[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
in the world."
"Are you suggesting that it's a problem?" Aejys set her tankard and bowl
aside, taking out her pipe. She filled and lit it. She realized that she was
beginning to dislike Johannes already and to credit some of the baser tales
about him.
Page 138
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"That's a pretty piece singing back there and some of my soldiers had
thoughts."
Aejys pulled her pipe from her lips and smiled thinly. "They would be dead if
they tried."
"By you?"
"By her. That, if you didn't know, is Jaqui of Treth."
"Ahhh, yes," Johannes replied, pulling at his beard thoughtfully. "My fellows
would come off with the short end of that stick ... but not all..."
"Johannes, I don't know what your game is, or why two days out you want to
start it now, but let me assure you, all of the women in my household are
professionals. Most of them equal to Jaqui. If you want their names, go ask
them."
Johannes frowned as he thought for a moment on that, and then started to back
off. "I will caution them."
"Oh, and Johannes, several of them are ha'taren. You want to go figure out
which, be my guest. Look closely at every dark skinned woman and ask yourself
if they might be Sharani. Because if they are, they're ha'taren as in Ha'taren
Guard." So far as Aejys knew there were only three Sharani in the whole camp,
but it would do him good to wonder.
"But the little thing with the blond roots..."
Aejys erupted in hardy laughter. "You are speaking of the daughter of the
Breesya. That's Tamlestari Odaren Desharen."
Johannes' mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. "It's a company of
Blinkin' Heroes!"
Aejys' laughter grew louder at Johannes' discomfiture and carried back to the
camp. "You could say that. Yes, I think you could."
He turned again to leave and Aejys halted him with a word. "One more point,
my friend, if any man of your unit offers the slightest harm or rudeness to
women of the other units, he'll likely find the whole damn unit coming down on
him. You understand? Comrades in arms do not make gender judgments."
"Better than you know," Johannes replied.
* * * *
Aejys grew thoughtful and quiet after Johannes had departed. Fully half of
Hanadi's elite forces were women. Nearly all of Aejys' household drawn from
the people of Vorgensburg was male. Tagalong's six thieves were women.
That boiled down to roughly two-thirds male. Johannes probably wanted to dump
the females in order to make Aejys more dependent on his units. Or she could
have misjudged and would end up with a gender war, or close to it, on her
hands; which was something the Sharani High Ma'arams had predicted for
generations. Then she heard a sighing in the wind as of a soft voice calling.
Or was it in her head? Aejys could not be certain. It had been too many
years...
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Dragons' fodder. Chaff and wheat divide. Noble will rise to the surface.
Aejys drew her rune sword and drove the point deep into the earth where the
moonlight could touch it. She knelt to pray before her God's sacred rune.
At first the words came easily, gradually bringing a peace into her heart and
a simple clarity that said when the time came, whatever came, she would be
able to deal with it. But when she tried to move beyond the simple prayers of
her childhood, her stomach tightened painfully, every muscle in her body
seemed to crawl beneath her skin. She smelled the fires of Bucharsa temple,
felt the iron grip of the stone trolls on her body. A scream rose in her
throat.
Strong young arms slid around her and she heard Tamlestari's voice, soothing
and comforting. The young ha'taren held her as she wept, then kissed away the
memories that seven long years had done nothing to blunt. Their mouths met,
tentatively at first, then deeply, their tongues twining hungrily. Aejys'
hands felt Tamlestari's firm young breasts, caressing them, feeling the
nipples hardening beneath her touch.
"Well, well, what have we here? A lover's tryst?" A deep male voice broke
upon them.
They stiffened, pulling away from each other. "Go on," Aejys whispered. "I'll
catch up with you."
Reluctantly, Tamlestari stood, vanishing into the night.
Aejys' side twinged as she stood, yanking her sword from the earth and
shoving it into the sheath. She did not know whether he had lingered or
returned, but it did not matter, the moment was ruined. Her face burned with
anger. "Johannes, get the hell out of here!"
Johannes sneered. "As you wish." He started to leave, pausing, to toss one
more taunt at her, "But what would my myn have said to see you so when they
are denied such pleasures." He was gone before she could reply.
She became aware of an aching soreness in her still healing shield arm; the
pain and discomfort had probably been there all along, she guessed, but the
distractions of the day had blunted her notice until then. Two slender forms
stepped from the shadowed trees. Aejys' hand dropped to her sword hilt, but
she made no move to draw it.
Cassana and Tamlestari emerged into the moonlight. The blond was lengthening
in her hair and the black ends hung like tips of a bizarre but intriguing
crest. She walked lightly, scarcely moving the grass and tulles, like her
ma'aram's people: the Valdren. Tamlestari reminded Aejys of Brendorn in the
ways that members of one race all seem very similar to one another in the eyes
of someone of another race who has not lived among them for any time. Aejys
could still taste her young mouth, longing for the feel of Tamlestari's
breasts, her sweet body wrapped in her arms. Yet she was very different from
Brendorn, Aejys reminded herself, feeling the twinges of sadness swirl up, she
drew a deep breath, exhaling slowly to master herself.
"How long have you been there?"
"Little thing with the blond roots, my ass!" Tamlestari mimicked savagely,
then grinned, "Needs a hot poker up the toot if you ask me!"
"Where's a bi-kyndi when you need one?" Aejys laughed.
Page 140
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"I know one," Tamlestari said seriously. "In fact I know several."
"I was joking," Aejys told her, slipping an arm around Tamlestari in a
companionable hug. The lapsed paladin could feel the warmth of her hard young
body, smell the sweet muskiness of her skin. It would be so easy to love that
one, Aejys thought, as desire warmed her heart and spread through her veins.
She realized that Tamlestari was smiling up at her with a look that Aejys
feared to interpret. The youth was just two years older than Aejys' daughter,
Laeoli, while Aejys was the Lion of Rowanslea with a reputation that had
spread far beyond the boundaries of her homeland; Tamlestari's attraction to
her might be nothing more than the sweet vulnerability of hero worship. Aejys
knew she had no right to take advantage of the youth and yet she had allowed
herself to be almost drawn into making love to her. What did she feel about
the young ha'taren? Was it just the wounded loneliness of Brendorn's death
that made her want to hold and touch and love Tamlestari? Or was it something
else? Something she had no right to feel?
The older woman released the youth and stepped away. "Come on, I want to pull
my boots off. And," Aejys' voice dropped very low, "just between us I have a
bottle of a sweet red Tovantei vintage crying to be opened."
They walked silently through the camp settling down for the night around
them. Horses were picketed beside the tents of their riders. Hostlers moved
among the tents tending the animals. Aejys had complicated their task by not
allowing them to keep the horses together at night, but the lapsed paladin was
taking no chances on her people being surprised and separated from their
mounts. She built the core of her defense around the lancers, which made their
mounts doubly precious. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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in the world."
"Are you suggesting that it's a problem?" Aejys set her tankard and bowl
aside, taking out her pipe. She filled and lit it. She realized that she was
beginning to dislike Johannes already and to credit some of the baser tales
about him.
Page 138
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"That's a pretty piece singing back there and some of my soldiers had
thoughts."
Aejys pulled her pipe from her lips and smiled thinly. "They would be dead if
they tried."
"By you?"
"By her. That, if you didn't know, is Jaqui of Treth."
"Ahhh, yes," Johannes replied, pulling at his beard thoughtfully. "My fellows
would come off with the short end of that stick ... but not all..."
"Johannes, I don't know what your game is, or why two days out you want to
start it now, but let me assure you, all of the women in my household are
professionals. Most of them equal to Jaqui. If you want their names, go ask
them."
Johannes frowned as he thought for a moment on that, and then started to back
off. "I will caution them."
"Oh, and Johannes, several of them are ha'taren. You want to go figure out
which, be my guest. Look closely at every dark skinned woman and ask yourself
if they might be Sharani. Because if they are, they're ha'taren as in Ha'taren
Guard." So far as Aejys knew there were only three Sharani in the whole camp,
but it would do him good to wonder.
"But the little thing with the blond roots..."
Aejys erupted in hardy laughter. "You are speaking of the daughter of the
Breesya. That's Tamlestari Odaren Desharen."
Johannes' mouth dropped open and his eyes widened. "It's a company of
Blinkin' Heroes!"
Aejys' laughter grew louder at Johannes' discomfiture and carried back to the
camp. "You could say that. Yes, I think you could."
He turned again to leave and Aejys halted him with a word. "One more point,
my friend, if any man of your unit offers the slightest harm or rudeness to
women of the other units, he'll likely find the whole damn unit coming down on
him. You understand? Comrades in arms do not make gender judgments."
"Better than you know," Johannes replied.
* * * *
Aejys grew thoughtful and quiet after Johannes had departed. Fully half of
Hanadi's elite forces were women. Nearly all of Aejys' household drawn from
the people of Vorgensburg was male. Tagalong's six thieves were women.
That boiled down to roughly two-thirds male. Johannes probably wanted to dump
the females in order to make Aejys more dependent on his units. Or she could
have misjudged and would end up with a gender war, or close to it, on her
hands; which was something the Sharani High Ma'arams had predicted for
generations. Then she heard a sighing in the wind as of a soft voice calling.
Or was it in her head? Aejys could not be certain. It had been too many
years...
Page 139
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
Dragons' fodder. Chaff and wheat divide. Noble will rise to the surface.
Aejys drew her rune sword and drove the point deep into the earth where the
moonlight could touch it. She knelt to pray before her God's sacred rune.
At first the words came easily, gradually bringing a peace into her heart and
a simple clarity that said when the time came, whatever came, she would be
able to deal with it. But when she tried to move beyond the simple prayers of
her childhood, her stomach tightened painfully, every muscle in her body
seemed to crawl beneath her skin. She smelled the fires of Bucharsa temple,
felt the iron grip of the stone trolls on her body. A scream rose in her
throat.
Strong young arms slid around her and she heard Tamlestari's voice, soothing
and comforting. The young ha'taren held her as she wept, then kissed away the
memories that seven long years had done nothing to blunt. Their mouths met,
tentatively at first, then deeply, their tongues twining hungrily. Aejys'
hands felt Tamlestari's firm young breasts, caressing them, feeling the
nipples hardening beneath her touch.
"Well, well, what have we here? A lover's tryst?" A deep male voice broke
upon them.
They stiffened, pulling away from each other. "Go on," Aejys whispered. "I'll
catch up with you."
Reluctantly, Tamlestari stood, vanishing into the night.
Aejys' side twinged as she stood, yanking her sword from the earth and
shoving it into the sheath. She did not know whether he had lingered or
returned, but it did not matter, the moment was ruined. Her face burned with
anger. "Johannes, get the hell out of here!"
Johannes sneered. "As you wish." He started to leave, pausing, to toss one
more taunt at her, "But what would my myn have said to see you so when they
are denied such pleasures." He was gone before she could reply.
She became aware of an aching soreness in her still healing shield arm; the
pain and discomfort had probably been there all along, she guessed, but the
distractions of the day had blunted her notice until then. Two slender forms
stepped from the shadowed trees. Aejys' hand dropped to her sword hilt, but
she made no move to draw it.
Cassana and Tamlestari emerged into the moonlight. The blond was lengthening
in her hair and the black ends hung like tips of a bizarre but intriguing
crest. She walked lightly, scarcely moving the grass and tulles, like her
ma'aram's people: the Valdren. Tamlestari reminded Aejys of Brendorn in the
ways that members of one race all seem very similar to one another in the eyes
of someone of another race who has not lived among them for any time. Aejys
could still taste her young mouth, longing for the feel of Tamlestari's
breasts, her sweet body wrapped in her arms. Yet she was very different from
Brendorn, Aejys reminded herself, feeling the twinges of sadness swirl up, she
drew a deep breath, exhaling slowly to master herself.
"How long have you been there?"
"Little thing with the blond roots, my ass!" Tamlestari mimicked savagely,
then grinned, "Needs a hot poker up the toot if you ask me!"
"Where's a bi-kyndi when you need one?" Aejys laughed.
Page 140
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
"I know one," Tamlestari said seriously. "In fact I know several."
"I was joking," Aejys told her, slipping an arm around Tamlestari in a
companionable hug. The lapsed paladin could feel the warmth of her hard young
body, smell the sweet muskiness of her skin. It would be so easy to love that
one, Aejys thought, as desire warmed her heart and spread through her veins.
She realized that Tamlestari was smiling up at her with a look that Aejys
feared to interpret. The youth was just two years older than Aejys' daughter,
Laeoli, while Aejys was the Lion of Rowanslea with a reputation that had
spread far beyond the boundaries of her homeland; Tamlestari's attraction to
her might be nothing more than the sweet vulnerability of hero worship. Aejys
knew she had no right to take advantage of the youth and yet she had allowed
herself to be almost drawn into making love to her. What did she feel about
the young ha'taren? Was it just the wounded loneliness of Brendorn's death
that made her want to hold and touch and love Tamlestari? Or was it something
else? Something she had no right to feel?
The older woman released the youth and stepped away. "Come on, I want to pull
my boots off. And," Aejys' voice dropped very low, "just between us I have a
bottle of a sweet red Tovantei vintage crying to be opened."
They walked silently through the camp settling down for the night around
them. Horses were picketed beside the tents of their riders. Hostlers moved
among the tents tending the animals. Aejys had complicated their task by not
allowing them to keep the horses together at night, but the lapsed paladin was
taking no chances on her people being surprised and separated from their
mounts. She built the core of her defense around the lancers, which made their
mounts doubly precious. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]