting to catch her breath.

"Who are you?"

"Your worst nightmare little cousin. The beast who will destroy everything you hold dear." Bitter tears and blood continued to roll down his face into his mouth. Sky could feel autonomy return to her body as the man's face contorted with some inner battle. He spoke to her as if he was speaking to an old companion, to another adult.
 

"They forced me to do it, do you understand?" He said, looking down at his bloodied hands. She stood up and took a step away from him, testing if she was free from his controlling mind. "They took everything away from me," he continued biting his lip and placing his left hand over his missing eye, "and now they will pay, all of them. They'll have a taste of their own poison. Those who value the purity of the royal bloodline will bear impure babies. I'll destroy everything you hold dear royal brat."

"I'll find you and kill you." Shouted Sky as she raced away from him, hoping his mind's confusion prevented him from summoning her back to him.

"No Sky, I'll find you."

Sathian was drunk with resentment, anger and pain, but it was mainly remorse and shame that stopped him from hurting the girl. He was fighting to keep what was left of his humanity and, tonight, letting Sky go was his small act of redemption. He touched his disfigured face, knowing all too well that not even his royal blood could regenerate an entire eye. He, the most beautiful creature at Ahe'ey, was now forever disfigured. A fair punishment for the necessary violence he had unleashed on his family.
Was it? Necessary?

"Sathian!" Sathian looked back to see who was screaming his name. It was Lucas running in his direction, sword in hand. There was madness in his eyes and in his face. The type of mania that is only present in those who had suffered tremendous loss. The blonde Ange'el barely knew how to hold the sword that he lifted in front of his face. Sathian knew Lucas was not a warrior, nor had he ever killed any living being, no matter how small. Lucas stopped in front of Sathian, preparing to strike.

"If it's suicide you are looking for." Sathian murmured unsheathing his sword, "I'm more than happy to oblige." Sathian rotated his entire body and, in one single blow, decapitated Lucas.

Sathian walked back towards the Ange'el village, roaming the gardens where he had spent most of his youth. The place remained unaltered as if time had stood still. The statues he had designed and commissioned together with his dearest love stood above him. Their flawlessness was untouched by the heartaches and misdeeds of its creators. The sculptures represented the perfection, purity, and virtue of the Ahe'ey.

"
Lieees!"
He screamed as he touched the face of a stone winged angel with his bloodied fingers.

The Interview

Present Day - New York

Gabriel sat in the paneled library of his triplex apartment located on the top floor of the Pierre Hotel in Manhattan. With five bedrooms and seven bathrooms, the Upper East Side penthouse was too large for a man who lived by himself. He turned on his laptop and pulled up the YouTube video that he had watched countless times. It was a debate organised by Fox News that had aired on mainstream TV three years ago.

"The latest headlines continue to bring us conflicting and confusing information about the gender divide in education. Only this week, two new reports suggest that girls continue to struggle in the so-called STEM fields—science, technology, engineering and maths. Female graduates are still significantly underrepresented in these areas, particularly in engineering and computer science. On the other hand, a recent study argues that boys are underperforming in school, lagging behind girls in reading and writing. The study shows that the gap in science and math is closing fast in fields where boys have historically outperformed girls. To help us make sense of this confusing information we invited two guests who have been active and outspoken on this topic.

"Morgan Lua is the founder of the Hope Foundation, an advocacy group that focuses on the empowerment of girls. Hope has recently secured a staggering two hundred million dollars in funding from five large tech companies in Silicon Valley. They plan to kick off several global initiatives that will promote STEM with young girls and increase the number of female graduates in these areas.

"Walter Zanus is the speaker for the Men's Rights Defense, an activist group with chapters in fifty-five countries in the world. The MRD argues that the women's movement has gone too far and is harming men, particularly boys. Morgan and Tony, welcome to our show.

"Walter, why are organisations such as the Hope Foundation harming boys?"

"The feminisation of the educational system promoted by Feminist groups is destroying the future of our young men. Our lads are oppressed by curricula and assessment methods that favour girls. They're forced to sit in classrooms for hours to study or spend time talking about their feelings. We're undermining the power of masculinity. We must let boys be boys. They learn better through physical activity. If you want a boy to thrive, you need to engage his male instinct for problem solving, his energy, competitiveness and physical daring. These are the traits of the men that have led this country to wealth and security throughout history. We need to honour the male heritage."

"Morgan, the data shows boys are struggling in school. Why are you focusing on girls?"

"Boys and girls struggle with the stereotypes that are passed down to them by society and media. We must evolve our education system to unlock each child's full potential. There is nothing innate, immutable or inevitable about boys or girls doing particularly well or badly in different subjects. Girls in Shangai outperform western boys in math, the same boys that outshine the girls in the US. The variable factor is the educational system, the society and the parents. At the H—"

"You have not answered my question." The tone of the news anchor was somewhat passive aggressive. The smile on his face was tight at the corners as he looked at Morgan.

"Please let me finish, this topic can't be explained in a neatly packaged media soundbite."
 

Gabriel always loved to watch the passion with which Morgan asserted her position. Unapologetic and direct, she continued to speak, preventing the unwelcome interruption.
 

"Our initiatives focus on helping girls overcome the limiting beliefs that stop them from thriving in STEM fields.  We set up these programmes as a response to the gender stereotypes prevalent in our society, in our media and in the unconscious or conscious biases of parents and teachers. We create the antidote that can break the glass ceilings currently imposed on girls and women. Soon we will be launching initiatives for boys as well. We want to ensure that they know that they too can be full-time parents, nurses, teachers and child care workers if they wish to do so. I hope that one day we won't need special initiatives. We need to fix our educational system to abolish all stereotypes and to focus on getting the best out of every young person regardless of gender, race, sexual orientation or aptitude."

"In a moment, she'll be speaking about unicorns and dragons." Zanus adjusted the two or three locks of hair that remained in his bald, shiny head and continued talking, "Look, I don't have time for total political correctness just to appease the feminists and the lesbians. I think it would be foolish to expect that women will ever approach equal representation in a large number of areas simply because their aptitudes, abilities and interests are different for physiological reasons. Science backs me up on this. The brains of men and women are different just like our bodies are different. We have muscles and natural physical ability, they have the babies, and are soft both physically and emotionally. It's that simple!"

"Morgan, studies show that differences exist. Why do you fight this God-given nature?"

"Let's leave religion out of this. Differences exist, but they are considerably smaller than those previously reported by pop science. The human brain is highly plastic and adaptable, the experiences and beliefs of each child will shape their skills and behaviours. Our goal is to ensure that the potential of each child is not limited. We debunk generalisations about gender that, frankly, belong to the middle ages."