by Джеффри Лорд
For the moment, as least, she was defeated. He sensed it in her and let go of her wrist. She rubbed it and gave him a sullen look.
«You hurt me, you great oaf. For which you will pay. None of this is your affair. Why do you poke and pry so? If you are a demon, and I believe this, you must have many strange powers. Use them, then, to get you back to your own land and away from me.»
Blade grinned and tickled her under the chin. She jerked away and struck at him with a small hand. «Do not dare to touch me!»
He laughed. «I like you better this way, Goddess. When you show spunk and spirit.»
Blade hefted the baton in his hand, laughing at her sullen helplessness as she watched, her fingers curled into Uttle cat claws. He screwed a cap off one end of the baton. There was a roll of parchment within.
«Now,» said Blade, all agrin, «now I think we begin to get somewhere. Who knows? — we may even get at a truth or two.»
Juna spat and would not look at him. He began to read aloud from the parchment:
To Izmia, Pearl of Patmos-to inform your Graciousness that my task is near finished in Thyrne. 1 car’ do no more, must look to my own life and those of my people, and beg you send us transport to a place that Tudd-he who brings this-will know of. 1 plead you make all speed, for things are very chancy here. Our plan has succeeded in the main, in that 1 have encouraged battle between Samosta and Thyrne-so that both may be weakened thereby, especially Hectoris-and so gain for Patmos precious time in which to prepare for the invasion we know will come. 1 am suspect by Ptol, who judges rightly that Thyrne will fall and already seeks to curry favor with Hectoris. 1 know that Ptol is traitor to Thyrne, but cannot prove it and there is no time. 1 will explain all else when 1 see you. Now, as 1 have done the task assigned, great Pearl of Patmos, do 1 ask you to send succor to me at once. Your obedient and loving Yiljm
«Oh, ho,» said Blade, waving the parchment at her. «Ptol had some of it right after all. You did betray Thyme.»
She set her jaw; her eyes flashed. «Not so. I am no Thyrnian, so could not betray her. I never served her. I am of Patmos and serve only her-and my Queen, Izmia, Pearl of Patmos.»
Blade saw it then. As clearly as though he were reading a blueprint. Provocateurl An agent of Patmos paid to instigate war between Thyme and Samosta. He tapped the parchment scroll against his teeth and surveyed her with new understanding and admiration-as one professional to another. This was, after all, his own line of work.
«A spy,» he gibed, hoping that in anger she would give him more information. «A spy posing as a goddess!
Juna conspiring to bring Thyme and Samosta to battle so that Patmos will emerge the winner and be secure on her island. Clever girl. Cunning Izmia, whoever she is.»
Blade was familiar with the technique, an old standby back in Home Dimension. England had practiced it for centuries.
Juna, or Vilja, did not answer him for a moment. She studied his face instantly and Blade knew what she sought there-could she trust him and so unmask herself com pletely? Both understood the situation-she was com pletely in his power and at his mercy. When she took a step toward him he knew she had opted for candor and he felt relief. His own task was just beginning and he wel comed any easing of it. He would rather have her as friend than enemy. And there was the other thing he in tended to have her body and rape was not natural to him.
She extended her hand. Blade took it. «Let us go into the temple,» she said. «I will answer your questions with truth.»
She pointed to the remains of the unfortunate Tudd. «I need your help if I am to live and escape Ptol. Izmia has not had my message and will send no ships. But you, Blade, also need my help. You are a stranger-and, I still think, a demon-and vastly ignorant of matters. I will guide you.»
He nodded in agreement. And reminded himself that everything she told him he must accept with grain of salt. With that in mind, it could be a fair enough exchange.
They skirted the poor sundered body and climbed the plinth to the temple floor. Blade saw now that the structure was not put together in any ordinary manner, but had been carved out of living rock. Volcanic glass not black, as is obsidian, but burnished to a dull milky color. Blade had seen the great ruins of his own world; he had never seen workmanship like this. It must have taken centuries to complete. There was not a peg, a nail, nor a joint, and time had smoothed and obliterated the tool marks.
Two altars stood directly beneath a pyramidal vent in the ceiling. Mist condensed and dripped to fall on an antique statue of Juna carven from the same milky glass stone as the temple. They stood, hand in hand, contemplating it.
Her nose was missing, as was one ear and a hand which had been shorn by time or vandals. Yet the resemblance was there, the likeness to the flesh and blood beside him now, and Blade felt a chill along his spine. He countered it by concentrating on the lesser altar nearby. It was smooth; the size of a bed, and he marked it for use. Brown stains deep in the stone did not deter him.
But that could wait. He could wait and in the end be better pleasured for it. He pulled her down beside him on the small altar and put a big arm around her. And noticed, just opposite him, a rectangular dark hole in the temple wall. There would, he thought, be a boat of sorts concealed in there. Later.
He kissed her lightly. She clung to him and would have put her tongue in his mouth, but he pulled away. Business first.
«Now: Juna, Goddess or Vilja? Which is it to be?»
She nestled her head on his shoulder. «Vilja is my birth name. I am fourth grandchild to Izmia, Pearl of Patmos.»
He would be dealing with an old woman, a grandmother. It did not disturb Blade. He could handle old women as well as young ones.
«I will call you Juna,» he said. «I like it better and it was so that I first knew you. But only Juna-we will forget that you are, were, a goddess. But tell me-how came you to be a goddess in the first place?»
As she explained he admitted that it was a masterpiece of foresight and planning. An astute move in the Triangular War and that had been waged for over a century between Thyrne and Samosta and Patmos; a war that flared the fiercer because of long periods of peace. Of the three countries Patmos was the weakest-for reasons which Blade, to his infinite disgust, would soon find out-and the most blessed because Patmos was an island. Heretofore this had saved her from invasion.
«But now,» said Juna, breathing a bit faster and nestling closer to Blade, «now the sea is no longer a barrier on which Patmos can depend. Hectoris, chief of Samosta, began years ago to build a vast fleet of invasion craft.»
Blade nodded and nibbled on her soft fragrant ear. «I know already that Patmos has good intelligence. You knew of this ship building and took steps to counter it. I 3 understand all that, but you evade me-how came you to be the goddess Juna?»
She held out a small hand and counted on her fingers. «Four years I have been Juna. I have nineteen summers now and, when I had but fifteen, was secretly smuggled into Thyrne and eventually «found» by an old priest named Clystis. He saw in me the reincarnation of Juna and so said to all of Thyrne. I was brought into the city and given to the care of the priests and, after my nova time, proclaimed Juna the goddess.» `
Blade said, «And this old priest, this Clystis? He would not, perchance, have been in the pay of your Izmia, this Pearl of Patmos who you call grandmother?»
Juna put her fingers to stroking Blade’s inner thigh.
Blade had to struggle to keep from reacting. «Of course,», she said. «He is dead now and no harm can come of telling. Clystis was one of us, though he had not lived in Patmos for years, and for gold he proclaimed me to be Juna. Surely you know the rest?»
Blade smiled at her. «Surely I do, Juna. I look forward to meeting this old lady, your grandmother, for she is an old woman after my own heart. Why do you smile, girl?»
«Do I smile, Blade? Perhaps. But it is nothing-or perhaps I smile only in anticipation. Have we not talked enough, Blade? There will be time later, you know. A
nd I long for you as I said-that was not all a lie. So have done with talk for now and gratify me-if I am, as you say, a temple whore.» She opened his breeches and bent swiftly and he felt the hot caress of her tongue.
Blade put his hand into the front of her shift and toyed with the white velvet fruit he found there. His fingers touched a chain and he traced it back to a small scabbard dangling between her shoulder blades. He drew forth a tiny golden dagger and held it up to the light. He laughed at her.
«You would not, by chance, have planned to put this in my back as I lay on you?»
«Nay, Blade. Nay. I swear not.» She suckled him a moment, her mouth a sweet vacuum, and then looked up into his face. Her eyes were wild, alight with green fires, and her mouth moist and scarlet. She rubbed her lips against his chest. «It is true, you know. You spoke of me in the right, Blade. I am a temple whore! I do not belie my nature. I would not if I could. My grandmother, and old Clystis chose well when they picked me for Juna. Ahhh, Blade! How long must I wait?»
He tossed the little dagger to one side and unfastened his sword belt. If he were beset now it would go hard, but he did not hesitate. He needed this ielief, this cleansing, and thought that he would think the clearer and fight the better for it. He lifted her head gently and put this face to the softness of her breasts and laid her back on the altar, the stone of which seemed warm from her body. Her cloak was tossed aside and she herself lifted her shift up over her waist and disposed herself for his comfort. She closed her eyes and extended her arms, her fingers twitching, and softly said, «Come to me, my demon. Enter the house of Juna. I will show you how a goddess loves. Now, Bladel I command it-I want it-IOhhhhhhhhhhhh-demon-demon!»
As he thrust hard into her Blade chanced to look up. The statue was watching with blank eyes, painted once but now veneeriess stone, yet seeming to know and understand. It occurred to Blade that the broken nose was still haughty, the stone lips curled in disdain, the mamoreal breasts defiant and virginal. She, this stone Juna seemed to say, had stood inviolate for all the centuries and now must witness such a coarse and common coupling. Blade gave her an enigmatic wink and set about his work. The moist underparts of the living Juna had him in thrall, engulfed him, squeezed and milked him with a frenzied play of expert muscles to the accompaniment of many sobs and cries. As he felt the challenge and bent to satisfy her Blade admitted that, if she was indeed a temple whore, she was of the best. Juna, in brief, knew her business. Already he was laved in her body juices and always she pressed on for more and more and more. He recognized her type, a difficult one for mere man to cope with, and knew that with each outcry she climaxed and that each climax led to the next and the next.
Juna’s slim thighs crept up his body and locked, her ankles crossed over the small of his back, holding him in the trap of her vagina, her hands clutching at his buttocks and her nails tearing him. A never ceasing moan came from her parted lips as she sought for the impossible-to pull Blade’s giant body entirely into her own. That, and only that, would have satisfied her.
When Blade spent with a mighty lurch and groan she cried out and was stubborn and would not release him. She squeezed and compressed her legs, narrowing herself, striving to the bitter end to keep him, to hold the helpless small worm of flesh she had just defeated. In the end she lost and he slipped out and away from her. Juna sighed and lay inert, her eyes closed, and did not bother to pull down her shift. Blade did it, and then reached for his sword belt and watched her as he buckled it on. She was near to sleep, in limbo, and no danger to him for a time. He smiled and left her so. For the moment he was master and they both knew it.
He went to explore the dark orifice in the temple wall. It was nothing more than a barren room in which lay the parts of a small boat. It took Blade a moment or two to puzzle it out, then he nodded in pleasure and admiration. The boat could be taken apart and assembled again. It was a simple thing, made of withes and rushes and caulked with dried mud, and when he visualized it in one piece he saw that it would resemble an oversize bathtub. It might hold as many as three, or perhaps four, and it would be good only in calm water. There was but a single double-ended oar and steering would be a hazard.
Blade plucked at his beard and considered. The thing reminded him of coracles he had seen back in HD; the Welsh used them for fishing and did well enough as long as there was no wind or surf.
He went back to where Juna was stirring on the altar. She opened her eyes and licked her lips and looked for all the world like a contented cat. She coaxed him with a finger. «Ah, Blade! If you are a demon I will have none but demon lovers from this day on.»
She extended her arms. «Come to me again?»
Blade laughed and tugged her off the altar. «I begin to see why the men of Thyme would be heroes. But forget that now-we must get back to camp and I must countermand an order. It is not nets I want, but boats. And I will have them.»
Reluctantly Juna arranged her clothing and looked at him in puzzlement. «Boats? I do not understand. How are we to come by boats?»
He tossed her the cloak and, retrieving the little dagger, gave her that also. «See that you do not sheathe it in my flesh. Now come and see.»
Juna was not impressed by the crude. disassembled boat. She made a moue of disgust. «We are to cross the open sea in that?»
Blade nodded. «We are. Our bellies can wait. We will make boats instead of nets. I can use this one for a model and make them larger and, by means of a centerboard and outrigging, more stable. But we must hurry. This mist will lift and the sea will calm, and we must be ready when that happens. We will go at night and try to sneak past the patrol boats. We will need all our luck, but I think it can be done. I have a sword and Edyrn had a lance-they can be made to do for axes. But there are problems-many problems. Will you hurry, Juna!»
They had left the promontory by now and Blade was striding along at a great pace. Juna ran to keep up.
«You change like sunlight on water,» she complained. «But a moment gone you were my lover, a great demon in me and tender with it, and now I do not know you at all.»
He reached back a hand to tug her along. «Come, woman. We will speak of that another time. This bad weather, which has been our friend, is going to desert us soon. We must be ready.» He added, with intentional cruelty, for he did not like her dwelling on what was past, «Do not forget what will happen to you if Ptol takes you. And those ships are out there by Ptol’s command, make no nustake.»
For a moment she trotted along beside him in humble silence. Then, «Until we come safe to Patmos it would be as well if I. were the goddess Juna. You do not believe, but my people do. I have more authority than you think. It may be of some help in this thing you plan.»
There was truth in her words and Blade nodded. «You do that, Juna. Play the goddess as much as you like, so long as you do not do so with me, and as long as you do not plot against me.»
After a moment he said, thinking no harm done to throw a little scare into her, to let her know that because he had enjoyed her body, and she his, it in no way made him her serf, «I found you to my liking just now. I will again when the mood is on me. You, if sounds are any gauge, found it the same. Keep it in mind, but do not presume on it. I have had your body, Juna, and if you cross me I will have your head.»
By then she had fallen behind him again sand so he did not see the look she directed at his back.
CHAPTER 6
The escape was greatly aided by the arrogance of the Samostan patrols. As the weather cleared and visibility improved, their running lights were as good as marker buoys to Blade. By this time he had completed half a dozen of the frail basket craft, as many oars, and his luck held in that the night was moonless. He put each of the emasculates in charge of a boat-castration had not affected their muscular development-and promised them dire punishment if they failed. None of the eunuchs chose to mention-if indeed they thought of it that if they failed they would not encounter Blade again.
Blade put himself and Edyr
n in charge of the remaining two boats. Edyrn’s was overloaded, with two children and two of Juna’s ladies, but his was the strongest boat by Blade’s reckoning. The last, and the smallest boat, he reserved for himself and Juna. If he made it to Patmos he would need her, whether as hostage or interceder only time would divulge, and he had no intention of losing her. He had the thought that, if worst came to worst, he might be able to swim to Patmos with Juna in tow. Even so it would be a long swim, even for Blade, and every mile gained was precious.
When the time came to depart he was not overjoyed to find Juna whispering to Edym on the beach. She gave him a mocking smile as he approached and the boy looked flushed and uneasy as he saluted with his lance.
Blade, having remarked this, chose to ignore it. But he scowled at the lad as he gave final instructions. He pointed to the lights of the patrol ships, three of them, at this time some two miles offshore and a mile or so apart.
«Only three things to remember, lad. There must be absolute quiet. No talking. You have my order to kill anyone that makes a sound. You must steer directly between the lights, so giving you the greatest distance on either side. Thirdly, and this is not important until you are past the patrols, you will guide on the end star of the Lancer. She has told you of this?»
Edyrn glanced at Juna-uneasily, Blade thought-and then at Blade. He pointed his own lance to a constellation just visible over the seaward horizon-it vaguely resembled a warrior carrying a lance.
«She has instructed me, sire. I follow the star at the end of the lance and it will guide me to Patmos.»
Blade regarded the lad for a moment, chin in hand, then nodded brusquely. «I hope so. Go, then. Go with good fortune, lad.»
Edym saluted and ran down to where his frail craft waited with its hapless cargo. Blade took Juna’s arm and followed him. They watched as the five boats werespushed into the light surf. It could hardly be called surf, the sea having calmed so rapidly, yet even the small waves caught the crude little boats and spun them like corks in a whirlpool.