I looked at Tronuck and said, “Grandfather, come aside with me for a minute. I’d like to speak to you about a surprise for your own house.”
I took Tronuck to the side and leaned close and whispered, “This good mood of yours, if it’s not inappropriate of me to ask, is it because you have had milk today?”
Tronuck smiled and said, “I don’t mind telling you that it is. And if you have advice for me, I’ll be happy to hear it. I invite you to instruct me the way that old women instruct the girls when they come of age. I have had a taste of milk for the first time in a long time and I find that I like it better than I remembered.”
I smiled and said, “Like the old women, ah, then I’ll say it as a rhyme.”
He said, “Oh, how saucy. Say the rhyme and I’ll see how it sounds to me.”
I thought for a moment and then said,
“I place my head between her hips,
I take my kisses from lower lips.
The lips above are good and fine,
But these lower lips flow like wine.
I take my time with tender care,
I know that she is tender there.
She is sensitive, take my time,
But when she comes, she’ll die divine.
Once the heat has built and blown,
It’s not my lips that beg to roam.
The way is open, warm, and wet,
My shaft is ready, it’s hard my pet!”
Tronuck pulled his head back and looked at me as if a bit shocked. He said, “My boy! A bawdy rhyme indeed! But let me see what it is you are saying. You are saying to kiss with my lips on the ‘lower lips’? I have never heard it said like that. They do look like lips turned sideways.”
I whispered, “They are made for kissing my friend. Go slowly and give your mates a surprise that they won’t forget. Keep at it until they have had an ample amount happiness. And when it’s time, and it won’t be too long, they will pull you to them and beg you to be happy inside them. Trust me on it.”
He said, “I’ll try it. I’ll try it as soon as you leave I think, and I’ll report what I find when I see you. But, what if they won’t see it the same way that I do and push me away?”
I said, “You see how they whisper to Aeyli at the other side of the room? I think that she is telling them the same that I’m telling you now. At the very least, she’s telling them that I’m sharing something with you and that if they’re smart they won’t resist you, no matter what you try. You’ll be fine.”
He said, “I admit that I have never heard of this, but is this what you will teach to men in private at the Academy?”
I said, “If it will help them, then yes. You tell me what you think when I see you tonight. If you tell me that it wasn’t what I claim, well then I’ll have you tell me what you did and I’ll tell you that you did it wrong!”
He clapped me on the back and laughed and said that he certainly would.
We decided that there was no more that really needed to be discussed. We talked about the generous offers from Narhu and Oshen. We mentioned that Alexia was assigned to work for us, but said nothing more about her.
Dorel said, “She is a very odd girl. The shrine maidens have always been partial to her. Somehow they seem to share a fate.”
Then she stopped and looked at Aeyli as if a strange thought had just come to her. Aeyli smiled and winked at her and the conversation turned to other things.
After a little more, Aeyli said that she wanted to talk to her grandmother in private and invited the other women to join her. I said my goodbyes and asked for directions to make sure that I could find my way back to Narhu’s shop.
Tronuck said, “Oh, I thought that you said that you had been there once before. No matter, go this way and that and you’ll find it.”
I had forgotten that if anyone on Barsoom has been to a place then he knows where it is at all times. I made a note to myself to be careful not to ask directions like that again, but to ask only Aeyli, Rani, and Belle who knew that I was from a different world.
I found my way by passing through the market. As I passed the fruit stand, Sashar was closing up, apparently having sold more fruit than usual and she waved at me brightly and I waved back. I went on and found Narhu’s and found he and Alexia in an office still discussing plans.
Narhu said, “Mark, Alexia is a much different girl than I had thought. She has a very good eye and a sense of space and light and traffic better than any I have ever seen. When she’s done working for you, I’ll try to convince her to come to work for me and then I’ll fight with Oshen to let her go. She is remarkable.”
I said, “She is very remarkable. I don’t know that she will ever be done working for me if I have a say in it. She is more valuable to me than you can imagine.”
He said, “Speaking of which, two of my workers came back from a break and told us how you told stories in the marketplace. It seemed like a very good teaching to me. They repeated it in great detail. I wish that I had heard it firsthand. Even so, I will take it to heart.”
I said, “There will be a meeting at the council hall tonight so that I can tell another story if you care to come.”
He said, “Oh, I will come! And both of my mates. I won’t miss it!”
I said, “I’m very glad to hear it. You honor me. I hope that it will be good for the village. Are you done here? I was hoping to walk back to the house with Alexia, if you are finished.”
He said, “We finished quite some time ago! She has been consulting with me on plans for the Academy and for several other projects. I’ve had great benefit from you today by allowing her to help me while she worked for you. I’m in your debt even more.”
Alexia and I said goodbye and that we would see Narhu at the meeting. Actually, no, I said those things and Alexia stood silently beside me.
When we were outside, Alexia said, “Mark, I heard them repeat the story you told. Was it truly about me?”
I said, “It was very much about you! I’m happy that you know it!”
She said, “Say it to me so that I can know that it’s the truth, though I really know it already.”
It was so strange to hear her say things that should carry so much emotion, but from her lips and mind gave away so little.
I said, “Alexia, my princess, I would pay ten times any price asked to have you by my side. You are precious beyond measure. I am a rich man as you will see. I would give it all if that is what was required to live in a hut with you for the rest of our lives.”
She said, “Now I know it. I would like to take your arm and hold onto you the way that Rani and Belle do. I hope that my milk is good. It gets heavy. Mark, I fear that you will pay a high price for me.”
I asked, “What do you mean? What price?”
She said, “I am an odd girl. I don’t speak like others. If I take your arm, the village will think differently of you. They will whisper. Though I know the answer, tell me. Will you care?”
I said, “Alexia, I taught in the market and you’ve heard the story. You know that my story is about you and how I will find the sweetest fruit in the box. You know that this is about you. The whole village will know that the story is about you and when you take my arm all men will wish that they were me.”
She smiled and a bit of emotion came through as she said, “And you think that all women will wish that they were me. It’s you who are truly odd, My Prince. When you speak, it’s so hard to hold back and not have you take me in your arms, even though I have never known what it would be like to even imagine it!”
We walked on and greeted anyone who passed us.
Alexia said, “Mark, I am patient. Some would say more patient than anyone in the village. But Mark, my body doesn’t know it I don’t think. I’m suddenly two people. Patient Alexia who will wait for you forever, and Alexia’s body who, if you listen like you listen to fruit, says that she grows more and more uncomfortable to be able to release the sweet nectars that she makes within her body to pro
ve that she’s worth of the price that you’ve paid. So let me give her hope. How long do you think that she will have to wait? It is not me who asks, but her.”
I laughed and said, “Tell her that I’ll find a way to release her from her prison very, very soon. On the day that the bed can be moved to the roof, and the day that the big bed will be ready, she’ll already be free before the sun rises the next day! Is that OK? Can the captive princess wait just that long?”
Alexia laughed a tiny laugh and turned into what I thought was the wrong street and quickened her pace.
She said, “I like how even a short answer is a story with you. It’s the way that I think too. My thoughts are all stories. People would say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, but a story is a better way. Until now, I have hidden my speech because people have no ear for my stories. I tried when I was a child, but others would say, ‘just tell us yes or no’ and I couldn’t do it. I’m able to talk to you in stories about being two people and a princess in her prison. We should hurry.”
I said, “Why do we need to hurry?”
Alexia said dryly, “Because it’s faster! Why do you think? Is there another reason to hurry?” and she laughed.
I laughed as well. There was a great sense of humor hinted at; a dry humor that I found delightful.
Then she said, “If we hurry, we will arrive sooner. And if we arrive sooner, then the weaver will finish the mattresses sooner. And If I say that they need to hurry, then they will finish even faster. Now that you have tell me that I’ll be yours before the sun comes up on the morning after I finish the beds, I’m in a hurry to finish the beds! We hurry to talk to the weaver and then we hurry to the rope maker. Unless you intend to throw the bed onto the roof, we need a strong rope! Hurry!”
She was a girl who knew how to get things done.
She said, “You say that you’ll tell stories at a meeting tonight and I wouldn’t miss it, but I may not sleep tonight if there’s a way that I can hasten the beds.”
I knew that she wouldn’t wait even until midnight tonight, and I wanted very badly to tell her, but I also wanted to let her be surprised. I wanted her to hear the next story first and know that I was telling tonight’s story about her as well.
Soon we were at the weaver’s and Alexia described the two mattresses, twice the size but half the thickness of a normal large bed. The woman who ran the place asked what it was for and Alexia explained that she had been commissioned to make a bed big enough for four mates, me and the shrine maidens, and that this was the proper size. The woman smiled and didn’t question her. I could tell that she smiled genuinely at the thought of the four mates and had no inkling that it was really for seven if necessary. Based on what would happen tonight, there would be five, plus myself, by morning.
When we left, Alexia turned toward home.
She said, “I changed my mind. We’ll borrow the ropes from Narhu. He’ll loan them to you.”
With that I turned back toward Narhu’s shop and Alexia asked, “Where to now? The house is this way.”
I said, “Hurry, it will be faster! We should go to Narhu now. The sooner we get the rope, the sooner we’ll be ready to raise the bed. I have a princess to rescue from her prison and I do not want to keep her waiting!”
At that we started running and very quickly arrived back at the builder’s. Narhu was more than glad to loan me a rope. I assured him that I didn’t need any help with the project that it was for.
He said, “But Mark, what’s the project that you need a rope for? I can’t guess.”
I turned and said, “Oh, let me tell you. I’m putting a bed on my roof so that I can make love to my princesses under the moon in the cool of the evening!”
He said, “Oh, well, I won’t ask any more questions. But I may take a rope and pulley to my own house before long! I come to love you more and more! My mate thanks you again for convincing me not to die!”
Chapter 22 Alexia Asks for a Lesson
When we did arrive home, Belle and Rani were there.
As soon as we walked through the door, before it was completely closed, Alexia took off her belt and hung it on a hook on the wall. Belle and Rani looked surprised, and Alexia calmly stated, “It’s all that I’m allowed. I’ll take advantage of small gifts. Is the garden viewable from other homes?”
Belle said, “Um, no, it is very private…I don’t think that anyone could see in. Um, the house in the back is vacant and only one floor. There’s a high wall. This was basically a religious women’s enclave for 60 years, I was only here for the last 30, and it was designed as a separate and very private space for the shrine maidens. This district has fallen on hard times over the past 20 years and the homes on each side are vacant now as well.”
Alexia said simply, “OK.”
She walked to the back door and out into the garden naked. It was still a weird thing; to be naked and surrounded by naked people all day long, and to see the beautiful woman without a belt around her waist and think of her as ‘truly’ naked.
Alexia looked over the yard, and then turned to the house and scanned the wall. She sized the door with her eyes and then walked back into the house and up to the second floor. The rest of us simply followed. On the second floor, she examined each bedroom, and in the second room chose the bed that would go to the roof.
She turned to me and said, “We should hurry.” Her eyes smiled, but the rest of her face said nothing. She pulled the heavy mattress off of the bed, onto the floor, and looking at the heavy wooden bed frame asked, “Can we lift it?”
I stepped to the side of the bed and easily turned it on its side. I estimated that the thing would have weighed maybe 200 pounds on Earth, but here, that was just 35 pounds and I could lift and carry it without a problem. I put my shoulder under a side rail and stood up and walked toward the door. It was a simple matter to get through the door and into the hallway. When we came to the stairs, I wondered how I would navigate them, but Alexia said, “Put it down and slide it. I will repair any damage and the stairs already need to be replaced. You don’t need to be gentle.”
I set the bed down and got in front of it an hauled it down the flight of stairs. At the bottom, I lifted it again and carried it outside to the back garden. I set it down near the wall and Alexia sent me to the roof with the rope. I let one end of the rope down to her and she tied it to the bed, leaving about half of the rope on the ground.
She called up to me, “Pull. I’ll pull away from the wall to minimize damage to the wall.”
I stepped to the edge and looked down and took hold of the rope and pulled hand over hand. In under a minute, I had hold of the bed frame and lifted it onto the roof with me. I carried it to the center of the patio. I went back to the wall and looked over. Belle looked up and said, “Alexia went in to get the mattress.”
The mattress probably weighed a 100 pounds. The materials were a lot heavier than the foam and springs that I was used to on Earth. A few minutes later, Alexia came through the door carrying the thing on her shoulder. She was strong; those muscled thighs and abs weren’t just for looks! She tied the rope to the mattress and I easily pulled it up.
By the time the girls came to the hatch, I had the mattress on the bed. Each girl carried a fur for the bed when they came, and after taking their bundles from them, I helped each one step to the roof.
Alexia looked at the bed and then at the patio and then at the surrounding homes. She walked silently around for a moment and finally said, “Move it here.”
I didn’t know why it needed to be moved, but I didn’t need to know. I pushed the bed to the position that she indicated and then oriented it the way that she told me to.
She said, “Good. You can take off the mattress. Put it over there. Turn the bed over and I’ll cut down the legs to make them shorter.”
I said, “No, let’s leave it here for now. You can cut down the legs tomorrow. Alexia, listen to me. The bed will sit where it is until the princess is free. She will come from the prison straight to t
he roof and she will celebrate her freedom under the moons…if that’s what she would want.”
Alexia said, “That is very much what she would want. I’ll tell her.”
Belle said, “Who’s in prison? Where? What do you mean?”
I said, “Never mind for now. We have a little time until we need to go to the meeting, let’s go down to the living room.”
Alexia said simply, “We’ll put a table and some chairs for meals and a sofa for sitting and a low table in front of it here and there. This side will need a curtain on poles so that the view will be blocked. The curtain should be very light. A white one that we can see through, but that hides the details from anyone across that way. I’ll order it tomorrow.”
When we got downstairs, Rani went to make a light meal and the rest of went into the living room.
I sat in a chair, and Alexia sat opposite me, on a sofa. Belle wanted some lovemaking as we had suggested that we would get before the meeting and started making hints in that direction, but Alexia asked if she could talk for a minute first. Belle smiled and agreed happily. She loved Alexia and was willing to do anything she could for the odd girl.
Alexia looked intently at me and asked, “Mark, how does a girl get her mate’s attention?”
I said, “well, she can touch him lightly or give him a special look and a smile and a wink, and I suppose if she removes her belt, that would get his attention.”
Alexia said, “What if she can’t touch him and if a look is not enough and if she has already removed her belt? What else can she do to let her mate know that she is interested in his attentions.”
I looked at the 6’2” muscled busty goddess and saw the question that she was asking. What can I do now, even though I can’t touch you, to show you how much I want you?
I said, “The women of Barsoom are already without clothing. Their beauty is never hidden. Without their belts, they are even more naked. To get her mate’s attention, she shows him that she’s available for making love. She does that by showing him parts of herself that are not shown to others.”
Alexia smiled and parted her legs slightly and said, “Parts of herself that are not shown to others? I see,” and she spread her knees farther. “Yes, I see. Do you see my prince?”
The Start of Time Page 19
