"2569-56" - 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 Fifty Six "I'd like to talk to her," Darlanis said to Lorraine's slave girl, the wench nodding, going to her knees in submission then. The Imperial Warlady sitting there with her new born son smiling there on the dock that overlooked the blue green Pacific beyond. A trio of burly men having carried her lounge chair to the dock. The slave then moving back, seating herself there on the grass. Artemis sat down nearby on the dock, watching the moving waves, the tall golden haired Empress keeping an eye on her little girl. "I am sometimes not the `friend' that I should be," Lorraine said, looking into the beautiful sapphire orbs of the Empress' as she leaned back against a piling. The golden ruler nodding back, an "eye" upon three year old Artemis, who seemed to have little fear of the water. The Princess of California was a lovely girl. "You were `right' to speak as you did," Darlanis spoke. "I once `hated' Maris, but no more," Lorraine said. "Our ships are `inferior' to hers," Darlanis said. "I would disagree with you on that," Lorraine said. "I do believe, however, that there is only one `Maris Marn of Dularn'." "You are the only naval commander equal to her," the Empress answered. Such had been "proved" in battle two years before now. "Maris believes that I am `better'," Lorraine smiled back. "Are you?" Darlanis challenged, giving her a smile then. "At war, perhaps, but not `otherwise'," Lorraine said. "You are like her now a `legend'," Darlanis admitted. "This is a `time of adventure'," Lorraine grinned. "I am glad to have lived now," Darlanis spoke. "I share the same feelings too," Lorraine said. "We have made history, you and I," Darlanis smiled. ***************************************************************** "Couple hundred miles, if my figures are right," I said, coming up from below where I had consulting the charts again now. "And only Maris Marn could have done it," Paul grinned, standing there on the deck, the sun now brilliant off the waves. The crew skylarking on deck, everyone looking forward to "home"! "I do think the North Star deserves some of the `credit'," I smiled back. I was proud of the ship, of what it had survived. There were "newer" ships, the armored battleships that spoke of another era, of an age now only myth and legend here in our time. But yet I was "proud" of the North Star, of its men and women who made up the crew, the officers. Of those who called me captain. "We have `proved' that this ocean can be crossed," he said. "I never had any doubts of `that'," I smiled back at him. "I am glad you wear my neck chain," he grinned back at me. "I'm not a `beauty' like Darlanis, but I do have my `tal- ents'," I smiled back, standing there provocatively before him in the common tunic and hose attire of the Dularnian warrior woman. "I hope there are no more `Pharis'' to greet us," he said, referring to that woman who in the pay of others had sought to take from me the throne of Dularn. The woman whom I had slew... "Or anything `else' waiting for us," I grinned back in re- ply, recalling the "difficulties" I'd had with Darl Jord's ghost. Especially with his "friends" that had come to "haunt" my home. Hopefully too the Priestesses of Lys would not "tolerate" another like Queen Valeris and her "witchcraft" that had caused us so much trouble! I still remembered that "spider" forming in the sky! The ghastly glowing greenish light that had shown then... "I expect `that' was an `experience' you'll never forget," he smiled, having heard my "tale" of my adventures several times. "Nor Darlanis, I expect," I smiled, remembering her bravery. ***************************************************************** "You did have an `adventure' few others have had," Lorraine said as Darlanis leaned back against the piling while the Queen of Trelandar relaxed there in the bright sunlight with her baby. Artemis having left them to go to the beach, to play in the sand. The Warlady's slave girl going to her, squatting down beside her. "Taught me `something' about Maris too," Darlanis "smiled". "More `guts' than you figured on?" Lorraine "grinned" back. "She didn't seem to `stand up' too much against you back two years ago, but there in the north she had `balls' enough." the Empress commented, recalling when I had been Lorraine's "captive" along with Bob Simmons before our own "rescue" by Carol Simmons. "I don't think I could have `made it' without her beside me..." "We all have our `terrors'," the Warlady smiled back. "I have mine, and you have yours," Lorraine spoke, Darlanis nodding. "I keep thinking too of that `prediction'," Darlanis said. "And the philosophical concept of `free will'?" the black haired woman from the Twentieth Century smiled back at Darlanis. "That is of course if you believe I actually met LYS on Mars..." There were many who believed that Lorraine had merely suffered from an illusion caused by the lack of oxygen and Raspa's venom. "I believe that you believe that you did," Darlanis smiled. "You would make an excellent politician," Lorraine grinned. "I have `learned' a few things over the years," the Empress smiled back. "And I think there are `mysteries' beyond our own understanding too," Darlanis added, the sun glinting on her gold. "The `mysteries' of `time' itself?" Lorraine smiled back, undoing her dress and pressing her son's face to her nipple now. Darlanis smiling, aware that Lorraine had come came from a cul- ture where women often felt ashamed to "expose" themselves so... The "sexual mores" of the 20th Century being "mysteriously odd". "And the `knowledge' that only the Priestesses possess," the Empress added, aware that the Priestesses were not what she her- self had once thought them to be only half a dozen years before. "We are also fortunate that they `do'," the Warlady grinned. "I `believe' what I was told there on Mars," Lorraine said. "You yourself admitted that it was more `likely' just the result of lack of oxygen and Raspa's venom effecting your mind," Darlanis retorted. Yet, she herself "worried" about all of this! The child who would someday be "Domino Tremaine" was playing right there in the tan sand, happily digging away as children do. The child who as an adult woman would be Janet Roger's vice Lead- eress, the woman who would be Earth's last ruler, the woman whose last mortal remains Princess Tara had found beneath Triskelion!!! "Raspa traveled a distance beyond even the endurance of the Lorr to save my life there on Mars, and she too saw LYS just as I did," Lorraine answered in level tones. The Empress nodding now. ***************************************************************** "Post a good lookout tonight," I said to Karis. We were getting close to land now, the seagulls we saw "proof" of that... Such birds do not travel that far from land as the "pickings" out in the middle of the ocean are very poor, I might mention here. "I'm sure there will be many eyes `watching' tonight," she smiled back, Diane Wells standing there watching us both from the deck where she was supervising a group of sailors checking the rigging for flaws. I planned to sail back into Arsana with the ship in as good if not better "condition" than when we'd left it! "There are also fishermen who venture out this far," I said. "Perhaps it would be wise to take in the top gallants when it gets dark," my first officer smiled back, seeing me nod then. "That way there won't be any `surprises'," I smiled back. "We wouldn't want `that', your majesty," she grinned. ***************************************************************** "The world has certainly `changed' in the last five years," Jon Richards smiled, looking at those seated around the table. The dinner set out before them all the best the cook could make. "We have found our `second Janet Rogers'," Darlanis smiled, glancing at Lorraine, the Warlady nodding, looking at her plate. "We did it `together'," the Queen of Trelandar spoke then. "We did have `help'," the Imperial Warlady "smiled" back. "You said that Maris found the last remains of the Simmons," John Richards spoke then to Darlanis, changing the subject here. "The `location' of their graves leaves one with certain `im- plications'," Lorraine said, her dark eyes like piercing lasers. "Maris said that they left for their own time of their own free will," Darlanis spoke, sharing the thoughts of her Warlady. "Anyone in `contact' with the Priestesses of Lys has no `free will'," Lorraine suddenly spoke, her words seeming to echo about the room, even the slave girls kneeling there raising their heads in awe at her words! "The Priestesses `used' the Simmons for their own ends, and then sent them `back' in time after they had no further `use' for them," Lorraine continued on saying now. ***************************************************************** "Tomorrow Arsana!" Paul smiled, lifting his cup to me then. "Don't get your `hopes' up," I smiled, well aware of the flaws in my navigation after a voyage of this length. We might sight the coast line of North America tomorrow, but where was another question. I was sailing on the same latitude now as the strait that separates Dularn from the mainland, but whether or not we'd sight that first was another question I couldn't answer! "There's only `one' Maris Marn," he grinned back at me then. "She is not `infallible'," I pointed out, sipping my wine. A knock at the door proving to be Diane, who announced that there was a row of dark clouds on the horizon and that Karis wished to shorten sail, the barometer having also fallen a bit in the last few hours, I'd noted, although nothing too "serious" as yet here. 2569 A.D.! THE DULARNIAN QUEEN AN ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Fifty Six "I'd like to talk to her," Darlanis said to Lorraine's slave girl, the wench nodding, going to her knees in submission then. The Imperial Warlady sitting there with her new born son smiling there on the dock that overlooked the blue green Pacific beyond. A trio of burly men having carried her lounge chair to the dock. The slave then moving back, seating herself there on the grass. Artemis sat down nearby on the dock, watching the moving waves, the tall golden haired Empress keeping an eye on her little girl. "I am sometimes not the `friend' that I should be," Lorraine said, looking into the beautiful sapphire orbs of the Empress' as she leaned back against a piling. The golden ruler nodding back, an "eye" upon three year old Artemis, who seemed to have little fear of the water. The Princess of California was a lovely girl. "You were `right' to speak as you did," Darlanis spoke. "I once `hated' Maris, but no more," Lorraine said. "Our ships are `inferior' to hers," Darlanis said. "I would disagree with you on that," Lorraine said. "I do believe, however, that there is only one `Maris Marn of Dularn'." "You are the only naval commander equal to her," the Empress answered. Such had been "proved" in battle two years before now. "Maris believes that I am `better'," Lorraine smiled back. "Are you?" Darlanis challenged, giving her a smile then. "At war, perhaps, but not `otherwise'," Lorraine said. "You are like her now a `legend'," Darlanis admitted. "This is a `time of adventure'," Lorraine grinned. "I am glad to have lived now," Darlanis spoke. "I share the same feelings too," Lorraine said. "We have made history, you and I," Darlanis smiled. ***************************************************************** "Couple hundred miles, if my figures are right," I said, coming up from below where I had consulting the charts again now. "And only Maris Marn could have done it," Paul grinned, standing there on the deck, the sun now brilliant off the waves. The crew skylarking on deck, everyone looking forward to "home"! "I do think the North Star deserves some of the `credit'," I smiled back. I was proud of the ship, of what it had survived. There were "newer" ships, the armored battleships that spoke of another era, of an age now only myth and legend here in our time. But yet I was "proud" of the North Star, of its men and women who made up the crew, the officers. Of those who called me captain. "We have `proved' that this ocean can be crossed," he said. "I never had any doubts of `that'," I smiled back at him. "I am glad you wear my neck chain," he grinned back at me. "I'm not a `beauty' like Darlanis, but I do have my `tal- ents'," I smiled back, standing there provocatively before him in the common tunic and hose attire of the Dularnian warrior woman. "I hope there are no more `Pharis'' to greet us," he said, referring to that woman who in the pay of others had sought to take from me the throne of Dularn. The woman whom I had slew... "Or anything `else' waiting for us," I grinned back in re- ply, recalling the "difficulties" I'd had with Darl Jord's ghost. Especially with his "friends" that had come to "haunt" my home. Hopefully too the Priestesses of Lys would not "tolerate" another like Queen Valeris and her "witchcraft" that had caused us so much trouble! I still remembered that "spider" forming in the sky! The ghastly glowing greenish light that had shown then... "I expect `that' was an `experience' you'll never forget," he smiled, having heard my "tale" of my adventures several times. "Nor Darlanis, I expect," I smiled, remembering her bravery. ***************************************************************** "You did have an `adventure' few others have had," Lorraine said as Darlanis leaned back against the piling while the Queen of Trelandar relaxed there in the bright sunlight with her baby. Artemis having left them to go to the beach, to play in the sand. The Warlady's slave girl going to her, squatting down beside her. "Taught me `something' about Maris too," Darlanis "smiled". "More `guts' than you figured on?" Lorraine "grinned" back. "She didn't seem to `stand up' too much against you back two years ago, but there in the north she had `balls' enough." the Empress commented, recalling when I had been Lorraine's "captive" along with Bob Simmons before our own "rescue" by Carol Simmons. "I don't think I could have `made it' without her beside me..." "We all have our `terrors'," the Warlady smiled back. "I have mine, and you have yours," Lorraine spoke, Darlanis nodding. "I keep thinking too of that `prediction'," Darlanis said. "And the philosophical concept of `free will'?" the black haired woman from the Twentieth Century smiled back at Darlanis. "That is of course if you believe I actually met LYS on Mars..." There were many who believed that Lorraine had merely suffered from an illusion caused by the lack of oxygen and Raspa's venom. "I believe that you believe that you did," Darlanis smiled. "You would make an excellent politician," Lorraine grinned. "I have `learned' a few things over the years," the Empress smiled back. "And I think there are `mysteries' beyond our own understanding too," Darlanis added, the sun glinting on her gold. "The `mysteries' of `time' itself?" Lorraine smiled back, undoing her dress and pressing her son's face to her nipple now. Darlanis smiling, aware that Lorraine had come came from a cul- ture where women often felt ashamed to "expose" themselves so... The "sexual mores" of the 20th Century being "mysteriously odd". "And the `knowledge' that only the Priestesses possess," the Empress added, aware that the Priestesses were not what she her- self had once thought them to be only half a dozen years before. "We are also fortunate that they `do'," the Warlady grinned. "I `believe' what I was told there on Mars," Lorraine said. "You yourself admitted that it was more `likely' just the result of lack of oxygen and Raspa's venom effecting your mind," Darlanis retorted. Yet, she herself "worried" about all of this! The child who would someday be "Domino Tremaine" was playing right there in the tan sand, happily digging away as children do. The child who as an adult woman would be Janet Roger's vice Lead- eress, the woman who would be Earth's last ruler, the woman whose last mortal remains Princess Tara had found beneath Triskelion!!! "Raspa traveled a distance beyond even the endurance of the Lorr to save my life there on Mars, and she too saw LYS just as I did," Lorraine answered in level tones. The Empress nodding now. ***************************************************************** "Post a good lookout tonight," I said to Karis. We were getting close to land now, the seagulls we saw "proof" of that... Such birds do not travel that far from land as the "pickings" out in the middle of the ocean are very poor, I might mention here. "I'm sure there will be many eyes `watching' tonight," she smiled back, Diane Wells standing there watching us both from the deck where she was supervising a group of sailors checking the rigging for flaws. I planned to sail back into Arsana with the ship in as good if not better "condition" than when we'd left it! "There are also fishermen who venture out this far," I said. "Perhaps it would be wise to take in the top gallants when it gets dark," my first officer smiled back, seeing me nod then. "That way there won't be any `surprises'," I smiled back. "We wouldn't want `that', your majesty," she grinned. ***************************************************************** "The world has certainly `changed' in the last five years," Jon Richards smiled, looking at those seated around the table. The dinner set out before them all the best the cook could make. "We have found our `second Janet Rogers'," Darlanis smiled, glancing at Lorraine, the Warlady nodding, looking at her plate. "We did it `together'," the Queen of Trelandar spoke then. "We did have `help'," the Imperial Warlady "smiled" back. "You said that Maris found the last remains of the Simmons," John Richards spoke then to Darlanis, changing the subject here. "The `location' of their graves leaves one with certain `im- plications'," Lorraine said, her dark eyes like piercing lasers. "Maris said that they left for their own time of their own free will," Darlanis spoke, sharing the thoughts of her Warlady. "Anyone in `contact' with the Priestesses of Lys has no `free will'," Lorraine suddenly spoke, her words seeming to echo about the room, even the slave girls kneeling there raising their heads in awe at her words! "The Priestesses `used' the Simmons for their own ends, and then sent them `back' in time after they had no further `use' for them," Lorraine continued on saying now. ***************************************************************** "Tomorrow Arsana!" Paul smiled, lifting his cup to me then. "Don't get your `hopes' up," I smiled, well aware of the flaws in my navigation after a voyage of this length. We might sight the coast line of North America tomorrow, but where was another question. I was sailing on the same latitude now as the strait that separates Dularn from the mainland, but whether or not we'd sight that first was another question I couldn't answer! "There's only `one' Maris Marn," he grinned back at me then. "She is not `infallible'," I pointed out, sipping my wine. A knock at the door proving to be Diane, who announced that there was a row of dark clouds on the horizon and that Karis wished to shorten sail, the barometer having also fallen a bit in the last few hours, I'd noted, although nothing too "serious" as yet here. |
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