Warlords Of Gaikon rb-18 Read online

Then he laughed. «Lady Musura, I hope you'll believe me when I say that I don't have any quarrel with you. So I wouldn't like to kill you. Also, killing you would weaken the forces of Lord Tsekuin, to whom I have sworn an oath, at a time when he must be as strong as possible. But I could kill you if I wanted to. You admit that?»

  From somewhere Lady Musura managed to drag out one of her rare smiles. But there was also sincere respect in her voice as she said, «I do admit it. I would stand little chance against you unless I caught you by surprise, and then I might at best die beside you. A jinai of your size and strength at the height of his power and training would no doubt do a better job. But even he would find himself with a fight to remember, if he won.»

  «I thank you for the praise, Lady Musura. But you have not said if you will answer my questions.»

  «I can make no promises when I do not know the questions, Blade. Is it strange to you that there are things I would rather die by slow torture than speak of to you?»

  «It is not,» admitted Blade. «Very well. Who is inside that hut? And why are they here, and why are you guarding them?»

  The woman on the ground smiled more broadly. «If you had not been so afraid of traps, Blade, you would have found answers to those questions by now. The answers lie there-«She pointed at the door with the red leather.

  «I never fear traps unless I'm made to suspect them,» said Blade sharply. «But having arrows pointed at me for no good reason makes me suspect traps and treachery. There is so much of it in the air now.»

  The lady jerked her head, acknowledging that Blade had a point. Then her face softened. «Blade, go through that door-I ask you as an honorable comrade and dabuno. Go through that door, and if you keep silence and show discretion, no harm shall come to you or anyone else.»

  Blade detected sincerity in her voice-enough to make him relax somewhat, not enough to make him shift the spear. «Do you swear by Kunkoi and by your honor as a jinai?»

  «By these I swear, Blade,» said Lady Musura. «And I will gladly swear by any of the gods of your own land that will accept my oath.» There was an unfamiliar note in her voice, almost a pleading one.

  «Well, then,» said Blade, raising the spear. He had turned away before Lady Musura could say anything to thank him.

  Inside the hut the light was dim and ruddy, but it was strong enough for Blade to see that the place had recently been swept free of dust and cobwebs. The air was close and thick, in contrast to the fresh coolness of the evening outside. It was heavy with the smells of dust, dry rot, incense, and perfume.

  Perfume? Blade looked more closely and realized that the far end of the hut had been partitioned off with dark red curtains hung from the ceiling. Through the crack under the curtains Blade saw the faint orange yellow glow of lamplight. Then he saw the curtains move slightly, as though pushed from behind, and heard a deep-throated woman's laugh.

  «What are you waiting for, Blade? I heard Lady Musura promising you safety. Do you doubt her word?»

  Blade could not have stopped more suddenly if a bear trap had clamped itself on his leg. The voice belonged to Lady Oyasa.

  Blade's wits did not stop, however. His voice was cool as he replied, «I do not doubt her word, Honorable Lady. But I-«

  «Then why do you stand there?» There was an imperious note in that question. This was a young woman accustomed to getting answers to her questions, whether they made any sense or not.

  «I doubt the wisdom of my being here in this hut with you at this hour and no one else present,» said Blade sharply. «I will say nothing out of loyalty to Lord Tsekuin. But I will say something about folly that could bring us both under the executioner's sword-if we were granted such a merciful death. And what of the Hongshu? Would you throw him a perfect excuse to intervene in your husband's affairs, with Kunkoi alone knows what consequences?»

  A hiss of indrawn breath followed Blade's words, and after that came a long silence. Blade heard the rustle of garments and the scrape of sandals on the floor as Lady Oyasa shifted position, but still she made no answer. He waited in silence, his eyes occasionally flickering toward the door. It was the lady's move now, if she chose to make it.

  He rather hoped she would have the sense not to.

  «Blade,» she said finally. «Come behind the curtains and sit down. I see that you speak from a wisdom that I once had. But no more. I am not afraid of folly. I beg of you-come and listen to me, at least.» There was no mistaking the tone in her voice. She was begging now, not commanding. She sounded almost desperate.

  Blade shrugged and stepped forward. A woman who demanded or threatened-that he could refuse and had refused. It was one reason why he was still alive. But a woman who begged made an appeal he had to answer.

  Lady Oyasa sat behind the curtain at the head of a long double sleeping pad, with several folded quilts stacked at the foot. She wore a robe the same color as the flame of the lamp, with a circlet of small diamonds set in gold around her unbound black hair. Her face was not only unmasked but free of any cosmetics. Blade was surprised at how young she now seemed-no more than twenty.

  He made a ceremonial bow, and saw a grimace pass across her face. One hand clenched around a fold of her robe. «Blade, I beg you also-no ceremony. Do you have any idea of how tired one can become of ceremony? No, I do not imagine you have been in Gaikon long enough to see all the horrors our etiquette can inflict on one who must live with it always. And when one is married to a man-«She hesitated, then her courage returned and her words came out in a rush. «When one is married to a man one saw for the first time the day of the wedding, who makes even the few times he comes to one's bed a ceremony, who has the skills of a scholar but the temper of a spoiled boy-Kunkoi has sent enough already. One should not have to endure more.»

  «But one does, Honorable Lady,» said Blade.

  The lady shook her head and smiled. «Not tonight, Blade. Not tonight, not here, and not between us.»

  Blade had barely recognized the suppressed desire in her voice when she stood up and came toward him. She moved with long free strides, not with the normal half-shuffle of noblewomen in Gaikon. As she moved, her hands went to the diamond-studded clasp that held together the sash of her robe. The sash dropped to the floor. The robe did not follow it, but it swung open and shut as Lady Oyasa covered the last few steps to Blade. He could see the flicker of slim, rounded, creamy brown limbs inside the robe.

  Then Lady Oyasa was flowing up against him, her hands working on his own robe, working up under it. He was responding, and he knew it, and he knew that she knew it. She laughed and murmured, her lips pressed against his throat. «I thought you were no eunuch, Blade. Now I know. It would be a pity for someone like you not to be a man.»

  It certainly would be, Blade thought. He knew that castration was one of the penalties for what he was about to do. But he was going to do it anyway. Lady Oyasa was right. There was a time for worrying about what was foolish and what wasn't, and a time for throwing caution to the winds. He reached down and wrapped his arms around Lady Oyasa, drawing her more tightly against him.

  She was tall for a woman of Gaikon, tall and long-limbed. She could run her fingers through his hair without reaching, press her warm lips against his throat and run them up and down the side of his neck. She twisted from side to side as she did this, and bit by bit the robe crept wider and wider open. Then suddenly with a faint hiss of silk on soft skin it was gone, falling and spreading on the sleeping mat at her feet. Her whole exquisite body gleamed bare, the highlights shifting as she slowly turned about in front of Blade.

  Then suddenly she knelt down and after a moment almost threw herself backward. «Oh, Blade,» she murmured. «Let it be now. Let it be now, and not a moment later. It is time for us. Kunkoi would have it so.» Slowly her legs spread apart, inch by inch, as she spoke. Meanwhile her hands cupped her small conical breasts, whose nipples were already solidly erect spots of darkness against the creamy brown skin.

  If Blade hadn't already decided to an
swer Lady Oyasa's appeal, he would have decided at that moment. He was not a stone statue, and nothing else could have resisted the appeal of Lady Oyasa's naked body-and the naked desire in her eyes and voice. His hands worked swiftly, stripping off his own robe, then he lay down on the mat beside her.

  His hands roamed up and down her body, while her hands did the same on his. She nuzzled his throat again, and nipped the tanned skin with small sharp white teeth. Desire swelled further in Blade, a desire to lose himself in this woman, to lock his arms around her. He had not felt such a total desire for a long time; he had wondered if it was perhaps something he had lost.

  But it was not, and so he gave into it. He pulled Lady Oyasa over on top of him, and she settled down to take him into herself, deep and deeper, until they were locked together more tightly than Blade would have imagined possible. His arms bent her downward even farther, until her gorged and solid nipples brushed his chest. Her flesh was both cool and hot at the same time. Its feel against his own drove Blade's desire higher-higher and faster even than the tightness and wetness and warmth that were wrapped around him.

  Lady Oyasa began grinding her hips down against Blade, twisting them around in a circle, rocking her body from side to side against his chest. She began to whimper, then to gasp in a rhythm that increased to match Blade's. Her long fingers arched themselves into claws and raked through his hair, digging into his scalp. But the pain did not penetrate Blade's mind. Nothing did, nothing could. He was becoming totally absorbed in this woman, in the act of love with her. No, not necessarily love, or even affection. Passion-raw, burning, and exhilarating enough in its own right.

  Suddenly Lady Oyasa's fingers clamped down hard, her nails digging deep into Blade's scalp. He gasped with the sudden stabbing pain and his efforts to hold on. She opened her mouth wide and let out a howl of pure animal feeling, a howl that filled the hut. It was so loud Blade could imagine it escaping through the walls and being carried for miles through the forest outside. The lady thrashed and heaved and twisted as though an electric shock was passing through her, alternately jerking half upright and plastering herself harder than ever against Blade.

  Then Blade himself groaned and let out a shout of relief and triumph as his own spasm came. It was his turn to lock his arms around Lady Oyasa, his turn to run his fingers through her hair, his turn to pull her hard against him as he jetted furiously up into her still-twisting body. For long minutes they stayed locked together in a common release, and if the hut had fallen in on them they would not have noticed it.

  Eventually the explosion of passion faded away. Blade lay on the mat, one arm curled around Lady Oyasa, waiting for his breathing to return to normal, feeling his body as damp with sweat as it would have been after a battle. Even after he had the breath to do so, he did not feel like speaking.

  Lady Oyasa broke the silence, propping herself up on one elbow and looking down at Blade with a soft smile on her face. Even now Blade could not help noticing that her breasts were so firm they did not sag or droop out of shape as she took this ungraceful pose. She ran the tip of one finger lightly across Blade's rib cage and said, «Well, Blade-what of folly now?»

  Blade shrugged. «I think I will not try to judge folly for you, Lady. You seem to follow your own judgment and no one else's.»

  «How well you know me,» she said with a laugh. «How much better than Lord Tsekuin. Yes, I do follow my own judgment. And look where it has led me. Now I will not have to submit to a widow's seclusion at twenty-one without ever having known real pleasure.»

  «It may yet lead you farther than you wish to go,» said Blade, trying to keep his voice light.

  «Perhaps,» she said. «But I have only one head to cut off. I have only one body they can torture, one back they can flog. I can lose only so much to Lord Tsekuin's whims.»

  Blade had to admit that she was right. But he did not share her casualness about his «one head» or «one body.» What there was between them had been marvelous and might be so again. But he could hardly share Lady Oyasa's notion that it was worth so much.

  Chapter 11

  Blade and Lady Oyasa met in the forest but three more times during the next three weeks. They might have done it more often if they had risked meeting in the castle itself. But that would have meant disarming too many booby traps and bribing too many guards and servants to keep eyes, ears, and mouths shut. Sooner or later word would have reached Lord Tsekuin.

  Then there would have been less than no chance of mercy for them. Lord Tsekuin was in a foul mood these days. He walked about with a hand on the hilt of his sword and his eyes constantly roving about him, even in the castle. He looked like he expected six armed opponents to leap at him out of the walls or sprout up around him from the ground under his feet.

  Meanwhile there was weapons practice. There was instruction in all the manners and skills of a dabuno, including the approved games such as Hu. Blade did not find time heavy on his hands.

  Blade's swordsmanship steadily improved under Yezjaro's teaching. It improved to the point where Yezjaro admitted, «It might take me as much as ten minutes to kill you, Blade.» That was high praise from the deadly young instructor.

  In spear fighting there was no one in the castle who could last more than a couple of minutes with Blade. Yezjaro himself said, «If you were not a wandering stranger, I would have you made an instructor in the spear, under me. But it is too soon yet to expect most of our dabuni to obey you properly. After we return from the journey of Obedience, there may be time for you to gain the respect you deserve.»

  «If we return from the journey of Obedience,» said Blade grimly. «Or if we do not return with more important things to deal with than my status.»

  Yezjaro returned Blade's smile. «So our worries are becoming yours?»

  «Why not? I have sworn an oath and I am not without notions of honor. Besides, a man can breathe in fear from the air of this castle.»

  Yezjaro's smile faded. He did not like to hear the word «fear» mentioned when speaking of warriors. But at least he was not one of those thick-headed dabuni who would have challenged Blade on the spot for saying the word. He had too much sense for that-and he was too aware of how serious the situation was.

  The time for the journey of Obedience approached rapidly. The matter came up of choosing the forty dabuni who would accompany Lord Tsekuin on the journey. A good many of the house dabuni would have been happy to have Blade stay behind.

  «But don't worry about that,» Yezjaro told him. «I know that Doifuzan and I see alike on this. Being part of the journey of Obedience will be an important part of your training as a dabuno. You will learn much through seeing the court of the Hongshu with your own eyes. Indeed, I think I could talk until Kunkoi's chimes sound for the next Season of the World without telling you as much as your own eyes will.»

  Yezjaro and Doifuzan both spoke out for Blade, and Lord Tsekuin followed their advice. He usually did. With their lord choosing Blade to accompany him, none of the dabuni could properly do more than mutter into their wine cups and glower at Blade.

  Blade was too happy about being able to join the journey of Obedience to worry about the other dabuni. The more he saw of Gaikon, the better he would be carrying out his mission of exploring new dimensions. In any case, he had never liked sitting it out while things happened somewhere else. It didn't make any difference how dangerous those things might be. Blade was a natural adventurer, born into the wrong century for that kind of man-the twentieth century of large institutions and organization men. But Project Dimension X had given him the perfect job.

  Lord Tsekuin would be taking forty dabuni with him on the journey of Obedience, as well as servants, porters, cooks, and messengers. These would accompany the party to Deyun, the Hongshu's capital. But they would not enter the Hongshu's palace. «No one but a dabuno or a person under the sponsorship and protection of one may enter the palace,» said Yezjaro.

  «I suppose the Hongshu feels that a dabuno's sense of honor makes
him less-dangerous?»

  «Quite right. For a mere breach of etiquette a dabuno can be asked to commit suicide-and he will. That is also why the etiquette is so strict and so complex. It will tangle the feet, the tongues, and the swords of any who have not had it hammered into their skulls for many years.

  «That is one reason why I fear for Lord Tsekuin's fate in Deyun. During the years when he was destined for scholarship, he learned much, but not court etiquette. He has had little time and less desire to learn since his succession.»

  «I see,» said Blade.

  «I hope so,» said Yezjaro grimly. «I would not have you, whom I have sponsored personally, disgrace the clan by any breach of etiquette. For the clan there might be mercy, if the Hongshu is willing to forgive us for foolishly sponsoring a bungling stranger. But for you there will be none. Lord Tsekuin and I will take your head with our own swords and lay it before the Hongshu with our own hands. So follow my lead, and do not follow drink, argument, or women.»

  «Why should I be such a fool, Yezjaro?» said Blade coolly. «Have I shown any signs of being such?»

  «You have certainly shown signs of being a man of strong appetites and strong will,» said Yezjaro. He turned and strode away. Blade wondered if the instructor had been firing a shot in the dark, or knew something about Blade and Lady Oyasa. It was impossible to say-or ask. Therefore-why worry?

  But if Yezjaro did know something … Blade decided to start keeping his mouth as tightly shut with Yezjaro as with all the other dabuni.

  The day for the departure on the journey of Obedience dawned gray and damp. But the sun broke through the clouds as the party began assembling in the outer courtyard of the castle. It took nearly an hour to assemble the hundred and fifty-odd people, from Lord Tsekuin down to the youngest baggage boy, with all the animals, litters, and wagons. By the time everyone was lined up, the sky overhead was blue, and a brisk wind was drying off the ground and the leaves of the trees. It was weather for a more cheerful occasion.