"FREE-02" - читать интересную книгу автора (Jerome Bigge - Warlady 9 - The Freedom Fighters Of Trelandar)Freedom Fighters of Trelandar A Tale of Adventure in the Second Dark Age Book Nine of the Warlady Series By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Two "She needs the `services' of a Physician," the woman spoke, looking up at me, holding the hand of the other now seated there. The wounded woman had been hit by a crossbow bolt, which had been driven into her right shoulder right down to the shoulder blade, the agony of it twisting her otherwise attractive face. Some of the wagon masters having been armed here with lightweight cross- bows of the sort often now carried by such men. Lani was a woman of the Peasants, just a simple "farm girl", who had not hesitated to leave her family, and follow the tree flag of Trelandar! The other members of my force gathering around, watching us here as the breeze gently rustled the leaves upon the limbs up overhead. Most of them were low caste people, simple workers and farmers.* * In this society of the 26th Century, people were divided into "castes" based upon what their occupation was. The "high" castes were the Warriors and the Warrioresses, who were the "rulers". Followed by the "learned" castes such as Scribes, Physicians, and Builders. The Merchants were the "middle" caste, with the Peas- ants, Iron Workers, Leather Workers, and such on the "bottom" of the social "pecking" order. There were also "guilds", organiza- tions similar to labor unions for the skilled workers. (J.B.B.) "When those Warrioresses reach..." Carl replied, there being no need to finish the rest of the sentence. The Imperials would send out a force powerful enough to put "paid" to mine in spades! And with those Nevada trackers they were using now, it meant that we had to make "tracks" out of here, and quick too if we were to live to fight another day again for our beloved wooded Trelandar. This land of the great redwoods which gives our country its name. The three slave girls I'd freed, as was my practice here, not so much to hinder the Imperials, but because I didn't like slavery. "She's in no condition to `ride' like that!" I snapped. My Physician was dead, and although I knew something of medicine, I was well aware that I didn't know enough here to get that bolt! Not without leaving the head in the wound as was all too likely!! "Don't leave me `alive' for them, my Lady!" Lani now cried! Those gathered around here in the forest "nodding" to themselves. We were considered by the Empire pretty much as "terrorists" now. A favored method of execution by the Imperials being to "suspend" the captive from a tree limb and then shoot arrows into them now. Another being to build a fire beneath you, which the Nevadas did. "You have medical supplies?" Carl asked, knowing that I did. Such things I kept when I could get them from the Imperials, as I could always trade such things with the Peasants for food, tools, and sometimes arms, although the Imperials had been going about disarming everyone of weapons, much like was done long ago. Mak- ing sure that the territory they controlled remained "peaceful"! No conqueror enjoys the fact that the people have effective arms. "I can do some things, but to do `that'..." I answered back. "That crossbow bolt has to come out," Carl Talen said to me. I could hear the leaves rustling in trees around us as I nodded. The chirps of birds, all the sounds of life here in my Trelandar. "There will be no `pain'," I promised Lani Grant as I mois- tened the cloth with chloroform and held it over her face. I'd given her two shots of morphine too, just to help make sure here. Carl Talen going through the medical supplies, picking out the tools that he would need to do the operation out here beneath the trees. The thought going through my mind that every moment that we tarried here added to the "dangers" that we faced in this now. Dripping more chloroform on the cloth as Lani breathed deeply of it. Carl now joining us, the surgical tools he'd use now ready. "Wish we had more time," Carl breathed, glancing over at me. Lani now unconscious, or at least appearing to be here. I was no Physician, and I didn't know how "much" chloroform to use, aware that too much would kill her, which was another concern here too, especially with all my people standing there watching us operate. "Just get that bolt out!" I hissed, looking up, ordering the rest to leave us. To regroup at the place that I had picked out earlier. Such being necessary so the Imperials couldn't track us as a group, but only upon a basis of a few at a time here, which was far more difficult for them to do, we'd found by experience. "Odd how Darlanis' army is so much `bigger' than ours," Carl spoke as he cut into Lani, the blood spurting as he did, running, the young woman having a tint to her skin that left no doubts in the distant past one of her ancestors had been of another race, a "Black" as historians referred to them, such racial intermingling being commonplace in Trelandar, a bit less so in Sarn, with those of Dularn being more pure blooded "Whites" than anyone else here. "She's been building it up for `years' now," I answered him back as my force now mounted up and rode out. Darlanis also had a lot of men at arms, (both sexes) "filling it out". As well as mercenaries that she'd hired from everyone she could. She'd also introduced a sort of "military conscription" to fill the ranks of her support forces, such as the wagon drivers we'd seen. We be- lieved this "last" was now upon the "advice" of Princess Tara of Baja, the former Queen of Sarn before Thar Marden divorced her to marry Darlanis. The only really surprising thing about this was that Tara was willing to assist Darlanis, although we'd suspected that some sort of "deal" had been struck here between these two!! "We should have been doing the `same' ourselves," Carl said, cutting deeper into Lani, the woman softly moaning a bit here. I quickly now dripped some more chloroform on to the cloth over her face, wondering to myself if Lani would ever survive all of this! "Think I got it," he breathed, wiggling the crossbow bolt a bit! And forcing a soft moan from the yet unconscious woman before us as he pushed the small blade he was using deeper into the wound!! "A big army costs a lot," I answered, recalling the debates. I'd suggested to my sister a civilian militia, but that idea had not been too popular with the upper classes, who distrusted those below them, especially if issued arms and given training here... In any case the King hadn't been at all in favor of the idea, and neither had my sister that much, even though she listened to me. Paula and I having had our own "differences" here over the years. She was of the Warrioresses, and looked down upon "lower" castes, even those who studied history, the law, engineering, medicine... I suspected too that she looked down on me now for having become a Scribe instead of a Warrioress as she had done. My doing so in a way had made me the "black sheep" of the Harles clan, unfit in some eyes to be considered an equal even if I'd so proved myself! "Being subjects of Darlanis is going to be `costly' too," he answered, withdrawing the crossbow bolt now from Lani, the thing covered with blood, while more came pouring out of the wound now! "Darlanis is bleeding her own people white with these new taxes." "Got to stop that bleeding," I breathed, squeezing out wound compound on it, using up an entire tube of it, then putting on a compress. Carl quickly following this then with more bandages. "She'll have a `scar' to show her children," he grinned. "We have to get her out of here, and now!" I hissed back. "She's in no condition to ride," my Warrior now pointed out. Lani was just recovering consciousness, and in her weakened con- dition, it was "doubtful" that she'd be able to stay in a saddle! She needed "care", care of a sort that we couldn't give her now. "Mine will carry double," I said, referring to my unicorn. "I'll help you get her into the saddle," he smiled at me, cleaning off the small blade he'd used to make the incision here. "That's a woodsman's hut," Carl breathed as I halted, hold- ing Lani against me, supporting her in the saddle. It was not a "choice" I would have wished to make, but Lani was too badly hurt to be kept with us, not without some sort of medical facilities! The structure was so ramshackle that I wondered if any now lived there in it. In any case I didn't feel we had any "choice" now. "We're not `moving' swiftly enough," I pointed out to him. "They could turn her over to the enemy," he retorted back, dismounting behind some trees so that we'd not be "spotted" here. One never knew here what you might find riding up to such a hut. "They're Trelandarians," I said, aware we had our traitors. People who betrayed us both for Sarnian gold and for "political" reasons. People who saw Darlanis not as a conqueror, but more as a "liberator", that beautiful blonde being no dumb belle either.* * This is the proper "usage", I should note to the readers. (JBB) "I'll `cover' you," Carl said, unslinging his crossbow here, drawing the string back with his foot there in the stirrup, using his belthook that crossbowmen use to draw back the bowstrings of their arms. The weapon one of the Dularnian ones we'd just taken from the Imperials, a far superior weapon to those that we used. Fortunately there'd also been a supply of bolts with the arms. A big dog, more a wolf than dog, now alert, looking over at us now. Perhaps alerting a force of Imperials hiding inside the place... The dog being tied to a stake driven into the ground before it. "If it's a `trap', don't let them take me alive," I ordered. I had no wish to be "used" by the Imperials as they would here. It would be better for Trelandar if I died in battle, rather than to live as a slave girl kneeling at the feet of the Empress now! I thought briefly of my son, "safe" I hoped in the hills east of Thistle, who might never see his mother again if "such" occurred. His father two months in the grave. The black silk I'd worn once over ny golden neck chain the "mark" of a widow in mourning. The thought here of making love now seeming almost like a "betrayal". I'd kept the neck chain, although I no longer wore it as before. "You've got just as much `guts' as any Warrioress, Sanda," Carl smiled, leaving off my title and calling me by my own name. His dark eyes looking up into mine as I quietly nodded in reply. "We all serve Trelandar, each in our own ways," I answered. The thought now going unbidden through my mind that once this had been a part of the United States of America six centuries before. Once part of the awesome World Federation ruled by Janet Rogers. A civilization now mostly myth and legend, even to my own caste. Freedom Fighters of Trelandar A Tale of Adventure in the Second Dark Age Book Nine of the Warlady Series By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Two "She needs the `services' of a Physician," the woman spoke, looking up at me, holding the hand of the other now seated there. The wounded woman had been hit by a crossbow bolt, which had been driven into her right shoulder right down to the shoulder blade, the agony of it twisting her otherwise attractive face. Some of the wagon masters having been armed here with lightweight cross- bows of the sort often now carried by such men. Lani was a woman of the Peasants, just a simple "farm girl", who had not hesitated to leave her family, and follow the tree flag of Trelandar! The other members of my force gathering around, watching us here as the breeze gently rustled the leaves upon the limbs up overhead. Most of them were low caste people, simple workers and farmers.* * In this society of the 26th Century, people were divided into "castes" based upon what their occupation was. The "high" castes were the Warriors and the Warrioresses, who were the "rulers". Followed by the "learned" castes such as Scribes, Physicians, and Builders. The Merchants were the "middle" caste, with the Peas- ants, Iron Workers, Leather Workers, and such on the "bottom" of the social "pecking" order. There were also "guilds", organiza- tions similar to labor unions for the skilled workers. (J.B.B.) "When those Warrioresses reach..." Carl replied, there being no need to finish the rest of the sentence. The Imperials would send out a force powerful enough to put "paid" to mine in spades! And with those Nevada trackers they were using now, it meant that we had to make "tracks" out of here, and quick too if we were to live to fight another day again for our beloved wooded Trelandar. This land of the great redwoods which gives our country its name. The three slave girls I'd freed, as was my practice here, not so much to hinder the Imperials, but because I didn't like slavery. "She's in no condition to `ride' like that!" I snapped. My Physician was dead, and although I knew something of medicine, I was well aware that I didn't know enough here to get that bolt! Not without leaving the head in the wound as was all too likely!! "Don't leave me `alive' for them, my Lady!" Lani now cried! Those gathered around here in the forest "nodding" to themselves. We were considered by the Empire pretty much as "terrorists" now. A favored method of execution by the Imperials being to "suspend" the captive from a tree limb and then shoot arrows into them now. Another being to build a fire beneath you, which the Nevadas did. "You have medical supplies?" Carl asked, knowing that I did. Such things I kept when I could get them from the Imperials, as I could always trade such things with the Peasants for food, tools, and sometimes arms, although the Imperials had been going about disarming everyone of weapons, much like was done long ago. Mak- ing sure that the territory they controlled remained "peaceful"! No conqueror enjoys the fact that the people have effective arms. "I can do some things, but to do `that'..." I answered back. "That crossbow bolt has to come out," Carl Talen said to me. I could hear the leaves rustling in trees around us as I nodded. The chirps of birds, all the sounds of life here in my Trelandar. "There will be no `pain'," I promised Lani Grant as I mois- tened the cloth with chloroform and held it over her face. I'd given her two shots of morphine too, just to help make sure here. Carl Talen going through the medical supplies, picking out the tools that he would need to do the operation out here beneath the trees. The thought going through my mind that every moment that we tarried here added to the "dangers" that we faced in this now. Dripping more chloroform on the cloth as Lani breathed deeply of it. Carl now joining us, the surgical tools he'd use now ready. "Wish we had more time," Carl breathed, glancing over at me. Lani now unconscious, or at least appearing to be here. I was no Physician, and I didn't know how "much" chloroform to use, aware that too much would kill her, which was another concern here too, especially with all my people standing there watching us operate. "Just get that bolt out!" I hissed, looking up, ordering the rest to leave us. To regroup at the place that I had picked out earlier. Such being necessary so the Imperials couldn't track us as a group, but only upon a basis of a few at a time here, which was far more difficult for them to do, we'd found by experience. "Odd how Darlanis' army is so much `bigger' than ours," Carl spoke as he cut into Lani, the blood spurting as he did, running, the young woman having a tint to her skin that left no doubts in the distant past one of her ancestors had been of another race, a "Black" as historians referred to them, such racial intermingling being commonplace in Trelandar, a bit less so in Sarn, with those of Dularn being more pure blooded "Whites" than anyone else here. "She's been building it up for `years' now," I answered him back as my force now mounted up and rode out. Darlanis also had a lot of men at arms, (both sexes) "filling it out". As well as mercenaries that she'd hired from everyone she could. She'd also introduced a sort of "military conscription" to fill the ranks of her support forces, such as the wagon drivers we'd seen. We be- lieved this "last" was now upon the "advice" of Princess Tara of Baja, the former Queen of Sarn before Thar Marden divorced her to marry Darlanis. The only really surprising thing about this was that Tara was willing to assist Darlanis, although we'd suspected that some sort of "deal" had been struck here between these two!! "We should have been doing the `same' ourselves," Carl said, cutting deeper into Lani, the woman softly moaning a bit here. I quickly now dripped some more chloroform on to the cloth over her face, wondering to myself if Lani would ever survive all of this! "Think I got it," he breathed, wiggling the crossbow bolt a bit! And forcing a soft moan from the yet unconscious woman before us as he pushed the small blade he was using deeper into the wound!! "A big army costs a lot," I answered, recalling the debates. I'd suggested to my sister a civilian militia, but that idea had not been too popular with the upper classes, who distrusted those below them, especially if issued arms and given training here... In any case the King hadn't been at all in favor of the idea, and neither had my sister that much, even though she listened to me. Paula and I having had our own "differences" here over the years. She was of the Warrioresses, and looked down upon "lower" castes, even those who studied history, the law, engineering, medicine... I suspected too that she looked down on me now for having become a Scribe instead of a Warrioress as she had done. My doing so in a way had made me the "black sheep" of the Harles clan, unfit in some eyes to be considered an equal even if I'd so proved myself! "Being subjects of Darlanis is going to be `costly' too," he answered, withdrawing the crossbow bolt now from Lani, the thing covered with blood, while more came pouring out of the wound now! "Darlanis is bleeding her own people white with these new taxes." "Got to stop that bleeding," I breathed, squeezing out wound compound on it, using up an entire tube of it, then putting on a compress. Carl quickly following this then with more bandages. "She'll have a `scar' to show her children," he grinned. "We have to get her out of here, and now!" I hissed back. "She's in no condition to ride," my Warrior now pointed out. Lani was just recovering consciousness, and in her weakened con- dition, it was "doubtful" that she'd be able to stay in a saddle! She needed "care", care of a sort that we couldn't give her now. "Mine will carry double," I said, referring to my unicorn. "I'll help you get her into the saddle," he smiled at me, cleaning off the small blade he'd used to make the incision here. "That's a woodsman's hut," Carl breathed as I halted, hold- ing Lani against me, supporting her in the saddle. It was not a "choice" I would have wished to make, but Lani was too badly hurt to be kept with us, not without some sort of medical facilities! The structure was so ramshackle that I wondered if any now lived there in it. In any case I didn't feel we had any "choice" now. "We're not `moving' swiftly enough," I pointed out to him. "They could turn her over to the enemy," he retorted back, dismounting behind some trees so that we'd not be "spotted" here. One never knew here what you might find riding up to such a hut. "They're Trelandarians," I said, aware we had our traitors. People who betrayed us both for Sarnian gold and for "political" reasons. People who saw Darlanis not as a conqueror, but more as a "liberator", that beautiful blonde being no dumb belle either.* * This is the proper "usage", I should note to the readers. (JBB) "I'll `cover' you," Carl said, unslinging his crossbow here, drawing the string back with his foot there in the stirrup, using his belthook that crossbowmen use to draw back the bowstrings of their arms. The weapon one of the Dularnian ones we'd just taken from the Imperials, a far superior weapon to those that we used. Fortunately there'd also been a supply of bolts with the arms. A big dog, more a wolf than dog, now alert, looking over at us now. Perhaps alerting a force of Imperials hiding inside the place... The dog being tied to a stake driven into the ground before it. "If it's a `trap', don't let them take me alive," I ordered. I had no wish to be "used" by the Imperials as they would here. It would be better for Trelandar if I died in battle, rather than to live as a slave girl kneeling at the feet of the Empress now! I thought briefly of my son, "safe" I hoped in the hills east of Thistle, who might never see his mother again if "such" occurred. His father two months in the grave. The black silk I'd worn once over ny golden neck chain the "mark" of a widow in mourning. The thought here of making love now seeming almost like a "betrayal". I'd kept the neck chain, although I no longer wore it as before. "You've got just as much `guts' as any Warrioress, Sanda," Carl smiled, leaving off my title and calling me by my own name. His dark eyes looking up into mine as I quietly nodded in reply. "We all serve Trelandar, each in our own ways," I answered. The thought now going unbidden through my mind that once this had been a part of the United States of America six centuries before. Once part of the awesome World Federation ruled by Janet Rogers. A civilization now mostly myth and legend, even to my own caste. |
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