Next
He thought she indeed was better tonight than she had been during the day.
"What are you going to be doing today?" Velder asked her in the morning.
"Hmmm?" Leysen rolled over, rubbing at one eye with the back of a hand, trying to get the sleep out of it.
"What are you going to be doing today?" he asked again. "After showing off what you could do with a sword yesterday..."
"That wasn't showing off. Anybody in my class could have done the same." Her voice cracked a bit as she reminded herself of her classmates aboard the Empress Jiltan'th, classmates whom she would never see again --- whom no one would ever see again.
"Maybe any Prime," he said into the silence, shaking his head, "but I couldn't."
"You're fine just the way you are," she said, rubbing at her other eye with her hand.
Prime or not, she did have trouble waking up sometimes; he was up and dressed before she even sat up. Though once she was fully awake... He took a couple of steps away from the bed before she could drag him back. If she succeeded in doing that, they might never get up this morning.
She finally got up and stretched. Watching her do her morning exercises was almost enough to make him want to get back in bed, whatever the consequences. Then turning her back to him, she reached up to her throat and the gold chain encircling it.
Even with her back to him, he could see the play of sparks as she took off the gold, the light silhouetting her head. She then retrieved her garments and put them on. "What are you going to be doing today?" she asked, looking back over her shoulder.
"I want to get in a little more work on my airplane. That's assuming you're still willing to be my engine."
It didn't take much on her part for Leysen to prove herself the best swordsman --- or rather, swordswoman --- in Panture. Even without using her full Prime abilities, her speed and quick reactions put her in a class of her own.
She was the best not just with the sword, but with also just about every other Talisi weapon. No one could match her range with a spear, and her range and accuracy with her heavy bow was unequalled.
Naturally, she also excelled at unarmed combat, though there had been some resistance initially. While the Talisi females did a lot of the heavy labor, they did very little of a competitive nature. And certainly not anything resembling a martial art. But after she had shown her skills with weapons, there was some interest in seeing her skills without.
Of course, she was careful not to wrestle anybody unless she was wearing one or both of her gold chains around her throat. She started out slowly, by helping Tillek and Velder demonstrate some Arion techniques that differed from those of the Talisi.
Even with both chains around her throat, she was more than a match for any Talisi warrior. Recently she had started wrestling against two opponents at a time. Even then, no two of them could even come close to defeating her.
Her biggest problem was not in defeating her opponents in the wrestling matches. Nor was it avoiding injuring her opponents. The gold had its usual intoxicating effect on her, loosening her inhibitions, unleashing her libido. But --- gold or no gold --- she didn't want to subject any of the fragile Talisi warriors to her passions.
Of course the two Betas knew better than to wrestle against her in earnest. Though Velder didn't mind getting physical with her at night, what they did could hardly be called wrestling.
One thing that she couldn't quite get the grasp of was riding the hurjas. It wasn't that they were wild or unmanageable, she had no trouble mounting and staying mounted. She simply could not get accustomed to that six-legged gait.
It wasn't a big lack, since the hurjas weren't fast enough for use as cavalry. The Talisi seldom fought mounted, using the hurjas primarily as beasts of burden, though they sometimes rode them for long journeys. With her Prime stamina she could outmarch any hurja, and do it while carrying burdens that would break the backs of any three of them.
Not that she was about to let them use her as a beast of burden. She'd done enough of that on their first trek through the mountains, before they'd reached Panture.
One burden she didn't mind bearing was Velder. Nor did he have any complaints about riding Leysen, or as happened more often, being ridden by her.
Leysen was careful not to show any of her martial abilities to the people of other villages. It was hard enough to get them to accept her smithing abilities.
The other warriors had no problems accepting the superiority of her steel blades over their iron ones --- once they saw them in action --- but some of the smiths had problems learning the techniques from a female.
"If he doesn't want to learn from you, then let him figure it out on his own," Velder told her one evening. The two of them, along with a pair of natives, had traveled to another village in order to teach them the secrets of steelmaking. The smith had been adamant against Leysen even setting foot in the smithy, let alone doing anything in there.
"But we spent two days just getting here." Leysen sat down in the middle of the floor of the room that she and Velder were sharing. She began rubbing her backside with one hand. "Two days on a Stars-damned hurja," she muttered under her breath.
Velder sat down on the edge of the bed. "And two days going back."
"Don't remind me." She glared at him.
He ignored her glare. "What you need to do is to make him beg you to teach him."
"And how do I do that? Start pounding the stuffing out of him?" She smacked her right fist into the palm of her left hand.
"No, no, no. You're thinking like a Prime."
"I am a Prime." She shot him another glare. "Or have you forgotten?"
"No, I haven't forgotten."
"So what do I do?" She stroked the bridge of her nose with her forefinger before dropping both hands into her lap.
"Make the warriors want the steel blades."
"They already do." She and Velder had already presented the War Leader of this village with a new steel sword.
"Tomorrow, we'll have to show the warriors just how much better your blades are than the ones they already have."
"So? We already did that today." It was a standard part of their sales pitch.
"So we do it again. And this time, we make sure they understand you know how to make them. Then we ask if anyone in this village could make anything like that."
"Of course not!"
"Exactly. You know that and I know that. And once the warriors here understand that, they'll force the smith to learn."
She brought up her hand and rubbed her nose again. "And the only way he can learn is from me."
"Exactly." He grinned at her. "We'll get you to think like a Beta yet."
"Oh yeah?" She stood up and took a couple of steps toward him. "And do you want me to act like a Beta too?"
Tucking his feet up under him and scooting back on the bed, he backed away as far as he could from her. "Ley..."
Grinning at him, she dropped to her knees beside her pack, opening it and reaching inside. "One or two tonight?" Her hands emerged from her pack, holding her gold chains.
"Let's go with two," he answered. "I could use some rest."
She looked at him dubiously. "Two it is." Still on her knees, she laid one chain out on top of the pack. Bringing the other one up, she fastened it about her throat. She started to reach down for the other chain, then stopped with her hands inches away from it, tilting her head to the side. "Do you hear that?" she asked in a whisper.
"Hear what?"
"Listen." She remained motionless for a couple of seconds.
He tried, but couldn't hear anything except the crackling of the fire in the next room and the hum of the ever-present insects. "I don't hear anything."
She tilted her head the other way and listened for a few more seconds to whatever it was that her Prime hearing was picking up and his merely Beta hearing couldn't. She then shrugged her shoulders and grabbed the second gold chain. "I guess it was nothing."
She brought the chain up to her neck and then stopped again. This time, he heard it too. From off in the distance came the unmistakable clash of sword on sword. Even as he sat up straighter, he heard a scream of pain.
"A raid!" He dived for his sword, propped up against the wall next to the door. He came up to his feet and turned to see that Leysen had dropped her chain and picked up her own sword. Properly armed, the two of them rushed out of the house.
More warriors were rushing out of the houses around them. Most of them were running toward the western end of the village. Leysen turned and started heading in that direction.
"Wait!" He grabbed her arm and was nearly pulled off his feet before she stopped. "What about the other side? This could be a diversion."
She brought up her left hand and stroked the bridge of her nose. "You think they could be going that way?"
"The Talisi usually don't do that," he said, looking around at the warriors rushing to the west. "But then, the Poreans usually don't come this far north. I think they've got enough warriors to the west. Let's go east."
As the words left his mouth, he suddenly realized what they sounded like. He hoped that the Prime wouldn't take them as an indication of cowardice, as a method for avoiding combat.
He needn't have worried, for she turned to the east. "Let's go, then."
Even though she was going at a pace that looked like an easy jog, he had to run to keep up with her. Fortunately for him, she didn't go very far. Just to the gate at the east end of the village.
The sentry there had neither seen nor heard anything out of the ordinary. He had no objection to Velder going out to look around, but he did look askance at the female who dared to carry a sword. Leysen merely ignored him as she followed Velder.
The two of them walked to the first fork in the trail. "Which way?" she asked, keeping her voice down to a whisper. "We split up?"
"No," he replied. He wished that they'd brought along two of the communicators. Not anticipating any need for them, they'd left them with Tillek back at Panture. "Let's stay together."
"So which way do we go?" She took a step toward the left fork and turned her head to look back at him.
"No, this way. We can keep watch from there." Pointing with his sword at a slight rise, he reached out and put his left hand on her shoulder.
As he did so, he felt a slight tingling in his fingertips as they brushed against something other than her smooth skin. Looking at her, he saw a dull yellow gleam in the darkness. The gleam of gold!
"Ley!" he whispered. "You're still wearing your gold!"
"What?" She reached up to her throat with her free hand and started to remove her chain, and then stopped and thought the better of it. Holding her sword in the crook of her arm, she started to open up the front of her garment. At the same time she turned her back to him. Not from any sense of modesty, for he'd seen what was under that garment many times previously. From behind her, he saw her hands move up to her throat again as she removed the gold chain.
The effect wasn't as dramatic as with two gold chains, but the flash of sparks still briefly lit up the trail. When she turned back to face him again, she had the front of her garment closed up.
"Do you see anything?" he asked her, handing her sword back to her.
She looked around, her bright eyes sparkling as she brought her super-vision into play. She suddenly froze, staring down the trail. Then she all but disappeared as she went into motion, running further down the trail.
He ran after all, but she was just too fast, pulling away from him and disappearing around a bend in the trail.
Tonight, Ressen was on sentry duty to the east of the village. Earlier in the day, he had seen the visitors from Panture demonstrate their new blades. He had been impressed by those blades, made of a substance that the visitors called steel. They were capable of holding a sharper edge, and of holding that edge longer. They were also harder, and not as brittle as the blades to which he was accustomed.
All in all, he was quite impressed with the new blades, what little he'd actually seen of them.
He had been even more impressed with the female who had accompanied the visitors.
Not having selected a mate yet, Ressen was always looking for a possible candidate. And this female --- Ley, he recalled her name --- certainly looked like a good candidate, except that she seemed to be taken already by one of the Panturean warriors.
And except that she didn't act like any other female whom he'd ever encountered. If he'd understood correctly, it was she who had made the new blades.
Could it be? Was she really making the weapons for the Pantureans? A female? A female's place was in the fields, gathering the crops. Or else in the kitchens, preparing the meals.
And in the warriors' beds. He could show her how a true warrior used his sword on a female. Oh yes, he wouldn't mind having her in his bed.
The sound of a snapping twig brought him out of his reverie. He peered around in the gloom for any signs of movement. It could just be an animal. Or it could be the Poreans; they'd been raiding more and more these last few seasons.
He didn't see anything moving, nor did he hear anything else. Still he kept looking, his head swiveling from side to side, his eyes and ears fully alert.
There! Over between those two trees.
Ressen did his best impersonation of a slitsa, crawling silently through the underbrush. Reaching another tree, he stood up and drew his sword.
There was a sudden flurry of movement behind him. He turned his head just in time to see a Porean warrior coming at him, his sword drawn back for a swing.
He parried the first swing with his blade. The next swing came low; he managed to lower his blade to block it as well. He ducked under a high swing. As he tried to come back up, he felt his foot slide out from under him. He rolled in an effort to avoid the blade that he knew was coming at him.
It never reached him. Instead, there was the ringing crash of blade on blade. He continued his roll and then looked up.
It was her! The female from Panture. With a sword in her hand!
She had neatly parried the Porean's swing with her sword. As amazing as that was, what followed was even more amazing.
Before he could get up to his feet, her other hand reached out and grabbed the Porean's sword, her fingers closing about the naked blade. He could see the Porean trying to pull his blade out of her grasp --- putting both hands on the hilt as he strained at it --- yet the sword remained in place. Then there was a cracking sound and the blade broke in two right where she was holding it.
The female drew back her sword and then thrust forward. The blade buried itself to the hilt in the Porean's chest, blood spurting out both sides of his body.
Still with just one hand on the hilt of her sword, she raised her arm. The Porean's body rose with the sword until he was completely off the ground. With what appeared to be no more than a flick of her wrist, she sent his body sliding off her blade and into the brush about twenty feet away.
He was still staring in open-mouthed amazement when she reached down with her other hand --- the one that had gripped and broken the Porean's sword --- and lifted him to his feet.
His mouth was still open, trying to frame the questions that were running through his mind, when she raised her sword again.
"Behind you!" she said, roughly shoving him aside with her free hand and charging past him.
He didn't see what she was after. He didn't realize that there was another Porean until she thrust her sword into a bush. A short scream came out, dying out into a soft gurgle as the bush exploded in a fountain of blood.
There was motion beyond her as two... no, three Poreans withdrew.
Drawing back her sword and turning around, she started to walk back toward him, her head turning from side to side as she searched for more Poreans. He wasn't quite sure, but it seemed as if her eyes were glowing with their own inner light as she did so.
She froze, staring over his shoulder. Then she relaxed, resuming her walk toward him. Turning around, he saw a warrior coming down the trail, his sword held ready as he looked from side to side. Coming closer, Ressen recognized him as the Panturean who had claimed Ley.
He started to walk toward the newcomer when his ankle gave out under him. He must have sprained it when he fell parrying the Porean's attack. Surely he couldn't have hurt it when the female pushed him aside.
Leaning against a tree for support, he climbed back up to his feet just as Velder and Ley reached him from either side.
"Do you see any more?" Velder asked.
Ley looked around, as if she could actually see anybody hidden in the undergrowth. "No, I don't see any."
"How's your leg?" she then asked, turning to Ressen.
"I... I think I can walk on it." He tried to take a couple of experimental steps. Despite his confidence, the ankle gave out on the second step, precipitating him toward the ground.
Two strong hands caught him, one on either side, before his knees hit the ground. With the two Pantureans supporting him, he straightened up again, leaving most of his weight on his left foot.
"Let's get you back to the village," Ley said. "One of us could remain here."
That proved to be unnecessary, as two warriors came from the village. After a quick conference, it was decided that the two newcomers would stay out here on sentry duty while the two Pantureans took Ressen home.
Ressen again tried to walk, leaning on the two Pantureans for support.
"Ley, maybe you should..." Velder began softly.
"He's already seen me," she replied.
She should what? What had he already seen? Before he could ask, she handed her sword to Velder. She then stooped down and got an arm around his legs. Before he could react she straightened up again, holding him in her arms as she began walking.
Despite his youth Ressen was not a small man. Yet Ley carried him as easily as a female might carry an infant. And she didn't seem to tire at all as she easily kept up with the warrior Velder.
He didn't mind the way that her breasts were all but resting on his body as she carried him. It was all he could do to not reach out and fondle them.
The sound of distant voiced penetrated his brain and made him realize his situation. If the other warriors saw him being carried home by a female, he would never hear the end of it.
It was almost as if she had read his mind. "Do you think you can walk the rest of the way?" she asked, setting him down on his feet.
He gingerly tried putting his weight on his ankle. He staggered and fell against her when the ankle refused to bear his weight.
She easily caught him with an arm around his waist. "Velder, I think you better take him the rest of the way in."
He put his arm around Velder's shoulders as he came up and took Ley's place. With his support, Ressen hobbled into the village. He was grateful for her foresight so that he didn't have to limp in supported by a female.
The battle was all but over. Most of the action had taken place to the west of the village. The raiders hadn't pressed their attack when they had been discovered by the sentries before getting too close to the village. Whether Leysen's timely intervention had stopped the eastern attack or whether the Poreans had never planned a major attack from that side remained unknown.
The sentries had done their duty well, for there were no fatalities on the Turean side. One warrior had been injured in the east, besides Ressen's twisted ankle. One Porean had been killed in addition to the two that Leysen had gotten.
Ressen took all that in while one of the females washed and bound up his ankle. But his mind was still on Ley, and what he had seen her do.
"How's your new airplane coming along?" Leysen asked Velder one evening after they had returned to their room after the meal. They'd been back in Panture for five days now, and Velder had been spending almost all of his time working on the new airplane.
"How's my engine coming along?" Velder asked her in return. He had designed something resembling a bicycle, with the pedals turning a large wooden propeller. The additional thrust would provide for more airspeed --- and hence more lift --- needed to get and keep an airplane aloft in the thinner atmosphere and heavier gravity of Talis.
That was something that couldn't be built out of wood. He'd been keeping her busy in the smithy, manufacturing parts for the engine.
And of course, Leysen would be cranking the pedals, her Prime muscles able to generate much power than could his Beta muscles. Because it would be carrying two people instead of just one, it naturally had to be a larger airplane than was his first attempt.
"I've got the chain done, but I think the whole thing's going to be heavier than you want."
"Then maybe you shouldn't be eating so much," he said, smiling at her.
"Really? Maybe I just need to exercise more." Reaching out and getting an arm around his waist, she picked him up and carried him to the bed. "You know of any good exercises I can do?" She laid him down on the bed and started removing his harness.
"I might be able to think of something," he replied, reaching up to unfasten her garment.
She climbed up onto the bed as he helped her slip out of her things. She was then on top of him, her mouth to his chest as she ravished him. He felt the air being forced out of his lungs as her lips and tongue pressed down on his chest.
"Ley!" He wrapped his fingers in her hair and tried to pull her off of him. "Ley! Your gold!"
She might not have noticed his tugging on her hair, but his words did register. She immediately pulled her head back and sprang from the bed. "Sorry." She walked to her pack to retrieve her gold chains. "One or two tonight?"
He took a couple of deep breaths as he rubbed a hand over his chest. "Which lets you burn off more energy?"
"It's not energy you should be worrying about. It's my weight, isn't it?" She smiled at him. "You think I'm too fat, don't you?"
"You're not too fat, Ley." Of course, what else could he say to a Prime?
"Let's try two then. It'll wear me out more." She rubbed the bridge of her nose with a forefinger. "But then, that might make me want to eat more in the morning."
"I'll see you don't." He held a hand out to her.
She quickly fastened the chains around her throat and then all but leaped back into bed with him.
Velder didn't know about Leysen, but he did know that he burned off a lot of energy that night.
Leysen did leave Velder with enough energy to finish work on his new airplane. After a few more days, he announced that he was ready for a test flight. That is, if his engine was ready for a test.
"Any time you want," Leysen told him.
"Tomorrow morning, then." Velder looked across the table at Leysen and smiled at her. "If I'm not too tired."
"Oh?" Leysen replied, arching an eyebrow. "Does that mean you want to be alone tonight?" She then looked at the third person at the table. "Maybe Tillek wants some company tonight."
Tillek turned up the palms of his hands and leaned away from her. "Not me, girl."
Leysen frowned. Ever since they'd arrived in Panture --- and especially since Leysen and Velder had gotten intimate --- he'd taken care to keep his distance. He wasn't quite as condescending and patronizing as he had been at first, though he still called her 'girl'."
Maybe she should spend the night with Tillek and let Velder get some rest. She'd occasionally wondered what it would be like to be with Tillek. He was a little older than was Velder --- was he also more experienced?
Velder reached over and put his hand on hers, interrupting her thoughts. "I didn't say I wanted to be alone tonight, Ley. I just want you to take it easy on me."
Everyone was up early the next morning. Even though there was some lighthearted joking about keeping the weight down, Velder and Leysen both ate full breakfasts. Then Velder led the group out to his work area.
"I hope this flies better than the last one, old friend," Tillek said.
"We'll see, Tillek, we'll see," Velder replied, pulling aside the cover and unveiling his new airplane. Leysen had seen it before, but for Tillek this was his first sight of the craft.
It was indeed bigger than the first one had been. It had to be, to accommodate both the pilot and the engine.
Not only was it bigger, but it was heavier. As with the first time, Leysen ended up carrying it to the top of the hill, with the two men holding on to the wings to keep her load steady. Caught up in the excitement of the occasion, she didn't mind being the pack animal.
Once at what Velder called his flight line, he and Leysen went through the final checks. The propeller mechanism worked as smoothly as it had back at the work area. The rudimentary control surfaces worked as well as could be expected.
Finally, there was only one more test to be made. The most important one. Would it fly?
There was only one way to find out. At Velder's signal, Leysen began pedaling. The airplane came up off the ground as he lifted it, taking the entire weight on his legs.
He took a couple of steps down the hillside and then launched them up into the air.
For the first time in her life, Leysen felt herself flying --- flying under her own power. Yes, it was Velder's airplane; he had built it and he was controlling it. But she was providing the motive power. She really was flying under her own power.
Obeying Velder's shouted commands, she picked up the pace of her pedaling a little more as he pulled the nose up. Various aerodynamic forces combined to lift the airplane higher into the sky.
Taking a chance, she looked down at the ground below.
Looking back on it, she could understand being nervous when she reported to her new post. She'd always been nervous when reporting to a new post, but this one was different. This wasn't just any post, but the Sector Headquarters.
And along with a promotion to Captain --- long overdue in her privately held but never voiced opinion --- Tarrin Krilti had finally received the posting that she had originally put in for. Attached to the Communications Section of the Commanding General's staff at Tiburon, she would have her hand on the pulse of the entire sector.
And she definitely preferred being on Tiburon --- it was much more comfortable here than it had been out on some of the frontier stations where she had been stationed before. Not that she would admit it to anyone, she was a Warrior Prime after all, she had been trained to bear the hardships at the front.
The Communications Section worked as a finely tuned machine, as a General's communications unit must. It was the nervous system for the entire sector, routing signals from the eyes and ears at the front to the brain here at headquarters, and then sending orders for the arms and legs to carry out.
And there were people here, not just Tarrin and a small staff of four Betas; she was still learning names.
It didn't take her very long to fit into the routine here; communications was still communications, there was simply more of it here, and more people to handle it. Her coworkers were a good bunch. The Beta technicians were an efficient group. Her superiors were all good officers.
Except for the Deputy Commander. Or perhaps, especially the Deputy Commander.
She had never seen him at any of the social activities, except briefly at those few which protocol demanded that he attend. She had seen him at headquarters at all hours. It didn't seem to matter which shift she worked, he always seemed to be in his office. Or walking about on his rounds.
She had heard the scuttlebutt. That he had lost his only daughter recently. A little discreet checking told her that he had also lost his wife to a Velorian Protector, not too long after the girl's birth.
They were things that she could understand. She had lost her own husband that way. They had just returned from their honeymoon when they were separated again. She had been assigned to Communications Relay Station XM-17B. After a quick tour at the front, he had been assigned to staff duty at Sector Headquarters on Tiburon. He had been in transit aboard the very same ship as the General's daughter, the passenger liner Empress Jiltan'th.
Since then, she had avoided any hint of romantic entanglement, afraid to lose another piece of her heart.
At least that hadn't been a problem at XM-17B. The Betas had been good for a little amusement, but certainly nothing more than that. She knew that, and the Betas knew that.
But there were times when she wanted a man, a real man.
At least there was no shortage of men --- real men, Primes --- here at Tiburon.
Not that a real man was always that much of an improvement. This one certainly wasn't.
Feeling the pressure against the inside of her thighs, she kept her legs lightly flexed, holding them in place. That didn't keep him from spreading her legs.
As he spread her legs farther apart, she realized that she had gotten too used to the Betas. She could tease them simply by holding still, their strength unable to do anything to her that she didn't allow.
It wasn't the same with a Prime, as she belatedly tried to keep her legs together. It was too late, as he got between her legs and thrust his manhood into her. She resigned herself to the inevitable.
It wasn't that she wasn't enjoying herself tonight. It did feel good to have a man --- a real man --- inside her. But he wasn't making any effort to pleasure her, simply taking his own pleasure from her, using her body merely as a receptacle for his lust.
Not like the Betas, who always tried their best to pleasure her. Probably because they thought that their health --- if not their very lives --- depended on it. It was an impression that she tried to give them, though of course she never would have willingly hurt them for their failure. Failure at their official duties, yes. Failure at their unofficial duties, never.
Her mind was brought back to the present situation as he parted her legs. She sighed softly to herself. Either he didn't notice, or else he interpreted her sigh as being one of passion. Either way, he mounted her again.
She wrapped her arms around him as he began thrusting, holding him much harder than she would have dared to with a Beta. It didn't seem to affect his movement.
Nor did it seem to affect what she was feeling. Or not feeling, as the case might be.
Oh, the physical sensations were there, a lot more than any Beta could ever do. But there was no pleasure in it. Not for her, though he certainly seemed to be enjoying it.