Talion is held prisoner by some unknown women his hands are tied and he is being dragged with them. What astonishes Talion most is he notices that all of these soldiers are women not a single man is with them. So out of his curiosity he asks,
"So! Where exactly are you taking me?"
But they do not answer him and keep on walking. All of them acting like nothing is around them, like even Talion does not exist. Although the girl named Susan keeps a close eye on him she wants to talk to Talion but is unable because of the company that surrounds her.
"Hey are you going to eat me? Because the fashion with which you trapped and captured me seems like it!"
On hearing this Susan giggles and replies "No silly why would we eat something like you."
Talion looks at her and is a little happy because out of all the bunch only she seems to notice him. But the other women Mabusa seems to be annoyed by her and says,
"Princess Susan please don't concern yourself with scum like him once we take him to the castle, there his fate will be decided."
Susan a little to annoyed "I may speak to however I want besides you have no authority to decide his fate."
Mabusa knows what she means by that "I understand what you mean by that princess and yes I cannot do anything about it but once the queen gives me her orders I won't hesitate."
Talion has no idea what these women are talking about but he notices one thing, that these women don't take it calmly when facing with outsiders.
"Ah! Where here." One of the bunch replies.
They clear the forest and what Talion sees he does not believe it, an entire city there exists an entire city behind this forest it is not that big like the others that he has seen with his parents but it can be still considered impressive.
So they keep walking towards the castle and what Talion had noticed before also exists here as well all of the people weather adult, elder or child all of them are women here, and all of them who see him react with hate or fear. The children ask who or what he is and the adult's just stare with hate or simply ignore. Now Talion really wants to know what is going on here there are so many questions in his mind that his head starts to spin, so he calls to the one person here who seems trust worthy.
"psssttt...hey you !!" Susan hears a faint voice and she recognizes it easily. It was Talion of course, he waves his hand telling her to come near him. She looks at the rest and notices that all of them haven't noticed them yet. So she comes near enough to exchange words in a low tone.
"What is it she asks?" she asks.
"Where are we and what is this place?" Talion asks.
"Oh that's an easy one where in Feramor"
"Feramor you say?" Talion with an empty expression on his face.
"What haven't you heard the name of this land before?" Susan.
"No! I haven't, my mother had told me about many different lands but I haven't heard of this place before."
"That's because we live in isolation from rest of the continent." Mabusa replies Talions question, and both Talion and Susan look at her all surprised. That how in the world did she heard them talking so low?
"I know that look princess Susan and I have told you time and time again I am a warrior women and I have sharper senses than a normal woman and you young man if you like to know where you are that badly then let me explain it to you."
Talion thinking how obnoxious Mabusa really is.
"This is the land of Feramor it was founded by none other than her majesty Queen Sofia herself and I was right with her when that happened exactly twenty years ago. As you may have already noticed that this land is all but woman there aren't any men that's why princess Susan was unable to recognize you there and that was the original purpose to build this place so that we women could live free from the defiled hands of you men and all you need to know."
She gives Talion a hateful stare and carries on. While Susan is really confused because she just heard things that even her mother didn't told her about. Finally they reach the castle and here they split ways. While Talion is taken to the dungeon Susan is taken to her room. Talion is thrown into the dungeon cell by Mabusa and she tells him "Your sentence would be carried out in the morning until then get some sleep. You'll be needing it."
Meanwhile Susan is taken to her room and the soldier who escorts her there tells her that her mother is on her way to see her so be ready and also she insists not to run or disappear this time. Susan as always isn't happy to hear those words, and the soldier leaves.
"I am not a little girl who can be kept locked in her room." Susan slowly talking and so she starts to change.
After quite a time a woman enters her room wearing a long golden dress and a crown on her head. She entered her room and stared at Susan and she stared right back at her. It was the queen her mother had come to see her.
"So did you had a good time out there today?" She asks Susan.
But Susan did not answers and she opens her hair ribbon and starts brushing her hair. The Queen sees that her daughter is not in a mood to talk to her right now, so she decides to change the topic of conversation.
"I've heard that you ran into an intruder today."
For a moment she stops brushing then resumes.
"Yes! Actually it was not me who ran into him he accidentally got stuck in one of my traps."
"Oh I see! He didn't touch you did he?" Her mother asks in concern.
"No! He didn't but why is that concerning?" Susan asks in surprise.
"Because the intruder is a filthy man and a young one no doubt." The Queen in anger replies.
"Then why do you imprison him within our castle I mean he is just a traveler can't you let him go"
"No! We cannot do that if we leave him be then there is a high chance that he might tell someone about our hidden city and if that were to happen the kingdoms of man may try to invade in order to take our treasures and our sisters. That is why I cannot risk the safety of my sisters."
Susan sees the worried expression on her mother's face and becomes curious not only she ignores her daughter but also she kept all of this secret from her. For Susan has never went beyond the borders of Feramor. That is why she has always been curious about the outside world.
"Mother I want to tell me everything you know and also I want to know why did you built a land for women, for us AZWAJ I want to know the truth." She looks at the queen with an expression of resentment that why? why was all of this kept hidden from her. The Queen looks at her daughter and notices that she is just like her when she was young.
"Fine! I wanted to tell you all this on your eighteenth birthday but is seems that I have no choice. The reason I built this place was because of men. Men are the curse of this world they are greedy, hungry and always lust for power, and I have seen their nature first hand and that is why I built this place in order to protect our sisters from their filthy hands because I don't want any of my sisters be defiled by their hands."
"And why is that mother?" Susan all confused after seeing the hate in her mother's eyes.
"It's because they don't see women as human beings they only see them as tool for pleasure. You may think that they have feelings for you after using you they will discard you like a used paper and then tend their attention to another like an animal in the wild."
After hearing all of this for the first time Susan is stunned and falls on her bed pelvis first and just sits there with her mind all distorted and dizzy. The Queen sits right beside her while Susan still thinks about Talion because to her he did not seem that kind of person as her mother described but now she does not know who to believe.
"Listen daughter you are going to become the next Queen of this land a heavy burden lies on your shoulders so don't pretend that it does not exist in the near future you will have to make hard choices for the good of our sisters so please take this matter seriously." She wraps her arm around her and gives her a kiss on the cheek.
"Mother what are you going to do to him, are you just going to punish him for accidently crossing our borders?" Hearing this she stands and walk towards the door.
"That would be decided tomorrow because I am going to arrange a meeting with our young prisoner in the royal hall tomorrow and all of the royal guards will act as witnesses and also I will be expecting you to be there as well you might be able to get a little experience by seeing the duties of a queen first hand and as for why he crossed our borders well will ask him ourselves for now get some sleep its almost mid night." Saying this she leaves her room.
Susan who is now all dazzled and confused with her mother's words circulating inside her mind she does not know who to believe, her gut feeling or her own mother. "Is this what life is all about?" She asks herself. She stands up and walk towards her mirror looks at herself straight in eye and asks herself "Is this what it means to be a queen? To hate the world around you in order to protect your land. No! This has to be wrong but if this is wrong than what is right. The truth! Yes!.....The truth is always right (she scowls) tomorrow I will find out the truth myself even if it means disobeying my mother and if I don't than I won't be able to call myself the next queen of this land."