"CHAP-32" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 3 - The Queen Of Swords)THE QUEEN OF SWORDS! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Thirty Two "You have a lovely city," An'na of Mars commented as she stood there on the rooftop of the royal palace of Talon and looked over the city surrounding it. The lovely small lake there in front of the white marble structure adding its own beauty to the loveliness of the scene. "One equal to any found anywhere." "You should know," the Queen of Talon smiled back, the sun now setting there in the west over the distant mountains that di- vided her country from Trelandar to the west. Talon lies in a valley that runs north and south between two mountain ranges. It is well known for its famous wines among other items of repute. There beside them stood a tall dark haired woman, the "look" in her eyes leaving no doubt that she had "seen" things few ever had. A pair of lovely teenage blonde Princesses on either side. The dark haired woman's arms about them both, holding them close. On the interior of her right wrist the mark of the Warrioress. A stylized sword, its point facing "outwards" towards an enemy foe. "I grow `weary of war'," Lorraine said in level tones. She had come close to dying there on Mars. Her body now even more scarred than before. Lorraine wondered when it would all "end"? "Without you to stand at Raspa's side we would have `lost' all," An'na said. She knew the "truth" of what had happened on Mars. It had been only the awesome Warlady's own fighting skills that had "turned the tide" against those who had opposed Raspa! "I'm just `lucky' the Lorr don't `see' as well as we do," Lorraine smiled. It had been "poor marksmanship" that had saved her from the laser beam. Even so her leg was still "painful" and would remain so for some time yet to come despite the drugs she had been given to ease the discomfort of her third degree burns! "There is `something bothering you'," Lorraine said, putting her hand on the shoulder of the little Queen of Talon later that night after many had sought the comforts of their beds. The Moon rising over the mountains to the east, the Starfire a gleaming cylinder there on the plaza, its hull unmarked from the battles it had been in. An'na herself was "different" than before too, Lorraine had noticed. She was actually only a little older than either Gayle or Sharon, but like the two Princesses, she had seen death and destruction first hand. The destiny of two worlds had been forever changed by the battle the night before up in space! "We fought a war with Darlanis that cost Talon a high price, and now Darlanis only needs to `ask' her mother and anything she wants will be `hers'!" Dala's dark eyes burning up into hers as the Warlady nodded, understanding much of what Queen Dala felt!!! ***************************************************************** "For an `Empress' you make love like a slave girl," Serak said to me, gently caressing me back "down" after we had just made love there in our own teepee. He had "used" me very well! "Would you prefer any other kind for your wife?" I teased him back, my body damp with sweat from making love. I "sweat" profusely when I make love. It is due more, I think, to some re- action of my body to the sexual act as such than anything else. On the other hand I am not a woman who just "lies there" either! "I see that Pussycat will have to look to her laurels," he laughed, then biting my lower lip to make it swell a bit. Mark- ing me as being "used". My own bite marks along his neck would be quite visible there in the firelight around the campfire. There would be no "doubts". I wanted it exactly that way too. I was very much in love with him. I wanted everybody to know that we made love. That he "had" me on a frequent basis, and that was exactly the way that I wanted it to be. I have strong "drives". "I also have an `Empire' to offer," I pointed out to him. As my Prince-Consort he could enjoy the glories of my Imperial realm. It was true that since the Revolution I didn't have quite the power of life and death over people that I had before, but I still was the woman who "made the decisions", the woman whose or- ders men obeyed. I thought that I had a lot to "offer" any man. "That is a `point' in your favor," he laughed, holding me. "And I am also a beautiful blonde," I added, kissing him. "Who wears the most delightful of clothing," Serak laughed. My golden mesh attire did well display the perfection of my body. "I am a very lucky man to have such riches, such beauty," he laughed, caressing me, touching me. I fear that in his hands I am nearly insatiable. I felt a couple of his fingers slip up in- side me. Into the hot sticky moistness there between my thighs. The chief had posted guards, although there was but little danger in my eyes. The mutants were all dead now. The hidden city of Leith now only a memory of things neither of us would ever for- get. I recalled the "fighting" there in Deimos. How Serak had crawled around behind that Lorr Warrioress, and used Aurora's pistol to kill the horror before it killed anymore! And tomorrow we would fly on to Vegas, Leith having replaced the propeller for us. There was yet adequate alcohol for the trip. I had patched the hole the crossbow bolt had made with materials from Leith. We had returned to the village that morning in one of Leith's saucers. Spent the day together, glad to be alive after every- thing! Our memories yet vivid of our battle there inside Deimos. A battle that had altered the destinies of two worlds for all time to come. Yet, I wondered how "much" had really "changed"? "I am a lucky woman to have a MAN like you," I answered, my arms around his neck, my mouth wet, hot, moistly seeking his own. His bravery, courage in following me to Leith ample proof of his manhood. In combat he had been fearless, and a "born leader". I recalled his killing of the Lorr Warrioress after the creature had killed several of the Women. It had been "dug in" among the rocks where our bullets were ineffective against it. Aurora's rocket launcher and its anti-matter missiles being far too "de- structive" to be used against such a "target" at close range. I had watched Serak, my heart in my mouth in concern for him, work his way around eventually to a point where he might shoot the gi- gantic ant that had pinned us all down with its own laser fire. Aurora had smilingly made a comment about "Indians" that I had not really "cared for", but felt it best to keep my mouth shut. "You are the 'woman of my dreams', Azure Eyes," he laughed, rolling me over on top of him, looking up into my shadowed face. "The woman for which any red-blooded man would take on the Lorr themselves for!" I reflected that he done just that on Deimos!!! ***************************************************************** "I wonder what will happen now," Sharon spoke to the shad- owed figure of her stepmother as the two stood there on the roof of the royal palace of Talon. Was Man now free of the domination of the Lorr, or had Man merely exchanged "masters" for one per- haps more physically attractive, but just as "alien" as the Lorr? "We are not yet `masters of our own destiny'," Lorraine spoke. There would be a new Lorr Triad, a new political system for the Women. The Earth would still be considered a "barbarian" world filled with dangerous and savage blood-thirsty warriors! "At least Darlanis' mother will be the one running things," Sharon smiled back, well aware now of Aurora's true "status" as the Leaderess of the Women. A woman who would now with Raspa of the Lorr shape the future destinies of two worlds, and two races. "There is I now believe a `third force' involved here that no one has yet considered," Lorraine spoke suddenly there in the darkness. "And the Priestesses of Lys have yet to have their say in matters." The woman from the now mythical past recalling some certain "incidents" she knew of that told much of the Priestesses and their own "powers". And then there were the mysterious "Oth- ers" that the Lorr had feared for centuries now. Who were they? ***************************************************************** Aurora was tired, although "exhausted" might be a better term considering all that she had been through in the past forty eight hours. Even with the stimulants she had taken, she was still feeling the "effects" of going far too long without sleep! Of trying to deal with all the problems caused by their "REVOLU- TION". There were a number of high ranking Women who had to have their "hands held" and gently told "what to do" when they should have been taking care of things on their own and not "bothering" her about them! And her several trips through the "Portal" had not helped either, especially not with the necessary changes in atmospheric pressures between Earth, Mars, and the Moon! Thus it may be said that when Arlena came dashing into Aurora's office in Leith that Aurora wasn't all that "delighted" just then to see her, or to even listen to any more "troubles" than she now had!!! "Aurora!" Arlena gasped, "You won't believe what I saw only a few minutes ago!" Aurora giving her the sort of a "look" that left no doubt that she wasn't really all that "delighted" about such news either! Arlena gasping a bit, perhaps from the sudden change in air pressure in coming from her own Farside to Leith!!! "We've been `invaded' by aliens from another star system?" Aurora asked sarcastically, rather "annoyed" by the interruption. Arlena was a good friend who she'd known for years, but just then Aurora was in no mood to be "bothered" by anyone for "anything"!! "There was a woman walking around outside on the surface looking at the Valkyrie!" Arlena gasped, "And the Lorr commander of the battle-disc saw it too!" the beautiful blonde then added. "And she wasn't wearing any SPACESUIT!" Arlena's lovely gray eyes much like her beloved daughter's now burning into Aurora's!! "As I recall it is possible to step out on to the surface of the Moon for a few seconds without a space suit," Aurora replied. "There have been a few `idiots' who have managed to stay out there on the surface for several minutes without killing them- selves." The tone of Aurora's voice leaving no doubt that she considered this entire matter just a matter of someone pulling such a trick on the Leaderess of Farside! "If you build up the oxygen content of your blood first you can do such a thing easi- ly, although it's easy to kill yourself too." Aurora being well aware from her own childhood on Mars that such things could be done, children often dashing about on the surface of that world without oxygen supplies much to the horror of their mothers! Such could be done on the Moon too, since once one's body was ad- justed to the low pressure pure oxygen atmosphere in Farside, it was quite "safe" if still a bit "fool-hardy" to do such "stunts"! "The woman wasn't one of `us'," Arlena protested in reply. "She appeared to be one of Earth's Priestesses of Lys!" Aurora giving her the sort of a "look" she reserved for those who had obviously taken leave of their senses to even say such a thing!!! "And just what `did' this woman `DO'?" Aurora challenged her in reply, suspecting some sort of a "prank" being pulled on her! There were always those who delighted in such sorts of "jokes"!!! ***************************************************************** "Once my people were free to roam this great land wherever they wished, but then the white men came and put us on their `re- servations' and treated us worse than the cattle they raised," my Prince said to me as we sat about the campfire later that night. He was, I knew, "Navaho", although we of California called them "Nevadas" after the territory that they controlled. To Serak he was of the "People", and "Nevada" was just a "white man's" term. "Now your People are `free' again," I said to him, resting my head on his shoulder, his arm about my cloaked body. He was by the standards of the Empire, a "barbarian", but I loved him and I knew that he loved me, and little else "mattered" just now. "That will never be," he answered, staring into the fire. "The Lorr will no longer be ruling us now," I pointed out. "We have but exchanged one `master' for another," Serak said, stirring the fire with a stick. "My people will never be `free' regardless of what happens up there in the sky above us." "Aurora is certainly `better' than the Lorr," I told him. "In your mother's eyes I am not `worthy' of you," he said. "She's never said anything like that!" I quickly protested! "Eyes often speak the `truth' when lips lie," Serak replied. "To her I am but an `uncultured barbarian' unfit to mate with you," he said. "And sometimes I wonder if someday you too will think the same of me and resent the gold locked about your neck." THE QUEEN OF SWORDS! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Thirty Two "You have a lovely city," An'na of Mars commented as she stood there on the rooftop of the royal palace of Talon and looked over the city surrounding it. The lovely small lake there in front of the white marble structure adding its own beauty to the loveliness of the scene. "One equal to any found anywhere." "You should know," the Queen of Talon smiled back, the sun now setting there in the west over the distant mountains that di- vided her country from Trelandar to the west. Talon lies in a valley that runs north and south between two mountain ranges. It is well known for its famous wines among other items of repute. There beside them stood a tall dark haired woman, the "look" in her eyes leaving no doubt that she had "seen" things few ever had. A pair of lovely teenage blonde Princesses on either side. The dark haired woman's arms about them both, holding them close. On the interior of her right wrist the mark of the Warrioress. A stylized sword, its point facing "outwards" towards an enemy foe. "I grow `weary of war'," Lorraine said in level tones. She had come close to dying there on Mars. Her body now even more scarred than before. Lorraine wondered when it would all "end"? "Without you to stand at Raspa's side we would have `lost' all," An'na said. She knew the "truth" of what had happened on Mars. It had been only the awesome Warlady's own fighting skills that had "turned the tide" against those who had opposed Raspa! "I'm just `lucky' the Lorr don't `see' as well as we do," Lorraine smiled. It had been "poor marksmanship" that had saved her from the laser beam. Even so her leg was still "painful" and would remain so for some time yet to come despite the drugs she had been given to ease the discomfort of her third degree burns! "There is `something bothering you'," Lorraine said, putting her hand on the shoulder of the little Queen of Talon later that night after many had sought the comforts of their beds. The Moon rising over the mountains to the east, the Starfire a gleaming cylinder there on the plaza, its hull unmarked from the battles it had been in. An'na herself was "different" than before too, Lorraine had noticed. She was actually only a little older than either Gayle or Sharon, but like the two Princesses, she had seen death and destruction first hand. The destiny of two worlds had been forever changed by the battle the night before up in space! "We fought a war with Darlanis that cost Talon a high price, and now Darlanis only needs to `ask' her mother and anything she wants will be `hers'!" Dala's dark eyes burning up into hers as the Warlady nodded, understanding much of what Queen Dala felt!!! ***************************************************************** "For an `Empress' you make love like a slave girl," Serak said to me, gently caressing me back "down" after we had just made love there in our own teepee. He had "used" me very well! "Would you prefer any other kind for your wife?" I teased him back, my body damp with sweat from making love. I "sweat" profusely when I make love. It is due more, I think, to some re- action of my body to the sexual act as such than anything else. On the other hand I am not a woman who just "lies there" either! "I see that Pussycat will have to look to her laurels," he laughed, then biting my lower lip to make it swell a bit. Mark- ing me as being "used". My own bite marks along his neck would be quite visible there in the firelight around the campfire. There would be no "doubts". I wanted it exactly that way too. I was very much in love with him. I wanted everybody to know that we made love. That he "had" me on a frequent basis, and that was exactly the way that I wanted it to be. I have strong "drives". "I also have an `Empire' to offer," I pointed out to him. As my Prince-Consort he could enjoy the glories of my Imperial realm. It was true that since the Revolution I didn't have quite the power of life and death over people that I had before, but I still was the woman who "made the decisions", the woman whose or- ders men obeyed. I thought that I had a lot to "offer" any man. "That is a `point' in your favor," he laughed, holding me. "And I am also a beautiful blonde," I added, kissing him. "Who wears the most delightful of clothing," Serak laughed. My golden mesh attire did well display the perfection of my body. "I am a very lucky man to have such riches, such beauty," he laughed, caressing me, touching me. I fear that in his hands I am nearly insatiable. I felt a couple of his fingers slip up in- side me. Into the hot sticky moistness there between my thighs. The chief had posted guards, although there was but little danger in my eyes. The mutants were all dead now. The hidden city of Leith now only a memory of things neither of us would ever for- get. I recalled the "fighting" there in Deimos. How Serak had crawled around behind that Lorr Warrioress, and used Aurora's pistol to kill the horror before it killed anymore! And tomorrow we would fly on to Vegas, Leith having replaced the propeller for us. There was yet adequate alcohol for the trip. I had patched the hole the crossbow bolt had made with materials from Leith. We had returned to the village that morning in one of Leith's saucers. Spent the day together, glad to be alive after every- thing! Our memories yet vivid of our battle there inside Deimos. A battle that had altered the destinies of two worlds for all time to come. Yet, I wondered how "much" had really "changed"? "I am a lucky woman to have a MAN like you," I answered, my arms around his neck, my mouth wet, hot, moistly seeking his own. His bravery, courage in following me to Leith ample proof of his manhood. In combat he had been fearless, and a "born leader". I recalled his killing of the Lorr Warrioress after the creature had killed several of the Women. It had been "dug in" among the rocks where our bullets were ineffective against it. Aurora's rocket launcher and its anti-matter missiles being far too "de- structive" to be used against such a "target" at close range. I had watched Serak, my heart in my mouth in concern for him, work his way around eventually to a point where he might shoot the gi- gantic ant that had pinned us all down with its own laser fire. Aurora had smilingly made a comment about "Indians" that I had not really "cared for", but felt it best to keep my mouth shut. "You are the 'woman of my dreams', Azure Eyes," he laughed, rolling me over on top of him, looking up into my shadowed face. "The woman for which any red-blooded man would take on the Lorr themselves for!" I reflected that he done just that on Deimos!!! ***************************************************************** "I wonder what will happen now," Sharon spoke to the shad- owed figure of her stepmother as the two stood there on the roof of the royal palace of Talon. Was Man now free of the domination of the Lorr, or had Man merely exchanged "masters" for one per- haps more physically attractive, but just as "alien" as the Lorr? "We are not yet `masters of our own destiny'," Lorraine spoke. There would be a new Lorr Triad, a new political system for the Women. The Earth would still be considered a "barbarian" world filled with dangerous and savage blood-thirsty warriors! "At least Darlanis' mother will be the one running things," Sharon smiled back, well aware now of Aurora's true "status" as the Leaderess of the Women. A woman who would now with Raspa of the Lorr shape the future destinies of two worlds, and two races. "There is I now believe a `third force' involved here that no one has yet considered," Lorraine spoke suddenly there in the darkness. "And the Priestesses of Lys have yet to have their say in matters." The woman from the now mythical past recalling some certain "incidents" she knew of that told much of the Priestesses and their own "powers". And then there were the mysterious "Oth- ers" that the Lorr had feared for centuries now. Who were they? ***************************************************************** Aurora was tired, although "exhausted" might be a better term considering all that she had been through in the past forty eight hours. Even with the stimulants she had taken, she was still feeling the "effects" of going far too long without sleep! Of trying to deal with all the problems caused by their "REVOLU- TION". There were a number of high ranking Women who had to have their "hands held" and gently told "what to do" when they should have been taking care of things on their own and not "bothering" her about them! And her several trips through the "Portal" had not helped either, especially not with the necessary changes in atmospheric pressures between Earth, Mars, and the Moon! Thus it may be said that when Arlena came dashing into Aurora's office in Leith that Aurora wasn't all that "delighted" just then to see her, or to even listen to any more "troubles" than she now had!!! "Aurora!" Arlena gasped, "You won't believe what I saw only a few minutes ago!" Aurora giving her the sort of a "look" that left no doubt that she wasn't really all that "delighted" about such news either! Arlena gasping a bit, perhaps from the sudden change in air pressure in coming from her own Farside to Leith!!! "We've been `invaded' by aliens from another star system?" Aurora asked sarcastically, rather "annoyed" by the interruption. Arlena was a good friend who she'd known for years, but just then Aurora was in no mood to be "bothered" by anyone for "anything"!! "There was a woman walking around outside on the surface looking at the Valkyrie!" Arlena gasped, "And the Lorr commander of the battle-disc saw it too!" the beautiful blonde then added. "And she wasn't wearing any SPACESUIT!" Arlena's lovely gray eyes much like her beloved daughter's now burning into Aurora's!! "As I recall it is possible to step out on to the surface of the Moon for a few seconds without a space suit," Aurora replied. "There have been a few `idiots' who have managed to stay out there on the surface for several minutes without killing them- selves." The tone of Aurora's voice leaving no doubt that she considered this entire matter just a matter of someone pulling such a trick on the Leaderess of Farside! "If you build up the oxygen content of your blood first you can do such a thing easi- ly, although it's easy to kill yourself too." Aurora being well aware from her own childhood on Mars that such things could be done, children often dashing about on the surface of that world without oxygen supplies much to the horror of their mothers! Such could be done on the Moon too, since once one's body was ad- justed to the low pressure pure oxygen atmosphere in Farside, it was quite "safe" if still a bit "fool-hardy" to do such "stunts"! "The woman wasn't one of `us'," Arlena protested in reply. "She appeared to be one of Earth's Priestesses of Lys!" Aurora giving her the sort of a "look" she reserved for those who had obviously taken leave of their senses to even say such a thing!!! "And just what `did' this woman `DO'?" Aurora challenged her in reply, suspecting some sort of a "prank" being pulled on her! There were always those who delighted in such sorts of "jokes"!!! ***************************************************************** "Once my people were free to roam this great land wherever they wished, but then the white men came and put us on their `re- servations' and treated us worse than the cattle they raised," my Prince said to me as we sat about the campfire later that night. He was, I knew, "Navaho", although we of California called them "Nevadas" after the territory that they controlled. To Serak he was of the "People", and "Nevada" was just a "white man's" term. "Now your People are `free' again," I said to him, resting my head on his shoulder, his arm about my cloaked body. He was by the standards of the Empire, a "barbarian", but I loved him and I knew that he loved me, and little else "mattered" just now. "That will never be," he answered, staring into the fire. "The Lorr will no longer be ruling us now," I pointed out. "We have but exchanged one `master' for another," Serak said, stirring the fire with a stick. "My people will never be `free' regardless of what happens up there in the sky above us." "Aurora is certainly `better' than the Lorr," I told him. "In your mother's eyes I am not `worthy' of you," he said. "She's never said anything like that!" I quickly protested! "Eyes often speak the `truth' when lips lie," Serak replied. "To her I am but an `uncultured barbarian' unfit to mate with you," he said. "And sometimes I wonder if someday you too will think the same of me and resent the gold locked about your neck." |
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