by Zara Zenia
Barsork kissed her forehead softly. “I too would die if I did not try to fight for those I love. What life would you have with me while we are being hunted? Would we live here in hiding for all our lives, wearing disguises, and living off the gifts of others?
“I am a Xicret warrior, and a Xicret second son, heir to the throne. I have forgotten what the word warrior means because it has been so corrupted, but you have reminded me the true nature of who I am.
“When I came to this planet to train it was to make a better use of my services than to cause harm. A warrior protects, Betty. A warrior, stands up to oppression, and fights for those who cannot fight for themselves.
“How can I stand and watch others fight while I, a Xicret warrior, second son to the throne, tuck my tail and hide?”
Betty wiped another tear from her face and pressed her cheek to his chest where his chin rested on the top of her head. “You are bonded to me though,” she whispered. She heard his sigh and felt the tremor in his hands.
“Yes Betty, I am bonded to you, and should you ask it of me I would continue to live in shame and weakness, but I am bonded to you because you also are a warrior, a human warrior, but a better warrior than me. You reminded me of why warriors fight, and I know that you would never ask me to stand by while tyrants rule.”
Betty wept again, this time knowing that she really was going to have to say goodbye and that as much as her heart ached to see him go, she could not break him by asking him to stay.
He was right, she was a warrior, and she had her own battle to attend to. The likelihood of either of them living was very low indeed. She had only a couple more hours before her time was up and Elena would turn them both in to the hunters. She planned on making use of every second.
“If this really is to be all we have of each other, then I want to make the most of it. I have three hours still, and I expect you to give me a proper goodbye,” Betty said with tears in her eyes.
Barsork led her to the backside of the cave where a small patch of green grass and a pale shaft of sunlight lit the cavern. He carefully laid her on the grass and leaned over her kissing her lips with soft purpose.
Only an hour before they had ravaged each other with fire and hatred and lust. They had released all the madness from within them at the world they had found themselves in and trusted one another to take the pain of it.
Now they needed to release the other side of their emotions, and this side required more trust then anything. Now they needed to love each other enough to let go.
Every move was with purpose and intent. Every touch of lips, or tongue, or finger was with the tantalizing sensuality of love for the last time. A memory to be burned in their brains for all time. An understanding that this kiss could be the last, this feeling could be over to never be had again.
Betty let herself touch him in ways that could never be forgotten. She needed to know every texture, ever mark, every rise and fall of him. She needed to taste every inch of him, and smell all of him.
Barsork
Barsork too was relishing her in ways he had never done before, because he may never have the chance again. He lingered in places he had never lingered at before, to make sure that he would be able to recall every detail of her body.
He loved the sweet smell of her hair that always reminded him of the ocean. He relished the taste of her lips and the feel of her skin on his. When he touched his mouth to the soft plush rise of her clitoris he reveled in the way her body moved in anticipation and response.
He loved the way her bottom felt in his hands when he pulled her against his lips. He knew how the swell of her womanhood changed color slightly the more excited she became.
He loved the sounds of her breath coming out in soft whispering moans that she couldn’t control. More than anything he waited for the moments when her body contracted and shuddered with release.
He loved that he could be himself without recrimination. That she trusted him enough to love her as he chose. That she seemed to give him all the control because she knew that he loved her enough not to abuse it.
When she had filled his mouth with the taste of her womanly juices she took the head of his cock into her lips and slowly brought him to heightened pleasure in the same way. Purposefully and intently, enjoying every second of his feel and taste and smell.
Betty
She loved the way he grew thicker and longer inside her mouth the more she sucked. She loved the deep gruff humming noises coming from deep in his chest. She loved the fact that she could bring him to the brink and that he trusted her enough to stay there until she offered him release. She loved the taste of his semen as his cocked pumped the sweet liquid down her throat.
“I want everything,” she groaned against him as she turned around and pressed her bottom against his still hard cock. She was so aroused that when he pressed the tip against her small hole, he slid in as if she had been filled with lube. Her breasts pressed against the soft grass as he slowly opened her more and more, his hands reaching to massage her clitoris.
They made love as if it were the last time they would ever make love, because in their minds and hearts they knew that it might be. In between making love they held each other, sometimes laughing, sometimes crying.
They talked of plans, although they stayed clear of topics venturing too far into the future. As their time drew to a close Betty laid her head against Barsork strong body. “I love you, Barsork, come back to me.”
He kissed her tenderly and held open his hand. “It’s the phase scanner. I thought you might need it.” She took it wordlessly with a small smile. He had known all along what she would need to do. Even in this he was protecting her.
“Do what must be done, Betty, and never forget how much your love has changed me.”
She let the tears fall, but this time they were with acceptance and gratitude, not with fear. Betty headed toward the entrance where she had come in and Barsork opened the gateway for her. Before she stepped through she turned and looked at him one last time.
“Xicret has never had a better warrior, second son to the throne, Barsork.” With that she turned and stepped through the gateway leaving behind her the only man she would ever be bonded to.
Chapter Eighteen
Betty
When Betty stepped to the back of the fruit stand she drew in a deep breath committing herself to the deed. When she felt the small brush of air she stepped forward and found herself face to face with not only Kristin, but also Elena and five of the other girls.
Elena stepped forward checking the other side of the barrier. Satisfied for the moment she turned to Betty. “We had given you up for a traitor, or dead, or worse.”
Betty put on her most convincing smile. “I ran into some problems and got delayed, but I made it and I have what I went after.” Betty held the phase scanner up for them to see and then she gave a small display of how it worked. Kristin was amazed. “This is way better than the cheap disguises we got when we came here,” she said in awe.
Elena didn’t seem quite as impressed. “What kind of trouble exactly. You seem to have disappeared right outside the market.”
Betty glared at her. “How would you know I disappeared unless you were following me?”
Betty saw Kristin blush and turn her face to the ground, but Elena stood firm.
“You didn’t answer my question, Betty. What kind of trouble did you run into, and where did you go?”
Betty steadied her breathing and stuck to the plan she and Barsork had devised though it broke her heart to do so. “Barsork found me just on the other side of the market and abducted me. I’m not sure where he took me because he put a blindfold over my eyes. I think we were in a building though, because I heard a door open and close a few times.
“Barsork ranted for a little while about how much trouble I had caused him and then another man showed up. Barsork asked him how much the offer was for me and the man rattled off something called quills.”
B
etty heard a collective gasp around the area and Elena seemed to soften her features a bit. “Quill is what they use to buy and sell us on Xicret,” Elena said softly.
Of course Betty already knew this, because Barsork had explained the whole thing, but she acted surprised to hold up the ruse. “Anyway Barsork laughed at the man and said that I was worth way more than that. Then he said that he knew where all of you were and that he knew a secret way in.”
Another gasps rebounded around the girls.
Elena leaned in closer. “What then? What did the guy say then?”
Betty shook her head as if trying to remember. “He said something about that being worth a lot of quills, and then Barsork said he didn’t want quills he wanted the throne.”
Elena took a surprised step backwards. “Barsork is going to challenge his brother? I don’t believe it. Did you hear what the man’s name was, the man talking to Barsork?”
Betty again looked as if she were in deep concentration. “Uhm, Rindor, Rider, Rigor…”
Kristin burst into the mix. “Rigor. Was his name Rigor?”
Betty snapped her fingers. “Yeah, Rigor was what Barsork called him. Anyway, they are supposed to meet at some secret location tomorrow, some special entrance and take you all by surprise. I barely managed to escape.”
All the girls began talking at once as they frantically tried to make sense of the new information. All doubt about Betty was put to the side and they accepted that she was one of them.
As they talked, Betty looked down and blinked back the tears threatening to overtake her. She couldn’t afford to show weakness now, Barsork needed her to be strong.
“I think I have a way to turn the tables,” Betty announced drawing silence from the group of babbling women. “If we can get Barsork before he gets us, we can turn him in and secure our own safety. With the phase scanner someone can go find this Rigor and tell him that Barsork is a traitor or something.”
“How does that help?” Kristin asked. “Either way, this place is going to get raided, with or without Barsork.”
Betty shook her head. “Yes, but if we aren’t here when the place gets raided, Barsork will be held accountable. He will get carted back to Xicret where he will either fight his brother for the throne, or be killed. Either way, he’s out of our hair and we gain more time to locate more girls and prepare an assault.”
The girls seemed to think this through and finally Elena stepped forward. “I suppose you want to be the one to go disguised to Rigor?”
Betty shook her head. “Actually, I thought you would be better equipped for that. Besides, I have another job while you are busy with Rigor.”
Elena looked at her suspiciously. “What other job?”
Betty smiled. “I have a secret hideout. The one I used to escape Barsork. While you convince Rigor to arrest Barsork, I can lead the girls to safety at a better location that no one can find.
“The market is too conspicuous and eventually someone is going to get caught. Now that we have the phase scanner though, we can disguise ourselves anytime we need to leave. Then when Rigor and Barsork attack in the morning, no one will be here and Barsork will take the fall.”
Elena thought it over for only a few brief seconds and then smiled. “What are we waiting for? Let’s get to it.”
Elena sent out runners to get the rest of the girls and erase any trace that they had ever been there. They wanted to get these hunters off their tail once and for all. Meanwhile, Betty showed Elena how to use the scanner and told her how to find the waterfall once the mission was accomplished.
Before everyone left for their tasks, Betty pulled Elena aside. “I don’t mean to pry, but you are a lesbian right? I mean you like girls.”
Elena blushed and that was more than enough answer for Betty.
“Look I’m only saying something because I’ve learned lately how important it is to have someone in your life you care about, and I see the way you look at Kristin. I think you two could be really good together if you give it a chance, but you have to let her know how you feel.”
Elena ran her fingers through her hair. “Do you really think she would give me a chance? I mean, she’s been through so much, maybe she doesn’t want to get close to anyone now.”
Betty smiled. “I think that you both have been through a lot and because of that understand each other in ways others may not. You’ll never know though if you don’t give her the chance.”
Elena smiled warmly. “Thanks, Betty. I think I’ll go talk to her right now before I leave.”
Betty watched Elena walk off toward Kristin and then nearly choked when without saying a word, Elena pressed her lips to Kristin’s and kissed her long and hard. Betty couldn’t help but chuckle. “Not exactly what I had in mind, but I guess it works,” she whispered to herself.
Betty thought about Barsork and wiped another tear from her face. “Come back to me,” she whispered softly.
By the time night fell on Azu-ban, all the plans had been laid, and she knew in her heart that Barsork had done what he needed to do as well. Tomorrow everything would change. She fell asleep to the sound of her own muffled tears as she rocked herself wishing that she could still feel his strong arms around her.
Chapter Nineteen
Barsork
Barsork closed his eyes preparing himself for what he was about to do. Everything had been laid out and all he had left to do now was walk out into the limelight and accept his fate.
He would do so with his head held high, because he was doing it to save the woman he loved. If Betty had done her part, which he knew she had then this was his last few moments of freedom. From this moment forward there would be only two options for him. Live or die.
With a slow steady breath he whispered his final words, “I will come back to you, my Betty. In life or in death I will find you.”
With that, Barsork stepped from inside the barrier of the women’s secret hideaway. He had searched all night to find it, but at last managed to get in. Now he stepped out into the blazing morning sun and straight into the waiting arms of Rigor and his group of hunters. Rigor’s face revealed a gruesome smile.
“Looks like the wench was right after all. There is a Xicret scum hiding here.”
Barsork laughed. “Rigor, I was just coming to find you. I’ve been staking this place out for weeks for my brother. Do you know that more than a dozen girls escaped from his auction house and have been hiding out here?”
Rigor crossed his burly arms. “Last I heard, you were the one who was wanted, by Carzon no less.”
Barsork shrugged. “That was all a ruse so that I could get into the girls’ good graces and find their hiding spot, and now I have.”
“What luck,” Rigor answered sarcastically.
Barsork grunted. “Look, if there are not a dozen girls hiding out in here then you can take me to my brother and I will explain my failure to him directly, but if there are a dozen girls imagine your reward.”
There was no doubt in Barsork’s mind that Rigor would take the bait. He was devious, but at his heart he cared only about the money. This was the only way to put enough doubt in Rigor’s mind to take Barsork directly to Xicret rather than kill him on the spot, and that would give him the only opportunity he really needed.
Of course, the raid that morning on the secret hideout went exactly as planned. The girls were nowhere to be found and all evidence that they even existed had been erased.
Barsork was arrested on the spot and put on the first ship headed toward Xicret. Rigor regretfully concluded that the girls were not in fact hiding on the sanctuary planet and called off the search moving on to other more prosperous chases.
Two days after Barsork’s departure, Betty came face to face with Ven just as she had expected. “Any news?” she asked immediately.
Ven looked at her sadly. “I’m afraid not. I received word that he made it to Xicret, but after that I have heard nothing. He did a daring thing to save you, and to save these girls. You
all owe him your lives. Those hunters were becoming a bigger problem than we were able to handle.”
Betty nodded slowly. “I owe him much more than my life,” she said sadly.
“The ship is waiting, Miss Betty. Whenever you are ready we will depart for Earth.”
Betty turned to Elena and Kristin. “Are you sure you won’t come with me back to Earth?”
Elena shook her head. “No. Maybe someday, but for now we will continue to do what we can for the other girls, and try to find a way to bring down the auction house.”
Betty smiled. “If Barsork is successful, you may have some more help with that.”
Betty had told the whole story from start to finish the second Barsork was safely away and although somewhat skeptical, the girls at least accepted that he had bought them their freedom.
“Safe journey home,” Kristin whispered as she hugged Betty tightly. “Thank you for everything.”
Elena too hugged her tightly. “When all is said and done, Betty. I hope you find happiness. Barsork would not want you to linger in sadness.”
Betty gave a half smile and wiped tears away. She looked between the two women and put on a serious expression. “You two be good to each other. I expect you to love each other every day for the rest of your lives.”
Elena smiled and wrapped her arm around Kristin. “We will. Bye, Betty.”
Betty let Ven lead her on board the ship and before she knew it she was setting her feet back on Earth. Somehow home didn’t feel quite the same as it had when she left. So much had happened in such a short amount of time, and she had been changed by it.
She was, of course, glad to see her family and friends, and even her crazy roommate who had since gone through three boyfriends. She went back to class and with much convincing was finally allowed to retake her exams.
Betty studied hard, but found that even with the joy of being home, without Barsork there was something in her life that simply didn’t fit correctly. It was as if everything had less color, than when he was around.