"2570-15" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 8 - The Queen Of Time)THE QUEEN OF TIME 2570 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Fifteen "What do we `do' now?" Hope breathed, her left hand on the hilt of her sword. We could easily "best" three guardsmen, our own skills with a sword such that I had no "doubts" of that here, but that wouldn't "solve" anything for long, as I knew well. On the other hand we were "strangers" in a social order where any woman not of their own "society" was a slave girl to be captured! We could both end up slave girls here for the rest of our lives! "It's pretty `obvious' that Karen's a `snitch'," I "noted". The slave girl having obviously told "everything" that she knew. I was rather "disappointed" in Karen, having thought "more" of her than this, but I supposed she'd done as she'd thought best... "Some sort of a `procession' or something," Hope noted, peo- ple gathering along the street, others opening up their shutters. People moving to the sides of the street with their wagons, car- riages and such, a Warrioress on a big unicorn clearing the path, a drawn sword in her hand gleaming there in the bright sunlight. She wore chain mail and a crested helmet, the mark of an officer. More guardsmen gathering, keeping a close eye here on the crowd. "Big blonde on a white unicorn," I commented, seeing her now over the heads of those gathering. Someone yelling "Amethysta!" "Got a bunch of Warrioresses riding with her," Hope added. "Probably our Queen Amethysta herself," I ventured then, the Queen of Trelandar being attractively dressed in such a "clothing style" that left no doubts either to me now that she'd been born somewhere to the "north" of Dularn. Like Queen Freydis Amethysta was a big leather clad blonde "Amazon"! Her golden crown glis- tening in the sunlight, a long gray furred cape now spreading out over the back of her unicorn, the Queen being a woman who obvi- ously the people of this era did much "admire" too. Sanda having told me something of her, that she was quite famous even if she apparently had "died" at quite an early age from what was written of her in the history books. She'd been said to be a swordswoman like no other, some even claiming she could have been my "equal"! "Draws a big crowd too," Hope pointed out, people coming to cheer the Queen as she rode towards us, Amethysta flanked on both sides by Warrioresses in lightweight gleaming chain mail, their helmets little different from those that my own guardswomen wore. They had also had shields with the "tree" of Trelandar on them, leaving no doubt that they were Amethysta's own guardswomen here. "Amethysta is supposed to be a popular Queen," I noted then. "Like something out of a Nordic legend," Hope now observed. The Queen, I estimated, being an actual six feet in height! With broad shoulders and a figure that left no doubts to her strength! Not a "beautiful" woman as such, but rather "attractive" by the standards of societies where muscles on a woman are considered to be desirable. Karen had said that Queen Amethysta was the finest swordswoman in Trelandar, which I considered "possible" given the sort of a "figure" that she had, Amethysta being the "type" of a woman that could have matched most any man in physical strength!! "As a Queen I think it best if I extend her my `greetings'," I said then, strolling forward, pushing my way through the crowd, the guardsmen I noticed quickly following, perhaps fearing that I might escape here, or perhaps even harm their beloved Amethysta! "Assassin!" someone cried from behind me as I dodged between two mounted Warrioresses, the women wheeling their mounts about, while the three guardsmen dashed between them with drawn swords! "Seize her!" I heard someone cry out! Amethysta there before me drawing her own sword, a long heavy blade "suitable" for one like her. Then I was seized, thrown to the filth of the cobblestoned street before I could speak, the guardsmen holding me down as the Queen dismounted, her eyes like azure lasers burning into mine... "We have the `other'!" someone cried, Hope struggling among several guardsmen as Amethysta stood there looking down at me. I had no doubt then that things were not likely to be as I'd hoped! "Have them taken to my palace for questioning," she snapped! ***************************************************************** "Well, at least they didn't kill us," Hope "grinned" with "graveyard humor" as she shifted her position there on the straw. Like me just as naked as the day she was born, heavy black iron collars locked securely about our necks chaining us to the wall of the dungeon. Some seven feet from the cold hard stone of the floor beneath us a small heavily barred window pierced the thick wall, letting in a hint of air and light. That Amethysta had be- lieved us to be "criminals" was I supposed understandable given the circumstances here, especially after the "story" that Karen had told. We'd been "lucky" that the Queen hadn't simply ordered us both beheaded! Instead we'd been "condemned to the arena" where we were to fight for our lives against other "criminals"... "We're just lucky that Karen told her about our skills with a sword," I smiled, making "light" of a very serious matter here! We'd tried to tell Amethysta the "truth", but I fear it was so "unbelievable" that we might just as well told her that we were two "aliens" from another world for all the "good" it did us now. I'd been struck several times by one of Amethysta's women, more I suppose just to impress upon me that I was just a lying "bitch"! Hope too having been "slapped", such being a rather commonplace way to punish a lying slave girl as she kneels there before you. "Her son must raise Boston Terriers," Hope replied, changing the subject a bit. I'd seen several of the dogs, Amethysta's son being much different from his famous mother, more of a type that loves books and learning rather than war and weapons like his mother. No doubt Amethysta herself saw such things as being a "weakness". She was uneducated, illiterate, a true "barbarian"! On the other hand I am of the opinion that perhaps there is often times when Scribes are better "suited" to rule nations than those of my caste. Mankind does need to learn how to live in "peace"! To resolve conflicts between nations without resort to violence. "It was in Amethysta's time that the Boston Terrier became the Royal Dog of Trelandar," I smiled back, wondering if Hope was to be someday the Queen of Trelandar after Amethysta? Naked, on her knees, shackled, her head held submissively down, Hope had been the sort of a wench that any man might have paid dearly for. Was it possible that Amethysta's son, Prince Albert, might some- day buy Hope, free her later, and eventually make her his Queen? Such had been the case with Amethysta herself, who had been a "fighting slut" in the arena before King John had purchased her. "I wonder if Tais will ever find us..." Hope breathed then. "Let's just hope that the Lorr don't..." I answered back. "Prince Albert was quite handsome..." Hope smiled back. "Yes, he was," I smiled back, aware of Hope's beauty. "Likes Boston Terriers too," Hope observed in turn. "They fight well," Amethysta spoke as she watched us fence. Hope and I both naked but for bits of leather over our sex, the common attire of "fighting sluts". Her son standing there watch- ing us, a Boston Terrier there at his side. The dogs are perhaps the ideal "size" for such "pets", being about sixteen pounds in weight for the females, and a couple pounds more for the males. "The old woman is the finest swordswoman I've ever seen," the trainer answered her, now motioning for Hope and I to cease. The sweat glistening on our naked bodies as we both then knelt. She was an old Warrioress, tall, dark haired, and olive skinned. "You once `trained' me," Amethysta then smiled back at her. "I think Lorraine would be your `match'," the trainer said. "That `good'?" the Queen of Trelandar smiled, walking over. "She is `old', but yet so `awesome'," the trainer admitted. "Are you `winded'?" Amethysta now asked me as I looked up. "No, your majesty," I answered, holding her eyes with mine. "I do not think you would make a good slave girl," Amethysta said, regarding me. I supposed that was a reasonable assessment. "On the other hand there is intelligence in your eyes, and I do `suspect' that you were `more' than just an assassin sent to kill me by some unknown noble," the Queen continued on here. Fortu- nately Amethysta had not really believed I wished to kill her, as I have no doubts she would have tried torture to drag from me the identity of whoever had paid me to attempt to kill her. In this light no doubt Karen saved our lives, as she'd maintained despite the most strict of questioning that we were from somewhere else!! The wounds I bore, those that marked Hope's body left no doubts either that we had encountered strange vicious forms of life too! The idea, however, that we'd crossed the ruins being something we found no one had "believed", it being commonly held that nothing short of a Legion could ever cross these ruins now and survive... "I do think your majesty is perhaps `right'," I smiled back. "I do not believe in `time travel'," she smiled back at me. "There was a time when I wouldn't have either," I admitted. "You are a woman of `breeding'," Amethysta said to me then. "Sometimes too much is made of such things," I said to her. "Your body is muchly scarred," Amethysta observed in reply. "I have fought for my life on two worlds, in two different times," I answered. "Once I fought a Lorr hand to hand," I said. The scars from Sisa's claws will mark me for the rest of my life. "If you survive the `games' we will talk more," she smiled, taking a fencing foil from the rack, handing her furred cloak to the trainer. I suspected that she would be a worthy opponent... THE QUEEN OF TIME 2570 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Fifteen "What do we `do' now?" Hope breathed, her left hand on the hilt of her sword. We could easily "best" three guardsmen, our own skills with a sword such that I had no "doubts" of that here, but that wouldn't "solve" anything for long, as I knew well. On the other hand we were "strangers" in a social order where any woman not of their own "society" was a slave girl to be captured! We could both end up slave girls here for the rest of our lives! "It's pretty `obvious' that Karen's a `snitch'," I "noted". The slave girl having obviously told "everything" that she knew. I was rather "disappointed" in Karen, having thought "more" of her than this, but I supposed she'd done as she'd thought best... "Some sort of a `procession' or something," Hope noted, peo- ple gathering along the street, others opening up their shutters. People moving to the sides of the street with their wagons, car- riages and such, a Warrioress on a big unicorn clearing the path, a drawn sword in her hand gleaming there in the bright sunlight. She wore chain mail and a crested helmet, the mark of an officer. More guardsmen gathering, keeping a close eye here on the crowd. "Big blonde on a white unicorn," I commented, seeing her now over the heads of those gathering. Someone yelling "Amethysta!" "Got a bunch of Warrioresses riding with her," Hope added. "Probably our Queen Amethysta herself," I ventured then, the Queen of Trelandar being attractively dressed in such a "clothing style" that left no doubts either to me now that she'd been born somewhere to the "north" of Dularn. Like Queen Freydis Amethysta was a big leather clad blonde "Amazon"! Her golden crown glis- tening in the sunlight, a long gray furred cape now spreading out over the back of her unicorn, the Queen being a woman who obvi- ously the people of this era did much "admire" too. Sanda having told me something of her, that she was quite famous even if she apparently had "died" at quite an early age from what was written of her in the history books. She'd been said to be a swordswoman like no other, some even claiming she could have been my "equal"! "Draws a big crowd too," Hope pointed out, people coming to cheer the Queen as she rode towards us, Amethysta flanked on both sides by Warrioresses in lightweight gleaming chain mail, their helmets little different from those that my own guardswomen wore. They had also had shields with the "tree" of Trelandar on them, leaving no doubt that they were Amethysta's own guardswomen here. "Amethysta is supposed to be a popular Queen," I noted then. "Like something out of a Nordic legend," Hope now observed. The Queen, I estimated, being an actual six feet in height! With broad shoulders and a figure that left no doubts to her strength! Not a "beautiful" woman as such, but rather "attractive" by the standards of societies where muscles on a woman are considered to be desirable. Karen had said that Queen Amethysta was the finest swordswoman in Trelandar, which I considered "possible" given the sort of a "figure" that she had, Amethysta being the "type" of a woman that could have matched most any man in physical strength!! "As a Queen I think it best if I extend her my `greetings'," I said then, strolling forward, pushing my way through the crowd, the guardsmen I noticed quickly following, perhaps fearing that I might escape here, or perhaps even harm their beloved Amethysta! "Assassin!" someone cried from behind me as I dodged between two mounted Warrioresses, the women wheeling their mounts about, while the three guardsmen dashed between them with drawn swords! "Seize her!" I heard someone cry out! Amethysta there before me drawing her own sword, a long heavy blade "suitable" for one like her. Then I was seized, thrown to the filth of the cobblestoned street before I could speak, the guardsmen holding me down as the Queen dismounted, her eyes like azure lasers burning into mine... "We have the `other'!" someone cried, Hope struggling among several guardsmen as Amethysta stood there looking down at me. I had no doubt then that things were not likely to be as I'd hoped! "Have them taken to my palace for questioning," she snapped! ***************************************************************** "Well, at least they didn't kill us," Hope "grinned" with "graveyard humor" as she shifted her position there on the straw. Like me just as naked as the day she was born, heavy black iron collars locked securely about our necks chaining us to the wall of the dungeon. Some seven feet from the cold hard stone of the floor beneath us a small heavily barred window pierced the thick wall, letting in a hint of air and light. That Amethysta had be- lieved us to be "criminals" was I supposed understandable given the circumstances here, especially after the "story" that Karen had told. We'd been "lucky" that the Queen hadn't simply ordered us both beheaded! Instead we'd been "condemned to the arena" where we were to fight for our lives against other "criminals"... "We're just lucky that Karen told her about our skills with a sword," I smiled, making "light" of a very serious matter here! We'd tried to tell Amethysta the "truth", but I fear it was so "unbelievable" that we might just as well told her that we were two "aliens" from another world for all the "good" it did us now. I'd been struck several times by one of Amethysta's women, more I suppose just to impress upon me that I was just a lying "bitch"! Hope too having been "slapped", such being a rather commonplace way to punish a lying slave girl as she kneels there before you. "Her son must raise Boston Terriers," Hope replied, changing the subject a bit. I'd seen several of the dogs, Amethysta's son being much different from his famous mother, more of a type that loves books and learning rather than war and weapons like his mother. No doubt Amethysta herself saw such things as being a "weakness". She was uneducated, illiterate, a true "barbarian"! On the other hand I am of the opinion that perhaps there is often times when Scribes are better "suited" to rule nations than those of my caste. Mankind does need to learn how to live in "peace"! To resolve conflicts between nations without resort to violence. "It was in Amethysta's time that the Boston Terrier became the Royal Dog of Trelandar," I smiled back, wondering if Hope was to be someday the Queen of Trelandar after Amethysta? Naked, on her knees, shackled, her head held submissively down, Hope had been the sort of a wench that any man might have paid dearly for. Was it possible that Amethysta's son, Prince Albert, might some- day buy Hope, free her later, and eventually make her his Queen? Such had been the case with Amethysta herself, who had been a "fighting slut" in the arena before King John had purchased her. "I wonder if Tais will ever find us..." Hope breathed then. "Let's just hope that the Lorr don't..." I answered back. "Prince Albert was quite handsome..." Hope smiled back. "Yes, he was," I smiled back, aware of Hope's beauty. "Likes Boston Terriers too," Hope observed in turn. "They fight well," Amethysta spoke as she watched us fence. Hope and I both naked but for bits of leather over our sex, the common attire of "fighting sluts". Her son standing there watch- ing us, a Boston Terrier there at his side. The dogs are perhaps the ideal "size" for such "pets", being about sixteen pounds in weight for the females, and a couple pounds more for the males. "The old woman is the finest swordswoman I've ever seen," the trainer answered her, now motioning for Hope and I to cease. The sweat glistening on our naked bodies as we both then knelt. She was an old Warrioress, tall, dark haired, and olive skinned. "You once `trained' me," Amethysta then smiled back at her. "I think Lorraine would be your `match'," the trainer said. "That `good'?" the Queen of Trelandar smiled, walking over. "She is `old', but yet so `awesome'," the trainer admitted. "Are you `winded'?" Amethysta now asked me as I looked up. "No, your majesty," I answered, holding her eyes with mine. "I do not think you would make a good slave girl," Amethysta said, regarding me. I supposed that was a reasonable assessment. "On the other hand there is intelligence in your eyes, and I do `suspect' that you were `more' than just an assassin sent to kill me by some unknown noble," the Queen continued on here. Fortu- nately Amethysta had not really believed I wished to kill her, as I have no doubts she would have tried torture to drag from me the identity of whoever had paid me to attempt to kill her. In this light no doubt Karen saved our lives, as she'd maintained despite the most strict of questioning that we were from somewhere else!! The wounds I bore, those that marked Hope's body left no doubts either that we had encountered strange vicious forms of life too! The idea, however, that we'd crossed the ruins being something we found no one had "believed", it being commonly held that nothing short of a Legion could ever cross these ruins now and survive... "I do think your majesty is perhaps `right'," I smiled back. "I do not believe in `time travel'," she smiled back at me. "There was a time when I wouldn't have either," I admitted. "You are a woman of `breeding'," Amethysta said to me then. "Sometimes too much is made of such things," I said to her. "Your body is muchly scarred," Amethysta observed in reply. "I have fought for my life on two worlds, in two different times," I answered. "Once I fought a Lorr hand to hand," I said. The scars from Sisa's claws will mark me for the rest of my life. "If you survive the `games' we will talk more," she smiled, taking a fencing foil from the rack, handing her furred cloak to the trainer. I suspected that she would be a worthy opponent... |
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