The Lotus Ascension (10 page)

“
Welcome, Captain. Sit. Eat—if you can.” Kamen gestured to the large
table, and Orien plopped down beside Soren.

“
Thank you, Lord Kamen.” Orien remained polite. Despite having been
friends with Soren and Sillara from childhood, Orien did not presume on his
position. “I have come to ask a favor. There is to a be wurm-hunting
expedition, and I would like to invite Soren—”

Sillara saw her
father's mouth opening, and she knew his response would be favorable.

“—
and Lady Sillara.”

Kamen's mouth
altered its shape, and his yes became, “No, Captain.”

Sillara did not
know whether to be disappointed or pleased. She would not have any pleasure of
Soren's curtailed, and if he wanted to go wurm-hunting, she would not wish him
denied. But as for herself, she knew that her father would never permit her to
go. And if she could not go, she would not want Soren to leave.

“
After this last voyage,” said Orien, “His Grace King Jahen has given
me and my crew a half-year leave.”

“
Half a year?”
Sillara could not contain her delight.

“
Won't that delay my discharge?” asked Soren.

“
No, not at all.
It's a reward for our extraordinary success. And since we have the
time, why shouldn't we go wurm-hunting?”

Wurm-hunting,
Sillara knew, was considered a dangerous activity, not only for the wurms
themselves, huge creatures able to swallow whole both a horse and rider, but
for the fact that it involved journeying through the trackless desert.
Wurm-hunting was the only activity that approached pirate-hunting for danger or
profit.

“
What should a sailor do ashore?” asked Sillara. She felt Soren's
desire to go, and she spoke for his cause. “Father, why not let him go?”

“
Soren may go,” said Kamen at once.
“Just not you.”

A flash of
disappointment crossed Orien's face, and Sillara was reminded of Nathen.

“
I have a half year of leave,” said Soren. “But my sister has less
time than this. She is of age now, even by Ausir standards, and King Tivanel
will be summoning her any day.”

Sillara reached
beneath the table and pressed Soren's hand as she glanced sadly at Konas. How
could she endure to go to Duildal, to leave Soren behind?

“
That is true.” Kamen's eyes rested on Sillara with a heaviness she
could not understand. Why should her father not like the idea of her marriage
to King Tivanel? It was her duty, and it was a betrothal he himself had
arranged before her birth. Why should he regret it?

“
Please, Father, may I go?” Sillara asked, not daring to hope but
unwilling to give up yet.

“
It's fitting that Soren and Lady Sillara should be able to spend as
much time together as possible before she leaves,” said Orien, and Sillara
heard Nathen's words spoken in Orien's voice. “If you are going, Lady, to your
mother's kin, should you not have the opportunity to experience as much of your
father's culture as possible?”

“
Have you heard anything yet from His Grace?” asked Ajalira.

“
Not yet.” Konas's face was clouded with embarrassment, and Sillara
could not think why. Just because King Tivanel's messengers had not yet arrived
did not mean that Konas had done anything wrong.

“
Please, Father, let her go.” Soren squeezed Sillara's hand. “I will
promise to look after her. Besides, if I am to lose my sister to the Ausir, I
will want as much time with her as I can before she must leave.”

Sillara pressed
Soren's fingers again, grateful that he understood.

“
Merieke will be going, too,” said Orien. “So it will be all proper.”

“
And I will go, too,” said Konas suddenly.
“To
watch over her.”

“
We will think about it.” Kamen rose and took Ajalira's hand, and
they withdrew to an inner chamber. Sillara knew they were going to decide.

She could not
help herself. She concentrated, listening to her parents' whispered
conversation.

“
Lira, what do you think?”

“
She wants to go, but it is dangerous.” Ajalira's hesitation was
plain. “But what is danger to a Tamari?”

“
She
is
Tamari, my love, and Sunjaa.”

“
As Sunjaa, she should go,” said Ajalira. “As a Tamari, she should
go. It would be a chance to prove
herself
a warrioress
before she leaves for Duildal. And there is Nathen, too. If she stays and Soren
goes, who can doubt that Nathen would remain to woo her? And it is certain that
her … supplicants would come more often. All who heard her sing last night will
doubtless be here tonight.”

“
And why then should she
not
go?” asked Kamen.
“Only for the pride and arrogance of King Tivanel.”
Sillara
heard the contempt in Kamen's voice, and she wondered afresh why he had agreed
to this betrothal in the first place. “And if his messengers should arrive
while Sillara is gone, well, they have made her wait this long. The Ausir can
wait their turn. So we are agreed?”

Ajalira's low
chuckle told Sillara all she needed to hear, and she smiled at Soren. She knew
he had heard, too.

“
I hope they agree,” said Orien. “Nathen will throttle me if I don't
get this done.”

“
Nathen?”
Konas narrowed his eyes, and Sillara saw his suspicion as clearly
as if he had spoken it. “Does he know about this?”

“
It was his idea.” Orien devoured a piece of fresh oat bread.

Soren shrugged.
“When do we leave?”

“
But your father hasn't—” Orien's protest was cut short by the return
of Kamen and Ajalira.

“
Daughter, we have decided you may go with your brother and his
friends.” Kamen glanced at Konas. “And you, Lord Seranimesti, may keep your
sister-in-law under sufficient supervision that King Tivanel will not besmirch
her reputation.”

Sillara clapped
her hands like a child, and she felt almost like a child. She had never gone
anywhere, never done anything. Often months would pass in which she was not
allowed outside her father's gates.

“
When do we leave?” asked Soren again, smiling broadly at Orien.

“
Tomorrow morning,” said Orien. He rose and bowed to Kamen and
Ajalira. “If you don't mind I will take my first mate away again. We will have
much to do before we leave.
To make it up to you, Sillara.”
And here Orien winked at her, a gesture that pleased Sillara as she so seldom
saw such light-heartedness. “I will send Merieke around for you two to make all
the female plans.”

Soren wolfed
down his last bites. “I will tell you all about it, Sillara.” And he was gone.

Konas rose, too.
“Wurm-hunting does require preparation. We will be gone several weeks, Sillara.
I have to get ready, too.” Then he followed Soren, and Sillara was left to wait
for Merieke.

****

“
So, Sillara, what did you do to get your parents to agree to let you
go?” Merieke was curled up on Sillara's bed, and Ileke and another of Sillara's
slaves were laying out various gowns.

“
Nothing in particular.
I think they just felt sorry that I will be leaving for the north
soon, and they want me to be a Sunjaa while I still can.” Sillara idly ran one
finger down the silk bodice of her gown. “Not that I get to be much of a Sunjaa
anyway.”
Nor are you a proper Ausir.
Sillara's rebellious mind never let
her forget that she did not truly belong in either society.

“
A Sunjaa?”
Merieke chuckled.
“In those?”
She pointed
to the pile of gowns that Ileke was going through. “You really won't be able to
wear those in the desert, you know. You need a proper cloak or two, certainly,
but gowns like that will be too heavy and too cumbersome.”

“
And what then should I wear?” Sillara laughed in her turn. “I have
not had a Sunjaa gown made since I was eight.”

“
If we weren't leaving so soon I would suggest you have some made.
Since we are, I came prepared.” Merieke snapped her fingers, and her own
body-slave brought in from the hallway an enormous parcel. “My father is
constantly buying me gowns, not realizing I still have far too many. We are
much the same size, so I brought some to see if they would fit you.”

Sillara nodded.
“I will try one, and if it fits I will take these instead.” Ileke helped
unfasten Sillara's laces, and soon Sillara was clad in the flowing, translucent
linen of a Sunjaa woman. She felt cool and free, and she actually twirled in
place.

“
You look lovely,” said Merieke. “The white suits you better than
those Ausir colors.”

Sillara sat down
on the bed beside Merieke, her only female friend, and curled up beside her
like a kitten. “You're the one known as the beauty of Arinport, Merieke.”

Sillara felt
rather than heard the departure of the body-slaves, and she appreciated
Merieke's sensitivity in dismissing them.

Merieke leaned
Sillara's head on her shoulder and stroked Sillara's hair softly. She pulled
Sillara even closer. “That may be so, but it is only because you are never seen
by anyone. Last night more people saw you than at any time in your whole life.”
She paused. “How can you
not
be beautiful? You look like your brother.”

Sillara laughed.
That Soren was beautiful did not admit of doubt. “You flatter me.”

Merieke did not
speak her reply. Instead, she leaned forward and kissed Sillara's mouth.
Merieke's lips were soft and warm, but Sillara resisted the urge to open her
mouth. Instead she pulled away, perplexed.

“
Merieke!”
Sillara knew that Merieke liked men.

Merieke's smile
was sensual, and she reached up, tracing the shape of the Itenu falcon above
Sillara's breast, which was clearly visible through the sheer linen. “It
doesn't count, you know
,
if it's just two girls.”

Sillara shook
her head. Apparently Merieke liked men
and
women. “I may be a maiden,
Merieke, but I have heard enough to know that two girls can go quite far
together, and after all, isn't that how you avoid getting pregnant?”

“
What?” Merieke, despite her obvious shock, did not release Sillara's
flesh, instead dropping onto the breast itself, and Sillara felt her nipple
begin to harden beneath Merieke's fingers. “First of all, no, I love the feel
of semen erupting inside my pussy, and I don't want to give that up. I take
herbs. My mother was a Lotus, remember? But who could possibly have told
you
about what two women can do in bed?”

“
My brother.”

Merieke's
caressing hand tightened on Sillara's breast. “Soren told you? Why?”

Sillara could
not help pushing her breast back against Merieke's hand. “Someone had to. He
told me all about coupling when my father told him. We always tell each other
everything.”

Merieke removed
her hand from Sillara's breast only to slide her fingers up beneath Sillara's
linen gown and touch her bare flesh. “Are you going to tell him about this?”

“
Of course.”
Sillara smiled.

“
Well, if he is going to hear about it, I should make it worth his
hearing.” Merieke unfastened the golden straps of Sillara's gown. “Have you
ever had your pussy licked?”

“
No, of course not.
I have not been touched by anyone since my pubic hair was removed
when I was twelve.”

Merieke's laugh
was rough-edged with lust, and she straddled Sillara's waist. “Would you like
for me to lick you?”

Sillara felt the
weight of Merieke's bare pussy pressed against her own, and the sight of
Merieke's soft, pert breasts with their stiff nipples was lovely. Sillara had
never desired women, but she had not really thought of men, either. She had
been kept in an isolation that, were it not for Soren's lusty tales, would have
left her with no more knowledge of sex than the embarrassed and formal
statements Konas had given her.

Merieke seemed
to take Sillara's silence for assent, for she began to grind her pussy against
Sillara's and dropped her mouth to Sillara's breast. As Merieke's soft lips
closed over Sillara's nipple, warmth flooded her body. Something she had not
known she needed was being given her, and she moaned softly.

Merieke's tongue
twirled Sillara's nipple within the warmth of her mouth, and Sillara's moan
became a sigh.