Janis Jord and Lana Daris silently regarded each other there on the deck of the Ronda. One blonde, the other brownette. One a royal Princess of Dularn, the other a high born noblewoman of the Empire of California. I stood to one side with Sharon at my side, holding the little china cat that had almost cost me my life. The memory of the dire wolf still vivid in my memory. I had told no one of the wolf. I thought the tale would be too unbelievable. Behind us the former slave girls of the Ronda looked on, whispering quietly among themselves. The sun burning brightly down out of the clear blue azure sky. Its heat causing the pitch between the deck seams to stick to our feet. It was the middle of summer. The year was 2565 A.D, or 518 A.W. as it is more commonly known. I cared little for what had gone on there before me, the humiliation of the Lady Lana Daris disturbing me!
Lana was naked before the Princess, Janis having ordered her stripped and searched. The search had been thorough, even to the probing of her anus and vagina for secret weapons. Every piece of jewelry and ornamentation had been checked, even her lovely golden nipple clips having been removed. Her hair had been combed out for hidden pins that might be pressed into use as a weapon. I was learning much of what a Warrioress must know, even if it was embarrassing to the lovely brownette to be so searched before everyone. Like the Princess, Lana was "shaved", such to be expected of a woman of high Caste. I had seen the tears fill her soft hazel eyes as she was forced to bend over and have Shirl check with a fingertip inside her vagina and anus. Every piece of Lana's clothing had been carefully gone over for secret pins or other devices that might be somehow used against us. During the search she had been forced to stand naked before everyone, an object of ridicule, as women of her class are hated by slave girls as a rule. The average slave girl much preferring to be owned by a man than by a woman as was to be expected. It being a common tactic of those men who owned slave girls to make the delights obey by threatening to sell them to women if they don't behave themselves! Few slave girls needed warning a second time!
"Let her dress herself and we can continue this somewhere else," I spoke up, my eyes holding the iron gray of the Princess. There was no need to have Lana stand naked before everyone here on deck. Especially not considering the nature of the "crew" we now had, most of the slave girls being low caste women who had nothing but envy and hatred for a woman of Lady Lana's breeding!
"I am not finished with my questioning," Janis snapped back. She was not in the best of moods and was not to be trifled with. On the other hand I saw no reason for her to take her feeling out on Lady Lana, who certainly now represented little danger to us!
"Dress yourself," I told Lana, her eyes wide with shock as she regarded this surprising interplay between the Princess of Dularn and me. Sharon moving close, her eyes filled with concern as Janis' hand went to the hilt of her sword. I had fenced with the Princess the day before as a demonstration of my skills. She was good, but no more match for me than Lana had been! As a matter of fact, I thought Lana was a bit better! The gathered women muttering among themselves as they waited to see what would happen. I prayed it would not come to a duel between Janis and me.
"Do as Lorraine says," Janis snapped at Lana, then turning and going below. I wondered if Sharon and I had a "home" anymore! Lana picked up her clothing and started putting it back on. Snapping the clips back over her pierced nipples and drawing the black silken "strap" up over her hips. Her constant staring at me getting on my nerves as I stood there. No doubt she was "grateful" for what I had done for her, but I had done it not for her as such, but because I saw no "reason" for any woman to be needlessly humiliated like that in front of others of her own sex. I had no doubt that Janis had humiliated Lana deliberately.
"Stay with her," I told Sharon, indicating Lana as she finished dressing herself, the assembled women now moving off, going about their own affairs. It was time that Janis and I had a discussion about just who was "in charge" here aboard the Ronda.
"I thought it would be you," Janis greeted me, taking a long drink from the polished brass goblet she had there in her hand, the glare off the water coming through the open windows behind her turning her blonde hair into a radiant glow, her features shadowed so that I could not clearly "read" her emotional state.
"There was no need to `humiliate' her before the others," I answered in level tones, willing to face whatever was to come. I knew that if it came to it that the Princess would have the overwhelming support of those aboard the Ronda. "Not like you did."
"There was a `need', and you reacted the way I hoped you would," Janis answered, filling a goblet and then handing it to me. "I needed to know just what sort of a woman that you were."
"You were `testing me'?" I asked, my tone betraying my surprise as I took the goblet from her hand there in the late captain's cabin, the stern windows open to draw whatever fresh air was willing to waft inside. It was hot below decks, the sweat now starting to show there on the Princess' lovely features as she nodded in the affirmative to my question and seated herself.
"You have `leadership qualities' that I wish I had," Janis smiled back. "My mother can use a woman like you when we get to Arsana." Arsana being the capital of Dularn located on its southern shore. "Someone who can take command and exercise leadership and settle this damm stupid war with my sister Darlanis." I wondered what Janis thought I could do. Granted, I probably knew items of military technology unknown in this era, but on the other hand I didn't think that the Lorr would tolerate my using my own knowledge of such things for the defense of Dularn. All firearms for example being strictly forbidden under "THE EDICT".
"I'm not a professional soldier, I'm just a woman who happens to be good with a sword." I pointed out futilely, I thought, to the golden haired Princess. I knew little about military tactics or the command of armed forces, although I had served a "hitch" in the United States Marines shortly after my graduation from medical school in France. That was the way I had gotten the money to start my own practice. I didn't see what good such knowledge would do Dularn, since I really didn't know that much about the command of armed galleys, mounted warrioresses, or the command of Legions of foot troops armed with edged and pointed weapons. While I had always had an "unfeminine" interest in such things, I didn't see what good it would do now, especially considering that Tulis must certainly have had people more competent than me to lead her armed forces in the fight against the Empire!
"You knew Janet Rogers, and judging from her writings, she thought quite highly of you," Janis answered me with a smile. I failed to see just what bearing that had to do with anything now!
Perhaps it is time that I step back here a bit and explain a few things to the reader. Give him or her some understanding of the differences between the cultures of today and the cultures of my time. A means of comparing Dularnian culture to that of the Empire of California and both "cultures" in comparison to that of my own era which is now to most people only legend and myth. I believe this will also explain why the Empire will never be able to conquer Dularn despite Darlanis' best efforts to do so. I am myself doubtful that it could be done with anything less than the weaponry and technology of the Twentieth Century, and even then I am rather doubtful that it would be done except at the cost of a great loss of life as we saw in Vietnam. The Dularnian people have perhaps one of the most amazing social, economic, and political system ever developed by the mind of Man. It is based much upon the writings of Janet Rogers, who was one of the greatest political thinkers who ever lived. It is because of her sex that Dularnian Law provides that only a woman may sit on the throne of Dularn. That only a woman may wear the golden crown of the Queen of Dularn. The policy is perhaps wise, perhaps not. It is said that a man gave the orders that caused The War. Perhaps it is true, but I still doubt that women are "morally superior" to men.
Dularnian military strength is primarily "defensive". Both sexes are trained in the use of arms and those who fail to meet minimum standards are exiled from the country. Thus the ordinary Dularnian is quite capable of fighting as a guerrilla both by himself or herself or in groups. The countryside is heavily wooded, and the militia groups are trained to use the terrain to the best advantage against any invader. Dularn is thus much like the early American colonies before the American Revolution. If we think of Dularn in this light, and think of the Empire as playing the "role" of the "British", we will understand why even although the Empire is more militarily powerful, it cannot ever conquer Dularn as long as the Dularnian people don't want it! It should be mentioned here that the Dularnian Constitution provides for the armament of the people as part and parcel of its design.
Dularn's economic system is pure "Janet Rogers" capitalism. As a matter of fact, all her writings are required study in the public schools which all Dularnian children must attend. Thus the people are both well educated by 26th Century standards and also quite knowledgeable about political, economic, and social affairs. The military technology is superior to the Empire's, especially in small arms, the Dularnian compound crossbow being an example, the design being a duplicate of a 21st Century design used by sportsmen of that era for big game hunting after the outlawing of private firearms early in the century. Janet's mistaken action having been severely condemned by Dularnian writers for centuries from what I understand. (No, she too wasn't perfect!)
The political system is once again almost perfect "Janet Rogers", consisting of an Assembly based upon popular election of candidates by the "taxpayers", also the election and recall of Supreme Court judges. The role of the monarchy replacing that of the "President", whose role was to allow only those laws deemed proper and necessary, and the repeal of those found unneeded and unnecessary, this having been Janet's role back in the 21st Century as head of The World Federation which she led for a number of years prior to her death in 2045 near Mars. Despite what the Lorr say about her she was still a good person who meant harm to no one. Too much of an "idealist" perhaps, but Janet herself was not a woman who would have ever allowed The War to get started!
Dularnian society is based upon a social order that reminds me much of colonial America, with "town meetings" and such items. There are no large "Estates" as are found in the Empire, nor the almost "feudal" social order that seems to be common everywhere else where "civilization" exists. Dularn in this respect is "unique", and its equal is unknown anywhere else on Earth. (I do have data regarding Eurasia and South America). In many respects it is the sort of society that Janet Rogers wanted for Humanity, and its culture is well worth preserving despite whatever Darlanis or anyone else thinks about it! It certainly has a lot more to recommend it than the "Communism" of the Lorr, which suits only a race of totally "alien" creatures such as themselves!
Darlanis' Empire of California is considerably different from the political, social, and economic systems of Dularn as it is now somewhat based upon the political concepts of the Lady Sanda (Harles) Talen. There is perhaps more "color" in Imperial affairs than in the more drab Dularnian society, Darlanis being a strikingly beautiful woman who dresses in exotic attire making the most of her beauty. It is often said that the Legions of the Empire would follow Darlanis to "The Gates Of Hell" itself should she wish to take them there. It is perhaps Darlanis herself who makes the Empire what it is. She is a woman that no man could ever "resist", nor any woman feel anything but "envy" for. Tall, a stunningly beautiful blonde, a "Viking Goddess" of a woman, Darlanis does make an impressive appearance in her golden mesh. I was once told by a man that when he knelt before her that he could think of nothing else but what it would be like to kneel between her thighs and lick the silk that covered her crotch! I suspect that a number of others have felt the same as they knelt there before her. She is perhaps the most beautiful woman of all time! It is HER, her beauty, that makes the Empire what it is!
Darlanis herself hopes someday to form a Federation of Northwest America, using the modified Dularnian political and economic system ("THE NEW ORDER") she supports, while at the same time giving her society more internal unity than what is found there in Dularn. I wish her luck, but doubt that it will ever come to pass in either her lifetime or mine. Perhaps I am wrong, but such things have an "inertia" of their own, and as I write this there doesn't seem to be much hope of anything like this ever coming to pass. Janet Rogers was perhaps truely unique!
"I'll say one thing for you, Lorraine," Janis said with a smile as we shared a cheese that had been stored away perhaps just a bit too long, "And that is that you certainly do lead an adventuresome life." I smiled in agreement, thinking of all that had happened. Taking a sip of the wine, its coolness and tartness good after the heat of the day and the adventures I had had.
"I'll try to be a bit more careful in the future," I promised with a smile in reply, "I'm curious to see if the anti-aging serum you injected into my hip yesterday will actually work on me or not." Janis having injected me with the primary serum, saying that she could also use the secondary on me, but she didn't think it was necessary. After all, I was only thirty nine! Usually, the injections are given at about the age of twenty five, with booster injections necessary on a yearly basis later on. The effect being to completely halt the aging process until about the age of seventy, when there is a slow decline in vigor. Although generally usually not noticeable until after a century has passed. One "side effect" of the serum being that a woman neither menstruates or ovulates while receiving it, it being necessary to use a neutralizing drug so that she may become pregnant and have children. There is also a drug used on young women that provides about the same effects, and prevents them from becoming pregnant before they are old enough to take on the responsibilities of motherhood. I had seen to it that Sharon got a dose of that! I fear I pestered poor Janis nearly to death on what she knew about such things, Janis finally telling me that I'd have to talk to one of the Priestesses of Lys, who apparently got the stuff from the Lorr for all she knew! (The Lorr do "deny" this.)
"Shirl's done a good job of getting in the water and some fresh fruit for our trip to Dularn and I'm going to give her the Ronda as a prize when we get to Arsana," Janis said, changing the subject before I got into talking about things that she had a hard time explaining. Shirl had proved to be a good first officer and Janis thought the woman might even have a future in the Dularnian Navy if she was interested in such a career. Dularn, unlike the Empire, being a considerably more "open" society where a woman of low caste might rise high despite not having the "breeding" that was considered so important in the Empire itself.
"How long do you think the trip will take?" I asked in reply, sipping at my wine. Both of us were now a little "tipsy". I had little idea of how fast the Ronda actually went, although I was well aware that by 20th Century standards the ship was pretty slow, the highest speed ever recorded in the captain's log for the ship being just over ten knots. He had been quite proud of that, so I suspected that the normal cruising speed would be considerably less as we could not rely upon the wind all the time.
"Two weeks, a little more, depending upon the wind," Janis smiled in reply. She did not need to add that we also might well be the subject of a considerable search effort by the Californians, the patrolling pattern of Sarnian Lady being proof that the escaping members of the crew had successfully reached land and spread the word that the Ronda was now in the hands of "pirates"!
Lana greeted me with a warm smile as I came up on deck, the lovely brownette chained by an ankle to the deck so that she would not require constant watching while the Ronda was at anchor here in the little hidden cove. It being a simple precaution as Lana could have escaped us in a minute had she leaped overboard and attempted to swim for freedom. Laying a hand on her sun- warmed shoulder, I said, "Janis will see that you are returned to your home as soon as possible." Knowing that the Princess was not one to neglect such things. I would be there in any case to remind her in case she did forget the promise she had made to me.
"I know, Lorraine," Lana replied. Pausing for a moment to look up into my eyes before then adding in a soft voice, "You are truly from another time, another place, another culture to take such concerns about me." Placing her hand on mine where it rested there on the sun baked rail, much being left unsaid just then. The touch of her hand against mine arousing thoughts, urges, that I have always fought against since early puberty. Urges that I knew would "horrify" Janis if she knew of them, lesbianism being something that few Dularnians tolerated, although it was common enough in the Empire between many women of high birth and their slave girls, with even Darlanis thinking little of such things!*
* No, she doesn't "abuse" her slave girls that way, although I understand that it is a common practice among many mistresses.
As dusk fell, we slid out the sweeps, the former slave girls taking their places at the great levers, and slowly we rowed the Ronda out of the little cove that had been our home for those few simple days. The quiet creak of the great sweeps and the gentle whispering ripple against the bow the only sound. Then with a rustling noise, the sails were lifted up to the masts and set, drawn tight, Janis having ordered the blue green raiding sails set so that we might be better concealed from any prying eyes. The slavers using such when they wished to conceal themselves from any who might wish to steal from them their precious cargo.
As the sails took the wind, the Ronda heeled over, the water white under her bow. A soft shudder going over her as she took to the sea once again, her painted eyes looking north towards distant Dularn. Seemingly alive after having "slept" in the sun during the quiet days of the cove. I saw Lana at the rail, a length of chain securing her to a ring there in the deck, looking back at the dark shoreline drawing away, her lovely hazel eyes brimming with tears, knowing that she was being taken away from everything she held dear. With a word to Janis I went over to her, taking the black clad brownette in my arms, and gently pressed her face to my bosom while I stroked her soft brown hair. Feeling the sobs shaking her as she clung to me, a half moon shining down telling of the night to come. The stars already sprinkling the sky, Venus and Mars now shining down upon us all.
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