The Mutant World (45 page)

“If a man put aside his wife for any reason,” continued Manuel, “or if he died, she would be left with nothing if she had no sons to look after her. Thus women learned to get whatever they could…just in case. As my father told me once, ‘They spend
your
money, but save their own’. Well, that’s why. Of course, there are many, many other ways women behave as far as men go. And they’re not always as explainable, understandable or excusable, but this is a large part of the root cause. Do such conditions still exist in most civilized nations? No. But the mentality is still there.”

“Even in my land, provisions and laws have been put in place to protect
free
Barratian women,” said Roc. “This was not the case on Earth?”

“Ironically, people
have
recognized certain unequal realities for women on Earth, and tried to protect women to
some
degree with laws even in the worst societies on Earth. Because of the few opportunities career-wise for women and especially a housewife, with or without children, steps were made to see that they were provided for should the man die or leave. This is called alimony and child-support. But the cunning and deceitful have learned to escape such responsibilities to their young while others have used these unscrupulously to their advantage as well…and I’m not just talking about dastardly men.”

“How do you mean?” asked Roc.

“Now don’t get the idea that all women on Earth are of this nature,” said Manuel, “but if a woman has less than a noble character she can totally get over on a man on Earth, at least in places like Europe and America. A woman can marry a rich man, stay married for one year, divorce him and then sue him for half of everything he spent a lifetime working for even when she was treated very well. Indeed,
especially
if she was treated well! She’ll claim that she has become accustomed to her lifestyle and cannot live any other way now. And she’ll win. If she actually has a baby by him, which for most women with ill-intent would be their
first
priority before divorce, she’ll really own his ass forever.

“Bah,” snorted Roc in disgust. “And the men tolerate this injustice?!”

Manuel shrugged, “They complain constantly, but it rarely does any good. It is not uncommon, even when men are
not
rich, for women who have conceived by one man, but one of low character, reliability or income, to trap, or at least try to, a more
dependable
man for financial gain or support. There was a talk show host who became famous for his televised paternity tests. And as often as not, it was the
woman
who was actually caught red-handed cheating and trying to trap one man, often her husband, with another man’s baby. Those bastards are lucky,” laughed Manuel. “They caught the deed early. Often the poor fool has raised the ill-got child to near or full adulthood before or even
if
the truth is discovered! Ironically, when this type of underhanded trickery on the woman’s part
is
uncovered, women are never called to account or forced to reimburse the manipulated man for their deceit in any way…at least not in most ‘First World’ nations.”

“Why,” said Roc in disbelief. “Surely this was a crime? The man has been foully manipulated and exploited for the sake of another man’s bastard!”

Manuel sighed, “It is not illegal in many lands to take advantage of a man in such a way. Sometimes, but not always, the man need not pay any longer for a bastard child once the deed is uncovered. But the woman is
never
forced to repay what she has taken through deceit. This is true regardless of the man’s wealth or status.”

“And if it was the man who mated with the rich woman and they broke their ties?” snapped Roc.

“Usually, women with wealth or high paying careers know their own natures well enough to protect themselves from such situations,” laughed Manuel. “They usually don’t even
look
at men who don’t have as much or more than them financially no matter how noble of character he is. Actually, they tend to go for the man who has
more
than them, even when his character sucks. I suppose this is just as well considering what’s in store for the fool.”

“But you said these women are already rich?” said a now VERY confused Roc.

“Obviously financial security is not really the motive here,” laughed Elder Manuel, “despite what they say. Status and greed are
their
motivations. After all, the woman doesn’t
need
support
in these cases. She’s already successful or even rich. But just because she is already rich, doesn’t mean she won’t try to take her mate for everything
he
owns too when they separate. Hah!”

“Barbaric,” said Roc in disgust.

“Indeed, but to answer your question,” said the amused Manuel, “there
have
been instances when the reverse has happened and the woman was fleeced. And women have hypocritically cried injustice the loudest when it has. Hah! Go figure.”

It was all Luther could do to keep from laughing out loud at this summery of the Earth female’s mentality and the plight of the Earth man. It wasn’t that Luther didn’t agree with what the old elder was saying 100%; rather it was because this had quickly turned into a
very
biased male perspective of the culture. Obviously the women would have had a great deal to say in challenging these statements if they were here…most of them. But they weren’t here, so the Barratian king got only the male side. Seeing that he was a Barratian though, he most likely would not have believed the women’s side anyway.

“Elder,” said Roc, his head hurting and now sorry he had asked about his greedy cousins from the homeworld to begin with, “I am forced to conclude that the Earthmen are weak dogs and all of their problems stem from their people’s love of money and selfishness. And as for their women…Well, even the worst of our women are far superior to those opportunistic grabbers!”

“Really?” chuckled Manuel. “First of all, Bellasarians are not a people who worship money and possessions. Not the way Earth people do. People who can’t pay don’t starve or go homeless here. In that you are quite correct. We ARE superior. But as far as our women being superior in character than women from Earth go, Bellasarian women own everything anyway. They don’t try to rape the man for everything he has because they own it all already!” Manuel threw back his head and laughed as King Roc looked at him. “Look, Son,” said the elder forgetting Roc’s title in his amusement, “bloodlines are traced through the female line in most Bellasarian societies. Children belong to their mother’s clan. Because of this, women are greatly valued. Men here honor women almost to the point of reverence and women rule and are the ones who own land and pass on hereditary titles…unless there is no
female
heir, of course. If there is strife in the home or the union utterly fails, the man goes to the men’s dormitories or back to his mother’s clan, taking only his personal possessions. The woman keeps house, land and everything else of real import because they were hers to begin with. Children carry
her
clan’s name. They stay with her unless she is unworthy. It is also unlawful for someone to sue anyone for something they didn’t earn, contribute to making or what the other person already had
before
they became mates for any reason here…be they male
or
female. Because of this, aside from royalty, our women take lovers and mates with no regards for status or what they may or may not have materially, but rather, solely on character or physical attraction. Besides…with us mutants the bonding knows
no
social or financial status. Whatever the man has or doesn’t have, the woman’s feelings are real when she finds her mate and bonds. Her body will not allow any other considerations into the picture. She wants
him
…only. Historically, our women have never had any reasons to complain anyway, at least not after the humans were overthrown. Women rule
almost
everywhere…or at least they did. That is why everyone was so pissed at that Mavie bitch. Women had ruled so well and kept their men so
happy
on this planet that the men didn’t even care if the women were in charge until that bitch came along and fucked everything up! Believe it or not, many women were just as outraged at what was unjustly done to your ancestor and the men of your land as the men here. Queens were eager to go into Mavieland and put both retired Queen Mavie’s and Queen Maya The-Child-Killer’s heads on stakes. The Empress Shoko II was especially eager to do this. But unfortunately, your warriors taking revenge by raping and enslaving the Mavie women forced many potential allies to back away from you or reluctantly aid the Mavie.”

“They had it coming!” snarled Roc. “We only did to them what THEY did to us first! Better to hold the leash than wear the collar!”

“I know what they did to Barrat and the men of your region back then, but you’ve become the same sort of society that made the women on Earth what they are today. Furthermore, our women are scared to death of you and are afraid that your mentality will infect their men…and not without cause. For the most part, our people are happy with our system. But your war with the Mavie and your policies towards your women are starting to affect us.”

Roc had no reply to this. He had been in the empire as a young prince and seen what life could be like between the sexes. He had seen none of the behavior among these women that the Mavie were known…or
had
been known for and had even enjoyed himself there. It was a little difficult to re-enter Barratian society after that. In fact, once he became king, he had wanted to make some changes in his own country for a very long time now, starting with his eldest son, but his council and the hardline conservatives would never allow it.

“Are you saying we were wrong to fight, elder?” said Roc.

“I do not fault you or your forefathers for fighting back the way you did. My sons did fight for you, remember?” said Manuel. “Indeed, many men defied their clan mothers and queens and lent their swords to your cause. Our few kings secretly aided you and on occasions, like when your mother was foully and treacherously murdered at that peace celebration, raised their banners and marched in open war on the Mavie. The empress was hard pressed to pacify them without total civil war breaking out. But that time is done and the Mavie have repented. It’s time to move forward. This conflict between you and the Mavie has been steadily causing discontent among folks in the empire who have
every
reason to be content! Now the damned Earth humans have entered the picture. That is why the old ones like me and Lord Cato have come out of the hidden land in force. We can’t ignore your behavior anymore, not with these assholes in the picture again.”

“I understand the danger, elder,” said Roc quietly. “I have agreed to lay down my sword against the Mavie and bless the union of my youngest son and Queen Bal. Although I must admit, if it were not for Lord Cato and princess Bellasaris being part of the bargain as his junior wife, I might not have been so…willing. There is also another Illyrian Princess in Barrat right now as a guest of my son, Tidor.”

“This is good,” said Manuel, “very good. However, sooner or later you will have to pacify the women of the empire and make certain changes to your society.”

“The men of Barrat will
never
bow to female domination the way the men of the empire have,” said King Roc.

“No, they will not,” chuckled Manuel. “No one expects them to. And believe me when I say, men here are not nearly as tamed as you might think. With the exception of Mavie, no queen has ever been stupid enough to believe that she could do whatever she wanted and treat men like shit and expect to get away with it. In that, you Barratians have been something of a service to our people, an example if you will of what could happen if they listened to fools and reversed deviants and crossed the line. One of the reasons men here respect you Barratians is because you showed the ruling females that the only reason they rule at all is because they’re fair. They have power because we
allow
them power.”

Roc looked at the elder whose eyes were like steel now, and nodded. Luther, now really wrapped up in this conversation, felt a chill. The women weren’t kidding! They had really put it out there accurately.

“Putting that aside,” continued Manuel, “what we want…what will be
expected
is for your women to be given certain rights, like political say in your government, the right to hold major political office and the end of slavery based on defeat in battle, gender and ancestry rather than criminal offenses.”

“The men of Barrat have taken every precaution to insure that we never become slaves to women again,” said Roc quietly. “Women have been denied these things to insure that they never,
ever
regain any of their old authority. Your people have shown me that such measures are not necessary any longer. I have managed to give the women in my land more freedom and the rights to hold minor administrative positions because of our semi-membership in the empire. But the diehard conservatives will bend no more. There are men in Barrat who were alive during Mavie rule. They will fight, and to the death, to prevent the women from gaining any say and authority beyond what they have now in the land. It would
mean
war.”