And here things would splinter. Voices would rise up, wish for the Falcanian people to be brought to this promised land. However, much blood would spill before The Sundering would send Falcanians to the stars to seek a new homeworld for themselves.
“Look upon me, little one. See what you are to become. See the light that shines in your soul and burns with the might of a thousand suns!”
He opened his carapace and bathed the Princess in his own light.
“What's this?” Frederika asked as she gazed intently curious at the Kaliburn script which hung from a banner outside of a green thraj.
“Tarot readings I think,” Mia said.
Tarot reading? Frederika thought. Now that was completely unexpected. At first glance it seemed these Falcanians were rationalists, but the truth turned out to be vastly more complex. One would not expect them to allow such an occult idea as the tarot deck to enter their culture and yet here it was a validated part of their religion. “How strange,” the blonde cocked an eyebrow. Curiosity got the better of her and she tugged Mia's arm. “Let’s go in.” Sweet pungent incense filled the tent which left a citric taste on the tongue. “Hello?” Frederika called out.
“Please sit,” a softly accented female voice responded. “I shall be with you in a moment."
The two girls sat themselves down at a low table and waited for the owner of the voice to join them. Garbed in white, she held a staff capped with an obsidian crystal pyramid. The blonde woman joined the two human females at the center of her thraj. Exquisite like the rest of her species she had definitive Asian features. If anything she looked much more Asian than the rest of her kind.
Her long blonde, almost white hair was braided and set around her shoulders in an artful manner. Metal clips held loose strands away from her oval ears. It was difficult to determine her age, but like all Falcanian females, she was very beautiful. Her wings were the color of lapis lazuli and rested behind her and her black tail swayed with ease as she walked her thraj and looked down on the two human women with her.
“T'Saar. I give you welcome,” the woman greeted. “Go, look now to the starlight, may it light your road. I am Teila Kiralna and I suppose you young women would like your fortunes read.”
Frederika nodded.
Teila produced a tarot deck and joined the women at the table.
“Forgive me for asking, but aren't tarot cards a little mystical for your society?” Frederika bit her lip. “I mean from what I’ve learned, the 'supernatural' does not appear to be central to your religion, if it is a religion? Didn't this culture arise out of Transhumanism?”
“Very observant, child.” Teila clicked her fingers. “No, the 'supernatural' as you put is not central to our way. However, we’re not without mysticism.” Teila began to cut the cards with an expert ease, effectively ending that topic of conversation. Once she was done she handed them to Frederika. “Please shuffle the deck and hand it back to me.” Frederika took the cards and shuffled the tarot deck, handing it back to the Falcanian oracle. Teila spread the tarot suite face down in front of Frederika. “Choose a card.”
Frederika with the tips of her fine nails inched a card forth and handed it to the Oracle.
“Ah!” Teila exclaimed. “You are the Prime-Kraris.”
She placed the representative card before Frederika. On it was a picture of the unsheathed Falcanian holy long-knife. Pulling another card from the deck Teila let it fall onto the card which represented Frederika.
“Indeed the Narshin, an interesting omen to be sure,” the oracle said. “One cannot deny the Phoenix!”
The Phoenix card, Frederika considered this: Change drove evolution.
“A choice is about to be set before you.” Teila put a card down with a scale on it. The image hung in balance, yet the scale dangerously leaned, ready to tip too far leftward. It was a card setup in strict contrasts; one side red the other black. “Make sure you pick right or you risk losing yourself, becoming consumed by another's fire.”
Frederika licked her pink lips and glanced at Mia who smiled timidly at her. “Whose fire do I risk being consumed in?”
“A powerful male, without a doubt. For him you would willingly go into fire.”
“Out of love?”
“Perhaps. But loyalty can be a motivation. This man is paternalistic to be sure. In your eyes, he can do no wrong.” Teila appeared stricken for a moment. “Time shifts.”
Absently, she drew another card and placed it down.
“Is that the High Priestess?” Frederika asked seeing a winged noble woman with dusky features.
“No. It's the Empress. She demands to know you, for you to know yourself…” Teila trailed off. “The road is consumed by shadow. I can see no more.”
“My Lord? You asked to see me?”
Frederika entered Sharr Khan’s polished lair. The Shotar motioned for the blonde to come closer. Clad only in ox-blood colored silk pajama bottoms a triangular patch of black-gold feathers puffed out on his chest in pride. He presented an appearance of a rooster that had found a favorite new hen and arose from his comfy, bulky chair.
“Take this off,” Sharr Khan ordered.
He pulled on the lace of Frederika’s red velvet dress that clung to her perfect form. Accustomed to being obeyed the Shotar waited for the dancer to comply. Sharr felt obligated to ejaculate at least once a day, if not more (which often it would be) to complete his sense of his day’s accomplishments. He watched Frederika strip out of her body-hugging gown and he grinned pleased. It dropped to her ankles and onto the black and maroon carpet. She stood in front of him, wearing naught but chunky fuck-me heels, a lacy black thong and matching bra.
Sharr took hold of her bottom. She let out a pleasured moan at his caress.
Pouty pink lips parted, her pheromones activated. Frederika touched her mouth to his, yet Sharr didn’t appear to be affected by her body's pheromones anymore. Why? Excited, thrilled she felt her heart pump harder.
“Kneel up,” Sharr Khan commanded.
He pushed his blonde trinket onto the cushioned nest. Hips up, vagina exposed, her face turned to the side. With her honey blonde curls in disarray, Frederika grabbed the fabric of the nest in anticipation. Sharr loomed over her. Out of the corner of an emerald eye she could see his shadow and she longed for Sharr to thrust inside her. Flushed, Frederika shuddered at what awaited her. He was going to use her until he was spent. She understood this. Sharr had females at his merest impulse. This encounter between them would be pure sex. The Shotar wished to have her and that’s all that mattered. She could appreciate the honesty of that, enjoyed the fact he lorded his carnal desires over her.
His fingers explored her pink slit. Sharr’s gentle touch made her wet, moist and ready. Her body arched and felt his middle and index finger slide inside her. She groaned while he rubbed at her sex.
His lips brushed her ear as he continued to play. “Exquisite,” he whispered. “Such beauty.”
She smiled up at him, pleased that he was pleased.
“This won’t be like intercourse with a human male.” Sharr said.
She heard the warning tone in his voice. Perhaps he dared for her to refuse him?
“There are certain chemicals secreted by a Falcanian that stimulate the senses,” he told her. “Some girls often find the experience overwhelming. For a Falcanian valka, the effect can easily be put aside. But for a human female, it is like a drug. And addictive.”
Was that why her pheromones no longer worked on him? His sexual arousal canceled out her control over him. And this helped explain the checkup conducted upon her arrival here. The Shotar wanted to be sure his dancers could endure a sexual encounter with him.
His fingers slid in and out of her, heightening her pleasure. She remembered when she lost her virginity to one of the footmen in her household as young woman of eighteen. Oberon had learned of the tryst and became infuriated. The Colonel had promptly dismissed the footman. Kreis found her romp debasing and dealt with Freder
ika with a dose of his razor strap to her butt. She hadn't been deterred, and still got a thrill out of it all. She expected to enjoy this fuck just as much, no matter what she must endure.
Frederika cried out and felt his erection penetrate her.
Deeply, roughly he thrust. Sharr gripped her hips as he pushed hard, his penis fully engorged, and warm inside her. The Shotar’s great wings canopied them both. The synthetic girl gasped and clutched the finely woven bed sheets. At the edge of her eyesight colors swirled, Frederika moaned. He pushed deeper. He rode her hard, unapologetically primal.
Much later, Frederika rolled over and moved aside the covers. She ran her manicured fingernails up the Shotar's bare chest to find the black-gold patch of feathers that took the place of hair growth as a sign of maturity on a Falcanian tierkel.
He had used her to his contentment.
She glanced around his chamber. She tried to shake the grogginess from her head, but realized it was an after effect from the stimulant produced from Sharr’s body, just as he had warned her.
She stretched her arms above her head. Frederika had never felt so exhilarated in the throws of intercourse. When he bore down upon her she felt like she had flown out of her body. Totally unlike any sex she’d ever experienced. Frederika laughed a little. Maybe it simply had been that she just hadn't done it in a while? The last time she fucked had been a village boy back home the night before her birthday. She kept that little fact from her guardian. Oberon wouldn’t have liked it. At any rate, it had been fun being used by Sharr.
She pulled herself away from the Falcanian male and got up, walking around the octagonal chamber. Frederika welcomed the chance to learn more about Sharr Khan. There were a myriad of swords and knives that decorated his walls. An altar, a zakal if she recalled correctly, stood in an alcove. A shimmering chain hung on the inside of the shrine where dangled a lamp made of brass with a frosted glass dome. A blue light flickered inside the glass, a telhri. Three dice and a cup to cast them from rested on the zakal. A simple wood box beside the dice contained unknown objects. There was also an arc of steel, the hallowed Kraris blade. Approximately fifteen inches in length and single edged, the blade curved forward like a predator’s talon. Three notches were cut into the spine which made it look almost organic.
Frederika picked up the weapon and tested its balance. She realized why a winged humanoid held a preference for a knife over a sword as the central point of its religion. It was more practical to use in air combat which stood almost in contrast to feudal Japan and its love of a katana.
This Tarik faith which the Falcanians practiced appeared spiritual, if not religious in custom. She had seen many Falcanians in the midst of prayer to honor their lineage and the Telchar when she had toured the marketplace. The Tarik Way ultimately wasn’t so different from other religions despite whatever facade of reason the Falcanians put up about it.
Frederika continued to walk the room and discovered a picture of a female. She did not seem to be Falcanian. Rather she had a very girl-next-door look. The woman in the picture appeared either to be of Italian or Spanish heritage.
Who was she?
Frederika heard a sound behind her, turned and came face to face with the Queen. Those brilliant blue eyes penetrated her soul, as if Nadia could gaze right into her core and see the truth behind Frederika's facade. “My lady,” she said shaken, not sure how to behave with the Queen under such circumstances.
“That didn't take him long.” I knew he'd fuck this one, she thought. Nadia spoke more to herself then to the girl. The musky scents of sex reached her nostrils. She recognized her mate's own familiar sexual aromas mixed with those of the girl.
Frederika felt uncomfortable. Nadia was the last person she needed to offend or make suspicious. “I… I should leave.”
“No, it is not my place to send you away.” She cocked her head toward Sharr Khan in his nest who snored oblivious to the two females. “He asked you here and it is Sharr who rules.” Her gaze slid back to the dancer. “I was going to bathe. Would you care to join me? I am sure it will make you feel better.” the Queen knew that the human girl must suffer effects from her coupling with Sharr Khan. “Besides, he'll sleep for hours still.”
To bathe with the Queen, a most unexpected offer. Frederika looked down at her naked body, worn from her sex play. A warm bath would do her good since her body ached from Sharr Khan's rough use of her. The Shotar's scent seemed to fill her every pore and she was not entirely certain that she wanted to be washed of it. Sharr’s scent made her feel good.
“I should like that, my Lady. Thank you.”
The Maharani smiled and watched Frederika walk nude down the blue mosaic stairs into the warm pool. The blonde descended into the water and found herself a shallow area to sit in. As she became comfortable, Frederika displaced pink flower petals which floated on the water’s surface.
From the front Nadia unhooked her choli. Full torpedo tits fell out of an ornate fabric encasement, brown nipples stood erect. Then she unlatched her lengha and allowed for it to drop at her ankles into a silky pile. Bangles and anklets clattered when she stepped toward the large pool. Her rose-colored wings opened downward and her tail casually swayed while she strode into the water.
For the first time Frederika took in Nadia's complete beauty. Though she must have been nearly as old as the Shotar, the gleam of everlasting youth showed on Nadia's curvaceous body. Where there should have been pubic hair a thin strip of metallic brown and black feathers shimmered.
Nadia dunked downward, and seconds later sprung up to shoot a stream of water from her mouth. Her brunette hair plastered now against cinnamon breasts. She intently gazed at the blonde girl who shared her bath.
Cautiously Frederika stared back at the Falcanian female, and at that moment chose to lead-in the discussion. Better she thought to take control and attention away from herself. “There’s a picture of a woman in the Shotar's chambers.” Frederika’s inquisitiveness overtook her. There seemed no harm in being direct. “Who is she? She's not Falcanian, but seems to be important to the Shotar.”
“My… My husband has had many loves,” Nadia said, her voice thin.
For a moment Frederika felt sorry she had brought it up, but then Nadia's expression softened. Frederika also realized this was the first time she heard Nadia use the term 'husband' in reference to her mate. A rather telling moment.
Tears gleamed on the edges of Nadia's almond blue eyes. “That is, or rather was, Aria DeFalco.”
“An old girlfriend?”
“Were it only that simple. Aria had the dubious honor of being the girl who broke our Shotar's heart. The one woman he could never have.”
“Why not?”
“Sharr has not always been the man you have come to know.” A glint of pride replaced the tears in Nadia's eyes. “Aria was the mistress of my Sharr's boss… Though in the end both Sharr and his boss lost her to another man.” She hesitated for a moment. “And then they lost her to death.”
Frederika was stunned for a moment. It hadn't occurred to Frederika that he had not always been Sharr. It was incomprehensible to her now that anyone could have been Sharr's boss, given how he now carried such an aura of unquestionable authority. But then had not the Falcanians reformatted themselves? He could have been a much different person in his past.
“I had to be the one to pickup the pieces,” Nadia explained to the exotic dancer. “Aria was his muse, his reason for living. He would have willingly given up his life to make her happy or The Phoenix Project.” Nadia shook her head, annoyed she had confessed this tale. She had dedicated herself to her mate and his people. Sharr's preoccupation with Aria was an unwanted weakness not to be shared with this toy of the nodor. But there was something familiar, important about this girl. Something she couldn't quite place.
Frederika blushed when she noticed Nadia's full attention fall back on her. The Queen pushed forward and came close to Frederika. Her armored tail swooshed behind her beneath the warm
water.
Nadia picked up a sponge and began to wash the dancer's back. “You’re really very lovely.”
“Thank you,” Frederika said. There were still some things Frederika wondered about this Aria. “Did you not attempt to ease his pain and longing… With your abilities?”
The thought had crossed Nadia's mind on more than one occasion. To be rid of the shadow of Aria from her life would at times have been a comfort. “No,” Nadia answered. “To take her memory from him would lessen who he has become. There are no magic wands, child. Life is what it is.”
Nadia continued to wash Frederika while she examined her not quite Teutonic features which were actually very exotic. Certainly more than Anglo blood flowed in her veins. The girl oozed sex appeal as if she were created only for that purpose. The Queen’s fingers touched the collar around the blonde's neck. A hint of a tattoo could be made out beneath the fabric. An hourglass shape… Nadia almost dropped the sponge. Can it be? She pondered. A Morningstar! Is she one of the children created from Papa and Maa's work? Thoughts ran rapidly through her mind. There were at least twelve embryos. And perhaps others not accounted for? She knew some came to power following The War. King Odin upon the British throne, Darius Noorani the 12th Imam, the pirate Temujin Sardur and the others yet lost. Maa will recognize Papa's work…
“Why allow him… Why let him have these women at his beck and call?” Frederika asked and turned to look at the Queen.
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