Page 91 of Dewpoint
“It would be different forme?” She blinked at me a moment and chuckled. “Oh yes, after I’m wearing padding to lure men in like a whore. Tank tops on hot days that make me—yes, peoplewill be much more understanding forme.” She snorted. “It’s all ridiculous. Mating isn’t about lust. A woman can handle her own needs to—”
My cameraman started coughing to the extent he had to thump his chest and looked away from what he should be.
Sagan locked in on it and pointed to him. “Keep that in. I want that reaction in because it proves my point more than anything I could have said.”
“The sexism?” I checked.
She nodded. “Your biggest male nighttime anchor of the most watched news show constantly makes references to the size of his anatomy in varying ways that I find crass, but it’s always ‘locker room talk’ and ‘boys being boys.’ I make a statement—a normal, basic statement that I didn’t even get to finish that a woman can handle her own needs and he chokes on air.”
“I think maybe it was that it came from our queen,” I hedged, not sure I believed that but at least trying to give my colleague a way out later when this became an issue.
Because it would. The queen was making it one.
The look she gave me like she knew it was bullshit was amusing. “One could make that argument, but while the entire nation makes it clear they see me as a woman first before their ruler, it can’t be that way when it’s convenient for some. My point also still stands. A woman doesn’tmatebecause she’s lusty. She mates for love.
“We can handle our needs and lust—our urges just like men. I’m being pushed to mate so more men can have the title of prince, but I will be judged for it. Unless that changes, I won’t consider more than one mate even if they’re the most wonderful men ever. And I won’t have children until this nonsense of me being queen regent to the next king is handled.”
And with that, the interview was over. It was clear she was about to blow her temper or… Something. She muttered toplease excuse her and thanked me for my time. Not even going through the normal outro as she stood and said she had matters to attend to. She had her microphone off and on her seat before the rest of us could even react.
“Obviously, I’m going to need to see your final cut and make adjustments to—” Toni started to say.
“Don’t,” Princess Treena sighed. “Just don’t. She knows what she’s doing. She’s had it.” She stood and picked something off her pants that I was absolutely sure wasn’t actually there. “Maybe this is what will have Thovudin pull its head from its…” She shook her head. “She deserves so much better. I used to respect dragons and Thovudin. Now…”
“Obviously, that’s not on the record either,” Toni said quickly.
Treena gave Toni an amused but hostile look. “Would it matter if it was? I’m just an animal to over half your nation. They judge Sagan for having ananimalas her advisor and not even a male one. I have breasts in one of the most sexist countries in our world. What does it matter what I say?”
I’d always known Thovudin was sexist, but hearing the heir of another nation say it so bluntly and with such disgust… I really started to wonder if we were as bad as other countries were making us sound.
It irked me. It really did, so even after the segment was edited and aired, I didn’t even stick around to see the live feedback. I wanted to dig more into what Princess Treena and Queen Sagan were saying.
I decided to start at the beginning with Sagan and what I found was… Beyond shocking didn’t cover it. She wasastounding.
I knew she had degrees—master’s and doctorates—but what I didn’t know is she always had two or three going at the sametime. Always in multiple programs. She hadthreeundergrad degrees at the same time. In four years.
And she aced them all. Term papers and tests were public record through the universities. Other professors used her studies and papers asreferences. Her intelligence was that advanced and respected in other countries.
But in Thovudin, she was an ugly reject who no one had faith in and just expected to pop out a baby for the next king to be what we “needed.”
I thought about what to do with what I’d learned. My network was better than most but just as bad—just as sexist. Sagan was right about the male anchors and more.
Back and forth I went until I decided to do what I knew even if for once I did it without the recognition. I had enough of that in my career.
Now I did it for the future of Thovudin and other women who didn’t have the voice like my queen was fighting for. I went through several options but then found the domain name ChangeStartsWithSagan was available and it seemed… Perfect.
So I bought it and went to work.
If my queen could fight for my rights as a woman then so could I.
A lot of usshoulddo more instead of simply judging each other.
23
Sagan
The last thing I wanted to do was go on a date, especially in Thovudin when I was pretty much done with the whole nation… Which was saying a lot since I was the leader of it.
What Joris had said about wishing his life was different kept circling in my mind, but our situations were weren’t alike.
