Allie's War Season Two

by JC Andrijeski

“Low born?” Voi Pai said, smiling.

  “Wasteful, I was going to say.” Looking again at Ulai, I bit my lip. “If you think you’re going to draw Revik here, playing some stupid game – ”

  “The Esteemed Bridge perhaps does not understand the relative issues involved in training an infiltrator versus training a concubine,” Voi Pai interjected, her voice sharper. “One takes years, to do it properly...and we have already begun you in this, as per our agreement. The other, Esteemed Bridge, takes weeks. Months at most. In addition, given who you are, one pays significantly better than the other...” She smirked a little.

  “...Sadly, it is not infiltration.”

  Gesturing with one manicured hand, she exhaled with a kind of exaggerated patience.

  “Your husband, I could use as an infiltrator. He is highly ranked, experienced, and male concubines are far less interesting to most of my clients...even the Sword.” Those predatory eyes returned to mine. “...You, on the other hand, have garnered a list as long as my arm, and that is only from a few, discreet inquiries.”

  I folded my arms. “I would have thought a female prostitute would be a bit...common,” I said. “It seems like you can’t go anywhere in America without tripping over a few dozen of them, standing on the streets...”

  “This is not America,” she said with a harder smile.

  “You have planes,” I grumbled.

  “You are missing the point,” Voi Pai said. “The Lao Hu do not sell it, Esteemed Bridge...and you are, for want of a better term, a unique product.”

  I felt my jaw clench more. I looked at Ulai, but his face was serious, almost drawn.

  Voi Pai gestured towards him, then between us.

  “I have given you your favorite pet as a handler,” she said, exasperated. “I am using your training as a means of bonding via the construct...I'm not even requiring a group session of you with my senior infiltrators, as I have with adult recruits in the past. What more do you require of me, Esteemed sister? You have none of even the usual markers in your light...so I must assume you have no idea how to control your aleimi, much less any schooling in the more sophisticated arts. Ulai will teach you. So will the others we keep here for this purpose...”

  “What if I don’t want to be ‘taught?’”

  “Then you will begin seeing clients tonight,” Voi Pai said coldly. “We will tie you down for the experience, if necessary. You won’t fetch as high of a price, but we can pair you with experienced professionals who will at least help to redeem the experience somewhat...” Voi Pai’s expression remained porcelain smooth, but for the first time I heard some semblance of sincerity in her voice. “...You would do well to take up our offer, Esteemed sister. If you allow clients to access all of your light, it will be much more of a violation. If you are trained, you choose which areas they touch in you...”

  I felt my throat close again. It occurred to me in the next instant that this was likely Voi Pai trying to be nice to me. Even as I thought it, Ulai squeezed my shoulder with one hand.

  “...She is not wrong, Esteemed Bridge,” he said, soft.

  Looking up at him, I found myself nodding. I looked at the female seer, feeling a kind of resignation steal over me.

  “So it’s rape or professional whoring,” I said.

  Ulai winced a little. His hand grew heavier on my shoulder. “I will not let you get hurt, Esteemed Bridge. She has given me discretion in this.”

  “Discretion in what?”

  “In your clients, Esteemed Bridge. As well as your sessions with them.”

  “So you’re my pimp, Ulai?” I said, giving him a hard stare.

  He gave Voi Pai a kind of helpless look, but the female seer chuckled.

  “Yes,” Voi Pai said, folding the ends of her sash over in a tighter knot before reaching inside to the pocket of the dress. I watched her extract a hiri, that smile still on her red-painted lips. “That is precisely what he is, Esteemed Bridge.” She motioned towards the bed, clicking her fingers at Ulai. “Begin now. I will remain, to oversee the bonding...”

  “I don’t want you here,” I said, blunt.

  “I don’t much care what you want in this, Esteemed sister.”

  “Leave,” I said. “Please.”

  The woman only rolled her eyes at me, clicking in that odd, accented purr.

  Ulai looked at Voi Pai, seeming to measure her expression. Then he looked back at me, leaning down somewhat to speak more quietly to my face.

  “You will have witnesses at times, Esteemed Bridge,” he said, his voice quiet once more. “It is probably best that you grow accustomed to that, too...and she is right, about the bonding...”

  “Nice. So you’re going to loan me out for orgies?”

  “Sell...not loan,” Voi Pai corrected me. “And do not worry, Esteemed Bridge. Most will not be able to afford it.”

  I tried to fight the anger out of my voice, and didn’t succeed. “You can drop the ‘Esteemed’ bit, sister,” I said. “Why are you keeping up this stupid pretense?”

  Voi Pai smiled at me wanly, then tilted her hand in a shrug, holding a gold lighting coil to the end of the dark-skinned hiri.

  “Because it’s the difference between charging five thousand yuan for you and one hundred and five thousand yuan,” she said calmly, exhaling smoke as she finished lighting the hiri. She motioned again at the bed, speaking to Ulai. “Proceed. Force her, if you have to. I am not spending my day here, watching you educate a toddler about sex...”

  Ulai paled at this, but I rolled my eyes, clicking loudly.

  “Fine,” I said. “Whatever.”

  Before Ulai could steer me over there with his hands, I walked the five paces deeper into the room and sat on the edge of the low-built bed. Leaning back on my palms on the mattress, I planted my feet in the hanfu dress, waiting for him.

  His brow furrowed, making a series of fine wrinkles on his forehead. I found myself wondering how old he was. With his short-cropped black hair and tanned skin, it was difficult to tell. Like most male seers, he was attractive, at least.

  “I am three-hundred-and-forty-six, Esteemed Bridge,” he said, sitting down beside me. “Is there anything else you would like to know about me?”

  I glanced at Voi Pai, then shrugged a little, human-fashion, as I looked back at him.

  “Maybe later, Ulai.”

  His ice-blue eyes studied mine. I thought at first he might kiss me, but he reached up, fingering the collar around my neck instead. Seeing the question there, I swallowed again.

  “Okay, yeah. Of course. That needs to come off.” I glanced at Voi Pai. “One benefit of this little job, I guess...although I don’t suppose you collar your infiltrators, either?”

  “Not generally, no,” she said, rolling her eyes.

  I turned around, fighting nerves as I pulled my hair off my neck, allowing Ulai to reach the thumbnail latch that opened the retinal scanner in the back of the collar.

  I glanced again at Voi Pai. “You’re not afraid I might just make your head explode?”

  She gave me another disdainful look. “I am working on the assumption, Esteemed Bridge, that you do not wish to die before you reach the halfway point to the first wall of my City...and,” she added sweetly, exhaling smoke. “...If I’m not mistaken, having your husband the Sword die a slow death not long after you crumple to the dirt.”

  I felt my jaw harden again. Turning away, I conceded her point with a gesture.

  “Fair enough.”

  The retinal scanner clicked off a second later, after running a bright red beam over Ulai’s eyes. I felt the being inside the organic collar clench and then relax, unravelling swiftly from around the bones in my spine. The sensation made me shudder.

  Grimacing a little, I glanced up at Ulai.

  “Thanks,” I said. “I think.”

  Only one person could remove a particular collar. As far as I knew, they could only hold one retinal imprint at a time, by design. Anyone else had to cut the damned things off, renderin
g them useless. Apparently, since the collar was still intact, Ulai was my one guy.

  My light filtered slowly back around me. My nerves rose once it had, when I realized he was already turned on, that his light already felt charged and warmer as it coiled around parts of me, exploring my limbs. He let me feel that he wanted me and how much.

  Fighting not to react, I flinched a little when I felt a sharp pulse of pain off him. My light flared, opening almost without my willing it.

  Immediately, his eyes widened. He’d been about to lower his mouth to mine, but instead he paused, meeting my gaze.

  “No, Esteemed Bridge,” he said firmly. “Control your light.”

  “Meaning what?”

  He pushed at the center of my chest lightly with his fingers. It made me wince, but he was showing me something with his aleimi as he did it.

  “You are opening too much,” he said. “Pull back...pull back, sister...”

  I felt myself flush slightly. Then I was focusing on what he was showing me. After a few seconds, I could see what he wanted me to do.

  “Oh,” I said, my eyes still out of focus as I looked at my light through his in the Barrier. “So that’s...wrong?”

  “Not wrong. But not for this.” He smiled, caressing my face. “That is for your mate, Esteemed Bridge...no one else.”

  I met his gaze, feeling my jaw harden a little. I knew better than to argue the point, but a part of me wanted to. Instead, I found myself following his light again with mine, studying what it did, even as he began caressing the side of my neck. He was pulling on me, coaxing me to pull on him. When I did, I felt his approval, just before he slid deeper into my light, showing me another way to do the same thing, until I was fighting to keep my breathing steady.

  They hadn’t been kidding, I realized.

  This wasn’t just some test ride to make me feel like a jerk, or even to bond me with the group, or try and break me out of my inhibitions. I was actually going to be trained in this.

  Voi Pai must have heard some part of my thoughts through the construct...because she laughed, exhaling smoke.

  “Your husband,” she said derisively. “...No wonder he left you.”

  I felt my jaw harden more. Pain hit me at her words, but I didn’t look at her.

  I forced my eyes back to Ulai’s instead, and the look there reassured me a little. He didn’t want to hurt me, at least. I could feel it in his light, he wanted to make this okay for me, at least as much as he could.

  “All right.” My voice came out gruffer than I intended, but I fought it out of my expression, holding out my hands in a seer gesture of surrender. “...Train me. What the hell.”

  Ulai smiled. I saw a flicker of something like empathy before he leaned down, kissing my mouth, taking his time as he continued to explore my light with his, tugging at it in slow pulls. His mouth on mine made it difficult to not react as I tried to do as he prodded me, gently at first, then more insistently as he started to respond to my hands on him. His pain worsened when I tried to comply...I found myself fighting to follow his light, unable to focus on the kiss, until I realized suddenly that he was untying the front of the dress.

  At the same time, I felt Voi Pai in my light, and realized she was doing that bonding thing, somewhere in the middle of all this. I didn't feel as exposed as I had with Revik in those caves with his rebellion seers, but it was a close second. I felt the attention of most of the construct on me, even as I felt flavors of the other members of the Lao Hu.

  A kind of panic hit me, but I fought that, too.

  Ulai pushed me back on the bed, gently, but he was big enough that I found myself panicking slightly at that, too. His light blew over mine once more, and in the next instant, I felt his pain pulse higher. I felt myself starting to open again, but he laid his hand on my chest.

  “No,” he said, quiet. “Stop.” He switched to my mind. I want that, Esteemed Bridge...I want it very much...but do not give it to me. Or the others. You must learn...it is important for you.

  His pain made the pulling worse, but I fought back my light, struggling again for control.

  He had his hands inside the dress then, which didn’t exactly help. I was starting to undress him then, but he stopped me halfway through it, pinning me to the bed. Pausing, he looked down at me, his pale blue eyes shining faintly, lighter than his tanned face in the shadows.

  “How many seers have you been with?” he said.

  I stared up at him. “Is that strictly relevant?”

  He pulled on my light again, sending a pulse of reassurance through me that melted my limbs. But his eyes never left my face, and his expression stayed serious.

  “How many, Esteemed Bridge?” he said again. “Please. I need to know.”

  I tried not to remember Voi Pai was listening to this only a dozen or so feet away...or that the rest of the construct might even hear it by now. I kept my eyes on his as I shrugged a little, fighting my voice nonchalant.

  “Three,” I said.

  He gave me a faintly skeptical look.

  “Two, really,” I said, feeling my face warm. “One of the three was a rape. The other was only one time. Really, mostly just Revik. You know...Syrimne. The Sword, I mean...”

  I felt another flicker of pain on him, just before he rested his weight heavily on me, enough to make me react again. Sliding his light through mine in soft tendrils, he eased my legs apart with his. His pain worsened when my light started to respond again, but he pushed it back gently, pushing me to use other structures in my light to control it.

  “Ease off, Esteemed Bridge...you are doing it again...”

  “I’m sorry...”

  “Don’t be sorry,” he said, his voice a gasp. “It is for you I do this...not me.”

  He looked at me then, his blue eyes on my mouth, then back on mine. I felt another pulse of pain on him, even as he pressed his weight down on mine, showing me how to pull back my light when I started to react again. His weight was a lot like Revik’s...too much. Even the length of his body confused me. Ulai kissed my throat, pressing down on me again...showing me again how to control it when my light began to respond as if he were Revik.

  “And he won’t kill me for this?" he murmured. "...Your Sword?”

  Glancing up, I smiled a little at his expression. I shook my head. “No.”

  “You are sure about that?”

  Realizing he was teasing me a little, I smiled again. “I’m pretty sure, yeah.”

  “Pretty sure?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Pretty sure is...not that reassuring, Esteemed Bridge...”

  He was pushing the dress higher on me as he spoke, caressing my thighs and hips, then my belly. I closed my eyes as he started pulling on my light again, showing me how to respond with mine. I fought to focus on what I could feel him showing me, to not think about...

  His fingers slid inside me and I jumped, opening my eyes.

  He met my gaze, his eyes serious. Before I could speak, he was showing me more with my light, until I was pulling on his fingers, sliding light down his legs, to his feet. He nodded when I pulled it higher, up his back. When I pulled harder, he closed his eyes, giving a low groan. I felt him showing me where to move my hips then, and suddenly I was panicking again. He sent more light, calming me, until I clenched my fingers in his short hair, fighting to relax.

  “I’m going to enter you now,” he said quietly.

  It felt too soon, but I bit my lip, nodding. “All right.”

  He moved his body up over mine, and then he had his hand on mine. Taking my fingers, he slid them down between his legs. I fought not to react, touching him when I felt his light ask for it. I felt him over cautiously, feeling my face grow hot even as I looked down at his prompting.

  “You are not used to sex with strangers?” he said. “Not even humans?”

  “Not without a lot more alcohol involved,” I said, still looking at his body. I glanced up at him at his silence. “...I'm all right, Ulai...really.�
�

  He groaned when I slid my hand down him again. He was different than Revik...more like Balidor, in that it was curved slightly differently. Still big though, bigger than most humans. I wondered if the shape was an age thing, too, or some race thing, meaning Sark versus Elaerian. It honestly kind of freaked me out. I’d barely gotten used to Revik.

  I looked up at him again, and saw his eyes on my face.

  “It’s all right?”

  “Do I have much choice?” I joked.

  “Yes,” he said, frowning. “Of course.”

  I met his gaze, feeling my chest tighten a little. “It’s fine, Ulai. Sorry.”

  I felt him pulling at me again, and then he was kissing me, holding my wrist in his hand. He did something to my light, hitting me in the chest and then in the belly almost urgently, in a way that nearly paralyzed me, forcing most of my muscles to relax. As soon as he’d done it, I realized he was inside me. He did it while I was completely open...my body anyway.

  I cried out, half startled and half from the pain that rose in me abruptly.

  He helped me control my light again, and then he was groaning, arching into me with long thrusts of his hips and back. After another moment, I had my arms and legs coiled around his, but I could barely move.

  “You are shielding us,” he said, looking at me as I gasped, holding his arm. “Why?”

  “The Sword,” I told him.

  I saw understanding reach his eyes. He arched into me harder, making me cry out.

  “You are blocking Voi Pai, too...and the others...she doesn’t like it, it will make the bonding more difficult...”

  “Tough shit,” I said. My voice came out angry, half from his words and half from what he was doing to my body. “She’ll like it less if he shows up here, pissed off because I can’t keep my light to myself...”

  “You can’t do it all the time, Esteemed Bridge. You can’t always shield. There will be times when – ”

  “We’ll cross that when we come to it,” I said.

  Hesitating, he nodded.

  Then, lowering his head, he arched into me again, harder, forcing my back into a curve with his hands. I felt his pain worsen as his light relaxed, as he lost himself in the motion. He built a slow rhythm as I coiled my light into his, until both of us were gasping. I had my legs wrapped around him tighter as he pulled me into a different angle again.