by Джеффри Лорд
Blade wasn't going anywhere. He would have gripped Neena as tightly as she was gripping him if he hadn't been afraid of what his own strength might do to her. He seldom felt a woman throwing herself into the act of love as Neena was doing. He seldom felt as completely drawn into it himself. All his awareness and every breath he took were centered on the woman he held and who held him.
He felt her beginning to twist back and forth under him as he rose and fell inside her. He felt blood joining the sweat where her nails clawed at his back. He heard her gasp, then sob out loud, then begin a low, continuous moaning. The moan grew steadily louder. As it rose, so did Blade's own passion. He was gasping now, trying desperately to hold on, hold back, carry through to the end.
Neena's moan turned into a shriek that echoed around the clearing, sending birds and animals squawking and whirring and crashing away in all directions. She arched upward against Blade as he pressed down into her, clawed, bit, sobbed, gasped, tossed her head from side to side so that her hair fell like a blanket over both of them.
Before Neena's climax could pass, Blade reached his. He did not shout, because all the breath seemed to go out of his body in a great sigh along with his hot jetting into Neena. He clamped his arms around her, and for a moment he held back none of his strength. She did not protest, she did not care, she hardly seemed to notice. In that moment he could have crushed half her bones to powder and it would have been several minutes before she noticed what had happened.
Those several minutes passed, as they lay locked and tangled together in the flattened grass, sweat trickling off them and the sun beating down on them. Eventually their breathing slowed until they could hear the world around them, and their vision cleared until they could see it. It was more minutes before either of them could move or speak. Then they sat up, brushed themselves off, and looked at each other.
Blade noticed that barely ten feet off to one side of them was where Kubona's body had lain. Twenty feet to the other side lay the skeleton of one of Desgo's soldiers. Neena saw where he was looking, and laughed.
«No, Blade, I doubt we need fear that their spirits will have anything to say about what we have done here. Kubona-well, she was no more a blushing virgin than I. If she watched us, she will go happily and in peace, seeing our happiness.»
«And the soldiers' spirits?»
«If they were still around to watch-well, they have seen us alive and happy. They will go off to torment, knowing that they died in vain, that we returned here together, to love in the very place where they died. I doubt if we could have found a better way of adding to their torments.»
Blade laughed at Neena's ferocity. Then he said, more seriously, «I think we would do well to get our clothes on and get back to camp.»
«You would rather hide in the darkness than lie in the sun?»
«I would rather spend the rest of the day where no one can see us. There may be only the spirits of Trawn's soldiers left in these woods. I would rather not find out otherwise when a spear drives through your guts.»
Neena sighed, then nodded. Together they rose and pulled on their clothes. Then hand in hand they slipped back into the forest.
Chapter 15
By the time they got back to the camp in the hollow tree, Neena was ready to make love again. They lay down in the musty darkness among the dried vines and leaves and joined once more. After that Neena seemed contented at last, and slowly drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face. Blade lay quietly beside her for a while. Eventually he was able to ignore the rumblings of his half-empty stomach and join Neena in sleep.
They slept through the rest of the day and most of the night. In the gray light before dawn Blade awoke to find Neena already up and rummaging through the gear. As he watched, she gave a little cry of triumph, and drew out of one bag a wide golden bracelet. It was studded with enormous emeralds that blazed with a magnificent cold green fire even in the semidarkness.
«Blade, raise your left arm.»
There was a note in Neena's voice that Blade had never heard before. It was unmistakably a note of command, but at the same time surprisingly gentle. Blade obeyed.
Neena snapped the bracelet open, put it around Blade's left wrist, and snapped it shut again. She let his arm drop, then rocked backward, kneeling naked before him. Her eyes fixed themselves intently on Blade's face.
«Now, by the will of the gods, by the laws and customs of Draad, and most important of all, by my choice, you are betrothed husband to me, Neena, Princess of Draad.»
Blade hadn't seen this coming, but he wasn't particularly surprised, and not at all unhappy about it. To be betrothed to a woman of high rank would give him a place in Draad that might prove valuable. To be betrothed to Neena, with her beauty, skill, and lively wit, would be far more than useful. It would be a very agreeable experience indeed.
His ruby ring that he'd snatched back from Lord Desgo was on his finger. Slowly he took it off.
«Neena, it is your turn. Hold out your left hand.»
Blade took the small, strong hand and thrust the ring on to the index finger. It was too large to stay on any of the others. He smiled as Neena raised her hand to look at the ring, then spoke.
«Now, by the will of the gods, the laws and customs of England, and by my consent, you are betrothed wife to me, Blade, Prince of England.»
To his surprise he saw tears glimmering in Neena's eyes. He said nothing, only reached out and brushed one hand lightly across her cheeks, brushing away the tears.
«I am happy, Neena,» he said.
«So am I,» she said, her voice not quite steady. «My father-well, whether he is happy or not, I doubt he will say anything against you. He has long known that I would have no husband except one I chose for myself. I have chosen you, and as he loves me, I think he will not let himself hate you.»
That was just as well with Blade. He had no objection to marrying Neena. He would, however, rather not make an enemy of King Embor by doing so.
«In fact,» she went on, «I think he may find good reason to be happier with you than with any man of Draad. Any of the warriors or chiefs' sons I might otherwise have chosen would be of one clan or another. The clan of my husband would rejoice. The others would not, and some of them might raise their voices or even their spears against my father. This is not the time for the feuding of the clans of Draad, not when Trawn may march against us at any time.
«Queen Sanaya will be another matter. She will be-«
Neena broke off, looking worried about having perhaps said too much.
Blade placed a finger under her chin and tipped her head up until their eyes met. «Neena, I cannot be all that you will want and need in a husband if you do not tell me what dangers may face me in Draad. You have said enough about Queen Sanaya to make me wonder about her. I have met such women as her before, and they have seldom been my friends.»
«You see clearly, Blade,» said Neena. «You also speak the truth. I shall tell you of her, although it may seem almost too simple. Sanaya knows that if I take a husband, I may soon bear a son to him. Then she will no longer be the only bearer of sons to the royal house of Draad. Her position will be weakened, and if she angers my father as she has done in the past, he may not again hold back from setting her aside.»
«I see.»
«You do not see everything. If Sanaya-fears this, she will be desperate, and when she is desperate, she becomes dangerous. She will be dangerous to both of us, but she will concentrate on you.»
Blade nodded. «I shall be on the alert.»
«You certainly should be. I do not know how far Sanaya may go to defend herself. You should also take care for your own desires. Sanaya is extremely beautiful, and is said to be experienced and skilled as well. I would take it much amiss if you were to bed her.»
Blade nodded again. He was tempted to ask Neena exactly what she would do to him if she «took amiss» something that he did. He decided it might not be wise, and instead changed the subject.
«
Do you find the ring beautiful?»
«Yes. There is no such stone in all the forests of Gleor or the earth below them.»
«It is a magical stone from my home land, called a ruby. I have given it to you to signal our betrothal, but I fear I must ask for it back when we reach Draad.»
Neena looked sulky, almost like a small girl. «Why?»
«As I said, it is a magical stone, that can receive spells. A great Kaireen and sorcerer of my people, named Lord Leighton, filled that stone with protective spells. I will be in danger, from Sanaya and many other people, if I do not wear it after we return to Draad.» Blade wondered what Lord Leighton would say to being described as a «sorcerer.» The scientist would probably throw at least a small fit.
Neena sighed and shrugged. «Very well, I shall not leave you without protection. But I shall wear the ruby until we reach Draad, and that will be more than a week.»
They gathered up their clothing, gear, and weapons, and moved out. By the time the sun rose over the forest, they were well on the march toward the east.
That afternoon they hunted. Neena brought down a pair of apelike creatures covered with brown fur, while Blade speared a large snake. Behind a screen of bushes along the bank of a swift-flowing stream, they built a fire of driftwood and twigs and roasted their catch. By the time they were through, there was nothing left of either the apes or the snake but the entrails and bones sucked clean before being tossed aside.
Blade sighed contentedly, wiped his hands and mouth with a bunch of leaves, and leaned back against a tree trunk.
«Our forests can provide well, can they not?» said Neena.
Blade smiled. «They can. Of course, I think the snake should really have been allowed to hang for three days, then been marinated for twenty-four hours in a sauce of red wine, leeks, thyme, and-«That was as far as he got before Neena burst out laughing, then put both hands on his chest and shoved him over backward. Before he could rise she was swarming all over him, and they did not get up for quite a while after that.
It took them nearly a week to reach the nearest of the villages of Draad. The forests spread thickly across the land, but there was plenty of water, game, and fruit, and there was little danger of meeting any hunters or raiders from Trawn. Neena hoped they might meet a hunting party from Draad, but luck was not with them there. Even without that last piece of luck, Blade found the march to Draad as pleasant as a camping trip, at least compared with everything that had gone before it.
They spent two days climbing steadily higher. The forest grew thinner, the swarming insects faded away, the nights were almost chilly, and beyond the treetops Blade caught glimpses of mist-shrouded mountains.
«The Mountains of Hoga,» said Neena. «They are a great barrier to the raiders of Trawn. With the mountain clans, they have done much to keep our land free so far. I fear, though, that what has been enough in the past will not be enough before much longer.»
At a place Neena called the Pass of Mezan, they met the first of the mountain clansmen. Blade could see that they were of the same stock as Neena. All were tall, slim but superbly muscled, with pale brown skins and hair so black that it showed blue tints in the sunlight. Both men and women appeared carrying weapons, which was the way among the mountain clans. It was not the way elsewhere in Draad.
«If things elsewhere in Draad were done as wisely and as well as among the mountain clans, we would be in far less danger,» said Neena bitterly. «They turn out everyone who can fight, they know their land, they spend little time fighting or intriguing among themselves.»
Things beyond the Mountains of Hoga were rather different, or so Blade gathered. King Embor was hardly a king so much as he was referee for the squabbling and feuding of a score of clans, each with their own cluster of lands and villages. The fact that they were outnumbered three or four to one by the warriors of Trawn and their stolofs had so far done nothing to unite all the petty rulers in Draad.
«This has not as yet been fatal,» said Neena. «The mountain people can fight off any small raiding parties from Trawn. The kings of Trawn have only once sent a large army all the way to our borders, and that was centuries ago, before the time of the stolofs. Now, though, if they come, they will come with the stolofs, and for us-«Neena sighed, in her weariness and her fear for her people.
The mountain clans had heard that Neena was missing, and her father much grieved over it. They rejoiced in a rather sober fashion over her return, throwing a feast with masses of roast meat, koba nuts, fish from the mountain streams, and a sour but strong nut beer.
Neena asked the chiefs not to send messengers on to her father. Impishly, she wanted her safe return home to be a surprise.
The clansmen must have ignored her wishes. Two days beyond the Mountains of Hoga, Blade and Neena were approaching the first of the lowland villages. It was there that they met King Embor, with all his court, all his guard of warriors-and all his problems.
Chapter 16
Neena pointed out her father to Blade as soon as the king came in sight. Blade would not have needed her help. It was obvious at once who among the people facing them was King Embor of Draad.
Embor was half a head taller than Blade, but like his daughter he was slim and fine boned. The loss of flesh that comes with age had turned his slimness almost into gauntness, but his movements were sure and fluid and graceful. He carried himself with a dignity that Blade would have called «regal» even if Embor hadn't been a king.
The king's skin was the same color as his daughter's, but his dark hair and small square beard had turned a gray that was already shading into silver. He wore a necklace of gold links holding together copper disks set with large emeralds, emerald rings on four fingers, and a sword with a truly enormous emerald set in the hilt. He wore a tunic and trousers of monkey fur dyed red, soft leather boots, and a copper-studded belt, but no crown.
Embor stepped forward toward Blade and Neena, and the warriors with him gave way to either side. Most of them were looking intently at Blade, and several had their spears raised. One went so far as to nock an arrow to his bow and point it at Blade. That drew a glare from King Embor, and the warrior hastily dropped the arrow back in his quiver.
«Well, daughter,» said Embor, with a surprisingly gentle smile. He looked at the moment much more the father than the king and warrior. «So you return to us safely-and with a husband.» Then his reserve broke down completely, and he stepped forward and embraced his daughter. For a long moment they stood, holding each other. The warriors smiled broadly.
One person in the group was not smiling, at least not while King Embor's attention was all on his daughter. This was a tall woman, large boned and almost voluptuous, her perfectly molded face framed in a mass of mahogany-colored hair. She also wore garments of red-dyed monkey fur and a necklace of gold, copper, and emeralds. For all her beauty, though, her face was chill and blank, except when her eyes fell on Neena. Then unmistakable hatred flashed in them.
Blade did not try to meet the woman's eyes or attract her attention. He knew who she was without being told-Queen Sanaya. What he saw in her eyes also confirmed everything Neena had said about the queen's being an enemy. Very well, he would accept that-then wait for her to make the first move. Sanaya was queen of Draad, and he was a newcomer. How strong his position as Neena's husband would be, he couldn't be sure. He did not want to put the matter to a test out of sheer carelessness.
Eventually Embor and Neena unwound from each other. The king turned to Blade. «You come here as the betrothed husband of my daughter, so I will not ask many questions that I would ask otherwise. I do not despise her judgment enough to believe that she would choose one unworthy, and LET NO ONE ELSE DO SO EITHER!» His voice boomed out suddenly, and Queen Sanaya jumped like a startled horse.
«So be it,» he said, stepping forward with both hands outstretched. Blade stretched out his own hands and the king took them. «There is much I do not know of you and what you and my daughter have done to escape from Trawn. I sh
all ask you and Neena to tell me all of it, at another time and in another place. Here and now, I say only-be welcome in Draad, my son.»
Embor embraced Blade. Over the king's shoulder Blade could see both Neena and Sanaya. They were alternately glaring at each other and watching Embor and Blade. Neena's face was split in a broad grin as she saw her father embrace her husband. Sanaya's face was frozen again, so completely that not even her eyes gave any clues to the emotions that were certainly bubbling inside her.
With Blade and Neena joined to it, the royal party turned about and headed back down into the valley of Draad. Everyone marched except Queen Sanaya and an elderly man Neena described as the High Kaireen, the most important scholar in Draad. These two were carried in litters. Everyone else walked, from King Embor down to the thirty-odd servants with the party.
They walked fast, too. At the end of each day's march Blade was quite happy to sink down onto the ground beside the king's campfire, drink beer from wooden cups, and tell King Embor of his and Neena's adventures in Trawn.
As King Embor learned more of what had happened to Blade and Neena, Blade learned more about Draad. Much merely confirmed what he'd already heard from Neena-the prickly rivalry of the clans, King Embor as a referee, the skill and endurance of the hunters and warriors of Draad in the great forests.
Other things were new. Neena had not told him that Draad was poor in metals, for example. Only the greatest chiefs and warriors could afford swords. Everyone else had to make do with spears and arrows or clubs and axes with stone heads. These served well enough for hunting. Facing the swordsmen and the stolofs of Trawn was another matter.
