The Adventure of the Steel Gazelle
Page 3
went looking for adventure. We haven't been doing that here."
"And where do we go looking?"
"Ulthar is the city of adventurers. There are all sorts of people there who'd be willing to hire us. All we have to do is advertise."
Sunny's logic tended to follow its own rules, but she had to admit, she made sense.
"Meanwhile, we have the money the cats gave us. That should last us a good long while yet."
She shrugged. "True, but keep in mind, Mayv draws on it ta pay the rent on our house when we're not here."
"Yeah, that's a problem for sure."
"You think so?" She spoke in a sarcastic manner. "I swear, sometimes you can be such a ditz."
"Oh, you're just cranky from being bored."
"Damn right. I especially resent us being treated like little kids left with the neighbors while Mommy goes off ta do neat adult stuff. There isn't even some place private where we can go fool around. I feel like havin' a screaming fit just ta shake things up."
If Sunny intended to say anything more, Tyco jumped up onto the stage when the musicians stopped playing interrupted her. "And now, without further delay, may I present Vichnia, the Steel Gazelle!"
The musicians began a weird, anti-harmonious piece. Their talent seemed pretty bad at the best of times, but their current performance synchronized perfectly with the music, such that they enhanced the bizarre, alien rhythm with their atonal playing. Furthermore, while the song clashed and grated on Eile's ears, oddly it soothed and relaxed her.
A moment later, a figure appeared out of a backroom behind the bar. It had a statuesque female form and wore a hooded robe that hid every part of her body from sight. She walked across the common room with a slow, languid tread that kept time with the beat and melody of the music. She kept her head bowed so that her face couldn't be seen. Tyco retreated from the stage as she approached. She stepped up onto it and glided to the center, where she did a slow turn in place. When she stopped, she had her back to Eile and Sunny. She stood still for several moments, then began to sway in a serpentine motion. She lifted her head and reached up to pull down the hood. Eile saw steel blue hair wrapped in a bejeweled harness like a filigree helmet. She opened the front of the robe, slipping it off her shoulders and down her back at such a slow pace it barely registered in her perception. All the while she didn't once stop swaying.
Eile sat mesmerized, though not senseless. She never considered herself attracted to other girls, but Vichnia's dance so fascinated her that she couldn't look away. Her skin had the same color as her hair and appeared dusted with tiny sparkles. She wondered in an idle manner what kind of paint she used to decorate her body, and where she and Sunny could get some. Her shoulders, back, and upper arms looked knotted with corded muscles, not to the extent of a body builder, but enough that Eile got the impression of tightly controlled strength. She wondered if Vichnia could take Medb in a wrestling match.
When the robe reached the buttocks, she was stunned out of her revere when she realized she couldn't see a costume. It slipped off one arm and swept to the right, to hang off the other as it trailed on the ground. As far as she could see, Vichnia didn't wear any leggings or shoes either. She raised her right arm and brought it across her chest, draping the robe across her front, and turned around. She stopped when she faced their table, looked down at them, and gave them a wicked smile. It started out slight then gradually grew into a broad expression, but it didn't crack into a grin. Her face had a long and narrow shape, with prominent cheekbones and a domed forehead. Her nose appeared triangular and thin, but in contrast she had a broad mouth with full lips. Her eyes were set wide apart and they looked larger than normal, with a slight oriental cast. Their most arresting feature were their cyan-blue irises; they almost seemed to glow.
She felt paralyzed under that gaze, like a mouse confronting a snake. Then Vichnia whipped her right arm aside and threw the robe into the common room.
That broke the spell. "Jesus!" She averted her eyes and held up a hand to shield her sight.
She really is naked, she thought! It had only been a momentary glance, but she hadn't seen any kind of clothing covering either bosom or crotch.
Beside her, Sunny let go with a long, drawn-out sigh: "Aaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhh!" She looked to the side and saw Sunny staring at Vichnia with eyes and mouth wide like giant O's.
She kicked her under the table, hard.
"Oww!" She whipped her head around to glare at her. "Son of a--! What was that for?!"
Several patrons turned around and hissed at her to be quiet.
"Stop staring at her, ya bimbo!" she whispered in a harsh tone.
"Whatever for?" She flashed a look of pure innocence. That elicited more urgent hissing.
"Jesus, Sunny, get a clue! She's nude!"
Sunny did a double take between her and Vichnia, before giving her a wide-eyed, drop-mouthed grin. "You're jealous!" The hisses were louder and more strident.
"I'm not jealous!! God, you can be such a space-case sometimes!"
Someone came up behind them and laid a hand on their shoulders. She figured it was a bouncer. "I'm afraid yose ladies will hafta leave if yose can't keep still."
"Move it or lose it, buster!" she growled. He raised his hand, but only by a couple of inches.
Sunny looked up behind them. "It's okay, we'll be good."
He grunted and moved off.
Sunny leaned over and whispered in her ear, "She's not nude; take a closer look."
She really didn't want to, but she knew Sunny would never lie to her. In a hesitant manner, she dropped her hand and looked up. By that time, Vichnia waved her arms, swung and stamped her feet, and gyrated her body in greater abandon. She winced, but she took a good look. That's when she saw it: a thin, almost indiscernible border around her breasts and hips. She did wear a costume, but one so thin and which matched her skin color so closely that it appeared invisible. That way, she could appear nude without actually being unclothed.
"Besides," Sunny added, "it's no worse than what we see in the Waking World, when Mayv takes us to a strip club." She giggled as she sat back in her seat.
Yeah, that's true, though I'm not all that comfortable watching those women either. Still, no sense causing a scene.
Sunny moved her chair closer to her. "You know, one of the barmaids told me her father is a powerful wizard in Lelag-Leng."
"Oh, yeah? Then what's she doin' here?"
"Rumor has it he wanted her to marry the son of a rival sorcerer, to make the families allies, but she wouldn't do it and ran away. Supposedly, she came here to spite her father. They said she'd continue to dance as long as he insisted upon the marriage."
She thought back on the other performers who entertained the patrons between their sets. All had been strippers of one form or another. "She does seem right at home."
Sunny gave her a cross look, but she didn't care. She just settled back in her chair and took a big swallow from her tankard.
As time went by, she felt herself relax. She wasn't turned on like the guys around her; if anything, she felt a mild contempt. Mostly because of the way Vichnia had treated them, but also because she chose to entertain men in such a prurient fashion. She didn't consider herself a prude. She could appreciate an exotic dancer just as she could a ballerina, and she had to admit, Vichnia was one of the best she had ever seen. She had a fluid, sensual grace that empowered her erotic display. Yet there seemed to be an underlying strength and discipline that gave it a hard edge, what with her precise movements and meticulous postures. It reminded her of a master practicing Tai Chi. She could certainly understand how she got her stage-name of Steel Gazelle.
As well, she saw nothing wrong with a woman making a career as an exotic dancer, as long as she did it for self-expression, but she saw no point in dancing just to tease people, to titillate and excite them without following through. It seemed inconceivable to her that any woman would routinely lead men on with no concern for the possible consequences.
Maybe I am jealous. It's just that she's never looked at me like that. Then again, I don't do for her what Vichnia's doing now, so maybe I shouldn't be surprised. I just don't have it in me. Sunny's made it easier for me to express my feelings than I used to, but I'm still somewhat reserved, even in private. I love her so much that I can't imagine living without her, but I still have trouble showing it. I always thought she loved me the same way. Maybe I was just taking her for granted. Maybe she's getting bored with me. I wish I knew. All I do know is she's paying way too much attention to Vichnia, and it's tearing me up inside. I wish we had never come here. I wish her father would come and take her away.
An odd noise roused her from her doldrums. It had started out low, barely perceptible, but it had grown until it became a conspicuous distraction. Frowning, she noticed that Sunny also heard it, and looked around trying to find its source. She examined the common room herself, but not for the sound. It seemed to her that everyone heard it--patrons, barmaids, bouncers, musicians, Tyco himself--and they also searched for its source. Only Vichnia seemed oblivious, and she figured it was because she was too wrapped up in her concentration.
Sunny glanced at her. "You hear