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glance back up towards the balcony, a sud- den cold hand grasping at my heart
as I knew what was going to happen! Recalled her words, "I wouldn't miss it
for the world!"
"ASSASSIN!" I heard someone scream, saw a woman in the chain mail of
Darlanis' personal guard draw a bow to full draw there on the balcony, her
shaft aimed at us! Saw the arrow like a blurred streak whiz through the air
over our heads as the assassin her- self clutched at a crossbow bolt buried in
her heart! Darlanis giving me a grim smile, the bright glitter in her azure
eyes telling much left unspoken just then! A handsome warrior stand- ing
behind the throne unseen by anyone holding a Dularnian cross- bow in his
hands. Apparently Darlanis had taken "precautions"!
"I expected `something' like this," Darlanis smiled as the uproar
finally started to settle down, Tara having made a quick exit, although there
was no way of "proving" she was to "blame"! I saw Tais standing there watching
us, the glow of the many lamps making the diamonds set in her golden ankh
glisten and sparkle. The flight of the arrow "puzzled" me, as it had seemed to
curve in its flight away from Lara, as if it had been "pushed away" by some
strange force. By the "powers" of one knowledgeable in ways no ordinary human
would be. I had no doubts either now that Tais had used her own mysterious
"powers" to save Lara Warsan's life!!
Chapter Forty
Sarn is a beautiful city of white stone that I find reminds me much of
Rome at its glory. I suppose it isn't nice to say it, but The War did do one
excellent job of "urban renewal"! Perhaps this time we will do things better
than before. I wonder some- times. We do seem doomed to repeat the "mistakes"
of the past.
Clad in the black silk of the Warrioress and veiled as a high
noblewoman, I strolled the streets of the Imperial capital city, taking in the
sights, a broad brimmed hat shading my eyes from the glare of the sun as
Yvette now walked just behind me on her leash. One soon gets used to the
numerous persistent organic smells which are perhaps in a way an "improvement"
over the auto- mobile exhausts of my own era. There is a certain vital essence
to Sarn and other large cities I have been in that one did not find in my own
era. A feeling that the world is new again and ready for any adventure. I no
longer felt like a woman of forty, my birthday having occurred while I had
been on Mars. Beneath my thin veil my red lips curved in a smile as I took in
the myriad sights of the Imperial capitol. The slim keen blades at my hips yet
a comfort in this barbaric and often quite lawless era.* * I am reminded here
of the fact that you are at least permitted to carry the means of defense,
which was not generally true in the 20th Century unless you had considerable
"influence" with the "right people" as I had thanks to my position. One may
draw what conclusions one wishes. I have. "Freedom" does not necessarily
require "democracy". Other forms of government may be better. Perhaps Darlanis
is a better "leader" than was even Janet Rogers.
One can buy almost anything in Sarn, including naked slaves sold from
its blocks. I stood and watched several women sold, my heart going out to the
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poor wenches as they stood terrified and trembling upon the sawdust beneath
their bare feet. Yet, as I write this, I own a number of slaves, and generally
think little of it. Perhaps I am not quite as "liberal" as I like to believe,
although I am well known as one who will not "tolerate" the abuse of slaves in
any form, as you will see in further chapters here.
There is not as much open prostitution as one might think, perhaps due
to the institution of female slavery, but more likely due to the efforts of
Jers' new wife, Lara, now a Princess of Baja who never dares set foot in her
new homeland for fear of the death that awaits her from Princess Tara. Lara
having earlier in her life organized the prostitutes of California into a
guild of their own, which has done much to raise the status of the women.
Another reason may be due to the social effects of strict population
control, which tends to make sex more now a matter of "pleasure" than
"reproduction" as such. Thus making the women of the 26th Century as a rule
more likely to be "willing" than oth- erwise would be the case if they had to
concern themselves with the ultimate results of their actions. Control of
reproduction, as I have mentioned earlier, resting not with the Caste of
Physi- cians, as you might first think, but with the Priestesses of Lys.
The Priestesses of Lys also bear the responsibility for see- ing to it
that those born are without "flaw", for all "flawed" children are destroyed at
birth despite the wishes of the parents in the matter. The usual method is to
drown the infant like an unwanted puppy, thus sending its soul back to the
astral world to await another chance at life here in the physical universe. I
am told that even now women sometimes give birth to that which is "mu", and
not "hu", all that which is "mu" being thus destroyed.* * This policy started
shortly after The War, when a large number of "mutated" children were born to
mothers exposed to radiation. Most of these were destroyed, but some did
survive to become the "mutants" that are said to inhabit some of the ruins
near Trella.
I had during my stroll made a number of small purchases, a few of which
were perhaps more in the nature of "impulse" than rational thought. Needing to
concern myself little with the ac- tual costs of things, I spent my silver and
gold freely, thinking only of what I could do for those who had been generous
with me. Putting Yvette to work carrying my things as I strolled along... The
leash locked to her collar insuring that she stayed with me, the theft of
slave girls being often commonplace in large cities. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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