“A most interesting culture then,” he said. “Most interesting indeed.” He laughed.
Matawasa came back and sat by me while I combed her hair. I told her, “Good restraint today, my dear. Much better than last time. You went into Musashi stance twice. You have had no opponent yet worthy of such actions. A bit more control, please.”
“I am sorry, my husband, my youth denies me the patience I so desperately need and strive for,” she said. Like all of them, when they spoke of blades and war they became quite serious.
“A bubbling brook,” The Sensei said.
She looked at him questioningly.
“You are the water, your impatience brought you crashing over a rock and now you have fallen into a quiet pool to reflect on the wastefulness of your action. Each person has a place they can go to pull strength or solitude or calm from. A bubbling brook is a starting point to finding those special places. It has been used for thousands of years and is part of our teachings.”
“Rodel, my friend?” I asked.
“Yes, Sire?”
“Look into that sensei she fought, check his spending habits. If not too frivolous, grant him Matawasa’s request please,” I said.
“Yes, Sire, it will be done,” he said.
“I thank you, Sir.”
“You have that much cash?” The Sensei asked.
“I own a planet and we use barter mostly, we really have little use for cashable items,” I said.
“Most interesting.”
There was a knock on the door.
“Ah, hopefully the real reason I asked you here has arrived.”
I opened it and my Asian beauty stood there.
She came in and all the wives hugged her.
I introduced her to The Sensei, who said, “I know your father, when I saw you last, you were about five.”
She bowed to him, he nodded to her.
“She has a couple problems. First she is pregnant with my child, but not what you think.”
I explained her situation only saying she agreed to be a surrogate mother since none of my wives could afford to be with child right now and we would most likely die. She knew the risks of what she did, but accepted them. “Her father would never understand and I fear if I met him he’d wind up like the first contestant. I do not like male domination arrogance.”
“He is but a product of his environment,” he said.
“Then that environment must change! She has had wishes since childhood of being a great swordswoman, all stifled by her father,” I told him. “I shall soon propose a bargain, dependent on the agreement of you both. In the meantime talk and understand each other. I want no hasty judgments.” They both spoke Japanese which was better, I did not ask for any translations.
We watched the videos of the day’s events with Matawasa, discussed her moves, counters and the mistakes where she had failed to press an advantage. She already knew every one, and had failed to do so mostly because the fight would have ended and our purpose was to awe Earth, not demean the sensei.
He caught that and smiled. He turned to me and waited until we were done.
“She is, as you say, a most delightful soul, full of energy that has been curtailed by parents who made it clear they tolerated her, but wanted a boy. Most distressing. She fears you have brought her here to make a rash decision not based on sensibilities.”
I looked at her. “I have had tens of thousands of women, all almost as beautiful as my wives here, yet I freely took them to their deaths. I cried their passing, but remembered the joys. No, I know my sensibilities are intact.”
I said to him, “Do you find her suitable for training, until her baby prevents such?” I asked.
“She meets all the requirements, yes,” he said.
“Do you find his abilities and willingness to train you acceptable to you if you wanted to be a student?” I asked.
“Yes, but my job, and the baby, and my father, and…” she just trailed off.
“Rodel, if you please, Sir?”
He came forward with a tray. There were two stacks of gold/platinum mixed, and two contracts.
I handed each a contract. “Please read them.”
The rest of us sat and sipped tea. All knew what was in them already.
“I see nothing I cannot agree to,” he said. “I would question the dress code, but that would be her choice.” He signed, Rodel recorded it and affixed the Royal Seal. We gave him his copy. It was framed.
She finished reading and said, “This really says I am little more than a sex whore! High priced, but still.”
“Others say prostitute, we say courtesan. That is in fact a standard contract we use. Let me explain. It says I may demand sex with you, anytime, anywhere and you must comply. It also says I may do any perversion upon you so long as it does no physical harm. It says any babies you have are my property and I retain the right to remove them to my household for rearing if I desire.” I took a breath. “The sex part is because it is a sex contract. The babies’ part allows me to remove my children should you become involved with a man that is mentally or physically abusive, or if you are neglectful. It further states you are working for the sole benefit of the King of Camelot and you will obey his orders as long as the contract is in force. Which means you are my slave, for pay.”
“There is an addendum that must be signed separately.” I handed it to her. “This says that you will turn over my daughter at the age of five years to the sensei here for moral and physical training required to be a Samurai Warrior. She will be trained to the best of her physical and mental abilities. You and he will decide such things as to how much training, and where she stays, so on and so forth. There is also the increase of 1 million to each of you for training and expenses, all funds include raises for cost of living and such.” I waited a few seconds then continued. “I have some additional requirements as to training in his that are not in yours. The choice is hard, it looks worse than it is and I ask, will you become my sex slave Courtesan for a period of five years, renewable at my option?
“Damn, I forgot, the last part of the Addendum says you may marry, but your husband must know and accept that you are my property and you must perform as I demand if I am in the neighborhood. It would require a very kind and understanding husband.” My wives laughed.
Aawasa said, “He is good in the heart, you know that, trust him. This stuff is for the accountants.”
She was still shocked and scared. “I will sign, but I don’t know.”
“One little thing, both of you. Once signed the penalty of refusing an order or not completing the contract is loss of your head. You have seen, we can and will do so.”
She was scared now.
“It ensures that you know it isn’t something a lawyer is going to get you out of,” Aawasa said.
Her hand shook, but she signed.
I gave them to Rodel, noted and sealed and returned.
“The additional items to his says he will teach you under our dress code. Nothing but the battledress and silk panties. You may at his and your option and choosing, for public displays of skills, wear his school’s uniform, but my daughter must adopt and wear only our codes.
“It also says he will give you and my daughter the full and proper attentions and guidance a father would give to a daughter.” She looked at him, at me, and cried.
“You admit you are now my slave, correct?” I asked.
She nodded.
“Good, take off those ridiculous clothes, all of them,” I said.
She looked at me, then him, then my wives, and resigned, she disrobed.
“He is your sensei now, he will see you naked more times than a husband during your training. You both need to get used to it.” I gave her a purple battledress and panties and had her put them on. “That is your official Samurai uniform for Camelot. If and when he says you are ready, you will take the title sensei and you will open a school in the name of Camelot for the training of people in the discipline of Samurai
Warrior and Bushido, not the sport. You will try to find suitable women but men will not be denied either, if qualified.”
She was definitely confused.
“You have any questions?” I asked her. She shook her head. “You will select my daughter’s royal color, it will never change until she marries, so choose carefully. In 5000 years I want someone to say I know her, she wore whatever, clear?”
She nodded.
I handed each 1 million. “This is per year. At my daughter’s birth in…” I looked at the paper, “8 months and 11 days, you, my dear, will receive an additional 1 million per year for her expenses.
At the age of five you, sensei, will receive an additional 1 million per year for her training.”
“Now, if there is nothing else, you start your training with him at his earliest convenience.
“I must ravish my wife for her performance today.” I looked at her and smiled, she groaned.
Soon they were gone.
Matawasa was physically and mentally tired. I took her on a small lake with wind-blown ripples and we rode them for a while. She pointed to a wave and I had it come to a good height as we rode its curl to the beach.
She was done and wanted sleep.
The Sensei had left. The wives were all sated from Matawasa’s pleasure.
We slept peacefully.
Fight day two:
6AM came quickly. During the night a Puddle Jumper had returned from Camelot. It had a note from the real Rodel. “Will monitor, will start if I hear.” It also had three more sword sets from Latwasa. Purple, a deep dark blue, and a rather bright orange. I destroyed the note, removed the purple and stored the other two.
The Asian beauty was back. “Why must I fight almost naked?”
“To survive,” I said.
She looked at me strangely.
“Follow me, you’re not stupid. Since you were a child you were trained to know and understand men are attracted to parts of you. Your soft flowing hair, beautiful eyes, sensual lips, the firmness of your breasts, long slender legs, hips…all attract men. You are then taught to hide some of those, that a man may try to woo you and to receive the right to see the parts forbidden. All perfectly normal.
“You are in a fight for your life, your opponent is worthy, he lands a flick, your top cover falls, your breast falls out. Because of your training that a man wants to look and feel and touch, you become aware of the fact it is exposed and in that time you are defeated, dead or worse.”
I saw her eyes. “If you have trained so that your awareness is only that they are there to be protected, a part of the machine, you are no longer vulnerable. Men will still enjoy the view, but they also must become trained, which gives you an edge for exactly that reason. Trust me, my wives are no less aware of what their bodies do to men than you, they are just supremely confident that no man would survive an encounter unless they wish them to. When you are at that point, you also will not care.”
She was still confused but said she'd try and left.
I talked to Matawasa, she had to finish four of the six remaining sensei today. “Try not to embarrass, maybe take out the young guy in a feat of apparent luck.” The rest were her choice. She gave me a kiss.
I told Rodel to notify my Asian beauty that she would be publicly embarrassed, to make sure she wore the purple panties and battledress or she would be totally naked.
I told Aawasa to find some purple costume face-mask for her to wear, her swords were here for presentation.
By 7AM we all were ready, and the day would begin.
The morning news had said an assassin again failed to kill King Jake. The President’s body was found headless someplace or other and his head was residing on top of some flagpole in Dallas. No claim was made for the reward. None of my wives fessed up either.
I was at the 50-yard line at 8AM, the place was even more packed than before, and before you couldn’t move.
Rodel sounded a bagpipe sonata he wrote. It was almost as bad as the instrument it was played on.
I took the mike, welcomed all, and opened with the intro of the remaining contestants and where we left off. “The older sensei will continue with the third hour, one hit against him.”
Rodel said there was a bit of trouble in the parking lot and he gave me a location. I went immediately with Aawasa and Katawasa in tow.
Rodel gave me a list. There were two guys and a naked girl sharing each other’s attentions in the back of a pickup after what appeared was a long night of tailgate partying. There was a couple arguing, and there was a guy trying to shimmy a car door. At the same time there were dealers selling dope to teens. Katawasa and Aawasa spread.
The shimmy guy couldn’t figure out why his missing hand no longer functioned. The teens buying the drugs couldn’t figure out where their clothes went. A dealer pulled a knife on Katawasa and his hand waited for the brain, laying on the ground, to tell it what to do. Two more heads joined it as Aawasa got a few licks in too. The teens found being strapped across a car hood with red tanned asses, a wooden paddle, and a sign that said ‘hit me I’m stupid’ on it wasn’t as funny as it sounded.
I watched the couple. He wanted her to give him his ring back so he could hock it for some more beer.
I took off the safety, wife on both sides, set it to semi-auto, wife on both sides, and waited, and wife on both sides. I was seeing through a red haze.
His hand went up, came down, and hit her face at the same time Two 44 cals entered his heart, the second just to keep the first from being lonely. She screamed and asked why I did that. Katawasa said, “Because you were too stupid not to do it yourself.” They helped me back inside.
The news had two reports, one said the barbarian visitors had murdered some poor guy having a family dispute. The second said ‘Camelot King again defends a battered wife’, and showed the video clip of the incident.
The first paper was found burned to the ground a week later with a sign that said, “For false reporting.”
Someone had finally put a limit on the meaning of free speech.
I was inside and sitting when I came back to where I was. At least I didn’t do the yelling anymore, I was improving.
A teenager from some store brought a Halloween mask, quickly painted a Royal Purple and almost dry. He was most pleased with a half-ounce of gold as a tip.
The match continued, now into the second hour of that day and fourth of the match. Matawasa had landed a second flick on the sensei on a hip spin the earlier hour. He had already told the announcer he knew he was beaten by a superior warrior, but would put out his maximum effort in the hope he was mistaken. A few minutes from the end of the forth hour flick, flick it was done.
I took the medal and $250,000 in bars of gold and platinum, and a bank check for one million if he trained females too, because he currently didn’t.
I took the mike from the announcer. “I found that a most entertaining and enlightening display of swordsmanship! What say you all?” I asked. Huge applause.
“I have consulted with my wives and they agree his skill with the blade is outstanding and if he’d been but 20 years younger a world class match would have been seen.
“We Award him the medal and $250,000 in platinum and gold and, if he accepts, an additional 1 million check to train women.”
He accepted all most graciously.
I whispered to him if he failed to keep his word, flick, his head can watch his body fall, and he knew I meant it.
It wasn’t really their fault, they didn’t deliberately refuse to train them, they just thought of them as delectable nighttime treats that also do laundry and tend babies. I’d been there myself.
Next match went down in two hours. Flick in the opening gambit and his ankle was hit hard, second hour he was trying to keep up with Matawasa’s footwork and was unbalanced most of the time, flick, flick, it was over.
“What a shame ladies and gentlemen, that first hit on his ankle really came back to haunt him. Give him a huge applau
se for his effort.
“$250,000 and also an additional 1 million to train females if he accepts?” He did.
Walking off he said, “I was beat as soon as I raised my sword, wasn’t I?”
I whispered, “A wise man keeps his thoughts, unless he can act upon them.” I smiled as he nodded.
Rodel pointed out that about a quarter million troops had deployed around the dome, all outside Camelot land. They had support tanks and aircraft, designed to be a show of force.
“Time to put up a little show of ours then,” I told him. Patch me to Linda then make sure what we do is on every network around the world. I don’t want any bloodbath.”
“Yes, Sire.”
Matawasa was only a little winded.
“Five to go,” I said. “Want help?”
“As you command, my husband.”
“We proved our point, even #1 knows he’d be hard pressed to beat our fifteen and one half year old girl, so we can cut one day. If they accept,” I told her.
I told Katawasa what I wished. She was very good, but didn’t think that she could handle two sensei at the same time.
I took the mike. “My wife tires again, but will go on, however, I have received a different challenge from one of our real fighters and I wish to propose it to the five remaining sensei.”
“My wife Katawasa says she can keep her hurt in check and lusts for a good fight! She proposes a challenge against two of the five sensei remaining, at the same time! Let me speak to them and see if they will entertain such an offer.” We killed the mike.
“Gentlemen, our time here may be shorter than I originally planned, all must be compensated for their efforts, if nothing more than for their time waiting. I will offer each 1 million in cash at it’s end plus 1 million for each hit scored against her, to be split among you both, up to six. At that time she will withdraw. But be warned, she is the one in the video with the blue battledress and katana. Decide if and who. You remaining sensei will receive an amount of sufficient size to offset a feeling of loss for not being in it. She gets three hits on you and you must withdraw. The remaining one fights alone and scores additional funds alone, I will be back in a minute for an answer. We do it for the crowd now, not to show any are better than others.”
Blood Sabers Page 29
