My whole world changed when Brant came into the scene. I was all set to take over from father in the Jann Troika, something I’d been trained for since birth, and doing anything else just never entered my mind.
Then I met Brant Tor, a Killian soldier. I’d met Killians before, and like most other Janns, I tried to steer clear of them. Brant, however, had no intention of being avoided by me.
“Hello.”
I looked up, and up. Glittering black eyes caught me, and that was the truth. I was caught. From the first look, Brant had me and I remember feeling cold, shivering.
“You feel cold? He asked, frowning, taking my hands and rubbing them gently. I nodded. He took off his cloak and settled it around me. It smelled of him, I felt surrounded. And warm. Better?”
I nodded.
He grinned, settled his arm around my shoulders as easily as if he’d been doing it for years. I’m Brant Tor, you’re Sai a’LaiJann. Walk with me?”
We were already walking, but I nodded anyway. That was how it began.
The next day, Brant asked my father for my hand in marriage. It was refused. By the end of the week, we were married and I was heading back home with Brant, back to Killian.
~
I was supposed to be part of the Troika when I was 21, get a wife around 25, and have two children. I was supposed to be a wise and respected leader, a vital part of the community.
Instead, I got a husband at 16, and a Killian man at that. And gave birth to a girl a few days before my 17th birthday. I’m 21 now, and heavy with my seventh child.
Considering I’d only ever dated girls, three in total, my attraction to another man came as a total surprise. And I was the submissive, or sima as the Killians call the submissive spouse. I was confident, educated, taught to rule, one of the most privileged in Jann society and yet, after meeting Brant, none of that mattered and I fell into being a sima easily. Naturally, Brant says, as this is how it’s meant to be. It’s hard to disagree with him, and I don’t, because being a sima is tough and yet I don’t have a problem with it.
Advertisment