The Gender Game 2

thoughtfully. Ms. Dale had served Matrus faithfully for a long time, and Mother had often trusted her counsel.
“Well, the fact is, Violet Bates still has Matrian property,” I said, drawing myself upright again. “So I am tasking you, Melissa Dale, with finding both her and the egg, and returning them here to sort through this… Take what supplies you need, and go.”
Ms. Dale rose to her feet and bowed. Her face locked in an unreadable mask, she turned and left.
As I watched her exit, I noticed two of my other sisters—the twins, Selina and Marina—waiting outside the door. I was glad they had arrived for their meeting now. I had timed things well.
I waved my hand, beckoning them in. They approached, their movements almost synchronized. It had always creeped me out when they did that, and I imagined they were doing it now for that purpose.
“Queen Elena,” they said, bowing as one.
“Sisters,” I said, allowing a smile to peel across my face. “I will keep this brief: I want you to tail Ms. Dale, and if she leads you to Violet Bates, I want you to secure the girl and what she carries first.”
Selina and Marina exchanged looks before glancing back at me.
“You do not trust Ms. Dale?” Selina asked.
I wet my lower lip. “It’s not that… exactly. The issue is that until we figure out how deep this conspiracy runs, I am not going to commit only one resource to finding Violet Bates. What she carries is far too important to leave to chance; you both can appreciate that.”
The sisters nodded. “We can,” Marina said.
“We’ll see to it,” Selina confirmed.
Good. Selina and Marina had always been the most obedient of my sisters… at least, the most obedient to me.
As the twins turned to leave, I asked them, “Can you tell Tabitha to come in now?” while slipping Violet’s file into a drawer.
Tabitha entered the room a few seconds after the twins had exited.
“Yes?” she asked. Her tone was level and controlled, though her brown eyes appeared darker than usual.
“Will you allow me to speak without you accusing me of lying?” I asked, holding her gaze firmly.
She nodded, and I gestured for her to sit down.
“Sister, I know that you wanted to be the Minister of War, but the problem is… we are not at war.” Tabitha’s eyes became slits, and I held up my hand. “Yet,” I amended. “Pronouncing you Minister of War now would only serve to indicate to King Maxen that we are declaring war, which I am not yet ready to do. As Chief of Wardens, your duties will be maintaining the walls, but also recruitment and training women, in preparation for the war.”
My sister’s face transformed as I talked, her eyes brightening and her lips beginning to curl.
Mother had always told me being Queen of Matrus was like being a clockmaker: you put the right people for the job in the right place, and let them do what they did best. My sister Tabitha was a hammer, one destined for a great battlefield. I merely gave her the opportunity to channel her abilities in such a way that would be productive.
And when the time was right, I would unleash her onto the Patrians. The world, after that, would never be the same.
I kept this thought in my mind as I picked up the phone to call King Maxen. I would offer him the pretty lies that would keep us from war… right up until the exact moment that we were ready to pounce.

1
Viggo
I sat in the detention center, my hands cuffed in front of me. I had been here for over twenty-four hours and still had no idea why I was being detained. Even the warden whom I managed to coerce into giving me status updates on the wrecked lab was clueless as to why I was being held.
I had been waiting for Violet when the explosion had gone off.
I was lucky: the initial blast had blown me back into a hallway, shielding me from the worst of the heat and debris. Others had not been so fortunate. The vision of dead men and women scattered across the floor still filled my mind’s eye. But the worst were those still alive and wounded. They screamed their confusion and disbelief while staring at bisected body parts. One man was cradling his own arm to his chest, his face blank with shock.
I had done what I could to help. I had carried people out, and snapped orders to organize the few others who were capable of providing assistance.
But all the while, as I fought through that inferno in search of any remaining heartbeat, there was someone in particular I was trying to find—desperately. A young woman with long dark hair and startling gray eyes. I kept throwing myself into the building and looking for her, but returning with someone else. Each trip drained me more—emotionally more than physically. After the first hour, my thoughts turned to the worst, and I started wondering with each corpse I stepped over, which might belong to her.
And then my search had been stopped altogether; the wardens had come for me. Wardens who were supposed to be at my command—wardens I had trained—began to explain that they were taking me in for questioning. Before I could begin to make sense of the situation, one had slipped around my back and clamped handcuffs on me. Jim Trent. He’d never been a favorite among my colleagues.
They took me to a van parked outside the lab’s perimeter, locked me in the back and escorted me to the city’s primary detention facility… where I remained. After securing me in a cell, I was left without the slightest explanation.
A few wardens had walked past me since I’d arrived, but all had refused to answer a single question—except for one of the younger recruits whose name I had forgotten, but who I knew saw me as a role model. If not for him, I’d be completely without