Who: Stahma What: Another dream that makes her question life. When: Friday Where: Her mansion Warnings: Mentions of death by being flushed out an airlock, otherwise low Status: Narrative; complete upon posting
Well it certainly seemed that her dreams had not stopped yet. Not that she'd expected the last one to be an ending to them, but the lull had been nice. She'd been able to forget her dream self was an alien from some distant planet. She wasn't certain how to accept the fact that she was an alien in the dreams. It was something she was keeping to herself, which was potentially a mistake, but it was not something she really wanted to talk about for multiple reasons.
And yet as she sat in her living room with some tea, she found herself mulling over the dream she'd had the previous. Datak had shown up in them. He was every bit as scruffy and rugged as he had been when she'd first met him back in Moscow all those years ago. He was also an alien in these dreams, the same species that she was but he was from one of the lowest castes while she'd been from the highest. And yet she'd found herself drawn to him as he vigorously pursued her. It had angered her betrothed, her Man of Great Honor, and he'd challenged Datak to a duel. Well, Stahma hadn't been willing to take the chance her betrothed might actually kill Datak, a man she deemed as the kind of man she needed. So she had taken matters into her own hands and "accidentally" flushed her betrothed out of an airlock. That had all but left her to be with Datak as her parents no longer were there to dictate what she could or could not do.
Stahma smirked slightly, knowing her dream self had the same line of thought she herself did. They both knew the kind of man they needed and wanted better than their parents. Stahma wanted to be far more than her father's pawn in a political marriage that would have elevated his own name further. She had her own needs and desires, and Datak fulfilled them. Even if he tended to mistreat her and their son at times and he was quick to anger, Stahma still loved him fiercely underneath it all. But she also had feelings for Kenya, and there was less ego involved between them than there was with her and Datak.
Still, she had to marvel at how her life here was being mirrored in her dreams. The details so far seemed to be the same, just different cultures. It left Stahma wondering what her dreams held in the future. She was en route to a new home planet, but it would be a very long journey to get there. Life on the new world would be vastly different from life on Casti, she had no doubt of that. Arriving there with next to nothing, they would need to build their own settlements. It would be a very difficult transition period, but Stahma had faith that with Datak at her side, they would survive. She would survive.
Despite not wanting to talk about them, Stahma found these dreams to be somewhat amusing commentary on her life here. Even in her dreams she'd defied her father's wishes for her and chose her own path in life. Besides, her brother and sister had both made political marriages for their father's name. Stahma was the odd one out, but she was more than content with that. She had her own machinations, even if she still at times needed her father's approval and support in things. Besides, he had a grandson through her, and unless her sister would have a son one day, Alak was the male descendant her father had. That fact gave Stahma no small amount of smugness that she had that to hold over her father. The times when she could fight back against his wishes and he tried to remind her of the dishonor she brought on him, she'd remind him that she had given him a grandson.
But even with being in a male-dominated way of life, Stahma still had the strength to assert herself and her power. And anyone who tried to stand against her would be sorry. Or if someone happened to stand between her and what she wanted, they may just get flushed out of a proverbial airlock themselves.