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The pleasure left Hamish's face.

"Haul that animal down to the kitchen," Jake said. "I want a good venison stew made for all the workers in the common, masons and cagers alike."

"To Lord Ardri!" One of the cagers cried.

"Rah!" The masons and cagers responded in unison. They broke into laughter at the driver's tragic expression.

"And Hamish."

"Yes, my lord?"

"You will personally see that the ghost woman who makes the cage nets eats a cup of the stew. I don't care if it takes her a day."

Char wrapped her arms around Jake's waist and leaned her head against his chest. "No wonder your people love you."

"It's my secret to successful lording. People like to eat." He kissed her forehead and tweaked her cap. "Jordana's work gets more interesting all the time." His gaze traveled from her cap to her lips, and then his mouth was on hers, and for a moment the world went away. There was only Jake's kiss, his arms, his aching murmur of desire, and her body's responding heat.

"To Lady Char!" The approval of the kiss was answered by a group
Rah!

Jake grinned and gave the cagers and masons a thumbs-up. "It's good to be alive, Meadowlark."

The sane part of Char's brain knew that Jake loved her. But a perversity in her couldn't let go of one small problem. He was having children with someone else. It was kind of driving her crazy, even though it was her own fault.

Char had helped Durga and Magda convince him to do it. Jake could be lord sheriff of the settlement without heirs; but city status required a king, and a king must have two natural born children. It was all about establishing dynastic rule and stability. This was Asherah's law.

The chalice Faina had already delivered a girl, and she was five months pregnant with a boy. Everything was going according to plan. Char just hadn't expected to feel so jealous and insecure about it. Jake swore he didn't compare Char to Faina, but how could he not? Char
compared herself
to Faina, and always came out wanting.

Beautiful, sweet, fertile Faina. Truly nice Faina, always a pleasure to be with.

"There they are." Jake nodded toward the gate where a handler held the reins of two horses, saddled and packed for a daytrip. "Let's get out of here."

Char and Jake galloped north in silence. Halfway to the peninsula, Char fell back a length to enjoy the view. She liked Jake's hair longer, the way he wore it now. The brown as yet had no grays.

Cripes. She had done it again. It was probably because of the coronation, it being such a life-changing event, but she'd been thinking about age a lot lately.

She and Jake were both natural born, and they could expect to live to eighty or ninety. Unlike the poor baggers who rarely lived past fifty. Nor was it the hundred and fifty years of youthful good health promised to a chalice, but Char wouldn't want to live sixty years in a world without Jake.

Still. She was thirty-two, and Jake was thirty-six. She should have married him right after the cataclysm, the first time he asked. Before things got so complicated.

Shibadeh
, he looked good. His muscles had always been natural, no enhancements. Good thing too. So many people had lived through the war and the cataclysm and then died from enhancement withdrawal.

Jake was in better shape than ever. Years of physical labor at the settlement had put even more muscles on the man. He was funny and smart, an excellent lord sheriff who worked to better his settlement. He would -- he had -- risked his life for the people he loved.

It was a bonus that he was gorgeous.

At the top of the rise of land that overlooked the bay, she looked back at the citadel. A grey blimp had tied down in the dirigidock. At the sight of a dark blob in the distant sky she nearly panicked—then realized it must be another airship coming in.

"I want my shades back." Durga had confiscated the telescoping sunglasses long ago, promising to return them after she had the design copied for reproduction. Char wasn't holding her breath anymore.

"That's ZhMngguó in the dirigidock," Jake said. "I see Ithaca came by sail." A square-rigged clipper ship had just entered the bay from the south. His face went all misty. "Now, isn't that pretty." Maybe he was remembering his time as pilot of the
Space Junque
. "We should have built a harbor. What will my fellow poobahs think of me?"

"They'll be impressed, believe me."

Char should know. She'd been to plenty of
shibdung
settlements and so-called cities to consult on hydroponics systems. Most lord sheriffs were closer to the Sheriff of Nottingham than to Jake. They drove their people to exhaustion with constant labor and fed them nothing but textured protein and oatmeal. In most of the world, public works like hydroponics and hospitals and even waste disposal came as an afterthought.

In Jake's settlement hydroponics had come first, and then the hospital, even before the citadel proper. The perimeter wall surrounded it all, enclosing land enough for future streets and parks and housing and schools and shops—every good thing a proper city would want.

Technically, everything within the settlement wall comprised the citadel. But when people said
citadel
, they really meant the huge administrative structure that was beginning to look like a castle from an old fairy tale. The residential tower even had a turret with a window facing the bay.

"Rapunzel should live in the turret," Char said. "Or Sleeping Beauty."

"Durga will like it, don't you think? She can pretend she's in a fairy tale fighting off dragons."

"You forget she's grown up now."

"True, she is quite the young woman. And attractive, though I don't think she knows it." Jake's attention was still on the bay. A jollyboat pulled away from the clipper ship and headed for shore. "I'm putting her in the tower for security."

"No one would dare."

"I mean for privacy. Most of these people are coming only for the chance to see The Chosen One." It was cute how his cheeks turned a little red. "I'd like to see some man touch her without permission. She could kill a guy with a blow to the trachea."

"Or Asherah would smite him."

"There's always that." Jake squinted at the airship still in the sky. "I'm guessing that's Hibernia."

The second airship had come in as close as the clipper ship and turned to line up for the dirigidock. It was as large as Corcovado's Monster, but the resemblance stopped there. This one was faster and much better looking, emerald green with polished brass trim and a huge gold harp logo on the side. Char said, "When Durga sees that, she'll demand a new airship."

"I'm sure Hibernia has that in mind, since they have the charter on airships. Next to this rig, the Monster is
shibdung
ugly."

Char chuckled, remembering the first time Durga saw Sanguibahd's airship. She called it a big red monster—and not in a good way. Among her friends, the name caught on.

"
Shíb dài
!" A thunderous boom cracked overhead. Char's horse was up on its hind legs before she knew it, and she fought to throw her body weight forward to keep from falling. A black fuel-based jet plane burst out of the eastern sky and over the bay. As Char and Jake calmed their horses, the jet circled the Hibernian airship then headed toward the citadel.

Garrick. Arrogant
shibdabs
.

Char hadn't heard the roar of engines in years. The sheer power and speed of the thing made her pulse race. It was vulgar, an insult to her sensibilities. It was
blasphemous,
as much as she hated that word. No wonder Garrick wanted to get its hands on the orbit runner.

Jake had been right to take the horses today. Thank Asherah he'd had the foresight to hide the runner while the poobahs were in residence. Char and Jake watched the jet until it dipped down behind the citadel. She had no idea what he was thinking.

"I suppose we should go back," she said.

"It would be the right thing to do."

"You
are
the proper person to greet them." Char's heart rate slowed to match her sudden bad mood. She and Jake weren't going to have any time together until this whole thing was over.

"I don't know." He had that mischievous glint in his eye. "Hamish is probably already organizing a tour of hydroponics." Jake took off east toward the new forest, laughing. He called over his shoulder, "Catch me if you can, Meadowlark!"

Char urged her horse on after him into the trees. Young oaks, eucalyptus, and birch were dwarfed by pines that had grown tall abnormally quickly. Under the cover of the branches, Char felt her body relax. She had been subconsciously on the alert for raptors.

They took a turn into an area Char didn't recognize and had to slow down to pick their way through untraveled undergrowth. The scent of pine was invigorating, and she heard the sound of a waterfall.

"Char, watch it!"

Jake reined in his horse on the verge of going over a cliff, a sheer drop to a canyon that ran northeast forever. A river flowed through the gorge below, fed by a waterfall on the canyon's other side.

"It's beautiful." Char dismounted. On a clear night, this would be a fantastic place to watch meteor showers.

"Let's eat." Jake jumped down from his horse and spread a blanket on the ground.

Despite the shade, Char was warm from the ride. And besides, she had prepared for more than lunch. A little bare skin never hurt anything. She tossed her jacket and cap on the corner of the blanket and shook out her hair. She had hardly anything on underneath, a bra and a soft pink camisole. She had only worn the bra because they were riding horses today.

"A drink?" As Jake handed her a bota bag from his pack, his eyes widened with appreciation at her changed look. He took off his own jacket, disclosing broad shoulders and strong arms in a sleeveless forest green hemp shirt. Very nice combined with black leather pants and black boots.

"Lord Ardri." Char had expected water, but the bag contained wine. "Are you trying to seduce me?" She slowly traced her lips with the tip of the bag, then slipped it into her mouth and drank.

"Milady, you've discovered my evil plan." In two steps, Jake was at her side. He took the bota bag out of her hands and flung it away. "And now I'm going for your precious parts." He lifted her off the ground. She wrapped her legs around his waist and her arms around his shoulders. Their mouths crashed into each other, as if they'd been waiting forever.

She felt him swell with desire, and she squeezed tighter against him. He groaned and pressed a hand to her breast, fingering the nipple. She was hot and wet, and she had to have him right now. She let go with her legs and slid to the ground, and Jake helped her unfasten his pants. He lifted her camisole over her head and she had her bra off in an instant. Then he was on his knees kissing her breasts.

She ran her fingers through his hair down his neck to his shoulders and moaned with pleasure, pulsing with heat and pressure. She slipped out of her pants and tossed them on the pile of her clothes, then pushed Jake down onto his back and straddled him.

"I've been thinking about doing this all morning."

It took an hour to remember they were hungry for food. Char retrieved the wine and opened the lunch the kitchen had provided.
Thank Asherah, no raptor jerky
. She pulled out a red apple. "What a treat! How did this escape tomorrow's dinner?"

"I have an in with the cook." Jake put his arms behind his head and admired her still-naked body. "But she would only give me one. We'll have to share."

She took a bite and tossed the apple to him. Her pants easily slid up over her thighs and hips. With the rest of the world, Char had grown thinner. She was hardly ghostly; and unlike the cager women, she did still have breasts. But she was nothing like Faina.

One of the horses snorted, as if it had read her mind. They were grazing nearby in a small clearing. Jake hadn't read her mind, but he had read her face. "What happened just now? You were happy, and then the light went out."

"I was just thinking. This spot is so beautiful. The view and the waterfall and the trees. What if we were wildlings and lived here alone? No settlement, no Corcovado, no poobahs."

"No Faina." Jake knew her too well.

"No Faina." She accepted the last of the apple and sat down. "Don't get me wrong, Jake. You did the right thing."

"Then why is Faina in our way?"

When Sanguibahd made the offer of kingship, it had taken some time to convince Jake to accept. He came up with all kinds of reasons why it wasn't the right time, but none
made any sense. He had overseen the settlement's design and build-out, and he had been truly happy in the work. He wasn't afraid of the commitment. He relished it. He had often remarked on how it was the first time he had made the world a better place.