QueensQuest (15 page)

He leaped to his feet, his arms still around me as he jumped
into the air. “We did it! We finally did it!”

“We did!” I laughed with relief.

He lowered me to the floor for a kiss, entwining me in a
full-body, naked hug—the first, I hoped, of many. So loving, so sweet.

He took off the nipple clips and rubbed his palms over my
throbbing breasts. I sighed in response. He stroked my belly, then slid a
finger into my sopping channel, spreading his seed over my clitoris. His touch
was gentle, as though he knew I was a little sore after the intense lovemaking.

I hummed, renewed joy cascading through me like a waterfall.
He kneeled to play with my pussy, spreading the labia and caressing my clit
with the tip of his tongue. I stroked his shoulders. Though aroused, tears
sprang to my eyes, for his tenderness touched my heart.

If I was the queen of his heart, he surely was the king of
mine. He owned all of me—body, heart, soul and spirit.

“I can’t…can’t believe this has happened.” My voice broke.

He straightened and again took me in his arms, kissing my
face, my eyes. “Why do you weep, beloved?”

“I never dreamed…” I could not breathe out more than a
whisper. I gulped. “I thought I would choose a mate for the good of the
Shadowlands and Janus. I never dared to hope he’d be my true lover. I never
dreamed he’d be…you.”

Storne’s gray eyes, so hard when we’d met, now shone as soft
as a Shadowlands dawn. He slipped his hands into my hair and fondled the
strands, still damp from our bath and our lovemaking. A gentle smile curved his
lips. “And I thought I would win the Queen of Shadow for the good of the Dark
Lands. I would beget sons on her body and eventually seize the whole of Janus
for the FireMountain clan. Now I know better.”

“Yes, there’s no point in taking the Desert, is there?”

“None, and I would have you for myself if you were the
merest farmer’s daughter or weaver. I don’t care for anything but you.”

“Unfortunately we can’t withdraw into ourselves forever.”

“No, we have duties.” His smile continued to sweeten the
planes and angles of his face. “But we still have this moment, and each other.”

Taking his hand, I led him to our bed. “And our duty tonight
is not so onerous, is it?”

“Oh no.” He massaged my bottom, then turned me around. His
big palm splayed over my back, gently forcing me down until my breasts came to
rest on the cool slab. My nipples tautened and warmth again blossomed. He ran
his fingers up and down my spine and an aroused pant escaped me.

He bent over me and murmured into my ear, “I’ve dreamed of
having you this way since we met.”

He nipped the lobe, then put his feet between mine and moved
them apart, spreading me open. He moved closer, and his muscular thighs were
hard between mine. His penis nudged my bottom hole. “I’ll take you here, but
not tonight. Maybe not until we know you’re pregnant.”

His cock head prodded my slit. “Fuck me,” I said. “Fuck me
good.”

His open hand came down on my butt as he surged into me,
plunging slowly but steadily until he was buried to the balls—I could feel his
sac pressed against my rear. He held my hips, his tool deep, pressing against
my womb. It throbbed and vibrated. Storne bent over me and tension radiated
from his body as he fought to maintain control, fought against the instinct to
pound into me hard and long. Instead he held back, embedded, until he reached
beneath me, took hold of my breasts and began to take me with slow, leisurely
strokes.

Delving deep, the languorous fucking took me to new heights.
I flexed around his hot shaft and he groaned, his hands tightening around my
breasts, fingers plucking my nipples. I pushed back against him when he shoved
inside and our bodies met again and again with a smacking, squishing sound that
spoke only of hard fucking. The air in the pyramide was redolent of raw sex. My
mind was blank of everything except his big cock sliding in and out of my
channel, scalding hot, piercingly sweet.

Storne was still inside me, playing with my clit, when I
heard a happy screech. “You’re doing it! You’re doing it!”

I turned my head to see Maia dancing around the room. As she
capered, she flung off white Lightsider robes and lengthened to her customary
height. Her hair darkened from silver to its usual mink-brown hue.

Storne gasped with surprise and jerked his penis out of me.
“What in the name of the great silver oak—”

“Don’t worry, don’t worry.” I grabbed his arm. “She’s, um…not
quite like us. She’s better.”

“Don’t talk about her as though she’s not here.” Storne
approached Maia and touched her arm. “You’re a Chimaera, aren’t you?”

“I am.” Maia gave a respectful bow. “And you are to be the
King of Shadow.”

“It is I should bow to you,” he said. “Janus would be your
planet if it weren’t for the Progenitors.”

“Maia is treasured and protected by my family,” I said. “Few
know of her true nature.”

“Clever of you to keep her secret.” Storne’s eyes lingered
thoughtfully on Maia.

“Necessary,” Maia said. “Folk like these scientific
LightDwellers hunt us, kill us, dissect us, for they wish to obtain the secret
of our transformations. That is why there are few of us left.”

“As delighted as I am by everyone’s amity,” I said, rising,
“Maia has a report, I am sure?”

“Nothing nearly as exciting as the news that you have
selected your mate.” She crossed to a basin of water, dipped a cloth into it
and began to bathe my sticky crotch. The cool fabric soothed my swollen flesh.

“Don’t bother,” Storne said. “For one thing, I’m not done
with her. For another, we all need baths.”

“Water is valuable here,” I said. “I do not wish to
overstretch Kaldir’s hospitality.”

He shrugged. “Then we should leave as quickly as diplomacy
will allow.”

“Kaldir said he’d understand if we did not tarry overlong in
his lands,” I said. “But I wish to learn more about their technology.
Especially where it is manufactured.”

“Not in this city.” Maia sounded certain. She wrung out the
cloth in the washwater and applied it to my body. It felt wonderful. She
continued, “I was unable to locate weapon stores or smithies of any sort.”

“There are many pyramides here. Did you find where their
soldiers are barracked?” Storne asked Maia while reaching for his robes.

“Outside the city walls, I believe.”

“I wonder…” Storne flung on his clothes and kissed me, a
short, hard peck. “I’ll return soon.” He headed for the curtains guarding the
makeshift door. When he was outside, I heard him telling Rall and Parron never
to cease protecting me.

I smiled fondly in their general direction. My warriors
needed no further orders, but knowing that Storne desired extra safeguards
cheered me.

And my greatest protector was by my side. “Rest,” I told
Maia. “This day has been long.”

She raised a brow. “I trow that you have worked harder than
have I.”

“I would not call it work, but yes, I am tired.” I, of
course, paced. “Do you think he’s looking for their armory?”

“I would wager on it, if I cared about gambling.”

* * * * *

Given that Storne was investigating the DesertDwellers’
weaponry, I remained unconcerned by his absence the next day, and the next.
Instead I enjoyed Kaldir’s hospitality. He had given me the run of his stables
and I had selected a lovely bay gelding as my mount while in New Medina. I
avoided the intense heat by venturing out when one of our three moons obscured
the sun, and wandered the city’s souqs and markets with great pleasure.

However, when the dour captain of the DarkLord’s Guard came
to my pyramide, he bore unwelcome news despite his courteous bow. “The Prince
of Night has not been seen since he visited you, Your Majesty.” He rose, and I
saw that though his features were shrouded by the draperies all wore in this
hot place, he had a strong resemblance to Storne, possessing the same gray eyes
in an angular face. Another member of the FireMountain Clan, I privately
wagered.

Though my insides churned, I maintained calm and offered the
fellow a cup of chilled wine, which he accepted. “Lord Storne left me two
evenings ago,” I said. “I do not know where he went.”

Maia entered and the guard dropped to his knees. “Rise,” she
said, smiling. “You are Hode, are you not?”

I wondered what Storne had told his warriors. Surely he
would not have revealed Maia’s secret. I imagined that he had merely told them
to treat her with all courtesy.

“Aya, madam.” Hode rose. “Have you seen naught of Lord
Storne?”

She shook her head. “I have been abroad in the city by the
Queen’s side, since Storne is…conducting investigations.”

“Did he go forth alone?” I asked.

“Aya, ’tis his habit to do so,” Hode said heavily. “Often I
have cautioned him, but he is overconfident and impulsive.”

“Are you related?” I again looked into Hode’s gray eyes.

“His uncle. My brother, the king, charged me with his
protection.”

“That was most unfair. I have the impression that Storne
takes orders from no one.” I could not hide my smile. I had chosen a great
prince among men,

“Kaldir has reason to fear Storne,” Maia said.

“Aya, and my lord was angered at the duplications,” Hode
said. “We all were disturbed by the sacrilege.”

“Their ways are not ours,” I said, “but we must tolerate
them while we are their guests. To do anything else is dishonors their
hospitality.”

Hode darted me a resentful glance.

“Whatever you feel, hide it.” My voice was deliberately
sharp. “It is unwise to openly challenge the Children of Light in the middle of
their greatest stronghold, as Storne has done.”

“I trow we would have heard…something, if violence had taken
place.” Maia poured water for Hode, offered it with a smile.

I thinned my lips. “Go forth,” I told Maia. “Do not return
without him. And tell the others to prepare to leave this place. We’ll go as
soon as Storne is found.”

* * * * *

I sat tensely at banquet that night. With Kaldir by my side,
I watched thinly veiled dancers undulating before us and picked at my food.
Tonight the meal was a spicy stew of pigeon dressed with freshly squeezed lemon
juice to brighten the flavors.

“The viands are not to your liking?” Kaldir asked.

I hesitated. Without Maia tasting my meals before I ate, I
felt insecure. Her digestive system could manage any poison but in her absence
her I was vulnerable and knew it. So I ate sparingly. “I am not hungry here. It
is the heat, I believe.” I smiled apologetically.

A dancer swayed before me, plucking a veil from over her
shaved mound. I remained unaffected. With Storne absent, possibly lost or
killed, I had no appetite, sexual or otherwise.

“I will order you cooler foods.” Kaldir gestured to a
servant and spoke to him in a low tone.

In a few minutes, a sallet arrived. My taster hovered, fork
at the ready. I glanced at her. She was the redhead, Frayn’s cousin, the woman
who had pleasured me so skillfully three nights before. I smiled at her as she
stabbed her fork into a plump tommatoe. Its seeds and juice squirted, drenching
her chin. Kaldir reached his napkin toward her, deftly catching the liquid
before it spoiled her pale pink robes. I noticed she did not object to his touch,
winking at him with a knowing expression on her face while she chewed the
tommatoe with gusto. I wondered if they had trysted, and found I did not care.

I tipped my head to one side and regarded her. Her eyes
remained clear, her demeanor normal as she set the dish before me. I leisurely
sipped wine, waiting a moment or two before taking a clean fork and eating a
few bites of the sallet. The greens were cold and crisp, the dressing
pleasingly sour, as though it also contained lemons.

Despite the taster’s apparent health, I did not eat heartily
of the sallet, for many poisons were slow to act and I did not trust anyone but
Maia to safeguard me. I toyed with the food, sipped a little wine, made excuses
to Kaldir and retired to my pyramide, ordering Rall and Parron to prepare to
leave Lightside upon Maia and Storne’s return.

* * * * *

I awakened, feeling ill, in a place I did not recognize. I
was supine on a hard slab, my arms spread and pinioned. As I came to
consciousness, I was aware of nausea in my belly and pain in my outstretched
arms, both from the pressure on my shoulders and pinpricks, as it were, in my
elbows and wrists.

I blinked, beholding darkness above in the point of a
pyramide. An inspection of myself and my surroundings revealed that the
needlelike jabs in my arms were caused by small tubes inserted in my blood
vessels. I could see my life fluids pumping slowly away through the tiny clear
cannulae.

Raising my head, I beheld other beds, with others whose
blood was likewise being siphoned. The light admitted by narrow slits in the
pyramide was not enough for me to see if any were Storne or Maia.

I attempted to shift, stretch and move, but discovered I
could not. My ankles were imprisoned.

I was trapped.

Rage rushed through me, a violent red tide. I opened my
mouth and roared in frustration. The needles popped out of my arms, expelled by
the force of my anger. My bonds likewise released, tearing apart, falling
shredded to the stone floor.

I was Queen of Shadow and had powers that these Children of
Light knew not. Indeed, I surprised myself.

I rose. A white-clad figure rushed to my side, pressing a
palm to my chest to restrain me. I struck away the hand and planted a fist in
the center of the woman’s face, hitting her nose. Blood spurted and she fell back
with a cry.

“Shut up!” I swung my legs to the side and leaped to my
feet.

She jerked away, probably planning to seek help, but I
grabbed her arm and swung her around, hard and fast. She fell over my leg and
went down. Her head smacked the hard stone bed. I heard her skull crack and was
glad.

I hoped her cries had not alerted other guards. I clambered
over her and ran from bed to bed, seeking Storne. Most beds were empty, while a
few were occupied. One man looked like a younger, less weathered version of
Kaldir.

Fluids were also being sucked from him and collected in
myriad glassy beakers. They were nearly full. This Kaldir-clone looked pale,
and when I touched his hand it was cold and limp.

Terror twisted my belly as I realized that I had been the
subject of the Lightsiders’ unholy experiments. I pressed a hand to my stomach
and prayed that the new lives within me had survived this horror. For two there
were, I sensed. Twins. Two new lives that were my responsibility. I breathed a
comforted sigh as I sensed their presence, their life force.

I returned to my bed and kicked over the vessels holding my
blood. I would not leave a single cell with which the Children of Light could
clone me.

Bottles smashed with loud reports. I was barefoot, and so
trod away backward and carefully before resuming my search for Storne.

“Audryn.” His shout came from three rows away. I ran to his
side. He was imprisoned as I had been, and I began to pluck out the cannulae
and untie his bonds.

“We have to leave,” I told him. “Get up.”

He swung his legs over the bedside and sat, head lowered for
a moment before he shook his hair out of his face and looked at me. He was pale
but otherwise seemed healthy. “What is this place?”

“It’s part of their cloning process, I believe. They were drawing
out our blood to copy us.”

Bellowing, he jumped to his feet and began doing what I had
done—kicking and breaking the glass containers that held his cells while
shouting curses in a language I didn’t understand.

I backed away slowly, hoping never to be the focus of his
wrath. He didn’t stop until the rest of the room was destroyed. In the midst of
the chaos, with other victims rising slowly from what would have been their
deathbeds, he finally came to stand before me and asked, “Where is Maia?”

Fear welled up, and I tried not to cry. “I don’t know.”

He saw it, of course. He saw everything about me. Drawing me
close into his warm embrace, he felt wonderfully comforting and strong. “We’ll
get through this. We’ll get through this, I promise.” His soft murmur fluttered
the hair near my ears, starting a sensual quiver that shuddered through me. I
hugged back, comforted by his nearness and solidity.

We were separated only by thin robes, and his response to me
was clear, big and hard. I pressed against him, his cock near my quim, seeking
to slide his hardness toward my notch. I rubbed my face against his, delighting
in the rough stubble gently abrading my cheek.

We kissed, the caress of our lips tender, the act a seeking
of comfort from the other whilst in peril. “We cannot tarry,” I whispered.

“I know…but I never wish to let you go.”

I pulled away with reluctance. “We must find Maia and leave.
Where are our people, do you think?”

“If I know my men, they are searching for us or losing their
lives in the process. Each has taken a death-oath to my protection that was
extended to you on my order.” His lips thinned. “We must leave, to be sure, but
not before we have destroyed this terrible place.”

“Can I help?”

We turned. A slender man had approached us. The Kaldir clone.
Shaky on his feet, he rubbed sores on his arms. Evidently the cannulae had been
embedded for quite a long time.

“You would aid us, Lightsider?” I asked. “Why?”

“My own people tried to kill me.” His dark eyes were somber.
“I owe them nothing.”

“What is this place?” Storne wanted to know. “What’s on the
lower floors of this pyramide?”

“This is the cloning center,” he said. “Blood is drawn from
the subjects here, and below, the replicants are grown.”