"2569-28" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 7 - The Dularnian Queen)2569 A.D.! THE DULARNIAN QUEEN AN ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Twenty Eight "It was `interesting' talking to you," my father said the next morning as Lorraine paused briefly before climbing into her airplane, my husband, Tori, and myself already having gotten in. "People often do `see' me differently than what I am," she smiled back. I wondered what Tori thought of her after spending the night with the Queen of Trelandar in my father's little home. Paul and I in the back of the plane with Tori sitting up front. "I hope we can continue to live in peace," he replied. "I also share such `hopes'," Lorraine "assured" him then. "That sailboat there was the one we passed yesterday," Tori suddenly "commented", turning about in the front seat to face me. "She looks `old' enough to greet LYS," my Prince smiled, the old woman walking out to the end of the dock and getting aboard. "I'll probably `look' that way if I live long enough," I teased him, the woman obviously well over a century I judged now! "`That' should be many years yet," my husband laughed back. ***************************************************************** "Let me have a mirror," Princess Tara said to the girl, her dark eyes blazing up into those of the young teenager's. The girl shaking her head in the negative, well aware of what this woman would see if she did. The hair mostly burned off, the skin that would never again be soft and smooth, but only scarred now! "Your face is badly burned," the girl "whimpered" in reply. "I'm `aware' of that," Tara snapped, the pain making her temper even shorter than it would have been otherwise right now. The Princess "aware" too of what the future "held" for them all! "Here!" the girl cried, holding the mirror in front of her. The visage in the mirror was like something out of a nightmare. "You can take it away," Tara spoke, her voice level now. "Perhaps Physicians can do `something' for you," she said. "You saved my life," the Princess said, looking up at her. "My mother wouldn't tell me `who' you are," the girl spoke. "I am Princess Tara Bisan, of whom you no doubt have heard," Tara answered, well aware that there was a "price" on her head... "You don't have `horns' and a `tail' like they said," the girl smiled, having heard of the infamous former Bajan Princess. Tara smiling to herself at her words, well aware of what the true appearance of the "demoness" who had shared her soul looked like. "I was an `enemy' of those like Darlanis and Lorraine," Tara answered, naming those considered her worst enemies now. She felt it wise not to mention the name of the Queen of Dularn then. "This is Dularn, not the Empire of California," the girl an- swered, standing there, looking down at her horribly burned face. ***************************************************************** "That ship shouldn't be here now!" I spoke to Tori as Lor- raine brought her airplane down for a landing in Arsana's harbor. The Swiftstar no doubt familiar to Lorraine too as she had once chased it far beyond the sight of land with the Corsica in 2566. There was also to my surprise a "sister" ship much like it also! "There's a `reception committee' there on the quay," Tori answered, one "larger" than I thought should be just for me now! "That's my father and step mother!" my husband breathed, staring out through the windshield of the Breechcraft Bonanza. "And Queen Freydis is with them," I observed in reply now. There was also a young Nevada with them, much to my surprise too. A young man more boy yet than man standing beside Queen Freydis. "I understand that you have taken a wife, my son," King John Blue Sky said with a smile as he embraced my husband, his Queen, Pharis, once a high born noblewoman of Dularn, there at his side. The golden tiara of a Queen contrasting with the brilliant "red" of her hair, those of the Wyomings often calling her "FIRE HAIR"! "I am Othis, the brother of Serak," the Nevada said to me, Queen Freydis there at his side like a protecting battleship, the "Queen of the North" being five ten and about one sixty five. A big "Viking" of a woman in the full sense of the term. A barbar- ian in leather and furs, a heavy long sword there at her hip, a horned helmet over her long golden hair adding to the "effect"... "I am pleased," I answered, well aware of "what" was going on here. The "hand" of Darlanis in all this was rather obvious!! "He has asked for my hand in marriage and I have accepted," Queen Freydis said to me. She was old enough to be his mother, I knew, although I supposed it didn't matter that much here anyway. Lorraine giving me a "smile" as I turned, obviously having known of this as doubtlessly had Darlanis when she'd been here earlier! "You `knew' about `this', didn't you?" I said to Lorraine as soon as I was able to be "alone" with her. The Warlady nodding as she now stood there at the window looking out over the harbor. "One way to insure `peace' among you `barbarians'," Lorraine smiled back. "Often a `relationship' between an `older' woman and a young man `works out' quite well," she added with a smile. "In any case it's one way of keeping everyone at `peace' here." "What about the Empire's `relationship' with Valeris?" I snapped back. Valeris was a "loose cannon" in every way too... "A `mistake' I hope Darlanis can eventually get out of," the Imperial Warlady answered. "I warned her at the time that it was not in the best `interests' of the Empire of California to sup- port someone like that, especially as Darlanis' own political op- ponents can `use' Valeris against her as they already have now." I was well aware too of the sort of "comments" that had been made here as Valeris was generally seen as a "baby killer" and "cas- trator" of any men unfortunate enough to fall into her hands now. "I supported supplying the `Free Women' with medicines and items to extend and improve their lives, I did not wish to supply them with military `advisors' or the sort of things we're doing now." "Getting `morals' in your old age?" I "smiled" at Lorraine. "A social order like Valeris' is of `interest' to me, but I do not think we should be `encouraging' her as we are now," Lor- raine answered. "Eventually she is going to think that whatever she does, the Empire will support her in it, and `that', my dear Dularnian Queen, is the `road to ruin' as you very well know." I nodded as I stood there, well aware of the "truth" she spoke now. Darlanis' support of Valeris was costing her a lot "politically". I did not think the Imperial Senate would support it much longer. "There are `legends' of `societies' like Valeris'," I said. "Amazons and such," the Warlady smiled back. "None of them have ever survived for long, not because they aren't `viable', but because men will not `allow' them to continue for very long." The tone of her voice leaving no doubts as to the truth here too! "Men have always viewed women as `threats'," I smiled back. I was well aware of that fact from the years I'd spent as Queen. "We `possess' sex, and they are `obsessed' by it," she said. "It wasn't until women won the right to vote in the early part of the Twentieth Century that `prostitution', their greatest `de- fense' against our becoming too `uppity', was `outlawed'," she grinned. "This is why your attempts to outlaw female slavery are doomed unless the men of Dularn have surrendered their manhood." "Such `things' were `possible' in your time," I pointed out. The men of the 20th Century had allowed women to "rule" them, to pass laws against their own interests such as "alimony" and such much as the white race of that time had "done" with the blacks. Carol had once voiced such ideas before the Dularnian Senate. I recalled the "uproar" she had caused. Only her awesome reputa- tion with a sword perhaps saved her from being "challenged" then! "The `men' of my time were not `men'," Lorraine smiled back. "They voted against their own best interests, something that the men of today are not `stupid' enough to do. We Queens, you, I, all of us including Darlanis, rule because MEN allow us to do so. If we go `too far', then we die by the dagger of an assassin, or by poison, or a number of other means which are used to `keep' us in `line'. The men of this time understand that no woman can be ever completely `trusted', even if they allow her to be a Queen." I nodded, remembering how "mad Kathis" had died here in Arsana... "Yet we enjoy an `equality' unknown in your time," I smiled. "But we are no longer the `privileged sex' we were," she an- swered, standing there, looking down at the harbor there below. "We no longer have the `power' to write laws in our favor anymore as we once did. We have `freedom', `more' than women ever did in my own time, but on the other hand we also have `lost' much too." "Perhaps what women `had' then wasn't worth having," I said. I am a Warrioress of Dularn, proud of "what" I am as a woman too! "I am glad I flew through that `GATEWAY'," she smiled back. "You must have had quite a `talk' with Lorraine," my husband said as we dressed for dinner. Kathi now brushing out my hair. "She is a woman I admire for her intelligence," I smiled. "The `next war' will be fought between us and Valeris," he said to me, watching Kathi work on me as La-ra got my gown ready. "I do not believe that men will allow a woman like that to live." The tone of his voice as he spoke making a chill go over me then. "This is not the Twentieth Century when men were not `true men'." I thought then of what Lorraine had said, the "warning" she gave. 2569 A.D.! THE DULARNIAN QUEEN AN ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Twenty Eight "It was `interesting' talking to you," my father said the next morning as Lorraine paused briefly before climbing into her airplane, my husband, Tori, and myself already having gotten in. "People often do `see' me differently than what I am," she smiled back. I wondered what Tori thought of her after spending the night with the Queen of Trelandar in my father's little home. Paul and I in the back of the plane with Tori sitting up front. "I hope we can continue to live in peace," he replied. "I also share such `hopes'," Lorraine "assured" him then. "That sailboat there was the one we passed yesterday," Tori suddenly "commented", turning about in the front seat to face me. "She looks `old' enough to greet LYS," my Prince smiled, the old woman walking out to the end of the dock and getting aboard. "I'll probably `look' that way if I live long enough," I teased him, the woman obviously well over a century I judged now! "`That' should be many years yet," my husband laughed back. ***************************************************************** "Let me have a mirror," Princess Tara said to the girl, her dark eyes blazing up into those of the young teenager's. The girl shaking her head in the negative, well aware of what this woman would see if she did. The hair mostly burned off, the skin that would never again be soft and smooth, but only scarred now! "Your face is badly burned," the girl "whimpered" in reply. "I'm `aware' of that," Tara snapped, the pain making her temper even shorter than it would have been otherwise right now. The Princess "aware" too of what the future "held" for them all! "Here!" the girl cried, holding the mirror in front of her. The visage in the mirror was like something out of a nightmare. "You can take it away," Tara spoke, her voice level now. "Perhaps Physicians can do `something' for you," she said. "You saved my life," the Princess said, looking up at her. "My mother wouldn't tell me `who' you are," the girl spoke. "I am Princess Tara Bisan, of whom you no doubt have heard," Tara answered, well aware that there was a "price" on her head... "You don't have `horns' and a `tail' like they said," the girl smiled, having heard of the infamous former Bajan Princess. Tara smiling to herself at her words, well aware of what the true appearance of the "demoness" who had shared her soul looked like. "I was an `enemy' of those like Darlanis and Lorraine," Tara answered, naming those considered her worst enemies now. She felt it wise not to mention the name of the Queen of Dularn then. "This is Dularn, not the Empire of California," the girl an- swered, standing there, looking down at her horribly burned face. ***************************************************************** "That ship shouldn't be here now!" I spoke to Tori as Lor- raine brought her airplane down for a landing in Arsana's harbor. The Swiftstar no doubt familiar to Lorraine too as she had once chased it far beyond the sight of land with the Corsica in 2566. There was also to my surprise a "sister" ship much like it also! "There's a `reception committee' there on the quay," Tori answered, one "larger" than I thought should be just for me now! "That's my father and step mother!" my husband breathed, staring out through the windshield of the Breechcraft Bonanza. "And Queen Freydis is with them," I observed in reply now. There was also a young Nevada with them, much to my surprise too. A young man more boy yet than man standing beside Queen Freydis. "I understand that you have taken a wife, my son," King John Blue Sky said with a smile as he embraced my husband, his Queen, Pharis, once a high born noblewoman of Dularn, there at his side. The golden tiara of a Queen contrasting with the brilliant "red" of her hair, those of the Wyomings often calling her "FIRE HAIR"! "I am Othis, the brother of Serak," the Nevada said to me, Queen Freydis there at his side like a protecting battleship, the "Queen of the North" being five ten and about one sixty five. A big "Viking" of a woman in the full sense of the term. A barbar- ian in leather and furs, a heavy long sword there at her hip, a horned helmet over her long golden hair adding to the "effect"... "I am pleased," I answered, well aware of "what" was going on here. The "hand" of Darlanis in all this was rather obvious!! "He has asked for my hand in marriage and I have accepted," Queen Freydis said to me. She was old enough to be his mother, I knew, although I supposed it didn't matter that much here anyway. Lorraine giving me a "smile" as I turned, obviously having known of this as doubtlessly had Darlanis when she'd been here earlier! "You `knew' about `this', didn't you?" I said to Lorraine as soon as I was able to be "alone" with her. The Warlady nodding as she now stood there at the window looking out over the harbor. "One way to insure `peace' among you `barbarians'," Lorraine smiled back. "Often a `relationship' between an `older' woman and a young man `works out' quite well," she added with a smile. "In any case it's one way of keeping everyone at `peace' here." "What about the Empire's `relationship' with Valeris?" I snapped back. Valeris was a "loose cannon" in every way too... "A `mistake' I hope Darlanis can eventually get out of," the Imperial Warlady answered. "I warned her at the time that it was not in the best `interests' of the Empire of California to sup- port someone like that, especially as Darlanis' own political op- ponents can `use' Valeris against her as they already have now." I was well aware too of the sort of "comments" that had been made here as Valeris was generally seen as a "baby killer" and "cas- trator" of any men unfortunate enough to fall into her hands now. "I supported supplying the `Free Women' with medicines and items to extend and improve their lives, I did not wish to supply them with military `advisors' or the sort of things we're doing now." "Getting `morals' in your old age?" I "smiled" at Lorraine. "A social order like Valeris' is of `interest' to me, but I do not think we should be `encouraging' her as we are now," Lor- raine answered. "Eventually she is going to think that whatever she does, the Empire will support her in it, and `that', my dear Dularnian Queen, is the `road to ruin' as you very well know." I nodded as I stood there, well aware of the "truth" she spoke now. Darlanis' support of Valeris was costing her a lot "politically". I did not think the Imperial Senate would support it much longer. "There are `legends' of `societies' like Valeris'," I said. "Amazons and such," the Warlady smiled back. "None of them have ever survived for long, not because they aren't `viable', but because men will not `allow' them to continue for very long." The tone of her voice leaving no doubts as to the truth here too! "Men have always viewed women as `threats'," I smiled back. I was well aware of that fact from the years I'd spent as Queen. "We `possess' sex, and they are `obsessed' by it," she said. "It wasn't until women won the right to vote in the early part of the Twentieth Century that `prostitution', their greatest `de- fense' against our becoming too `uppity', was `outlawed'," she grinned. "This is why your attempts to outlaw female slavery are doomed unless the men of Dularn have surrendered their manhood." "Such `things' were `possible' in your time," I pointed out. The men of the 20th Century had allowed women to "rule" them, to pass laws against their own interests such as "alimony" and such much as the white race of that time had "done" with the blacks. Carol had once voiced such ideas before the Dularnian Senate. I recalled the "uproar" she had caused. Only her awesome reputa- tion with a sword perhaps saved her from being "challenged" then! "The `men' of my time were not `men'," Lorraine smiled back. "They voted against their own best interests, something that the men of today are not `stupid' enough to do. We Queens, you, I, all of us including Darlanis, rule because MEN allow us to do so. If we go `too far', then we die by the dagger of an assassin, or by poison, or a number of other means which are used to `keep' us in `line'. The men of this time understand that no woman can be ever completely `trusted', even if they allow her to be a Queen." I nodded, remembering how "mad Kathis" had died here in Arsana... "Yet we enjoy an `equality' unknown in your time," I smiled. "But we are no longer the `privileged sex' we were," she an- swered, standing there, looking down at the harbor there below. "We no longer have the `power' to write laws in our favor anymore as we once did. We have `freedom', `more' than women ever did in my own time, but on the other hand we also have `lost' much too." "Perhaps what women `had' then wasn't worth having," I said. I am a Warrioress of Dularn, proud of "what" I am as a woman too! "I am glad I flew through that `GATEWAY'," she smiled back. "You must have had quite a `talk' with Lorraine," my husband said as we dressed for dinner. Kathi now brushing out my hair. "She is a woman I admire for her intelligence," I smiled. "The `next war' will be fought between us and Valeris," he said to me, watching Kathi work on me as La-ra got my gown ready. "I do not believe that men will allow a woman like that to live." The tone of his voice as he spoke making a chill go over me then. "This is not the Twentieth Century when men were not `true men'." I thought then of what Lorraine had said, the "warning" she gave. |
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