"2566-03" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bigge Jerome - Warlady 4 - 2566 Ad)2566 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Three "Darlanis!" Gayle breathed in sudden shocked embarrassment, the tall golden haired ruler having without any warning suddenly pushed the door open and stepped into the room. The young Prince of Talon kneeling there before her, his head now buried between her spread open thighs licking away at her shaved love slit, her light blue silken gown drawn up over her hips. The surprised and somewhat "shocked" Empress of California quickly closing the door behind herself, then pressing her body up against it to insure privacy as she stood there trying to think of what to do next!!! "You should lock the door when you do things like that," the Empress breathed. The young Prince Carl Dai blushing as red as a beet as he quickly yanked his head out from between the Princess' provocatively open thighs! Gayle in turn quickly yanking her gown back down over herself as Darlanis stood there smiling to herself at the sight. She had suspected such "activities" might be going on, but she had thought that the Trelandarian Princess knew better than to "do" such things without first locking the door! The glow of sweat on Gayle's features leaving no doubt in the sexually experienced Empress' eyes of how far they had gone!! Gayle's pale blue silken strap there on the table told its story! "I didn't mean......!" Gayle breathed, terror showing in her azure eyes as she looked up into those of Darlanis. Her older sister, Maris Jord, was the very woman who was giving this lovely tall golden Empress so much "trouble" right now, and Gayle had no doubt that Darlanis might find such "revenge" sweet to the taste! Especially since she had been using the young Prince's "love" of her for her own sexual pleasures! And Darlanis no doubt knew it! "You're just `lucky' it was me and not Lorraine or his moth- er who saw this," Darlanis answered. She knew of such things, of what men "too much" in love with a woman would do if she "asked"! Gayle having no doubt read over "A KEY TO A WOMAN'S HEART", the "marriage manual" of the 26th Century written by some unknown au- thor way back in the year 1991 A.D.! The cool breeze through the palace windows gently now dispelling the tell-tale rich musk of Gayle's own sexual fluids that were smeared all over his face. "I love her, Darlanis," Carl said, putting his arms protec- tively about the beautiful teenage Princess that he "loved" like life itself. "She's the most `wonderful' girl I've ever known!" "Put an engagement ring on her finger before the sun sets or I will have a long `talk' with both Lorraine and your mother," the Empress snapped back. "And when you make love to her in the future, see that she `makes love back' and no more of this sort of stuff!" Darlanis being very much aware of what had gone on!!! "And wash your face before your mother or Lorraine smells that!!" she added with a "knowing" smile as she turned and opened the door to leave the two to now talk things over between themselves. The Empress of California having no doubt that they had "much" to speak of together now after being "caught" as they had just been! "You're a bit late," I smiled up to Darlanis as I sat on the leather covered sofa with the new Princess of Baja. The lovely and provocatively sensual "Lara of Trelandar" as she is often still called by those who "remember"! Dala Dai on the other side of me. Our three Princesses were elsewhere enjoying themselves on this occasion. Lynn putting a cut glass goblet filled with Darlanis' finest wine in her mistress' hand and then retiring to one side of the room where she sat staring out the window at the harbor and the anchored ships now waiting for escort. Dularn's commerce raiders of the "North" class being quite as fast as my three "Squalas"! Dala Dai nodding in greeting there at my side. She had agreed to come here more for my sake than for Darlanis'. "I had to `advise' a certain Prince and Princess about cer- tain matters," she smiled back, giving Lara a smile. Darlanis is a woman of whom legends are made. Lara is a near "clone" of a 20th Century actress by the name of Catherine Bach who was noted for her incredibly "sensual" appearance. Dala Dai is a very lovely "doll", a perfectly formed brunette. I tend to find my- self frequently surrounded by women all better looking than I am. On the other hand I do have raven dark hair and eyes that my hus- band says are very "intelligent". A slim and "trim" 5'9" figure. I am not a beautiful woman by any standards, especially not in the face, but some men, my husband for one, do find me quite at- tractive. "A comfort to have around", as he always says. I do also tend to be less "emotional" than most of my sex are, I feel. "There are yet those among my people who question my wisdom in forming an `alliance' like this with the Empire," Dala Dai smiled. It had taken all my negotiating skills to get her here! Talon would be part of a four-part military alliance with the Em- pire of California, Baja, and the Nevadas who controlled the country to the east of the Sierras. The area controlled by Leith being a "no man's land" where "visitors" are quite "unwelcome"! There are several thousand Montanas who could "vouch" for that!!! It is also filled with prehistoric gigantic reptiles, the result of certain "experiments" once carried out upon fossilized genes. "Lorraine has done much to bring us all `together'," Lara smiled. Her husband was the Prince of Baja. He had just assumed the throne after his mother, Princess Tara, was placed in "pro- tective custody" in the ruined city of Los Vegas under the watch- ful eye of the Nevadas. Princess Tara's involvements in criminal activities having hopefully now finally come to an end. Her mur- derously infamous career (she tried to kill both me and Darlanis) and the "war crimes" that she committed as the former Warlady of the Empire having been enough in almost anyone's eyes but Darla- nis' to have sent her to the execution block for her beheading! "`That' she has," Darlanis admitted, giving me a smile, the black leather weapons harness she wore seemingly so "fitting" on her. She was as much used to wearing a sword and dagger as I would have been back in the 20th Century having my purse with me. The dark blue formal gown she wore certainly did "display" her. Leaving no doubts that she was an incredibly "beautiful" woman! The sensual curves of that body beneath it a "Hefnerian dream"! It is said that she is the most beautiful woman of all time. I would say that she can hold her own with the best I've ever seen! "It's an entirely `new world' now," Lara smiled. She was wearing a fitted and provocatively cut green silk gown that left no doubt about what hid there under that clinging silk, her nip- ples being "outlined" beneath, which is considered quite "risque" here in 26th Century Californian society. There is a hint of red in the rich brown hair that frames that sensual face. She is about an inch shorter than me, but also "riper" and more "busty". Jon, my husband, once said of her one time that she can "make a baby cry"! She is often called "The Prostitute Princess" among other things due to her famous "past" as a well known Trelandar- ian woman of "easy virtue" before Jers Bisan married her last year and made her the Princess of Baja much against his mother's wishes. The couple having to almost "exile" themselves to escape his mother's wrath at the marriage. Now Tara was safely "locked up" where she could do no harm, and Lara could finally enjoy life as the new Princess of Baja there beside her royal young husband. "Not as `new' as I would have liked," I smiled back at her. Tais had put a halt to my plans to build a 54 gun heavy frigate. Darlanis had rather "delightedly" told me all about that earlier. "Perhaps it was just as well," Darlanis smiled back at me. "I prefer to live in a world where `skill' in defending yourself counts for more than the simple ability to pull a gun's trigger." I supposed she had a "point" there. I have often felt the same. "Like back in Lorraine's time when the private possession of personal weapons was outlawed," the Queen of Talon smiled back. I think she had her dates a bit "confused", although the private possession of firearms was actually outlawed early in the 21st Century. At least in the United States from what I know of it. It was not one of Janet Rogers' more "intelligent" acts. It is "easy" to "criticize", but Janet really did "do" what she could to make a better life for all of Humanity! And she did "succeed" for a few decades before war with the planet Mars ended it all!* * Her "New Order" was a "dictatorship", but a "benevolent" one. "One of her more famous `mistakes'," Darlanis smiled back as she sat down opposite from us three. I suspected Dala found my presence comforting with Darlanis there. There was still consid- erable "opposition" in Talon to this alliance of ours. Too many widows, widowers who yet "remembered" Darlanis' attempt a decade before to add Talon to her then brand new Empire of California! "The `myth' and the `reality'," Dala Dai now smiled in turn. The first world dictator was now only a "legend", sort of like "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" back in my own time. There were even novels, mostly laughable to one of the 20th Century who had "been there", that had been written of her. "I wonder if we're better off with the Priestesses than the Lorr," Lara ventured. The Priestesses of Lys had their own "in- tolerances", although they tended only to be directed against other religions and the practice of what is now called "witch- craft", but in my own time would have been considered more the study of the "paranormal" and the practice of hypnosis. I often used hypnosis in my own practice back in the 20th Century, but I dare not do so here after the "warning" that I was given by one of the Priestesses of Lys about the "practicing of `witchcraft'"! "That's a ridiculous statement," Dala laughed, "The Priest- esses are after all human beings, while the Lorr are nothing but `bugs'," the Queen of Talon laughed back, sipping at her drink. "My ---," Darlanis breathed, stopping herself, although I knew what she was going to say. Aurora had spoken much of what she'd seen there on the Moon. I wondered if Tais was really "hu- man" after "what" she'd become. The Priestesses tended to run a "benevolent" religious dictatorship much like that of the Roman Catholic Church back in the Middle Ages. In a way they "ruled" Mankind as much as the Lorr had done from their orbiting ships. I also "knew" Raspa, the First Princess of the Lorr in a way that none other but Aurora herself knew her. I did not consider Raspa a "bug" even if she did look like a ten foot long carpenter ant! "The Priestesses `are' what they 'are'," I interjected then. I bore Tais no dislike, having met her the year before, but on the other hand I did not feel that Mankind was much better off under their rule than we'd been under the "claw" of the Lorr. It is, I suppose, a part of my "makeup" that I do not really care that much for "organized religion", although I realize how neces- sary it is if one is to maintain any semblance of "social order". The social breakup of American society in the last decade of the 20th Century which "paved the way" for Janet Rogers' "NEW ORDER" is proof that Mankind "needs" something to "believe in". A point that I myself pointed out to Janet Rogers some months before that "epic flight" of mine that ended up here in the 26th Century! I do believe in "GOD", especially after having met HER on Mars, but I still feel that the Priestesses' hostility towards "technology" tends to be quite unreasoning and perhaps even a bit irrational! "I understand that Aurora will be here," Lara then spoke, changing the subject, there being little "doubt" in my mind that Dala had "spoken" as she had because she didn't much "like" Lara. Perhaps because Lara had not worn "nipple clips" when she should have done so. Such is not something a woman of Lara's "position" should have done, but I did not think it my "place" to comment. I knew that Talon tended to be rather "strait-laced" when it came to sex, Dularn being another example, and Lara's failure to wear "clips" over her nipples was of course a social "blunder" here. Only a woman of "low moral character" ever exposes her nipples in public there under her clothing, I was once told by Darlanis. I have no "explanation" for all of this, although the wearing of clips over your nipples dates back a long ways to before The War. "She is a person of high authority on Mars," Darlanis an- swered, keeping "secret" of course her own relationship to her. Aurora is a beautiful woman, and I have no doubt that Prince Paul found her "excitingly different" from his own wife Queen Tulis. Aurora's "alieness", her "education", all would have made her a delightful "mistress" to a man married to a warrior woman such as Tulis. Somewhat the same sort of "relationship" was starting to "develop" between Bob Simmons and me before his wife interfered. Carol being a "sensual delight", but not a "intellectual person". "And a good friend," I added for my golden haired Empress. Darlanis nodding, giving me a smile. It was a secret we shared. Darlanis and I are very close. We have stood together in battle, our swords wet with the lifeblood of our foes. We share caste. Such is "important" to us who bear the "mark" of the Warrioress. "You do have some rather unusual `friends'," Dala replied. "It's time we joined the others," Darlanis said, getting up. Wisely putting a halt to such "conversation" before it got "out of hand". There was little "love" between Darlanis and Dala Dai. Neither woman really felt "comfortable" in the other's presence. Ten years ago they had been deadly enemies. Many lives had been lost on either side. Such hatreds run deep. Darlanis had killed Dala's husband, left her a widow with children to raise. It was not easy for the little Queen to have to deal with Darlanis now. "You are beautiful as always," Jon said to me, setting down his glass and walking over to me. I smiled at his "flattery". I know he has no love for Darlanis, since he considers her respon- sible in a way for the death of his first wife, who he says I do resemble to a certain degree. She had been of the Physicians. A woman of Dularn. A month from giving birth when she had been "butchered" by Imperial forces under the command of Princess Tara. Dozens of candles and lamps now lit up the paneled room nicely. The actual ceremony of the signing of the treaty between Talon and the Empire would take place below in the palace throne room. I wondered if Tais would attend. She was Earth's "ruler". The Priestesses of Lys have the "power" of "teleportation", al- though they don't use it often as it requires the mental efforts of many to teleport one of their kind from one place to another. The Women of Mars have developed a form of "Gateway" that allows one to travel between worlds without the use of spaceships. Such had been used in their recent "Revolution" to transport me from the Earth to Mars where I fought at the side of Raspa against her own race on behalf of the Women. Raspa told me that the Lorr were better off living with the Women as "equals" instead of as their "Servitors" as they had been before. Raspa, like me, spoke with SHE there on the surface of Mars, changing both our lives. "I wondered where Gayle and Carl went?" Sharon said as she strolled over to me. She was the Imperial Princess, Darlanis' legal heir to the throne of empire. Blonde and blue eyed like her Empress and a beautiful young woman of seventeen. I nodded, smiled, told her they were probably somewhere "around". I had let Darlanis take her from me to raise last year. Make her into her own daughter. There is from time to time a certain degree of "emotional pain" whenever I see her. Think of her. Remember the "good times" we had together back in the 20th Century before we flew through the mysterious "Gateway" to this new world! Yet I have no doubts that I did the "right thing" as Darlanis is a far better "mother" to her than I could be, and Sharon "loves" Darla- nis as she could have never "loved" me. It is not something that I can explain further, but I do feel that I did the right thing. "It's a big place," I smiled, puzzled a bit now. I did not see Gayle, my own foster daughter, or the young Prince of Talon anywhere about. I saw Prince Serak of the Nevadas with Darlanis. "The Beauty and the Barbarian" the newspapers called it. There was now war between the Nevadas and the Montanas, the latter be- ing supplied with Dularnian weapons against the Nevadas. I wor- ried a bit about Mexico, what that "Empire" might do now. Sela Dai, the Crown Princess of Talon, talking to the lovely Lara and her husband Prince Jers Bisan of Baja. She is taller than her mother by a couple inches, but still a rather "smallish" woman, a very exquisite brunette, and perfectly formed. She wore a lovely pure white gown that contrasted well with the rich tan of her skin. I recalled that she had once been "helplessly" in love with Jers. That had been when she had been a "companion" of Princess Tara's. Princess Tara having abused Sela's love for her son for her own gain. Dala had told me much of the "relation- ship", of the fact she had "turned" to Princess Tara's Baja as "protection" from the Empire of California. The "politics" here are puzzling, I admit! Especially considering Tara's reputation! "I do not think this war is really of Maris' own choosing," Sharon said to me, her silky blue gown clinging to her ripening figure and leaving no doubts of what laid there beneath it. Jon nodding. He was Dularnian. It was his country that would even- tually be feeling the wrath of the Empire of California. Whose lovely young women would soon be kneeling in Californian slave markets begging for a man's collar to be locked about their fair throats. A good percentage would have that lovely golden hair that is almost now the "trademark" of a Dularnian woman. Its "exotic" qualities here in California made them seem the most de- sirable of slave girls. Personally I do not feel there is any difference between a "blonde" and a "brunette", but I do know a number of men who do claim that Dularnian women are "better"! "You're not wearing any `clips'," Sharon ventured then. One could if they looked closely see my nipples outlined beneath the silk of my gown. It is considered quite "risque" to do such a thing here in the 26th Century, most women always covering their nipples by means of lovely circular "clips" fitted to the nipple. I had done so just to "upset" Darlanis and the others just a bit. Lara was "bare nippled" under her gown, but one "expected" it with a woman like her. Sharon was of course wearing her "clips". Darlanis would have "seen" to that. She is a good mother. Dala had not said "anything" about it to me, although I suppose that she had noticed. One should also remember here that Lara married the man that Dala's daughter was hoping to marry. No doubt Sela's mother had hoped that her daughter would marry, and later bear a daughter to carry on the royal line, which like in Dularn, is carried on down through the eldest daughter. There are "rea- sons" for this, but I do not consider them to be too "rational". "Ohh!" Sharon suddenly breathed out, her azure eyes wide with surprise. As I spun about, several people in the room gasp- ing with surprise, there stood Tais, First Priestess of the Priestesses of Lys, her diamond studded golden ankh gleaming in the lamplight against the lovely pure whiteness of her long gown! Her very appearance once again instantly "reminding" me of "SHE"! Of that immortal Being who is the true Mistress of the Universe! And at her side stood Aurora, Leaderess of the Women of Mars and at her other side stood Raspa, the First Princess of the Lorr!!! 2566 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Three "Darlanis!" Gayle breathed in sudden shocked embarrassment, the tall golden haired ruler having without any warning suddenly pushed the door open and stepped into the room. The young Prince of Talon kneeling there before her, his head now buried between her spread open thighs licking away at her shaved love slit, her light blue silken gown drawn up over her hips. The surprised and somewhat "shocked" Empress of California quickly closing the door behind herself, then pressing her body up against it to insure privacy as she stood there trying to think of what to do next!!! "You should lock the door when you do things like that," the Empress breathed. The young Prince Carl Dai blushing as red as a beet as he quickly yanked his head out from between the Princess' provocatively open thighs! Gayle in turn quickly yanking her gown back down over herself as Darlanis stood there smiling to herself at the sight. She had suspected such "activities" might be going on, but she had thought that the Trelandarian Princess knew better than to "do" such things without first locking the door! The glow of sweat on Gayle's features leaving no doubt in the sexually experienced Empress' eyes of how far they had gone!! Gayle's pale blue silken strap there on the table told its story! "I didn't mean......!" Gayle breathed, terror showing in her azure eyes as she looked up into those of Darlanis. Her older sister, Maris Jord, was the very woman who was giving this lovely tall golden Empress so much "trouble" right now, and Gayle had no doubt that Darlanis might find such "revenge" sweet to the taste! Especially since she had been using the young Prince's "love" of her for her own sexual pleasures! And Darlanis no doubt knew it! "You're just `lucky' it was me and not Lorraine or his moth- er who saw this," Darlanis answered. She knew of such things, of what men "too much" in love with a woman would do if she "asked"! Gayle having no doubt read over "A KEY TO A WOMAN'S HEART", the "marriage manual" of the 26th Century written by some unknown au- thor way back in the year 1991 A.D.! The cool breeze through the palace windows gently now dispelling the tell-tale rich musk of Gayle's own sexual fluids that were smeared all over his face. "I love her, Darlanis," Carl said, putting his arms protec- tively about the beautiful teenage Princess that he "loved" like life itself. "She's the most `wonderful' girl I've ever known!" "Put an engagement ring on her finger before the sun sets or I will have a long `talk' with both Lorraine and your mother," the Empress snapped back. "And when you make love to her in the future, see that she `makes love back' and no more of this sort of stuff!" Darlanis being very much aware of what had gone on!!! "And wash your face before your mother or Lorraine smells that!!" she added with a "knowing" smile as she turned and opened the door to leave the two to now talk things over between themselves. The Empress of California having no doubt that they had "much" to speak of together now after being "caught" as they had just been! "You're a bit late," I smiled up to Darlanis as I sat on the leather covered sofa with the new Princess of Baja. The lovely and provocatively sensual "Lara of Trelandar" as she is often still called by those who "remember"! Dala Dai on the other side of me. Our three Princesses were elsewhere enjoying themselves on this occasion. Lynn putting a cut glass goblet filled with Darlanis' finest wine in her mistress' hand and then retiring to one side of the room where she sat staring out the window at the harbor and the anchored ships now waiting for escort. Dularn's commerce raiders of the "North" class being quite as fast as my three "Squalas"! Dala Dai nodding in greeting there at my side. She had agreed to come here more for my sake than for Darlanis'. "I had to `advise' a certain Prince and Princess about cer- tain matters," she smiled back, giving Lara a smile. Darlanis is a woman of whom legends are made. Lara is a near "clone" of a 20th Century actress by the name of Catherine Bach who was noted for her incredibly "sensual" appearance. Dala Dai is a very lovely "doll", a perfectly formed brunette. I tend to find my- self frequently surrounded by women all better looking than I am. On the other hand I do have raven dark hair and eyes that my hus- band says are very "intelligent". A slim and "trim" 5'9" figure. I am not a beautiful woman by any standards, especially not in the face, but some men, my husband for one, do find me quite at- tractive. "A comfort to have around", as he always says. I do also tend to be less "emotional" than most of my sex are, I feel. "There are yet those among my people who question my wisdom in forming an `alliance' like this with the Empire," Dala Dai smiled. It had taken all my negotiating skills to get her here! Talon would be part of a four-part military alliance with the Em- pire of California, Baja, and the Nevadas who controlled the country to the east of the Sierras. The area controlled by Leith being a "no man's land" where "visitors" are quite "unwelcome"! There are several thousand Montanas who could "vouch" for that!!! It is also filled with prehistoric gigantic reptiles, the result of certain "experiments" once carried out upon fossilized genes. "Lorraine has done much to bring us all `together'," Lara smiled. Her husband was the Prince of Baja. He had just assumed the throne after his mother, Princess Tara, was placed in "pro- tective custody" in the ruined city of Los Vegas under the watch- ful eye of the Nevadas. Princess Tara's involvements in criminal activities having hopefully now finally come to an end. Her mur- derously infamous career (she tried to kill both me and Darlanis) and the "war crimes" that she committed as the former Warlady of the Empire having been enough in almost anyone's eyes but Darla- nis' to have sent her to the execution block for her beheading! "`That' she has," Darlanis admitted, giving me a smile, the black leather weapons harness she wore seemingly so "fitting" on her. She was as much used to wearing a sword and dagger as I would have been back in the 20th Century having my purse with me. The dark blue formal gown she wore certainly did "display" her. Leaving no doubts that she was an incredibly "beautiful" woman! The sensual curves of that body beneath it a "Hefnerian dream"! It is said that she is the most beautiful woman of all time. I would say that she can hold her own with the best I've ever seen! "It's an entirely `new world' now," Lara smiled. She was wearing a fitted and provocatively cut green silk gown that left no doubt about what hid there under that clinging silk, her nip- ples being "outlined" beneath, which is considered quite "risque" here in 26th Century Californian society. There is a hint of red in the rich brown hair that frames that sensual face. She is about an inch shorter than me, but also "riper" and more "busty". Jon, my husband, once said of her one time that she can "make a baby cry"! She is often called "The Prostitute Princess" among other things due to her famous "past" as a well known Trelandar- ian woman of "easy virtue" before Jers Bisan married her last year and made her the Princess of Baja much against his mother's wishes. The couple having to almost "exile" themselves to escape his mother's wrath at the marriage. Now Tara was safely "locked up" where she could do no harm, and Lara could finally enjoy life as the new Princess of Baja there beside her royal young husband. "Not as `new' as I would have liked," I smiled back at her. Tais had put a halt to my plans to build a 54 gun heavy frigate. Darlanis had rather "delightedly" told me all about that earlier. "Perhaps it was just as well," Darlanis smiled back at me. "I prefer to live in a world where `skill' in defending yourself counts for more than the simple ability to pull a gun's trigger." I supposed she had a "point" there. I have often felt the same. "Like back in Lorraine's time when the private possession of personal weapons was outlawed," the Queen of Talon smiled back. I think she had her dates a bit "confused", although the private possession of firearms was actually outlawed early in the 21st Century. At least in the United States from what I know of it. It was not one of Janet Rogers' more "intelligent" acts. It is "easy" to "criticize", but Janet really did "do" what she could to make a better life for all of Humanity! And she did "succeed" for a few decades before war with the planet Mars ended it all!* * Her "New Order" was a "dictatorship", but a "benevolent" one. "One of her more famous `mistakes'," Darlanis smiled back as she sat down opposite from us three. I suspected Dala found my presence comforting with Darlanis there. There was still consid- erable "opposition" in Talon to this alliance of ours. Too many widows, widowers who yet "remembered" Darlanis' attempt a decade before to add Talon to her then brand new Empire of California! "The `myth' and the `reality'," Dala Dai now smiled in turn. The first world dictator was now only a "legend", sort of like "King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table" back in my own time. There were even novels, mostly laughable to one of the 20th Century who had "been there", that had been written of her. "I wonder if we're better off with the Priestesses than the Lorr," Lara ventured. The Priestesses of Lys had their own "in- tolerances", although they tended only to be directed against other religions and the practice of what is now called "witch- craft", but in my own time would have been considered more the study of the "paranormal" and the practice of hypnosis. I often used hypnosis in my own practice back in the 20th Century, but I dare not do so here after the "warning" that I was given by one of the Priestesses of Lys about the "practicing of `witchcraft'"! "That's a ridiculous statement," Dala laughed, "The Priest- esses are after all human beings, while the Lorr are nothing but `bugs'," the Queen of Talon laughed back, sipping at her drink. "My ---," Darlanis breathed, stopping herself, although I knew what she was going to say. Aurora had spoken much of what she'd seen there on the Moon. I wondered if Tais was really "hu- man" after "what" she'd become. The Priestesses tended to run a "benevolent" religious dictatorship much like that of the Roman Catholic Church back in the Middle Ages. In a way they "ruled" Mankind as much as the Lorr had done from their orbiting ships. I also "knew" Raspa, the First Princess of the Lorr in a way that none other but Aurora herself knew her. I did not consider Raspa a "bug" even if she did look like a ten foot long carpenter ant! "The Priestesses `are' what they 'are'," I interjected then. I bore Tais no dislike, having met her the year before, but on the other hand I did not feel that Mankind was much better off under their rule than we'd been under the "claw" of the Lorr. It is, I suppose, a part of my "makeup" that I do not really care that much for "organized religion", although I realize how neces- sary it is if one is to maintain any semblance of "social order". The social breakup of American society in the last decade of the 20th Century which "paved the way" for Janet Rogers' "NEW ORDER" is proof that Mankind "needs" something to "believe in". A point that I myself pointed out to Janet Rogers some months before that "epic flight" of mine that ended up here in the 26th Century! I do believe in "GOD", especially after having met HER on Mars, but I still feel that the Priestesses' hostility towards "technology" tends to be quite unreasoning and perhaps even a bit irrational! "I understand that Aurora will be here," Lara then spoke, changing the subject, there being little "doubt" in my mind that Dala had "spoken" as she had because she didn't much "like" Lara. Perhaps because Lara had not worn "nipple clips" when she should have done so. Such is not something a woman of Lara's "position" should have done, but I did not think it my "place" to comment. I knew that Talon tended to be rather "strait-laced" when it came to sex, Dularn being another example, and Lara's failure to wear "clips" over her nipples was of course a social "blunder" here. Only a woman of "low moral character" ever exposes her nipples in public there under her clothing, I was once told by Darlanis. I have no "explanation" for all of this, although the wearing of clips over your nipples dates back a long ways to before The War. "She is a person of high authority on Mars," Darlanis an- swered, keeping "secret" of course her own relationship to her. Aurora is a beautiful woman, and I have no doubt that Prince Paul found her "excitingly different" from his own wife Queen Tulis. Aurora's "alieness", her "education", all would have made her a delightful "mistress" to a man married to a warrior woman such as Tulis. Somewhat the same sort of "relationship" was starting to "develop" between Bob Simmons and me before his wife interfered. Carol being a "sensual delight", but not a "intellectual person". "And a good friend," I added for my golden haired Empress. Darlanis nodding, giving me a smile. It was a secret we shared. Darlanis and I are very close. We have stood together in battle, our swords wet with the lifeblood of our foes. We share caste. Such is "important" to us who bear the "mark" of the Warrioress. "You do have some rather unusual `friends'," Dala replied. "It's time we joined the others," Darlanis said, getting up. Wisely putting a halt to such "conversation" before it got "out of hand". There was little "love" between Darlanis and Dala Dai. Neither woman really felt "comfortable" in the other's presence. Ten years ago they had been deadly enemies. Many lives had been lost on either side. Such hatreds run deep. Darlanis had killed Dala's husband, left her a widow with children to raise. It was not easy for the little Queen to have to deal with Darlanis now. "You are beautiful as always," Jon said to me, setting down his glass and walking over to me. I smiled at his "flattery". I know he has no love for Darlanis, since he considers her respon- sible in a way for the death of his first wife, who he says I do resemble to a certain degree. She had been of the Physicians. A woman of Dularn. A month from giving birth when she had been "butchered" by Imperial forces under the command of Princess Tara. Dozens of candles and lamps now lit up the paneled room nicely. The actual ceremony of the signing of the treaty between Talon and the Empire would take place below in the palace throne room. I wondered if Tais would attend. She was Earth's "ruler". The Priestesses of Lys have the "power" of "teleportation", al- though they don't use it often as it requires the mental efforts of many to teleport one of their kind from one place to another. The Women of Mars have developed a form of "Gateway" that allows one to travel between worlds without the use of spaceships. Such had been used in their recent "Revolution" to transport me from the Earth to Mars where I fought at the side of Raspa against her own race on behalf of the Women. Raspa told me that the Lorr were better off living with the Women as "equals" instead of as their "Servitors" as they had been before. Raspa, like me, spoke with SHE there on the surface of Mars, changing both our lives. "I wondered where Gayle and Carl went?" Sharon said as she strolled over to me. She was the Imperial Princess, Darlanis' legal heir to the throne of empire. Blonde and blue eyed like her Empress and a beautiful young woman of seventeen. I nodded, smiled, told her they were probably somewhere "around". I had let Darlanis take her from me to raise last year. Make her into her own daughter. There is from time to time a certain degree of "emotional pain" whenever I see her. Think of her. Remember the "good times" we had together back in the 20th Century before we flew through the mysterious "Gateway" to this new world! Yet I have no doubts that I did the "right thing" as Darlanis is a far better "mother" to her than I could be, and Sharon "loves" Darla- nis as she could have never "loved" me. It is not something that I can explain further, but I do feel that I did the right thing. "It's a big place," I smiled, puzzled a bit now. I did not see Gayle, my own foster daughter, or the young Prince of Talon anywhere about. I saw Prince Serak of the Nevadas with Darlanis. "The Beauty and the Barbarian" the newspapers called it. There was now war between the Nevadas and the Montanas, the latter be- ing supplied with Dularnian weapons against the Nevadas. I wor- ried a bit about Mexico, what that "Empire" might do now. Sela Dai, the Crown Princess of Talon, talking to the lovely Lara and her husband Prince Jers Bisan of Baja. She is taller than her mother by a couple inches, but still a rather "smallish" woman, a very exquisite brunette, and perfectly formed. She wore a lovely pure white gown that contrasted well with the rich tan of her skin. I recalled that she had once been "helplessly" in love with Jers. That had been when she had been a "companion" of Princess Tara's. Princess Tara having abused Sela's love for her son for her own gain. Dala had told me much of the "relation- ship", of the fact she had "turned" to Princess Tara's Baja as "protection" from the Empire of California. The "politics" here are puzzling, I admit! Especially considering Tara's reputation! "I do not think this war is really of Maris' own choosing," Sharon said to me, her silky blue gown clinging to her ripening figure and leaving no doubts of what laid there beneath it. Jon nodding. He was Dularnian. It was his country that would even- tually be feeling the wrath of the Empire of California. Whose lovely young women would soon be kneeling in Californian slave markets begging for a man's collar to be locked about their fair throats. A good percentage would have that lovely golden hair that is almost now the "trademark" of a Dularnian woman. Its "exotic" qualities here in California made them seem the most de- sirable of slave girls. Personally I do not feel there is any difference between a "blonde" and a "brunette", but I do know a number of men who do claim that Dularnian women are "better"! "You're not wearing any `clips'," Sharon ventured then. One could if they looked closely see my nipples outlined beneath the silk of my gown. It is considered quite "risque" to do such a thing here in the 26th Century, most women always covering their nipples by means of lovely circular "clips" fitted to the nipple. I had done so just to "upset" Darlanis and the others just a bit. Lara was "bare nippled" under her gown, but one "expected" it with a woman like her. Sharon was of course wearing her "clips". Darlanis would have "seen" to that. She is a good mother. Dala had not said "anything" about it to me, although I suppose that she had noticed. One should also remember here that Lara married the man that Dala's daughter was hoping to marry. No doubt Sela's mother had hoped that her daughter would marry, and later bear a daughter to carry on the royal line, which like in Dularn, is carried on down through the eldest daughter. There are "rea- sons" for this, but I do not consider them to be too "rational". "Ohh!" Sharon suddenly breathed out, her azure eyes wide with surprise. As I spun about, several people in the room gasp- ing with surprise, there stood Tais, First Priestess of the Priestesses of Lys, her diamond studded golden ankh gleaming in the lamplight against the lovely pure whiteness of her long gown! Her very appearance once again instantly "reminding" me of "SHE"! Of that immortal Being who is the true Mistress of the Universe! And at her side stood Aurora, Leaderess of the Women of Mars and at her other side stood Raspa, the First Princess of the Lorr!!! |
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