"FREE-44" - 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 Forty Four "There is one thing that `puzzles' me," Four said to me as we sat around their rough hewn table sharing a bottle of a rather "cheap" wine and the sort of a dinner that is often served by the common people of Trelandar. Meat, rice, and vegetables all mixed together with a sort of "gravy" and cooked in a hot skillet on a cast iron stove. Her husband none too happy about us being here. Perhaps more due to "what" I represented, a reminder of the past. "And what is `that'?", I smiled at the attractive brunette. It was growing "late" in the day, the ride from the estate having been long, a matter of two days, or some fifty odd miles here... A distance that those of the past might have traveled in only an hour or so here on their marvelous "freeways", the ruins of which still could be seen here and there in parts of Trelandar dotting the landscape. Four's children, a boy and a girl, elsewhere now. "Why you use your own maiden name?" her husband explained. "It is a `name' known all over Trelandar," I smiled back. "And one `known' to Darlanis," Four now pointed out to me. "Sometimes the best `disguise' is no disguise at all," I now smiled back. My "tactics" here being based upon a book written a number of centuries ago, back in the 19th Century to be exact... Sometimes the best way to "hide" something is out in plain sight. "Darlanis is `nothing' compared to `that'," Four said to me as we watched the glowing tiny "rock" that was Deimos go racing across the western sky lighted by the rays from the setting sun. The Lorr starship that circled our world every hundred minutes in a polar orbit at a height about three hundred and fifty miles so that every portion of our world could be observed by those on it. I'd been told once by a Lorr Servitor that the telescopes aboard Deimos could actually pick out individual human beings in a mass. That their ships could detect any sort of life in forests below, the proof of this having been our "visitation" the night before. "The Lorr do not `interfere'," I pointed out to her in turn. "They keep us subject to their rule. Deny us the technology once ours," she answered, her dark eyes holding my own in reply. "Force us to live as people once lived thousands of years ago..." The anger showing in her voice as she stood there facing me now. "We made war upon them," I said, such being taught as being the truth, although I often wondered if it was really "true" now. "So it is written in books, told by your caste," she smiled. "The Lorr are not of `concern' to us," I pointed out to her. "We're as much their `slaves' as we are Darlanis'," she an- swered back, standing there, the speck of light that was Deimos now disappearing to the south beyond the trees behind their home. "Let's take a walk," I suggested, changing the subject here. "My husband is opposed to my doing anything now," Four said to me as we took a stroll down a path that led into the forest. "He feels that risking our lives again would be fruitless now..." There were, I knew, a lot of Trelandarians who felt the same way. Those who prefered to "wait", to see what happened in the future. "You don't have to `fight', all you have to do is make life miserable for the Imperials," I pointed out. Granted there was a "degree" of "danger" in all this, but if we all just sat on our hands Darlanis would "rule" Trelandar until she died of old age!! "I just don't see what `good' it will do..." she protested. "Then just organize people, encourage them to make bows," I retorted, the "tone" of my voice no doubt betraying my feelings. "Write letters to newspapers, do things to annoy the Imperials." "It is forbidden to make `weapons'," she pointed out to me. "Their `law', not ours," I snapped back, seeing her nodding. "You are a `Warrioress', I am but the wife of a blacksmith," she answered. "You know the sword, weapons, how to fight wars." "I am but a woman learned in books," I pointed out to her. "We are `few', and they are `many'," Four said to me then. "We are `many', and they are `few'," I retorted right back. The occupation forces totaled only three Legions, thirty thousand men and women, whereas the population of Trelandar was at least fifty times that here. Darlanis had never "conquered" the entire country, only that part of it that laid below the Sierras, and I was well aware that even then she mainly ruled only the cities... It had been more Trelandar's centuries old laws against the com- mon people having weapons that had cost us our freedom, not what Darlanis had been able to do to us with her Legions. And my own fault for agreeing to surrender after Paula's death when we were actually winning against Darlanis, slowly but surely. True, the war would have dragged on for many months further, but I was sure that in the "end" we would have pushed her forces back into Sarn. "You are truly a `Warlady'," she answered, standing there. ***************************************************************** "We're wasting our time with these people," Carl said to me, his dark eyes meeting mine as we rode the next day into a nearby village, the Imperial flag as usual flying from the flag staff in the square. A "reminder" if any was necessary that we lived in a country now under occupation. The sky cloudy and promising rain. "You want to `give up' and go back to the estate?" I asked. "I don't see what `good' we can do here," he answered me. "You are a `Warrior of Trelandar'," I pointed out to Carl. "Our Queen died three years ago," he retorted as we came to a halt there before the hitching rail. "Darlanis rules us now." The implications of his words leaving no doubt as to his thought. "Maybe she did `win' after all." I answered as we dismounted and tied our unicorns to the rail. The tone of my voice leaving no doubts as to my feelings here. "Not because she won the war," I continued on, "But because none of us `valued' freedom enough." The thought going through my mind that we were like the people of America of the pre Janet Rogers era, who did not "concern" them- selves with the actions of their government when they could have. People who "voted" for the politicians who promised them "more", not for the one who placed the welfare of their country first... Those who did not understand that the right to keep and bear arms is the foundation upon which all other "rights" must be so based. "She's not an `evil' woman, despite what you think of her," Carl replied standing there, a prostitute leaning out of a window over our heads looking down at us. The distinctive neck band of the Prostitute Guild leaving no doubts as to "what" she was here. "Perhaps that's the greatest trouble we have in getting people to risk their lives to resist her," he continued on as we stood out- side, a chill wind from the east blowing off snow capped peaks. "They may not like seeing their country occupied, but on the oth- er hand Darlanis has been intelligent enough not to irritate peo- ple enough that they will rise up against her," he now explained. "People may `complain' about the new Imperial taxes, but yet they do take a certain degree of pride in what Darlanis has done now." The Empress having done a number of things that left no doubt she was not like those aristocratic monarchs who had proceeded her... It was her own popularity among the people that made it difficult to oppose her, to stir up the people enough to make them want to fight. There were enough who were "annoyed" by her actions, but on the other hand she was also crafty enough to make herself ap- pear to be a "friend of the people", even to borrowing ideas that must have dated back to the time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt... "Find us a room," I answered, standing there, looking up and down the square, considering tactics, what could and could not be done by a professionally trained fighting woman good with a bow. One who had knowledge of the weapons of the past, including those hardly ever mentioned in even the history books my own caste had. "Those `violate' the EDICT," Carl said, looking at the pipe bomb filled with black powder. Powder hadn't been too much of a problem here, but making fuses had been a bit difficult at first. "I'm working on `that' problem too," I grinned back at him. "I shouldn't have said what I did," Carl said to me then. "I never thought `Four' would give up," I answered back. "She believes our cause is hopeless," my husband answered. "It `is' only if we believe it is so," I smiled back at him. "Janet Rogers `changed' the entire course of history from what it would have been had she not lived, or met with Lorraine Duval..." "You're about the same `size' and height as Janet Rogers," Carl answered, regarding me. Janet's figure had been "different" than my own, but surviving photographs of Janet did indicate that we looked much alike, and I felt too that we also thought alike. "Perhaps I'm her reincarnation," I then grinned back at him. It being taught by the Priestesses of Lys that one goes through several incarnations before becoming "worthy" to be gathered into the loving arms of Lys where your soul is then merged with Hers. It is said that individuals vary, and that none can predict what the "decision" will be when one then faces Her judgment at death. The Priestesses also saying that it is not a matter of "good" or "evil" as we know it, but more a matter of what you "believed" to be "good and evil", which is of course quite something else here. They go on to say here that "good" and "evil" are "subjective", not "objective" as is commonly held by most people. That what is "good" in one case may not be "good" in another, that what is now "evil", or seen as "evil", may later on prove to be the "good"... And that what was felt to be "good" may later on prove to be evil as history has shown us in a number of circumstances in the past. Freedom Fighters of Trelandar A Tale of Adventure in the Second Dark Age Book Nine of the Warlady Series By Jerome B. Bigge Chapter Forty Four "There is one thing that `puzzles' me," Four said to me as we sat around their rough hewn table sharing a bottle of a rather "cheap" wine and the sort of a dinner that is often served by the common people of Trelandar. Meat, rice, and vegetables all mixed together with a sort of "gravy" and cooked in a hot skillet on a cast iron stove. Her husband none too happy about us being here. Perhaps more due to "what" I represented, a reminder of the past. "And what is `that'?", I smiled at the attractive brunette. It was growing "late" in the day, the ride from the estate having been long, a matter of two days, or some fifty odd miles here... A distance that those of the past might have traveled in only an hour or so here on their marvelous "freeways", the ruins of which still could be seen here and there in parts of Trelandar dotting the landscape. Four's children, a boy and a girl, elsewhere now. "Why you use your own maiden name?" her husband explained. "It is a `name' known all over Trelandar," I smiled back. "And one `known' to Darlanis," Four now pointed out to me. "Sometimes the best `disguise' is no disguise at all," I now smiled back. My "tactics" here being based upon a book written a number of centuries ago, back in the 19th Century to be exact... Sometimes the best way to "hide" something is out in plain sight. "Darlanis is `nothing' compared to `that'," Four said to me as we watched the glowing tiny "rock" that was Deimos go racing across the western sky lighted by the rays from the setting sun. The Lorr starship that circled our world every hundred minutes in a polar orbit at a height about three hundred and fifty miles so that every portion of our world could be observed by those on it. I'd been told once by a Lorr Servitor that the telescopes aboard Deimos could actually pick out individual human beings in a mass. That their ships could detect any sort of life in forests below, the proof of this having been our "visitation" the night before. "The Lorr do not `interfere'," I pointed out to her in turn. "They keep us subject to their rule. Deny us the technology once ours," she answered, her dark eyes holding my own in reply. "Force us to live as people once lived thousands of years ago..." The anger showing in her voice as she stood there facing me now. "We made war upon them," I said, such being taught as being the truth, although I often wondered if it was really "true" now. "So it is written in books, told by your caste," she smiled. "The Lorr are not of `concern' to us," I pointed out to her. "We're as much their `slaves' as we are Darlanis'," she an- swered back, standing there, the speck of light that was Deimos now disappearing to the south beyond the trees behind their home. "Let's take a walk," I suggested, changing the subject here. "My husband is opposed to my doing anything now," Four said to me as we took a stroll down a path that led into the forest. "He feels that risking our lives again would be fruitless now..." There were, I knew, a lot of Trelandarians who felt the same way. Those who prefered to "wait", to see what happened in the future. "You don't have to `fight', all you have to do is make life miserable for the Imperials," I pointed out. Granted there was a "degree" of "danger" in all this, but if we all just sat on our hands Darlanis would "rule" Trelandar until she died of old age!! "I just don't see what `good' it will do..." she protested. "Then just organize people, encourage them to make bows," I retorted, the "tone" of my voice no doubt betraying my feelings. "Write letters to newspapers, do things to annoy the Imperials." "It is forbidden to make `weapons'," she pointed out to me. "Their `law', not ours," I snapped back, seeing her nodding. "You are a `Warrioress', I am but the wife of a blacksmith," she answered. "You know the sword, weapons, how to fight wars." "I am but a woman learned in books," I pointed out to her. "We are `few', and they are `many'," Four said to me then. "We are `many', and they are `few'," I retorted right back. The occupation forces totaled only three Legions, thirty thousand men and women, whereas the population of Trelandar was at least fifty times that here. Darlanis had never "conquered" the entire country, only that part of it that laid below the Sierras, and I was well aware that even then she mainly ruled only the cities... It had been more Trelandar's centuries old laws against the com- mon people having weapons that had cost us our freedom, not what Darlanis had been able to do to us with her Legions. And my own fault for agreeing to surrender after Paula's death when we were actually winning against Darlanis, slowly but surely. True, the war would have dragged on for many months further, but I was sure that in the "end" we would have pushed her forces back into Sarn. "You are truly a `Warlady'," she answered, standing there. ***************************************************************** "We're wasting our time with these people," Carl said to me, his dark eyes meeting mine as we rode the next day into a nearby village, the Imperial flag as usual flying from the flag staff in the square. A "reminder" if any was necessary that we lived in a country now under occupation. The sky cloudy and promising rain. "You want to `give up' and go back to the estate?" I asked. "I don't see what `good' we can do here," he answered me. "You are a `Warrior of Trelandar'," I pointed out to Carl. "Our Queen died three years ago," he retorted as we came to a halt there before the hitching rail. "Darlanis rules us now." The implications of his words leaving no doubt as to his thought. "Maybe she did `win' after all." I answered as we dismounted and tied our unicorns to the rail. The tone of my voice leaving no doubts as to my feelings here. "Not because she won the war," I continued on, "But because none of us `valued' freedom enough." The thought going through my mind that we were like the people of America of the pre Janet Rogers era, who did not "concern" them- selves with the actions of their government when they could have. People who "voted" for the politicians who promised them "more", not for the one who placed the welfare of their country first... Those who did not understand that the right to keep and bear arms is the foundation upon which all other "rights" must be so based. "She's not an `evil' woman, despite what you think of her," Carl replied standing there, a prostitute leaning out of a window over our heads looking down at us. The distinctive neck band of the Prostitute Guild leaving no doubts as to "what" she was here. "Perhaps that's the greatest trouble we have in getting people to risk their lives to resist her," he continued on as we stood out- side, a chill wind from the east blowing off snow capped peaks. "They may not like seeing their country occupied, but on the oth- er hand Darlanis has been intelligent enough not to irritate peo- ple enough that they will rise up against her," he now explained. "People may `complain' about the new Imperial taxes, but yet they do take a certain degree of pride in what Darlanis has done now." The Empress having done a number of things that left no doubt she was not like those aristocratic monarchs who had proceeded her... It was her own popularity among the people that made it difficult to oppose her, to stir up the people enough to make them want to fight. There were enough who were "annoyed" by her actions, but on the other hand she was also crafty enough to make herself ap- pear to be a "friend of the people", even to borrowing ideas that must have dated back to the time of Franklin Delano Roosevelt... "Find us a room," I answered, standing there, looking up and down the square, considering tactics, what could and could not be done by a professionally trained fighting woman good with a bow. One who had knowledge of the weapons of the past, including those hardly ever mentioned in even the history books my own caste had. "Those `violate' the EDICT," Carl said, looking at the pipe bomb filled with black powder. Powder hadn't been too much of a problem here, but making fuses had been a bit difficult at first. "I'm working on `that' problem too," I grinned back at him. "I shouldn't have said what I did," Carl said to me then. "I never thought `Four' would give up," I answered back. "She believes our cause is hopeless," my husband answered. "It `is' only if we believe it is so," I smiled back at him. "Janet Rogers `changed' the entire course of history from what it would have been had she not lived, or met with Lorraine Duval..." "You're about the same `size' and height as Janet Rogers," Carl answered, regarding me. Janet's figure had been "different" than my own, but surviving photographs of Janet did indicate that we looked much alike, and I felt too that we also thought alike. "Perhaps I'm her reincarnation," I then grinned back at him. It being taught by the Priestesses of Lys that one goes through several incarnations before becoming "worthy" to be gathered into the loving arms of Lys where your soul is then merged with Hers. It is said that individuals vary, and that none can predict what the "decision" will be when one then faces Her judgment at death. The Priestesses also saying that it is not a matter of "good" or "evil" as we know it, but more a matter of what you "believed" to be "good and evil", which is of course quite something else here. They go on to say here that "good" and "evil" are "subjective", not "objective" as is commonly held by most people. That what is "good" in one case may not be "good" in another, that what is now "evil", or seen as "evil", may later on prove to be the "good"... And that what was felt to be "good" may later on prove to be evil as history has shown us in a number of circumstances in the past. |
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