Himera stared and nodded.“Appropriate.Could...would your sister visit?”
Roar laughed.“She’s my relief if I need to be on a more violent assignment.She will be here in a few days.”
Himera smiled.“You are as beautiful as your mother.It radiates from you.”
Roar blinked.“I remember that.She justwaslovely and kind.No matter what she was wearing or how she arranged her hair.”
Ival sat silent.She knew Roar’s history.She knew Iva’s history.It was different but no less horrific.
“The Lorn emperor has a very efficient lab, and they are excellent at waking every inch of an activation.Not as brutal as Uraddans, but they don’t use sedation when the changes kick in.”
Himera flinched.“I understand.”
“I am returning to my post.”Roar inclined her head and backed to the archway, where she had previously stood.
Ival smiled and nodded.
Himera looked and thought.“We need an audit.”
“You really do.Sethir have a higher number of active females, but I am not seeing much evidence of it.Heraina and her sibling notwithstanding.”
“Aluhara has a dozen daughters and one son with activation.They are all defender class.”She smiled.“I am wondering if Riithan’s daughter will be as strong as he is?”
“It is likely.She will be nurtured and trained the moment she begins to manifest something.That will be the key to her activating well.”
Ival poured tea and sipped again.
Himera sighed.“How should we find these young ladies?How do we keep them safe?”
“First, you need a school.Open to all.Free for all.A boarding school.Take the unwanted girls and educate them, give them a chance at administration or domestic service or medical or childcare or whatever is in vogue at the time.Start small and work your way up.If the girls activate while at the school, they get other training.If they are omegas, they go to omega school.”
Himera nodded.“I will run this past my husband.”
“Oh, and that’s another thing.If the alphas want to pass an omega around, that’s fine, but form unions that protect her.They can take their turns, rotate a lineup, but keeping the women vulnerable if their alpha discards them or dies isn’t a great idea for those who are delicate of sensibility and body.”
Himera paused.“I see your point.It would have been easier to share a mark with two rather than one.I understand the depth of grief your mother felt when her love died.”
“Yup.I understand it as well.”
“Do you think that the alphas will go for it?”
Ival smirked.“I know for a fact that many of them share an escort on the same night.This just means that they don’t have to release her at the end of the evening.She gets to keep them, and they get to keep her.”
Himera paused.“Would you?”
Ival snickered.“No.Riimal’s beast would literally bite the head off of someone between us, and I am toxic.Separate, we are difficult, and together, we are a perfect fit.”
Himera blushed slightly.“So, have you two...”
“No, but he has a very talented tongue.”
Himera’s eyes widened.“Well, that is...huh.”
Ival chuckled.
They continued trying to figure out a girls’ school for the Sethir if the families couldn’t maintain them.A modest dowry would be paid to the families to thank them for keeping their children in the country.A ladies’ guard could be created as well.Again, to keep the female actives in the country.
They sat and chatted, involving a tablet.
