"2567-21" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 5 - The Warlady Of Dularn)"THE WARLADY OF DULARN" 2567 A.D.! By Jerome Bigge Chapter Twenty One I was "aware" of pain, of a pair of demons pounding on an anvil there in my head. Of the odor of a woman's perfume, of her sweaty body, of her "softness" as I laid with my head cradled in her lap there in the darkness, her blackened features looking down into mine. I felt the caress of her hand, wondered how Car- ol had found me. Why she bore the marks of nails on her cheek? Just then such "questions" meant far less than that she was here. That my beloved brownette had rescued me despite everything here. Around us I could just faintly see the boles of trees, the thought suddenly coming to me that it was now near dawn! The ship certainly wouldn't have stayed at anchor that long! True, there wasn't anything "effective" that Darlanis or Tirana would have against a Dularnian second rate, but I knew it was gone now. Leaving Carol and I somewhere in the woods just off Lorraine's estate! And why did Carol's "love coo" have the "accent" it did? "Carol?" I whimpered, my voice weak, my head sheer agony! I could hear the chirp of early rising birds now greeting the dawn. There was a very faint "glow" in the sky there to the east now. "You were too heavy for me to carry," she whispered, the marks on her cheek leaving no doubts now as the memories came flooding back to me. Sharon clawing at Maris, and drawing blood! "The ship is doubtlessly gone by now, I fear," Queen Maris spoke. "Your wife would see to its safety, I am sure," the Queen added. "Where?" I asked, seeing nothing but forest now around us, and wondering why Maris had "stayed with me" instead of fleeing? I supposed perhaps the "caste codes" that my wife had made "fun" of, not understanding their own true meanings to any "Warrior". As a Marine I quite understood such things even if Carol didn't. One does not abondon one's own "wounded" to the enemy. Such is a part of the "caste codes" that I understood as a former "Marine". "A few hundred yards into the forest to the north of the manor house," Maris answered, gently stroking my forehead, her very action leaving no doubt that it had been more than just the Caste Codes that had led her to "save me" at the cost of being left behind herself! I had no doubts she would have stood over my body and given her life against impossible odds had it become necessary for her to do so. Women are like that when they love. "We need to find those `libbies' of yours," I said to her. "`Libbies'?" Maris asked, puzzled by the use of the term. "San-sha, her band," I explained to the puzzled Queen. "Later," Maris answered softly, gently stroking my face. "We have to get out of here," I said, wondering if we could. "The Nevada with them is dead," Maris spoke then in reply. "Lady Tirana may order a search for wounded," I told her. "She was the `competent' one," Queen Maris said to me. "You should not be doing this now," Maris said to me. It took all her strength just to support me, the woods, everything now spinning about as I tried to stand. It was pretty obvious I was in no condition to make an attempt to cross the cleared area that leads from the manor house down to the ocean a quarter of a mile away. Maris might make it across if we didn't delay too long, but there was no hope that I could with my head as it was! "Leave me, find the band," I said to her, seeing her nod in the negative. I hadn't thought that she would. Carol wouldn't have done so in similar circumstances, and Maris wouldn't either! Yet there was no way that I could see that we could make it to the other side of the cleared area the way that I was. Maris was a woman, not a man, and she couldn't carry someone weighing forty pounds more than she did across a hundred yard clearing on her back without now taking the considerable risk of being "spotted"! "I am `of the Warrioresses'," Maris said to me. There was in the tone of her voice a "determination" of the sort I'd heard in Carol's when she said that she was going into the future with me regardless of the dangers we might face there. Maris goes have "guts" when push comes to shove, let me tell you right here! She is not a "Darlanis", but she is a good competent fighter too. "To the sea," I breathed, thinking it might be possible for me to float on my back and let her swim towing me. It wasn't too likely that we'd be "spotted" if we found a log to help float us. There wouldn't likely be sharks close in to shore to worry about. "My thoughts," Maris spoke, half carrying me as we started towards the ocean a quarter of a mile away. The Queen grunting as she took my weight, and clutching me to herself like a child. My feet seemingly almost "useless" as I clung to Maris as best I could, well aware of the "nature" of the situation and what could happen to both of us if we were now discovered by the Imperials! "If they capture us, use your dagger on me," I said to her, fighting to stay conscious as she "dragged" me alongside herself. "I am the Queen of Dularn," Maris grunted back, staggering under the load of almost carrying me. She was "out of condition" from life on shipboard, and finding it "hard going" helping me. About ten pounds overweight, most of it on her hips and thighs. "Better than what Darlanis will do to me," I answered her. I was quite "confused" at this time, and was I believe now, perhaps confusing Darlanis with Carol. Darlanis was "angry" at me for what we did to her ship, but she wouldn't have killed me for it. Carol on the other hand has a vicious, vindictive "fury" in her that can be "triggered" if you "push her" too far. Carol is a woman, I fear, who is truly a "WARLADY" in the true sense of the term. "Provoked", she is perhaps more "dangerous" than any- one, including the infamous Princess Tara! Her very actions lat- er on were adequate proof of that. Lars later on told me that it was "terrifying" to be sailing under Carol's "command", that she was like a "demon" in human form there on the ship's quarterdeck! "Rest," Maris whispered, letting me slump down to the coarse grass underfoot, the dark boles of the trees now visible against the faintly glowing sky. It would be dawn in another hour, I knew. The Queen's breathing rapid, the "wetness" of her body now telling its own tale. We had come perhaps three hundred yards. The pain in my head was a bit less now, although I was just as "weak" as ever, unable to even stand without Maris' arm about me. "I underestimated you," I said to the emerald eyed Queen. With her face blackened, her hair dyed she really didn't look that much "different" from Carol, I thought to myself just then. "Others have," Maris spoke, keeping her thoughts to herself. "It will float us," Maris said, regarding the canoe. The sun had not yet risen in the east, but it was now quite light. A blacked hulk half sunk at the dock the last remains of the Cleo- lantis. Part of the dock itself had been burned by the fires. "We can't get by them," I pointed out, a number of men and women gathered there on the beach looking at the damage. I saw among them a couple prisoners that they had taken. Both female. They had been stripped, their faces washed clean of the lampblack we had used to blacken our faces. They knelt nude beside Darla- nis. I did not envy them. Darlanis' losses had been "heavy". I saw the bandage, bloody, wrapped around the Empress' left thigh. She had the "look" of a woman who has "seen too much" of death. "I am a `crafty wench'," Maris assured me with a smile. "You are a good looking wench," I observed, Maris' lack of attire something that left no "doubts" about that. I held a pole out as if I was "fishing", Maris with another, while she took a "sunbath" as Imperial women do wearing nothing but clips and a brief strap. She was trifle "plump", but pleasingly so, I noted as she paddled us along with a slow regular stroke. We had used sand to get off the lampblack, our clothing and weapons there in the bottom of the twelve foot canoe. Fortunately there had been a paddle. I laid reclining in the bow, while Maris paddled us on past the royal estates of the Queen of Trelandar. On past half a dozen Imperials, Maris even "waving" to a few as we passed on by! "I believe you are feeling `desire' for me," Maris observed. "We will have to `control' ourselves," I said to the Queen. "It is a beautiful day," Maris smiled, the sun rising there in the east over the forest. We were almost clear of the estate now. She was a woman that any red blooded man might have wanted. "And we are a couple `lovers' out for a ride," I said back. "I hope you love your wife very much," Maris said to me. "I do," I said to the Queen of Dularn, enjoying the "view". "Carol may not have survived the battle," Maris spoke then. "We discussed it last night," I said to the Queen of Dularn. It was "hard" not to stare at that brief bit of silk that covered "just enough" of her, while leaving no doubts as to what laid be- neath it. She was a rather "ripe" bodied woman, a bit like Lila Jordan, who I'd been going with before I met my delightful Carol. "You are a very handsome man," Maris said to me, her eyes like beautiful green gems gleaming in the reflection off the sea. "If your wife did not `survive', my throat is yours to `chain'." An "offer of marriage" that left no doubts as to her feelings! "Carol," Lars said, touching her arm, seeing those hazel eyes look up, the hellish "fury" that burned in their depths like nothing he'd ever seen in anyone's, male or female, ever before! She was now in total command of the ship, and men whispered in awed terror when they saw her stride the quarterdeck, knowing the hate that burned like searing flame in her heart towards anything "Californian". Men whispered that Dularn now had a "WARLADY"!!! "He was your friend," Carol answered, her voice "soft" then. The North Star's second officer had been a fool to try to "face" her when the "fury" was on her like it was now. Carol had wasted little time in fancy swordplay. It had been like seeing some vi- cious alien creature that not even the fabulous "Warlady" of California could have faced! Carol had killed him with a single vicious slash, and then kicked his body right over the railing! The first officer had died from an arrow loosed by some Imperial. The North Star now had a new "captain", one driven by PURE HATE!! "I just want you to know that it will be a pleasure to stand at your side when we face those Imperials again," he said to her. A smile lighting up her face. She was too "hard" a woman for his liking, although on the other she was also damm "competent" too! The sort of a woman much like the Imperial's Warlady, who he un- derstood came from the same legendary era as did Carol and Bob! "I appreciate that," Carol said softly, then kissing him. "THE WARLADY OF DULARN" 2567 A.D.! By Jerome Bigge Chapter Twenty One I was "aware" of pain, of a pair of demons pounding on an anvil there in my head. Of the odor of a woman's perfume, of her sweaty body, of her "softness" as I laid with my head cradled in her lap there in the darkness, her blackened features looking down into mine. I felt the caress of her hand, wondered how Car- ol had found me. Why she bore the marks of nails on her cheek? Just then such "questions" meant far less than that she was here. That my beloved brownette had rescued me despite everything here. Around us I could just faintly see the boles of trees, the thought suddenly coming to me that it was now near dawn! The ship certainly wouldn't have stayed at anchor that long! True, there wasn't anything "effective" that Darlanis or Tirana would have against a Dularnian second rate, but I knew it was gone now. Leaving Carol and I somewhere in the woods just off Lorraine's estate! And why did Carol's "love coo" have the "accent" it did? "Carol?" I whimpered, my voice weak, my head sheer agony! I could hear the chirp of early rising birds now greeting the dawn. There was a very faint "glow" in the sky there to the east now. "You were too heavy for me to carry," she whispered, the marks on her cheek leaving no doubts now as the memories came flooding back to me. Sharon clawing at Maris, and drawing blood! "The ship is doubtlessly gone by now, I fear," Queen Maris spoke. "Your wife would see to its safety, I am sure," the Queen added. "Where?" I asked, seeing nothing but forest now around us, and wondering why Maris had "stayed with me" instead of fleeing? I supposed perhaps the "caste codes" that my wife had made "fun" of, not understanding their own true meanings to any "Warrior". As a Marine I quite understood such things even if Carol didn't. One does not abondon one's own "wounded" to the enemy. Such is a part of the "caste codes" that I understood as a former "Marine". "A few hundred yards into the forest to the north of the manor house," Maris answered, gently stroking my forehead, her very action leaving no doubt that it had been more than just the Caste Codes that had led her to "save me" at the cost of being left behind herself! I had no doubts she would have stood over my body and given her life against impossible odds had it become necessary for her to do so. Women are like that when they love. "We need to find those `libbies' of yours," I said to her. "`Libbies'?" Maris asked, puzzled by the use of the term. "San-sha, her band," I explained to the puzzled Queen. "Later," Maris answered softly, gently stroking my face. "We have to get out of here," I said, wondering if we could. "The Nevada with them is dead," Maris spoke then in reply. "Lady Tirana may order a search for wounded," I told her. "She was the `competent' one," Queen Maris said to me. "You should not be doing this now," Maris said to me. It took all her strength just to support me, the woods, everything now spinning about as I tried to stand. It was pretty obvious I was in no condition to make an attempt to cross the cleared area that leads from the manor house down to the ocean a quarter of a mile away. Maris might make it across if we didn't delay too long, but there was no hope that I could with my head as it was! "Leave me, find the band," I said to her, seeing her nod in the negative. I hadn't thought that she would. Carol wouldn't have done so in similar circumstances, and Maris wouldn't either! Yet there was no way that I could see that we could make it to the other side of the cleared area the way that I was. Maris was a woman, not a man, and she couldn't carry someone weighing forty pounds more than she did across a hundred yard clearing on her back without now taking the considerable risk of being "spotted"! "I am `of the Warrioresses'," Maris said to me. There was in the tone of her voice a "determination" of the sort I'd heard in Carol's when she said that she was going into the future with me regardless of the dangers we might face there. Maris goes have "guts" when push comes to shove, let me tell you right here! She is not a "Darlanis", but she is a good competent fighter too. "To the sea," I breathed, thinking it might be possible for me to float on my back and let her swim towing me. It wasn't too likely that we'd be "spotted" if we found a log to help float us. There wouldn't likely be sharks close in to shore to worry about. "My thoughts," Maris spoke, half carrying me as we started towards the ocean a quarter of a mile away. The Queen grunting as she took my weight, and clutching me to herself like a child. My feet seemingly almost "useless" as I clung to Maris as best I could, well aware of the "nature" of the situation and what could happen to both of us if we were now discovered by the Imperials! "If they capture us, use your dagger on me," I said to her, fighting to stay conscious as she "dragged" me alongside herself. "I am the Queen of Dularn," Maris grunted back, staggering under the load of almost carrying me. She was "out of condition" from life on shipboard, and finding it "hard going" helping me. About ten pounds overweight, most of it on her hips and thighs. "Better than what Darlanis will do to me," I answered her. I was quite "confused" at this time, and was I believe now, perhaps confusing Darlanis with Carol. Darlanis was "angry" at me for what we did to her ship, but she wouldn't have killed me for it. Carol on the other hand has a vicious, vindictive "fury" in her that can be "triggered" if you "push her" too far. Carol is a woman, I fear, who is truly a "WARLADY" in the true sense of the term. "Provoked", she is perhaps more "dangerous" than any- one, including the infamous Princess Tara! Her very actions lat- er on were adequate proof of that. Lars later on told me that it was "terrifying" to be sailing under Carol's "command", that she was like a "demon" in human form there on the ship's quarterdeck! "Rest," Maris whispered, letting me slump down to the coarse grass underfoot, the dark boles of the trees now visible against the faintly glowing sky. It would be dawn in another hour, I knew. The Queen's breathing rapid, the "wetness" of her body now telling its own tale. We had come perhaps three hundred yards. The pain in my head was a bit less now, although I was just as "weak" as ever, unable to even stand without Maris' arm about me. "I underestimated you," I said to the emerald eyed Queen. With her face blackened, her hair dyed she really didn't look that much "different" from Carol, I thought to myself just then. "Others have," Maris spoke, keeping her thoughts to herself. "It will float us," Maris said, regarding the canoe. The sun had not yet risen in the east, but it was now quite light. A blacked hulk half sunk at the dock the last remains of the Cleo- lantis. Part of the dock itself had been burned by the fires. "We can't get by them," I pointed out, a number of men and women gathered there on the beach looking at the damage. I saw among them a couple prisoners that they had taken. Both female. They had been stripped, their faces washed clean of the lampblack we had used to blacken our faces. They knelt nude beside Darla- nis. I did not envy them. Darlanis' losses had been "heavy". I saw the bandage, bloody, wrapped around the Empress' left thigh. She had the "look" of a woman who has "seen too much" of death. "I am a `crafty wench'," Maris assured me with a smile. "You are a good looking wench," I observed, Maris' lack of attire something that left no "doubts" about that. I held a pole out as if I was "fishing", Maris with another, while she took a "sunbath" as Imperial women do wearing nothing but clips and a brief strap. She was trifle "plump", but pleasingly so, I noted as she paddled us along with a slow regular stroke. We had used sand to get off the lampblack, our clothing and weapons there in the bottom of the twelve foot canoe. Fortunately there had been a paddle. I laid reclining in the bow, while Maris paddled us on past the royal estates of the Queen of Trelandar. On past half a dozen Imperials, Maris even "waving" to a few as we passed on by! "I believe you are feeling `desire' for me," Maris observed. "We will have to `control' ourselves," I said to the Queen. "It is a beautiful day," Maris smiled, the sun rising there in the east over the forest. We were almost clear of the estate now. She was a woman that any red blooded man might have wanted. "And we are a couple `lovers' out for a ride," I said back. "I hope you love your wife very much," Maris said to me. "I do," I said to the Queen of Dularn, enjoying the "view". "Carol may not have survived the battle," Maris spoke then. "We discussed it last night," I said to the Queen of Dularn. It was "hard" not to stare at that brief bit of silk that covered "just enough" of her, while leaving no doubts as to what laid be- neath it. She was a rather "ripe" bodied woman, a bit like Lila Jordan, who I'd been going with before I met my delightful Carol. "You are a very handsome man," Maris said to me, her eyes like beautiful green gems gleaming in the reflection off the sea. "If your wife did not `survive', my throat is yours to `chain'." An "offer of marriage" that left no doubts as to her feelings! "Carol," Lars said, touching her arm, seeing those hazel eyes look up, the hellish "fury" that burned in their depths like nothing he'd ever seen in anyone's, male or female, ever before! She was now in total command of the ship, and men whispered in awed terror when they saw her stride the quarterdeck, knowing the hate that burned like searing flame in her heart towards anything "Californian". Men whispered that Dularn now had a "WARLADY"!!! "He was your friend," Carol answered, her voice "soft" then. The North Star's second officer had been a fool to try to "face" her when the "fury" was on her like it was now. Carol had wasted little time in fancy swordplay. It had been like seeing some vi- cious alien creature that not even the fabulous "Warlady" of California could have faced! Carol had killed him with a single vicious slash, and then kicked his body right over the railing! The first officer had died from an arrow loosed by some Imperial. The North Star now had a new "captain", one driven by PURE HATE!! "I just want you to know that it will be a pleasure to stand at your side when we face those Imperials again," he said to her. A smile lighting up her face. She was too "hard" a woman for his liking, although on the other she was also damm "competent" too! The sort of a woman much like the Imperial's Warlady, who he un- derstood came from the same legendary era as did Carol and Bob! "I appreciate that," Carol said softly, then kissing him. |
|
|