"2565-68" - 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 Twenty Five "How much of this did you know about?" I asked, standing there, clad in my long black silken gown, the crown of the Queen of Trelandar there resting in the midnight darkness of my hair. Jon nodding, smiling, perhaps proud of himself for his role in what Sanda had managed to "pull off" without my knowledge or con- sent! I was angry in a way, but yet proud that they thought so highly of me. It is a great honor to be made a Queen, especially when your own people are the ones who make the decision for you! We stood beneath a spreading oak, the people holding back, giving us a bit of privacy. Sanda and Hara and the sheriff seeing that we were not disturbed. She who wears a crown has little privacy. "I've been in communication with Sanda for some time, al- though I promise you, Lorraine, that I didn't know that she was planning to `do' something like this!" I suspected it was the truth. No doubt Sanda had trusted few with her complete plans. When there is a "price" of a hundred gold crowns on your head you act with a certain degree of caution and "trust" very few people. "I'm still the same `Lorraine' I've always been," I told him. Putting a "crown" on my head didn't alter that. True, I do have a lot of power which I use mostly just to stop others from making stupid mistakes and then blaming me for them, and I am so wealthy that "money" hardly means anything, but that doesn't make me any different than what I was before all this happened to me. "You do make a pretty `impressive' Queen," Jon admitted, standing there, admiring me. My gown was a bit too "tight". It revealed more of me than what I would have cared to reveal, but I suppose Sanda knew what she was doing. Even she had to admit to the fact that a lot of Darlanis' power was based on her looks and that I'd better be at my best if we were going to go against her! "Do you actually love me?" I asked, looking straight in his eyes. "Or am I just something to be used to fulfill someone's political ambitions? A means to an end?" I realized the neces- sity of Sanda's caution, but yet I didn't like being "used" like this. I have always been my "own woman". One who did things "her way". I didn't like being forced into a position from which there was no return. Forced to become the enemy of one whom I honored, respected. Whose friendship I valued over nearly every- thing else. I had been forced to become the enemy of Darlanis. "I loved you when you were without title, without wealth," he answered, taking me by the shoulders. "I will love you if you become ruler of the Universe, if you become an outlaw living from day to day, fleeing from place to place. You are, Lorraine, the woman I have loved ever since that night on the Janis when I held you in my arms, tasted of your lips, felt your sweet body press against mine. I look upon you and I find peace, a sense that with you I can live out the rest of my life and never look back with regret on what could have been had I married another woman." Jon can at time make me feel very "special". This was one of those times. I especially liked the last sentence he spoke here. "I can promise you nothing but my love as long as I live," I answered, moving into his arms. Caring little just then that there were hundreds of eyes upon us. Even if Sanda did manage to capture Darlanis and bring Sharon back to me, I didn't think it would really prevent the war that would soon be. The aristocracy of the Empire would see to that! I was a threat to their way of life! There was also Princess Tara. Baja there to the south. I did not know whether or not Sanda's revolution would succeed even in Trelandar. Someone could betray us to Darlanis. Warn her of what was going to happen. Put her on her guard. We could lose the Squala, everyone aboard. Darlanis was no fool. I suspected that she could be vicious if driven to it. She still had Sharon. "We don't have much time for an engagement," he smiled back. "Do you have any `doubts'?" I retorted. I saw no reason for waiting. I might be dead in a matter of days. Or chained in a dungeon waiting to be executed. The Empire usually beheaded its enemies, although I supposed that Darlanis could dream up other means of execution if she put her mind to it. Burning at the stake, for example. She would no doubt enjoy my death agonies!* * The reader will doubtless object here that I have often spoken of Darlanis as being "good", "decent", "honorable" and to speak such of her torturing someone to death is counter to what I have written earlier. I should point out here, however, that Darlanis given sufficient provocation no doubt, would be willing to use such means of execution should she consider them necessary. I am also reminding the reader here that I did just the same horrible thing to another human being with considerably less provocation! "There is a temple of Lys here in Thistle," I said. There was also a jewelry store. I was sure the storekeeper would not object to being of service to his Queen should she desire to pur- chase something to grace the beauty of her neck. Say a length of silver chain that could be riveted together around that neck! My reign as Queen of Trelandar might not be very long, but for at least a few days I would be Jon's wife. Mrs. Jon Richards. "Here, take it!" I breathed as I slipped the golden crown into Jon's hand there before the jewelry store. The sun now be- low the horizon there in the west, the closed sign already in the window. The storekeeper luckily for us still inside counting the day's receipts after the delay caused by my crowning as Queen of Trelandar here in Thistle. Jon's dark eyes meeting the smiling darkness of mine as I nodded in return. I saw no reason why I shouldn't pay for things if I had the money and he didn't. I wanted the best neck-chain locked around my throat that money could buy. I wanted him to be proud of his Queen. For everyone to know that I was indeed his woman! That I was now his wife! "It isn't right!" he quietly protested, very much the man. Sometimes I wonder if things have really changed all that much! "Consider it a loan then!" I answered in a soft voice, smil- ing to myself. How little men have changed over the centuries! "I just don't `know' about you, Lorraine!" Jon Richards smiled. Seizing me in his strong arms for a brief moment to kiss me again. The shopkeeper regarding us, well aware of my identi- ty. That this was indeed Queen Lorraine kissing a man in public! "You'll have three years to decide whether you want to make it permanent or not!" I laughed softly, kissing him back. I had no doubts. After the three years are up, you have a much harder time getting a divorce than you do during the first three years. It is an intelligent law, one more realistic than those of my own era. The "property rights" also change at that time to full joint ownership. There are also laws regarding any children, but we need not get into them here at this point as I have three years to wait until I can have children of my own. That is if I ever decide to do so, as I legally do have three children al- ready, these being Mara, Ta-she-ra, and Gayle, my own Princess. "Do you understand what I want?" I said to the owner of the tavern where Jon had been staying with his lieutenant. My eyes meeting his. The man nodding, knowing the fate that would be his if he displeased the Queen of Trelandar in this. We had one place to visit before the night grew any older. I wished to kneel before the old High Priestess with Jon at my side. Ask her to bless our marriage. Have her say the words that would make us husband and wife. Make me into a "wife" as well as the Queen! "Everything will be as you wish, my Queen," he answered, sweating a bit. I had warned him that if word was to get out, he could expect his Queen Lorraine's anger to be utterly merciless! "I would not like to cross your path!" Jon laughed as we walked up the stairs to the rooms above an hour later, the tavern owner having assured me that everything was as I wished it. The heat of the upper floor stifling after the sun had baked every- thing all day. It felt like walking into an open oven! I could feel myself sweating despite the clinging silk of my own attire! "I would not carry out the threat unless I was sure that he was guilty," I answered with a smile, my hand in his as we walked down that dimly lit stifling hallway. It would get hotter yet! "Surely you hired a wench for the night?" Jon asked as he saw the things that had been sent up for our delight. The open sky overhead now sprinkled with stars as we sat there on the flat roof top of the tavern. The fiddler tuning his instrument. The meal now set before us the finest that could be obtained here in Thistle. Roast duck, fresh fruit. Thistle spread out below us. "We have a wench for the night," I said with a smile. "I trust you will find her of interest." Jon lighting the candles. The gown of silk and lace well displaying my figure beneath it as I turned about before him. I was naked beneath it, totally so! It was mostly lace, with just enough silk to cover certain parts of me. The tavern was the highest point in Thistle except for the temple of Lys. I did not plan to get close to the edge of the roof. Telescopes, you know. My attire would have caused Lara Warsan to blush. It made the most of what I had to "offer". "You are a bit of a tease, you know," he observed, the gown well displaying the fact that I was completely nude beneath. The woman of the 26th Century does not suffer from the false modes- ties of the 20th. I was bare nippled, bare crotched under it. "Trust your Lorraine," I said, kissing him, letting him touch my breasts, my nipples exposed beneath the silk. I pushed him back down on the cushions and placing a cherry between my lips, gave it to him. There is little I do not know about how to please a man. I have learned much from my own slave girls. "You smell nice," Jon said, kissing at my earlobe, the ring of pure gold piercing the soft flesh. Holding my heavy hair back. Worrying the earring with the tip of his tongue, making me giggle just a bit. The fiddler sawing away on his instrument. I supposed he would have something to tell his children. About a certain Queen of Trelandar who did what one never expects a Queen to do. No doubt Sanda wouldn't have approved, but she had al- ready left to ride back to my home to take the Squala to Trella. "A little perfume in the right places," I answered, return- ing the caress, giving him a teasing nip to show him just what sort of a woman he had! The Priestess had said a few words over us as we knelt before her. Enough to make it "legal". While I was not a regular "temple-goer", I did respect the religion as being perhaps closer to the TRUTH of SHE than any of my own era had been. I would tell him about it someday, but not right now. "It's a lovely night," Jon observed, leaning back. The stars were brilliant points of light overhead. The air of the 26th Century is far cleaner, purer than that of the 20th Century. There is little "light pollution". The sky is very beautiful. "You are not looking at me," I teased, undoing his vest. Running my fingertips across his muscular chest as my eyes glowed into his. I could feel my body sexually responding underneath my provocative gown. Feel the dampness growing there between my thighs! I would tease him, play with him, then later "yield"! "There is more to you than what meets the eye," Jon said to me as we ate our dinner. My teasing quick caresses hinting at what was to come. I had learned a lot from Yvette in the past month. And from other girls, both Dularnian and Californian. "I have an I.Q. of a hundred and sixty, if you know what that means," I answered him. Turning so that I laid back on the cushions, his eyes looking down into mine. The fiddler watching the interplay between us as he played. He would be discreet. I had paid him well to be so. He knew better than to be elsewise! "I suspect I do," Jon said, regarding me. "You're a rather unusual woman, you know." He was very handsome in his leather. I offered him my lips, arching up, his hands going beneath me. "I've never made love to a Queen before," Jon mused, looking up at the stars overhead. It was cool, pleasant to be underneath the blankets. My fingertips sought the links of the neck chain that marked me for all to see as a married woman. I had bought Jon a wedding band, just to remind him that he was married to the Queen of Trelandar. There are always those "tall beautiful blondes" that plainer women like me have to worry about a bit. "I'm the only Queen you're ever going to make love to," I teased, nipping at the side of his neck. I suspected that his bare back would betray the fact in the morning that Queen Lor- raine "scratches" a bit when she makes love. Especially when she has a strong orgasm and arches and heaves like some slave girl! 2565 A.D.! A TALE OF ADVENTURE IN THE SECOND DARK AGE OF MAN By Jerome B. Bigge Book Two Chapter Twenty Five "How much of this did you know about?" I asked, standing there, clad in my long black silken gown, the crown of the Queen of Trelandar there resting in the midnight darkness of my hair. Jon nodding, smiling, perhaps proud of himself for his role in what Sanda had managed to "pull off" without my knowledge or con- sent! I was angry in a way, but yet proud that they thought so highly of me. It is a great honor to be made a Queen, especially when your own people are the ones who make the decision for you! We stood beneath a spreading oak, the people holding back, giving us a bit of privacy. Sanda and Hara and the sheriff seeing that we were not disturbed. She who wears a crown has little privacy. "I've been in communication with Sanda for some time, al- though I promise you, Lorraine, that I didn't know that she was planning to `do' something like this!" I suspected it was the truth. No doubt Sanda had trusted few with her complete plans. When there is a "price" of a hundred gold crowns on your head you act with a certain degree of caution and "trust" very few people. "I'm still the same `Lorraine' I've always been," I told him. Putting a "crown" on my head didn't alter that. True, I do have a lot of power which I use mostly just to stop others from making stupid mistakes and then blaming me for them, and I am so wealthy that "money" hardly means anything, but that doesn't make me any different than what I was before all this happened to me. "You do make a pretty `impressive' Queen," Jon admitted, standing there, admiring me. My gown was a bit too "tight". It revealed more of me than what I would have cared to reveal, but I suppose Sanda knew what she was doing. Even she had to admit to the fact that a lot of Darlanis' power was based on her looks and that I'd better be at my best if we were going to go against her! "Do you actually love me?" I asked, looking straight in his eyes. "Or am I just something to be used to fulfill someone's political ambitions? A means to an end?" I realized the neces- sity of Sanda's caution, but yet I didn't like being "used" like this. I have always been my "own woman". One who did things "her way". I didn't like being forced into a position from which there was no return. Forced to become the enemy of one whom I honored, respected. Whose friendship I valued over nearly every- thing else. I had been forced to become the enemy of Darlanis. "I loved you when you were without title, without wealth," he answered, taking me by the shoulders. "I will love you if you become ruler of the Universe, if you become an outlaw living from day to day, fleeing from place to place. You are, Lorraine, the woman I have loved ever since that night on the Janis when I held you in my arms, tasted of your lips, felt your sweet body press against mine. I look upon you and I find peace, a sense that with you I can live out the rest of my life and never look back with regret on what could have been had I married another woman." Jon can at time make me feel very "special". This was one of those times. I especially liked the last sentence he spoke here. "I can promise you nothing but my love as long as I live," I answered, moving into his arms. Caring little just then that there were hundreds of eyes upon us. Even if Sanda did manage to capture Darlanis and bring Sharon back to me, I didn't think it would really prevent the war that would soon be. The aristocracy of the Empire would see to that! I was a threat to their way of life! There was also Princess Tara. Baja there to the south. I did not know whether or not Sanda's revolution would succeed even in Trelandar. Someone could betray us to Darlanis. Warn her of what was going to happen. Put her on her guard. We could lose the Squala, everyone aboard. Darlanis was no fool. I suspected that she could be vicious if driven to it. She still had Sharon. "We don't have much time for an engagement," he smiled back. "Do you have any `doubts'?" I retorted. I saw no reason for waiting. I might be dead in a matter of days. Or chained in a dungeon waiting to be executed. The Empire usually beheaded its enemies, although I supposed that Darlanis could dream up other means of execution if she put her mind to it. Burning at the stake, for example. She would no doubt enjoy my death agonies!* * The reader will doubtless object here that I have often spoken of Darlanis as being "good", "decent", "honorable" and to speak such of her torturing someone to death is counter to what I have written earlier. I should point out here, however, that Darlanis given sufficient provocation no doubt, would be willing to use such means of execution should she consider them necessary. I am also reminding the reader here that I did just the same horrible thing to another human being with considerably less provocation! "There is a temple of Lys here in Thistle," I said. There was also a jewelry store. I was sure the storekeeper would not object to being of service to his Queen should she desire to pur- chase something to grace the beauty of her neck. Say a length of silver chain that could be riveted together around that neck! My reign as Queen of Trelandar might not be very long, but for at least a few days I would be Jon's wife. Mrs. Jon Richards. "Here, take it!" I breathed as I slipped the golden crown into Jon's hand there before the jewelry store. The sun now be- low the horizon there in the west, the closed sign already in the window. The storekeeper luckily for us still inside counting the day's receipts after the delay caused by my crowning as Queen of Trelandar here in Thistle. Jon's dark eyes meeting the smiling darkness of mine as I nodded in return. I saw no reason why I shouldn't pay for things if I had the money and he didn't. I wanted the best neck-chain locked around my throat that money could buy. I wanted him to be proud of his Queen. For everyone to know that I was indeed his woman! That I was now his wife! "It isn't right!" he quietly protested, very much the man. Sometimes I wonder if things have really changed all that much! "Consider it a loan then!" I answered in a soft voice, smil- ing to myself. How little men have changed over the centuries! "I just don't `know' about you, Lorraine!" Jon Richards smiled. Seizing me in his strong arms for a brief moment to kiss me again. The shopkeeper regarding us, well aware of my identi- ty. That this was indeed Queen Lorraine kissing a man in public! "You'll have three years to decide whether you want to make it permanent or not!" I laughed softly, kissing him back. I had no doubts. After the three years are up, you have a much harder time getting a divorce than you do during the first three years. It is an intelligent law, one more realistic than those of my own era. The "property rights" also change at that time to full joint ownership. There are also laws regarding any children, but we need not get into them here at this point as I have three years to wait until I can have children of my own. That is if I ever decide to do so, as I legally do have three children al- ready, these being Mara, Ta-she-ra, and Gayle, my own Princess. "Do you understand what I want?" I said to the owner of the tavern where Jon had been staying with his lieutenant. My eyes meeting his. The man nodding, knowing the fate that would be his if he displeased the Queen of Trelandar in this. We had one place to visit before the night grew any older. I wished to kneel before the old High Priestess with Jon at my side. Ask her to bless our marriage. Have her say the words that would make us husband and wife. Make me into a "wife" as well as the Queen! "Everything will be as you wish, my Queen," he answered, sweating a bit. I had warned him that if word was to get out, he could expect his Queen Lorraine's anger to be utterly merciless! "I would not like to cross your path!" Jon laughed as we walked up the stairs to the rooms above an hour later, the tavern owner having assured me that everything was as I wished it. The heat of the upper floor stifling after the sun had baked every- thing all day. It felt like walking into an open oven! I could feel myself sweating despite the clinging silk of my own attire! "I would not carry out the threat unless I was sure that he was guilty," I answered with a smile, my hand in his as we walked down that dimly lit stifling hallway. It would get hotter yet! "Surely you hired a wench for the night?" Jon asked as he saw the things that had been sent up for our delight. The open sky overhead now sprinkled with stars as we sat there on the flat roof top of the tavern. The fiddler tuning his instrument. The meal now set before us the finest that could be obtained here in Thistle. Roast duck, fresh fruit. Thistle spread out below us. "We have a wench for the night," I said with a smile. "I trust you will find her of interest." Jon lighting the candles. The gown of silk and lace well displaying my figure beneath it as I turned about before him. I was naked beneath it, totally so! It was mostly lace, with just enough silk to cover certain parts of me. The tavern was the highest point in Thistle except for the temple of Lys. I did not plan to get close to the edge of the roof. Telescopes, you know. My attire would have caused Lara Warsan to blush. It made the most of what I had to "offer". "You are a bit of a tease, you know," he observed, the gown well displaying the fact that I was completely nude beneath. The woman of the 26th Century does not suffer from the false modes- ties of the 20th. I was bare nippled, bare crotched under it. "Trust your Lorraine," I said, kissing him, letting him touch my breasts, my nipples exposed beneath the silk. I pushed him back down on the cushions and placing a cherry between my lips, gave it to him. There is little I do not know about how to please a man. I have learned much from my own slave girls. "You smell nice," Jon said, kissing at my earlobe, the ring of pure gold piercing the soft flesh. Holding my heavy hair back. Worrying the earring with the tip of his tongue, making me giggle just a bit. The fiddler sawing away on his instrument. I supposed he would have something to tell his children. About a certain Queen of Trelandar who did what one never expects a Queen to do. No doubt Sanda wouldn't have approved, but she had al- ready left to ride back to my home to take the Squala to Trella. "A little perfume in the right places," I answered, return- ing the caress, giving him a teasing nip to show him just what sort of a woman he had! The Priestess had said a few words over us as we knelt before her. Enough to make it "legal". While I was not a regular "temple-goer", I did respect the religion as being perhaps closer to the TRUTH of SHE than any of my own era had been. I would tell him about it someday, but not right now. "It's a lovely night," Jon observed, leaning back. The stars were brilliant points of light overhead. The air of the 26th Century is far cleaner, purer than that of the 20th Century. There is little "light pollution". The sky is very beautiful. "You are not looking at me," I teased, undoing his vest. Running my fingertips across his muscular chest as my eyes glowed into his. I could feel my body sexually responding underneath my provocative gown. Feel the dampness growing there between my thighs! I would tease him, play with him, then later "yield"! "There is more to you than what meets the eye," Jon said to me as we ate our dinner. My teasing quick caresses hinting at what was to come. I had learned a lot from Yvette in the past month. And from other girls, both Dularnian and Californian. "I have an I.Q. of a hundred and sixty, if you know what that means," I answered him. Turning so that I laid back on the cushions, his eyes looking down into mine. The fiddler watching the interplay between us as he played. He would be discreet. I had paid him well to be so. He knew better than to be elsewise! "I suspect I do," Jon said, regarding me. "You're a rather unusual woman, you know." He was very handsome in his leather. I offered him my lips, arching up, his hands going beneath me. "I've never made love to a Queen before," Jon mused, looking up at the stars overhead. It was cool, pleasant to be underneath the blankets. My fingertips sought the links of the neck chain that marked me for all to see as a married woman. I had bought Jon a wedding band, just to remind him that he was married to the Queen of Trelandar. There are always those "tall beautiful blondes" that plainer women like me have to worry about a bit. "I'm the only Queen you're ever going to make love to," I teased, nipping at the side of his neck. I suspected that his bare back would betray the fact in the morning that Queen Lor- raine "scratches" a bit when she makes love. Especially when she has a strong orgasm and arches and heaves like some slave girl! |
|
|