"2565-56" - читать интересную книгу автора (Warlady 1 - 2565 Ad Book 2)2565 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Book Two Chapter Thirteen (Jon's version of things) "Signal Miles to veer off and hold his fire!" I snapped to the disbelieving midshipman, the icy frigid eyes of my Lieutenant of Warrioresses burning into mine as she shook her head in the negative. The gold of her hair beneath her gleaming crested hel- met glowing there in the bright rays of the sunlight as I lowered my telescope. The Squala now once again like a little toy ship there against the blue-green of the sea as I thought once again of those deep dark eyes, of a face that was both plain and yet in its way so attractive. One who understood much. The woman who had made me forget about that "gold-digging" bitch Maris Marn who I had once loved and had even begged upon my knees to become my wife! Once again I saw Lorraine Duval as I yet remembered her. "YOU ARE A FOOL!" Lt. Sentis Santa snarled, her hand on the hilt of her sword. I heard the muttering, seen the looks in the eyes of my men as they looked up at me from the deck below. Only the steel discipline of the Royal Dularnian Navy kept them still submissive to my commands! "You are betraying the North Wind to HER!" the tall armored blonde snarled! "YOU LYS-DAMMED BASTARD!" The sun glinting off her chain mail as she stood there. Her wom- en gathered there on the quarterdeck were muttering among them- selves. I could see the fear and terror in their eyes. They too knew about Lorraine's terrible new weapon. What it could do to any wooden ship! It would take but the slightest incident now to set off a bloody mutiny that would leave the Janis' lovely pol- ished decks red with blood! Betray the memory of our Princess! "If Squala attacks the North Wind, run me through with your sword," I snapped back, looking her straight in the eye. "Then sell your services as outlaws and pirates to that `LADY' we met last night if any of you survive!" I snapped in tones loud enough that they could be heard from one end of the ship to the other. The "Lady" in question had been veiled so heavily that nothing could be made of her features. She had worn the black of the Warrioress, although her hands and wrists had been concealed in heavy black leather gloves that concealed any caste mark. I had noticed that she also favored her right hand, having apparently hurt it sometime earlier. Just being there in her presence made my skin "crawl", there was something so "evil" about the woman!* * This was of course the notorious Princess Tara of Baja. I have little doubt of that now from what Jon has told me. She admitted everything to me the time that she had me staked out to die! (LR) I thought again of Lorraine Duval. A woman like no other. Of her lips pressed up to my own. Of the love we had shared. We were torn apart by this damm war! A war that could drag on and on forever between my own hate filled Queen and that incredibly beautiful ambitious daughter of hers who wanted to rule the en- tire world! The woman that was now holding Sharon! Darlanis had been no fool. She knew what a woman like Lorraine could do. What weapons she could build. What better way to control Lor- raine Duval than by keeping her own daughter captive! I knew that Darlanis had tried to "cover things over" by giving Lorraine the estates of the Lady Lana Daris, but that didn't mean that Lorraine was free to "do" as she wished. To support our cause against the Empire. I hated Darlanis for the bitch I knew she was. For what she had done to my beloved dear Lorraine! Lor- raine had been too "trusting", unfamiliar with such things. Lost in a time as alien to her as hers would have been to one of us!* * The reader will note that Jon's view of things differs from mine. He is no admirer of Darlanis, considering her in the same light as a lot of Dularnians, that is as being a woman who lets nothing stand in her way of getting what she wants. (Lorraine) My first love had been a tall slender dark haired Physician. About her slender throat I had locked the chain of marriage, her soft liquid eyes glowing up into mine. Later her body had swelled with our first child. We had hoped for much. I had been on a voyage against the northern pirates when the Imperials came to our peaceful little island off the southern coast of Dularn. Those they had not taken for slaves had been put to the sword. My beloved Alexis had been among those they had left behind for the beasts. A woman eight months pregnant was of little value!* * By the "order" of Princess Tara, I might mention! Darlanis having used Tara like a rabid dog to "sic" on her enemies. (LR) My second love had been the older daughter of the mayor of Sana, the lovely beautiful young Maris Marn. We had shared to- gether our love of the sea, of the ships that sailed them. I had lost her a year later to Darl Jord, that coarse, gross brute of a Prince when she had become a "competitor" in the Great Games of Sport held in Arsana. Maris had been "greedy", lusting for gold, too "trusting" of a Prince who "used" women as mere "playthings" and then "disposed" of them like discarded "toys"! The lovely Dularnian maiden having been sent later as a "spy" to Sarn where she was too quickly captured by the Imperials for there to be any doubt as to what Darl Jord had then planned for the lovely Maris! Then I met you, my dear beloved Lorraine, you who were so much like my beloved viciously murdered Alexis, but yet you were so utterly different from any woman I had ever known before. In your arms I found peace, love, the feeling that once again there was someone in the world who cared for me. You were like a lost waif, far from her home. I wanted so much to keep you, hold you close, but Darlanis had your daughter and you said that you would have to go back to Her. To that golden Empress of the Imperials! "Miles won't have a chance if She rakes his stern!" Sentis Santa breathed, seeing the North Wind start to turn in response to my orders. I admired Miles. He was one of Dularn's finest. I had heard from the old fisherman the story about Lorraine's new weapon. He had gotten the tale from one of her men at arms. Along with the surprising story of how Maris Marn had stole Lor- raine's little sailboat a couple weeks ago and had supposedly set sail for Dularn. I wished the bitch luck! Maris was the sort that belonged in a slave collar kneeling at the feet of men. A greedy gold-digging slut who could think of nothing more than how to become rich, how to become a Princess of Dularn! She deserved Darl Jord and he her. They make a really good pair, I suspect! "We won't either against that weapon," I assured Lt. Santa. "Look!" I heard an officer cry. "The Squala's just passing by the North Wind without firing a shot!" My confidence in Lor- raine Duval had just been vindicated! I saw Lt. Sentis Santa's eyes meet mine. Without a word she handed me her sword and knelt there on the quarterdeck before me, her head bowed, her body now curved exposing the back of her neck. Waiting for the stroke. For the cut that would smash through the back of her neck. Through the spinal column. Her own life the price that she would pay for her earlier words. Such is naval discipline on Dularnian vessels. Such is the steel discipline beneath we of Dularn live! "What is often spoken in haste may be repented in leisure," I spoke, reaching down, drawing the woman to her feet, giving her back her sword. I saw the tears glistening in her eyes. It had been the correct thing to do. Lorraine would not have approved of my killing her. I knew her far too well for that! I told Lt. Santa that. She nodded, understanding why I had permitted her to live when our naval discipline now required her immediate death! I watched the Squala heave to, saw the pitiful numbers there on her deck. Understood much. Understood Lorraine's "bluff". I was very proud of her then. There is not another like her any- where. She is truly unique. I am a very fortunate man. As I write this my neck chain graces that fine aristocratic throat. I am pleased to call her "my wife". Pleased that she calls me "her husband". There are of course more beautiful women than her, but when it comes time to walk the valley of Shadows, I will be de- lighted to have her at my side. She is not perfect, no woman is, but in her I have learned much of what life is about. Much that once I did not so clearly understand. I know now that TRUTH and JUSTICE are not true absolutes. That Darlanis is but a woman who "means well" as my delightful 20th Century wife often puts it. I am a "Prince" now, I suppose, but Lorraine's crown has never done anything but make her smile. She is a Queen now, the Queen of Trelandar as everyone knows, but she is still the same as ever! "Lys! Look At That!" I heard a midshipman mutter to one of his companions. Delilah is pretty awesome. Watched Lorraine as she stroked the great gray furred beast squatting there on the bottom of the boat before her. Saw those dark eyes meet my own as the boat hooked on to the base of the Janis' boarding ladder. It had been a long time since I had held her in my arms. Tasted of those fine patrician lips. She is truly of the aristocracy. "Easy!" I snapped to my men, to my warrioresses gathered up behind me. Worried how much control even Lorraine had over that terrible beast as it almost dragged her up to our deck. Saw my love give me a smile that told much without words. I did not fear to step towards her despite the awesome beast beside her. I took her in my arms as Delilah stood silently watching. Kissed her before everyone. The taste of her mouth on mine as I turned to my crew. To my warrioresses. Lorraine was unveiled beside me. She had wished to let everyone see her. To see her features as she stood there with a hand on Delilah's collar. The great dire wolf sitting on the deck, its head nearly to her shoulder! (comment by Lorraine Duval) My husband gets a little carried away at times when he writes of me. I am not a "sterling character" as you have al- ready seen in this story. I do have flaws. I have done things that I am not proud of having done. The fact that he loves me as he does despite my defects is proof indeed that "love is blind". 2565 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Book Two Chapter Thirteen (Jon's version of things) "Signal Miles to veer off and hold his fire!" I snapped to the disbelieving midshipman, the icy frigid eyes of my Lieutenant of Warrioresses burning into mine as she shook her head in the negative. The gold of her hair beneath her gleaming crested hel- met glowing there in the bright rays of the sunlight as I lowered my telescope. The Squala now once again like a little toy ship there against the blue-green of the sea as I thought once again of those deep dark eyes, of a face that was both plain and yet in its way so attractive. One who understood much. The woman who had made me forget about that "gold-digging" bitch Maris Marn who I had once loved and had even begged upon my knees to become my wife! Once again I saw Lorraine Duval as I yet remembered her. "YOU ARE A FOOL!" Lt. Sentis Santa snarled, her hand on the hilt of her sword. I heard the muttering, seen the looks in the eyes of my men as they looked up at me from the deck below. Only the steel discipline of the Royal Dularnian Navy kept them still submissive to my commands! "You are betraying the North Wind to HER!" the tall armored blonde snarled! "YOU LYS-DAMMED BASTARD!" The sun glinting off her chain mail as she stood there. Her wom- en gathered there on the quarterdeck were muttering among them- selves. I could see the fear and terror in their eyes. They too knew about Lorraine's terrible new weapon. What it could do to any wooden ship! It would take but the slightest incident now to set off a bloody mutiny that would leave the Janis' lovely pol- ished decks red with blood! Betray the memory of our Princess! "If Squala attacks the North Wind, run me through with your sword," I snapped back, looking her straight in the eye. "Then sell your services as outlaws and pirates to that `LADY' we met last night if any of you survive!" I snapped in tones loud enough that they could be heard from one end of the ship to the other. The "Lady" in question had been veiled so heavily that nothing could be made of her features. She had worn the black of the Warrioress, although her hands and wrists had been concealed in heavy black leather gloves that concealed any caste mark. I had noticed that she also favored her right hand, having apparently hurt it sometime earlier. Just being there in her presence made my skin "crawl", there was something so "evil" about the woman!* * This was of course the notorious Princess Tara of Baja. I have little doubt of that now from what Jon has told me. She admitted everything to me the time that she had me staked out to die! (LR) I thought again of Lorraine Duval. A woman like no other. Of her lips pressed up to my own. Of the love we had shared. We were torn apart by this damm war! A war that could drag on and on forever between my own hate filled Queen and that incredibly beautiful ambitious daughter of hers who wanted to rule the en- tire world! The woman that was now holding Sharon! Darlanis had been no fool. She knew what a woman like Lorraine could do. What weapons she could build. What better way to control Lor- raine Duval than by keeping her own daughter captive! I knew that Darlanis had tried to "cover things over" by giving Lorraine the estates of the Lady Lana Daris, but that didn't mean that Lorraine was free to "do" as she wished. To support our cause against the Empire. I hated Darlanis for the bitch I knew she was. For what she had done to my beloved dear Lorraine! Lor- raine had been too "trusting", unfamiliar with such things. Lost in a time as alien to her as hers would have been to one of us!* * The reader will note that Jon's view of things differs from mine. He is no admirer of Darlanis, considering her in the same light as a lot of Dularnians, that is as being a woman who lets nothing stand in her way of getting what she wants. (Lorraine) My first love had been a tall slender dark haired Physician. About her slender throat I had locked the chain of marriage, her soft liquid eyes glowing up into mine. Later her body had swelled with our first child. We had hoped for much. I had been on a voyage against the northern pirates when the Imperials came to our peaceful little island off the southern coast of Dularn. Those they had not taken for slaves had been put to the sword. My beloved Alexis had been among those they had left behind for the beasts. A woman eight months pregnant was of little value!* * By the "order" of Princess Tara, I might mention! Darlanis having used Tara like a rabid dog to "sic" on her enemies. (LR) My second love had been the older daughter of the mayor of Sana, the lovely beautiful young Maris Marn. We had shared to- gether our love of the sea, of the ships that sailed them. I had lost her a year later to Darl Jord, that coarse, gross brute of a Prince when she had become a "competitor" in the Great Games of Sport held in Arsana. Maris had been "greedy", lusting for gold, too "trusting" of a Prince who "used" women as mere "playthings" and then "disposed" of them like discarded "toys"! The lovely Dularnian maiden having been sent later as a "spy" to Sarn where she was too quickly captured by the Imperials for there to be any doubt as to what Darl Jord had then planned for the lovely Maris! Then I met you, my dear beloved Lorraine, you who were so much like my beloved viciously murdered Alexis, but yet you were so utterly different from any woman I had ever known before. In your arms I found peace, love, the feeling that once again there was someone in the world who cared for me. You were like a lost waif, far from her home. I wanted so much to keep you, hold you close, but Darlanis had your daughter and you said that you would have to go back to Her. To that golden Empress of the Imperials! "Miles won't have a chance if She rakes his stern!" Sentis Santa breathed, seeing the North Wind start to turn in response to my orders. I admired Miles. He was one of Dularn's finest. I had heard from the old fisherman the story about Lorraine's new weapon. He had gotten the tale from one of her men at arms. Along with the surprising story of how Maris Marn had stole Lor- raine's little sailboat a couple weeks ago and had supposedly set sail for Dularn. I wished the bitch luck! Maris was the sort that belonged in a slave collar kneeling at the feet of men. A greedy gold-digging slut who could think of nothing more than how to become rich, how to become a Princess of Dularn! She deserved Darl Jord and he her. They make a really good pair, I suspect! "We won't either against that weapon," I assured Lt. Santa. "Look!" I heard an officer cry. "The Squala's just passing by the North Wind without firing a shot!" My confidence in Lor- raine Duval had just been vindicated! I saw Lt. Sentis Santa's eyes meet mine. Without a word she handed me her sword and knelt there on the quarterdeck before me, her head bowed, her body now curved exposing the back of her neck. Waiting for the stroke. For the cut that would smash through the back of her neck. Through the spinal column. Her own life the price that she would pay for her earlier words. Such is naval discipline on Dularnian vessels. Such is the steel discipline beneath we of Dularn live! "What is often spoken in haste may be repented in leisure," I spoke, reaching down, drawing the woman to her feet, giving her back her sword. I saw the tears glistening in her eyes. It had been the correct thing to do. Lorraine would not have approved of my killing her. I knew her far too well for that! I told Lt. Santa that. She nodded, understanding why I had permitted her to live when our naval discipline now required her immediate death! I watched the Squala heave to, saw the pitiful numbers there on her deck. Understood much. Understood Lorraine's "bluff". I was very proud of her then. There is not another like her any- where. She is truly unique. I am a very fortunate man. As I write this my neck chain graces that fine aristocratic throat. I am pleased to call her "my wife". Pleased that she calls me "her husband". There are of course more beautiful women than her, but when it comes time to walk the valley of Shadows, I will be de- lighted to have her at my side. She is not perfect, no woman is, but in her I have learned much of what life is about. Much that once I did not so clearly understand. I know now that TRUTH and JUSTICE are not true absolutes. That Darlanis is but a woman who "means well" as my delightful 20th Century wife often puts it. I am a "Prince" now, I suppose, but Lorraine's crown has never done anything but make her smile. She is a Queen now, the Queen of Trelandar as everyone knows, but she is still the same as ever! "Lys! Look At That!" I heard a midshipman mutter to one of his companions. Delilah is pretty awesome. Watched Lorraine as she stroked the great gray furred beast squatting there on the bottom of the boat before her. Saw those dark eyes meet my own as the boat hooked on to the base of the Janis' boarding ladder. It had been a long time since I had held her in my arms. Tasted of those fine patrician lips. She is truly of the aristocracy. "Easy!" I snapped to my men, to my warrioresses gathered up behind me. Worried how much control even Lorraine had over that terrible beast as it almost dragged her up to our deck. Saw my love give me a smile that told much without words. I did not fear to step towards her despite the awesome beast beside her. I took her in my arms as Delilah stood silently watching. Kissed her before everyone. The taste of her mouth on mine as I turned to my crew. To my warrioresses. Lorraine was unveiled beside me. She had wished to let everyone see her. To see her features as she stood there with a hand on Delilah's collar. The great dire wolf sitting on the deck, its head nearly to her shoulder! (comment by Lorraine Duval) My husband gets a little carried away at times when he writes of me. I am not a "sterling character" as you have al- ready seen in this story. I do have flaws. I have done things that I am not proud of having done. The fact that he loves me as he does despite my defects is proof indeed that "love is blind". |
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