"2567-22" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 5 - The Warlady Of Dularn)"THE WARLADY OF DULARN" 2567 A.D.! By Jerome Bigge Chapter Twenty Two I regarded Maris Marn, Queen of Dularn as she sat there in the stern of the canoe, the regular strokes of her paddle taking us further and further to the south, the estates of the Warlady of California only a "notch" there in the forest now behind us. The gold of her nipple clips, the rich blue of her silken strap that concealed her sex making her look like some "centerfold"... "I would be better looking if my hair wasn't dyed," Maris smiled, perhaps sensing my thoughts. She knew she was desirable. That she was the sort of a woman who would bring fifty to sixty golden crowns in any Imperial slave market just for her beauty! Many men in this era like a woman with a "bit of meat" on her. I am told that such women are "softer", and nicer to make love to. "You don't look `bad' as a brunette," I smiled back at her. "I'll have to put my clothes back on when the sun gets up higher," Maris smiled. She would burn easily, a blonde like her. We were quite close in to shore, no more than a couple hundred feet out. The shoreline at this point rises up in cliffs that towered up about sixty or seventy feet, the coast curving out just a bit now as Maris paddled us around the end of the point. A tree leaned out from the top of the cliff, peering out to sea. "Yii!" I heard her gasp, the terror showing in her eyes! A heavy Imperial trireme coming right at us under oars less than a furlong away! The beat of its drum having been muffled by the sound of the breakers against the cliffs there to port! And there was another Imperial first rate, a schooner, just to sea- ward of the trireme! Both ships flying the Cross of Lorraine!!! "Keep calm!" I hissed, Maris sitting there shivering in ter- ror! The trireme would miss us, although not by a whole lot. I wondered why it was so close in to shore, the men in the bow casting the leads leaving no doubt that its captain was cautious. The schooner, further out, flashing signals now to the trireme, the name "JANIS" painted there on its bow. The other, the three masted schooner, had the features of a gigantic shark, the Squa- la, painted there on its bow. These were Lorraine's own ships! "Look!" Maris gasped, pointing astern. I saw it then, a buzzing black object in the sky racing towards us. BLACK LADY!!! The plane's landing lights flashing on and off towards the ships! "`Enemy in canoe'," Maris breathed out, reading the flashing lights. I saw men dashing to the trireme's armaments! The air- plane now coming down in a screaming dive towards us both! And Lorraine had once made nitroglycerine too! Did Darlanis have it? "Think you can find your way through these woods at night?" Carol asked, indicating the map in front of her to Sandi Debolt. Sandi as a "libbie" knowing more about the forest than anyone else aboard the ship. La-ra beside her nodding, "wondering" if her mistress yet lived. This strange warrioress from the "time of legends" was "loco", La-ra thought to herself, although she had to admit to herself that it was just the sort of a "trick" that the Imperials wouldn't ever consider likely! Something that only a Nevada might think of doing, and most of them wouldn't have tried it! Marching through the forest at night to then launch a dawn attack upon the royal estates of the Queen of Tre- landar. The Warlady of the Empire of California. The "Lorraine" of legend. The woman some said was the greatest fighting woman of all time. La-ra privately wondered to herself if it was true. This "Carol" was certainly "vicious" enough to satisfy anyone... "There are `things'," Sandi breathed. She'd seen some of them. Never "up close", but she didn't want to either. Carol giving her a "look", smiling a bit to herself. She had heard of the legends. Recalled what Lorraine had written. Sixty men and women, armed with compound bows, compound crossbows, good steel weapons, had little to fear from such "creatures". She also had plans to dismount one of the ship's new compound ballistae and take it with her. The ability to launch missles to a distance of five hundred meters might just come in "useful" against Darlanis! The Imperial wench one of the men had "taken" had told them much! "I've never caught any `fish' like this before!" the sailor on the Janis laughed as he dragged Maris up the side and over the railing. Her lack of "dress" leaving no doubts as to her beauty. Maris, wiser in the ways of warfare at sea than me, had capsized the canoe, depriving the Imperials of a target for their weapons! The Janis, under Lorraine's order, had then swiftly lowered a boat when it was seen that I could not swim and would have drowned had it not been for my lovely feminine companion then. I might also note that being "dunked" didn't do much for my head- ache either, but I was getting pretty used to that by now too! "Nor I," the Imperial Warrioress, one of Lorraine's, said as she hauled me aboard with a surprising strength. She was dark haired, about Carol's height, built much the same. Her dark eyes going over me in a way that left no doubts either! As I was na- ked but for my "strap", she no doubt was enjoying it! Many women of this era, especially those of California, make no "bones" about such "matters", I might note here for the curious. There are special "clubs" in major Californian cities where only women go. Where they are "served" by male slaves, and where they can also "enjoy" themselves in whatever ways they happen to wish. There is also one such "club" here in Arsana, which my brownette has "visited" a few times, usually to come home with the odor of strong drink on her breath and a look in her eyes that leaves no doubt that she has been "enjoying" herself a bit "too much". It is the "sort of a place" that a less "tolerant" society than ours would never permit, although I note that Queen Maris has been "seen" coming out it a few times, so I assume that it does enjoy the "protection" of the "crown" and a certain "warlady" I know! "Bob Simmons!" I heard a voice cry, Lorraine herself pushing through the curious to face me. She was much the "same" as I had recalled her, although I think she was "different" than she had been back when I had known her. With her was a tall dark haired man, who I recalled was her husband, Jon Richards, once the cap- tain of the Janis. Maris moving to my side, shivering a bit al- though it was not cold. The muttered comments being made leaving no doubt that the crew of the Janis found the Queen "attractive"! Her scanty attire of course leaving no doubts as to her "beauty". "Tais sent us here to this time," I said to her, Black Lady coming in for a landing, the sea being calm enough to permit this. I had no doubt it was flown by either Darlanis or Sharon, neither of whom I had any real desire to meet again just then! "That's not Carol," Lorraine spoke, regarding Maris. "I'm Maris Marn of Dularn," my Queen then spoke in reply. "Out working on your tan?" Lorraine smiled back at Maris. Maris being quite naked but her golden nipple clips and strap. I saw Maris blush, place a hand over her pubes, which puzzled me a bit just then as most women of the 26th Century do not have the same "modesty taboos" as did the women of the Twentieth Century. "Our clothing went overboard with the canoe," I told her. "We are going to have `visitors'," Lorraine smiled back. "Sharon!" Lorraine breathed, the "lump" on the Princess' jaw something that left little doubt as to how she had received it! Darlanis there beside her like a tigress about to "pounce" on me! "That man is a `WAR CRIMINAL' and the woman beside him struck Sharon!" Darlanis snapped, most unpleasently too, I felt! No doubt the arrow that Carol had put through her thigh hadn't made her disposition any better. We'd "wupped" her twice now, making her look like a "fool" in front of everyone, and I didn't think that the Empress of Imperial California had muchly enjoyed it either! She is actually a highly intelligent woman, but a to- tal "loss" so far as a military commander goes, I regret to say! "Your daughter is alive because I did not wish to kill her," Maris spoke, her voice level. Sharon is legally Darlanis' "daughter" in that she will inherit the throne from the Empress. "And this man has my protection as the Queen of Dularn," Maris snapped, suddenly "brave" as she stood naked but for attire that would have almost caused a Twentieth Century "stripper" to blush. "He burned Sarnian Lady out from under me!" Darlanis "pro- tested" to Lorraine. It was true. I had set fire to the ship. Darlanis was "burned" pretty bad, her burns doubtlessly painful. She had been thrown from a galloping unicorn, had an arrow shot through her thigh, and had been made to look like a "fool" twice in a twenty four hour period. All in front of her own people!!! "Any idiot that put you in command of anything bigger than a row boat should be court martialed," Lorraine laughed in reply, a laugh that was repeated by a number of those aboard the Janis! I did not think the Empress was all that popular with some people! I didn't think Lorraine was in a "good mood" either just then. I suspected that Darlanis should have kept her mouth shut instead of saying what she did. Lorraine's words were of course quite humilating to Darlanis, who looks upon Lorraine as a "mother" in a way. As someone she can "turn to" when things get "bad". Read Lorraine's first book, the latter parts, and see what you think! "She may be a `dumb blonde'," I said to the Imperial Warla- dy, Maris half supporting me as I stood there, "But Darlanis is the bravest and most courageous woman I've ever seen. And if we ever have an expedition to hell I'd like Darlanis to lead it be- cause she's got more `balls' than anyone I've ever known!" I could hear the waves lapping against the hull, the cry of the seagulls as they circled there overhead looking for anything to eat. The birds being well aware that ships like these often tossed items overboard that could be eaten by such as they were. "I guess I `deserved' that," Lorraine grinned sheepishly. "Perhaps I spoke in `haste'," Darlanis smiled at me. "I sprayed lamp oil on her ship and set fire to it," I said as Lorraine nodded. "Queen Maris objected to it and we took com- mand of the ship away from her and confined her and her warrio- resses below," I told her. I knew of the Caste Codes, what Maris had "said" about them then. Maris nodding, confirming my "tale". "A little `Twentieth Century warfare'," Lorraine smiled, her dark eyes glowing into mine, a cloak covering my nakedness as I sat there on the sofa, the trireme once again under way towards "home" less than a mile away now. Sharon had taken off in Black Lady back to Lorraine's estate. Darlanis sat beside me, her eyes glowing into mine. She is incredibly beautiful, the sort of a woman who as my wife once said, makes you want to keep a "firm grip" on your husband. Maris, cloaked, there at my other side. I was happy to hear from Darlanis that Carol's body had not been found among those who had "fallen" there on Lorraine's estates. "And you should see the bitch he's got with him!" Darlanis smiled at Lorraine, "A woman who looks like Lara and fights like you!" "Lara" of course being the famous "Princess of Baja", one once better known as "Lara of Trelandar", the Xaviera Hollander of the 26th Century. That is a pretty good description of Carol! "Carol?" Lorraine asked, a bit "puzzled" I think here, per- haps with reason as Carol had been utterly "different" back when Lorraine had known her. That "Carol" had been "submissive", a "feminine" Carol. Not the hard bitten fighting woman I knew now! "Dularn has a `Warlady' now," Queen Maris smiled in reply. "The North Star will launch an attack at two am upon the Warlady's estates, and another attack at four am," Carol said, her hazel eyes burning into the gray of Lars as he nodded back there in the stern cabin of the North Star. "And if I don't come back from this, take the ship to Dularn and tell them what hap- pened to their Queen," my wife then added, her eyes meeting his. "I will carry out your orders," Lars said, wondering if he would ever see his beloved Sandi again when she went with Carol. Carol had spent the last hour with him explaining things. He un- derstood why it had to be so. How she wanted everything so done. The sails that would be spread over the deck suspended by ropes between the masts. The men on the pumps who would spray water on the ship when they came in to attack. Suspended from a swaying mast head, the North Star carrying blue green sails that blended with the sky, the sea, Carol had seen the two ships in the Celes- tron 90 that had once belonged to the Queen of Dularn. Now that Lorraine was on the "scene", it was time to take "precautions"!!! "THE WARLADY OF DULARN" 2567 A.D.! By Jerome Bigge Chapter Twenty Two I regarded Maris Marn, Queen of Dularn as she sat there in the stern of the canoe, the regular strokes of her paddle taking us further and further to the south, the estates of the Warlady of California only a "notch" there in the forest now behind us. The gold of her nipple clips, the rich blue of her silken strap that concealed her sex making her look like some "centerfold"... "I would be better looking if my hair wasn't dyed," Maris smiled, perhaps sensing my thoughts. She knew she was desirable. That she was the sort of a woman who would bring fifty to sixty golden crowns in any Imperial slave market just for her beauty! Many men in this era like a woman with a "bit of meat" on her. I am told that such women are "softer", and nicer to make love to. "You don't look `bad' as a brunette," I smiled back at her. "I'll have to put my clothes back on when the sun gets up higher," Maris smiled. She would burn easily, a blonde like her. We were quite close in to shore, no more than a couple hundred feet out. The shoreline at this point rises up in cliffs that towered up about sixty or seventy feet, the coast curving out just a bit now as Maris paddled us around the end of the point. A tree leaned out from the top of the cliff, peering out to sea. "Yii!" I heard her gasp, the terror showing in her eyes! A heavy Imperial trireme coming right at us under oars less than a furlong away! The beat of its drum having been muffled by the sound of the breakers against the cliffs there to port! And there was another Imperial first rate, a schooner, just to sea- ward of the trireme! Both ships flying the Cross of Lorraine!!! "Keep calm!" I hissed, Maris sitting there shivering in ter- ror! The trireme would miss us, although not by a whole lot. I wondered why it was so close in to shore, the men in the bow casting the leads leaving no doubt that its captain was cautious. The schooner, further out, flashing signals now to the trireme, the name "JANIS" painted there on its bow. The other, the three masted schooner, had the features of a gigantic shark, the Squa- la, painted there on its bow. These were Lorraine's own ships! "Look!" Maris gasped, pointing astern. I saw it then, a buzzing black object in the sky racing towards us. BLACK LADY!!! The plane's landing lights flashing on and off towards the ships! "`Enemy in canoe'," Maris breathed out, reading the flashing lights. I saw men dashing to the trireme's armaments! The air- plane now coming down in a screaming dive towards us both! And Lorraine had once made nitroglycerine too! Did Darlanis have it? "Think you can find your way through these woods at night?" Carol asked, indicating the map in front of her to Sandi Debolt. Sandi as a "libbie" knowing more about the forest than anyone else aboard the ship. La-ra beside her nodding, "wondering" if her mistress yet lived. This strange warrioress from the "time of legends" was "loco", La-ra thought to herself, although she had to admit to herself that it was just the sort of a "trick" that the Imperials wouldn't ever consider likely! Something that only a Nevada might think of doing, and most of them wouldn't have tried it! Marching through the forest at night to then launch a dawn attack upon the royal estates of the Queen of Tre- landar. The Warlady of the Empire of California. The "Lorraine" of legend. The woman some said was the greatest fighting woman of all time. La-ra privately wondered to herself if it was true. This "Carol" was certainly "vicious" enough to satisfy anyone... "There are `things'," Sandi breathed. She'd seen some of them. Never "up close", but she didn't want to either. Carol giving her a "look", smiling a bit to herself. She had heard of the legends. Recalled what Lorraine had written. Sixty men and women, armed with compound bows, compound crossbows, good steel weapons, had little to fear from such "creatures". She also had plans to dismount one of the ship's new compound ballistae and take it with her. The ability to launch missles to a distance of five hundred meters might just come in "useful" against Darlanis! The Imperial wench one of the men had "taken" had told them much! "I've never caught any `fish' like this before!" the sailor on the Janis laughed as he dragged Maris up the side and over the railing. Her lack of "dress" leaving no doubts as to her beauty. Maris, wiser in the ways of warfare at sea than me, had capsized the canoe, depriving the Imperials of a target for their weapons! The Janis, under Lorraine's order, had then swiftly lowered a boat when it was seen that I could not swim and would have drowned had it not been for my lovely feminine companion then. I might also note that being "dunked" didn't do much for my head- ache either, but I was getting pretty used to that by now too! "Nor I," the Imperial Warrioress, one of Lorraine's, said as she hauled me aboard with a surprising strength. She was dark haired, about Carol's height, built much the same. Her dark eyes going over me in a way that left no doubts either! As I was na- ked but for my "strap", she no doubt was enjoying it! Many women of this era, especially those of California, make no "bones" about such "matters", I might note here for the curious. There are special "clubs" in major Californian cities where only women go. Where they are "served" by male slaves, and where they can also "enjoy" themselves in whatever ways they happen to wish. There is also one such "club" here in Arsana, which my brownette has "visited" a few times, usually to come home with the odor of strong drink on her breath and a look in her eyes that leaves no doubt that she has been "enjoying" herself a bit "too much". It is the "sort of a place" that a less "tolerant" society than ours would never permit, although I note that Queen Maris has been "seen" coming out it a few times, so I assume that it does enjoy the "protection" of the "crown" and a certain "warlady" I know! "Bob Simmons!" I heard a voice cry, Lorraine herself pushing through the curious to face me. She was much the "same" as I had recalled her, although I think she was "different" than she had been back when I had known her. With her was a tall dark haired man, who I recalled was her husband, Jon Richards, once the cap- tain of the Janis. Maris moving to my side, shivering a bit al- though it was not cold. The muttered comments being made leaving no doubt that the crew of the Janis found the Queen "attractive"! Her scanty attire of course leaving no doubts as to her "beauty". "Tais sent us here to this time," I said to her, Black Lady coming in for a landing, the sea being calm enough to permit this. I had no doubt it was flown by either Darlanis or Sharon, neither of whom I had any real desire to meet again just then! "That's not Carol," Lorraine spoke, regarding Maris. "I'm Maris Marn of Dularn," my Queen then spoke in reply. "Out working on your tan?" Lorraine smiled back at Maris. Maris being quite naked but her golden nipple clips and strap. I saw Maris blush, place a hand over her pubes, which puzzled me a bit just then as most women of the 26th Century do not have the same "modesty taboos" as did the women of the Twentieth Century. "Our clothing went overboard with the canoe," I told her. "We are going to have `visitors'," Lorraine smiled back. "Sharon!" Lorraine breathed, the "lump" on the Princess' jaw something that left little doubt as to how she had received it! Darlanis there beside her like a tigress about to "pounce" on me! "That man is a `WAR CRIMINAL' and the woman beside him struck Sharon!" Darlanis snapped, most unpleasently too, I felt! No doubt the arrow that Carol had put through her thigh hadn't made her disposition any better. We'd "wupped" her twice now, making her look like a "fool" in front of everyone, and I didn't think that the Empress of Imperial California had muchly enjoyed it either! She is actually a highly intelligent woman, but a to- tal "loss" so far as a military commander goes, I regret to say! "Your daughter is alive because I did not wish to kill her," Maris spoke, her voice level. Sharon is legally Darlanis' "daughter" in that she will inherit the throne from the Empress. "And this man has my protection as the Queen of Dularn," Maris snapped, suddenly "brave" as she stood naked but for attire that would have almost caused a Twentieth Century "stripper" to blush. "He burned Sarnian Lady out from under me!" Darlanis "pro- tested" to Lorraine. It was true. I had set fire to the ship. Darlanis was "burned" pretty bad, her burns doubtlessly painful. She had been thrown from a galloping unicorn, had an arrow shot through her thigh, and had been made to look like a "fool" twice in a twenty four hour period. All in front of her own people!!! "Any idiot that put you in command of anything bigger than a row boat should be court martialed," Lorraine laughed in reply, a laugh that was repeated by a number of those aboard the Janis! I did not think the Empress was all that popular with some people! I didn't think Lorraine was in a "good mood" either just then. I suspected that Darlanis should have kept her mouth shut instead of saying what she did. Lorraine's words were of course quite humilating to Darlanis, who looks upon Lorraine as a "mother" in a way. As someone she can "turn to" when things get "bad". Read Lorraine's first book, the latter parts, and see what you think! "She may be a `dumb blonde'," I said to the Imperial Warla- dy, Maris half supporting me as I stood there, "But Darlanis is the bravest and most courageous woman I've ever seen. And if we ever have an expedition to hell I'd like Darlanis to lead it be- cause she's got more `balls' than anyone I've ever known!" I could hear the waves lapping against the hull, the cry of the seagulls as they circled there overhead looking for anything to eat. The birds being well aware that ships like these often tossed items overboard that could be eaten by such as they were. "I guess I `deserved' that," Lorraine grinned sheepishly. "Perhaps I spoke in `haste'," Darlanis smiled at me. "I sprayed lamp oil on her ship and set fire to it," I said as Lorraine nodded. "Queen Maris objected to it and we took com- mand of the ship away from her and confined her and her warrio- resses below," I told her. I knew of the Caste Codes, what Maris had "said" about them then. Maris nodding, confirming my "tale". "A little `Twentieth Century warfare'," Lorraine smiled, her dark eyes glowing into mine, a cloak covering my nakedness as I sat there on the sofa, the trireme once again under way towards "home" less than a mile away now. Sharon had taken off in Black Lady back to Lorraine's estate. Darlanis sat beside me, her eyes glowing into mine. She is incredibly beautiful, the sort of a woman who as my wife once said, makes you want to keep a "firm grip" on your husband. Maris, cloaked, there at my other side. I was happy to hear from Darlanis that Carol's body had not been found among those who had "fallen" there on Lorraine's estates. "And you should see the bitch he's got with him!" Darlanis smiled at Lorraine, "A woman who looks like Lara and fights like you!" "Lara" of course being the famous "Princess of Baja", one once better known as "Lara of Trelandar", the Xaviera Hollander of the 26th Century. That is a pretty good description of Carol! "Carol?" Lorraine asked, a bit "puzzled" I think here, per- haps with reason as Carol had been utterly "different" back when Lorraine had known her. That "Carol" had been "submissive", a "feminine" Carol. Not the hard bitten fighting woman I knew now! "Dularn has a `Warlady' now," Queen Maris smiled in reply. "The North Star will launch an attack at two am upon the Warlady's estates, and another attack at four am," Carol said, her hazel eyes burning into the gray of Lars as he nodded back there in the stern cabin of the North Star. "And if I don't come back from this, take the ship to Dularn and tell them what hap- pened to their Queen," my wife then added, her eyes meeting his. "I will carry out your orders," Lars said, wondering if he would ever see his beloved Sandi again when she went with Carol. Carol had spent the last hour with him explaining things. He un- derstood why it had to be so. How she wanted everything so done. The sails that would be spread over the deck suspended by ropes between the masts. The men on the pumps who would spray water on the ship when they came in to attack. Suspended from a swaying mast head, the North Star carrying blue green sails that blended with the sky, the sea, Carol had seen the two ships in the Celes- tron 90 that had once belonged to the Queen of Dularn. Now that Lorraine was on the "scene", it was time to take "precautions"!!! |
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