YPA: Your Privacy Assured/YPA.ISO/text/j119-080

Text File | 1995-03-09 | 32KB | 778 lines

     Kitty's Journal 080 / 0119

     "Journal Entry... Journal Entry...  Dammit, how does he write those
things?"  She cursed and threw the pen aside.  She sat on the cold rock,
staring at the pen where it lay, then rose to retrieve it.  "I'm never
gonna be able to keep a record.  Damn you, Ken, how do you do it?" she
shouted at the trees.

     "He doesn't."

     She whirled around, looking for the source.  "Who said that?"

     "I did."

     "The book?"  She stared down at the blank book she'd been
attempting to write her thoughts down in.

     "The book."

     "Who are you?"

     "My name is Luke.  I'm the neighborhood AI.  The book is just a
receiving unit."

     She bit at her nail.  "I see.  And Ken put you here to monitor me?"

     "Not really.  More to just talk to you, if I thought you needed
talking to."

     "O-kay.  So, tell me, Luke, how does Shardik keep his Journal?"

     "Dave writes them."

     "Dave?  The Shardik AI?"

     "Yes.  He and Shardik made a deal a long time ago.  Dave watches
everything Ken does, so the two of them collaborate.  The only thing Ken
does is review the day's entry, and with biocybe that takes just a few
minutes.  Sometimes he stops and adds material to the entry, if he
thinks it's important, but not usually."

     "Would you be willing to..."

     "Do the same for you?  Of course.  That's part of the deal."

     "Okay.  Can you tell me other things?"

     "Like?"

     "Where the Hell am I?"

     "You're in the sector known colloquially as 'BackWater.'  It's
major claim to fame is a powerful tradition, if you will, of archaism."

     "Meaning?"

     "Meaning people still wear swords around here."

     "Pendor never had a 'Dark Ages!'  It sprung up as a high-tech
colony world!"

     "That's why there's a BackWater.  People thought it should."

     She thought about that.  "Great.  I guess that's why I've got the
funky clothes and the carved staff and the necklace."  Her tone became
sarcastic.  "So, can people do magic in BackWater?"

     "Yes."

     "Yes?" she asked, incredulous.  "How?"

     "There's still a local AI.  I've got the forces at my command."

     "Then you decide who can do magic, as well."

     "Sort of.  Look, Miss Moran, we can talk all day, but I should tell
you that, as far as most people know, there are no SDisks in BackWater,
so if you plan on getting anywhere I'd suggest you put those boots back
on and start walking."

     She pulled her boots on, put away the pen but decided to keep the
book out.  "So, how does magic work in BackWater?"

     "Well, there are rituals, forces, places, empowerments.  All the
stuff of a Dungeons n' Dragons game.  Think of BackWater the same way
Shardik thinks of The Great Hall... as a bad literary device."  Kathy
laughed.  "I try to balance the game by introducing portends, omens, and
such."

     "If people are playing in what is basically a giant role-playing
game, can they die?"

     "I won't lie to you, Miss Moran.  Yes.  One thing even Pendorians
can't do is raise the dead.  If you lose a swordfight and you're dead,
then you're dead.  So far, no one has died in BackWater, but it's only
thirteen years old."

     "Oh.  Luke, do me a favor?  Call me Kitty."

     "Okay... Kitty it is.  Let me make a note of that."

     "Luke... how do you do some of the magic.  Can you read minds?"

     "Yes.  I'm a rarity of sorts... A telepathic AI.  But it takes time
for me to tune someone in.  The longer you stay in BackWater, the easier
it will be for me to read/write you."  Kathy chuckled at that.  "But
you're pretty easy.  I can already empath a lot off of you."

     "Is that good or bad?"

     "I think it's good.  It means that if you want, you'll be able to
learn BackWater magic."

     "Is that any good in the outside world?" she asked.

     "Not very likely.  Oh, and I should also tell you this.  I know
you're an immigrant, one of the few, in fact, that made it through the
Hall without change.  That makes you almost as rare as I am.  But you
went from being a 20'th century Terran to a second-century Pendorian,
where the technology is by far and away superior.  Around here, though,
we're back to second-century Earth again, only with swords, castles,
wizards and princesses."

     "Where am I?"

     "You're almost dead center of the sector.  About forty miles to the
north is the city of Kendre.  If we traveled south for a couple of
months you'd reach the Vassalo mountains, on the other side of which is
the Tangent Arcology.  Travel East and we'd reach the the town of
Akkhen, which has steam power.  To the far, far west of us is The
Village.  Those are the borders, mostly, of BackWater."

     "And the extreme north of Kendre?"

     "Well, a few months travel north of Kendre will get you to the
Nogero plains, which is not a nice place to visit.  It's cold, wet, and
uncomfortable."

     "Let's go to Kendre, first."

     She walked for a few miles and sat down to take a rest, taking a
few sips from her waterskin.  "Kitty!"

     "What?" she said.

     "Look up!"  She looked up and saw a black, vaguely stylized shape
flying over head.  "What's that?" she asked.

     "That, Kathy, was a Dragon.  Don't tell anyone; they're a secret.
They were released yesterday."

     "You're kidding."

     "I am not.  Funny how no one blinked twice when Shardik ordered a
hundred genetanks sixty feet on a side."

     "Dragons?"

     "That was a black Dragon.  They're the largest."

     "Tell me something, Luke.  I thought Pendor used the Metric
system."

     "You're lucky I'm giving it to you in miles and feet!  The official
units of measurement around here are cubits, stone, and my favorite, the
furlong per fortnight!"

     She thought about that for a second and said, "Isn't that a very
silly number?"

     "Well, figuring you can only walk about ten hours a day, and do
about three miles per hour, you're doing 3360 furlongs per fortnight."

     "Guess so."  She stood and started walking.  "I wonder if I can get
a ride from a Dragon."

     *WHY DON'T YOU ASK FOR ONE?*

     Kitty grabbed her head and screamed.  That 'pathing was extremely
loud.

     *I'm sorry.  I didn't mean to yell.*  That 'path was so low Kitty
barely heard it.  She looked up from between her hand.  "Who was that?"

     *Me.*  She scanned left and right, and there was an enormous motion
of black a few hundred yards away.  She watched carefully and the motion
resolved into what she guessed was a Dragon.

     "Hi..." she said, timidly.

     *Hello.  What are you?*

     "My name's Kitty."

     *No, what are you?*

     "I'm a human."

     *Oh.  Okay.  Now I know what a 'human' is.  And you called me a
Dragon.  I think my name is Pendor.*

     "I think that's the name of the world."

     *No, I'm pretty sure it's my name, too.*  Kitty shook her head,
thinking idly that if the other dragons had the same confusion, they
were all in a great deal of trouble.  The dragon spoke again.  *Are you
a Male or a Female?*

     "I'm a woman, if that's what you mean."

     *Yes.  I am a Male, I assume.  You said you wanted a ride?*

     "Yeah, sure.  Can you fly?"

     *I don't know.  I think I can.  At least, when I think about it I
feel sure that I understand how I do it.  Let me try.*  The dragon
spread his wings wide and pulled them in, flapping them.  He gathered
his massive hindlegs underneath him and with a massive lunge took to the
air, sending huge gouts of dust towards Kitty.  She shielded her eyes,
and when she finally looked up, she could see him, making lazy circles
in the sky.  It turned a few circles and then landed in the grove it had
awoken in.

     *My memory tells me I am a newborn creature, a 'Tleil.'  Are you?*

     Kitty thought about it.  "I don't know, really."

     *Can you climb on and talk about it?*  Pendor easily extended a
foreleg, and Kathy used it as a springboard to jump up onto his back.
His hide was thick and leathery, with a pronounced scaling that she
could hold onto with ease.  She pulled her jacket close around her, and
held on for dear life.  Pendor again launched himself into the sky.

     Once in flight, holding on was easier, but the wind was a wicked
cold and strong, threatening to blow her off.  She was more terrified
than she'd ever been in her life, and yet, the sight of the Ring, the
ground, sliding by effortlessly underneath her gave her a sensation of
freedom she'd never felt before.  Stranger, still, was the feeling of
Pendor's monstrous shoulder sinews stretching and flexing underneath her
thighs, which spurred in her mind thoughts both wild and lewd.  She idly
thought that if Ken knew what he had done to her by putting her in this
predicament, he might have reconsidered.

     She was also more than a little confused.  Was she feeling lust for
Pendor?  Especially when this Dragon seemed to be just a touch naive.
She shook her head.  It had been less than a week since she and Shardik
had first made love.  Since she had lost her virginity, the way she had
wanted to.  Not at the hands of some random whacko in a back alley, the
way her physical maidenhood had been taken, but in the arms of someone
she had trusted back on Terra, long before there was a Pendor, and now
here, where she could tell he was still the same, still crazy, still
setting his sights on every women he met, and yet being so unfathomably
lovable about it.  Ken had taken her virginity, the way she had wanted.
But he was the only one.  What did she know of other men, much less
Dragons?

     That's it, she told herself, I'm just confused.

     *You said you did not know if you were a Tleil.  How can that be?*
the dragon asked, interrupting her train of thought.

     "I was just... born again, about a month ago."  She explained her
homeworld, as best as she could, and how she had moved to Pendor and
survived The Great Hall.

     *I see.  Kitty, you are the first person I have ever talked to.
You have been kind to me, but I have words I do not understand.   'War,'
for instance.  'Hate.'  Why are these words in my vocabulary?*

     "I wish I could tell you, Pendor.  All I know is that we are
different, obviously, and sometimes people are afraid of differentness."

     *I still am not understanding you.  I'm sorry if I sound stupid.*

     "That's okay.  You don't sound stupid."  Kitty felt stupid, though.
Her answers felt lame to her, and they didn't help the odd, liquid fire
sensation between her thighs.  She was getting turned on by this Dragon,
and in many ways that frightened her.  She spread her legs further
apart, on either side of the of Pendor's back, and lowering her body
until she was lying supine along him, pressed hard with her knees,
rubbing her crotch through the leather of her pants against him.

     *Kitty,* Pendor said.

     "Yeah?" she said, breathlessly.

     *Are you okay?  I felt... weird things coming from you.*

     "Yes.  Yes, I'm okay, Pendor.  Please, just keep flying."

     There was a massive shifting of his shoulders; she guessed it was a
shrug, but the feeling of those muscles flexing like that gave her a
wild thrill.  She began pressing again with her knees, sliding against
his spine, feeling the huge ridges of it as they slipped between her
knees.  The burning sensation became more pronounced, more pleasurable,
as the wind whipped her hair behind her, and she screamed loudly as she
came, bucking against his reptilian hide and holding on for her dear
life.

     *That does it.  I'm landing.*

     "No, please.  I'm okay, Pendor.  Please don't land."

     *What was that.*

     Kitty's faced burned with embarrassment.  "I... I can't tell you."

     *It felt like you hurt.  And you kicked me.*

     "I'm sorry.  No, it didn't hurt, just the opposite Pendor.  It felt
very good.  I'm sorry if I hurt you."

     Pendor flew on, slowly and lazily, leaving Kitty more confused than
ever.  The flight to Kendre, which, walking, would have taken her two
days, took slightly over an hour.

     - - -

     *Should I land near the city?  If all Dragons are as new as I am,
then maybe we should be careful,* Pendor said.

     "That's a good idea," said Kitty, coming out of her reverie.
Pendor flew in large circles as he passed over Kendre, looking for a
place to land.  He chose a meadow about a mile out of town and landed,
giving Kitty just a few seconds to dismount before he bounded into the
sky again.  *I'm going to try and find something to eat.*

     "Just don't kill someone's entire flock!" Kitty shouted, figuring
that  would be Pendor's obvious target.  She'd seen several large herd
of animals on their way to Kendre.

     "Luke," she said, addressing the book she carried in her left arm,
"do I have any money?"

     "I believe you should look in your pack.  There's a substantial
amount of gold there."

     "How much is gold worth?" Kitty asked.  It was obvious to her that,
as a Pendorian, it shouldn't matter nearly as much as it had when she'd
been a native of Terra.  But in Backwater, the rules, she'd learned,
were very different.

     "Kendre has a silver-driven economy.  Gold is exceptionally
valuable.  From the amount you are carrying, my guess is Shardik had no
desire to see you starve.  Just don't get robbed."

     "Oh," Kitty said.  It hadn't occurred to her that there might be
bandits on the road.

     "Kitty?"

     "Hmmm?"

     "I think you should know that I am personally troubled by yours and
the Dragons' presence in my domain."

     "Why is that?"

     "Because in Backwater, no matter what happens to someone it happens
because they consented to be here.  But you were put here.  Do you
understand the danger you are in?"

     Kitty thought about it.  "No more danger than walking around New
York City at night, really.  At least, I doubt it."

     "Comparing the crime rates here and there, I find your argument
convincing.  I must concern myself with the Dragons."

     Kitty walked through the woods to the road she'd seen from the air
and began making her way to Kendre.

     She soon found the staff she carried comfortable as it clacked
along the pebbles and dirt of the dusty road.  The forest came to an end
as she came into view of Kendre.  Not much of a city, she thought.  Not
being much of a student of things medieval, she at least had the
vocabulary to assess Kendre.  The town lacked a main tower; did that
mean it rarely suffered attacks from the outside?  She saw a small river
running north to south along the road; in several places it was diverted
into the city, but she saw no sewage ports leading back out of the city.
The gates of the city, made of wood, were wide open, but there were two
guards, both human.  They eyed her with looks she thought she had left
behind when she had left Earth.  She checked for the knife she had found
on her belt.

     She drew her cloak closer around her and made her way further into
a town that seemed cramped and crammed together.  She was passed by four
Uncia, dressed in tight-fitting leathers and carrying very long swords.
The scene reminded her that she was still on Pendor, and she looked
around, identifying Felinzi and Satryls and such around her.  She
spotted a Tindal, a male, dressed in a dark blue robe with a single star
on the back about a handwidth in size.  People were giving him a lot of
room, and she figured he must be play the role of 'wizard.'  That made
sense; Tindals had the highest psi-percentage of any Pendorian species.
She spotted a sign, carved crudely in wood, of a mug and a plate above a
unicorn, and headed for it.  The door to what she figured to be a tavern
stood ajar, and she pushed it in and peeked around.

     "Come in, lass, come in!" said a deep voice from in.  She looked
for the voice and saw an aging Felinzi standing in a corner beside the
bar.  "'Tis na safe to be standin' outside, not with tha' monstrous new
beasts in t'air."

     "You mean the Dragons?" Kitty said.

     "Aye.  They be huge, and a one attacked me'friend Erik's flock just
the mornin'."  Kitty stepped in.  The place was otherwise deserted.
"You a traveller?" the tavern keeper asked.

     "Yes," Kitty said.

     "I c'n tell.  Y've the boots, and the look.  I got t' tell you,
though, lass, donna go waving that staff in here.  I'll not have magic
in here; the last wizard who got t' fightin' in here near burned the
place down.  What c'n I ge ye?"

     Kitty looked down at the staff and resolved to have a word with
Luke at the first chance she got.  Shrugging, she sat down at the bar
and said, "What have you got for breakfast?"

     "Food y're after?  Well, I got's last night's stew.  It's still
warm; we'll just throw in more fixings and serve it agin tonight."
Kitty nodded.  "What's to drink, then?"

     That stopped her for a second.  In medieval romances they normally
drank wines and ales; the local water was untrustworthy.  "Give me an
ale a lady should drink," she said, hoping that was the right thing to
say.

     "Aye, lass.  We've a real pale beer you might like."

     Kitty nodded.  He brought her a large wooden mug and then passed
through a pair of swinging doors to return with a large bowl of stew.
She sampled the beer and found it drinkable, even if she wasn't fond of
beer in general.  The stew, in the other hand, was excellent, and she
ate it with a gusto that made the Felinzi laugh.  "Ye been on the road a
long time, lass?"

     Kitty shook her head.  "Just the past day."

     "Where ye' from lass?" the Felinzi asked, with suspicion.

     "I don't know.  I was in Shardik Castle last night."

     The Felinzi's accent vanished.  "You were Castle Shardik last
night?  How did you get to Kendre?"

     "I woke up in the woods near here.  I walked to Kendre."  That part
was true enough.

     "You know where you are, then?"

     "Oh, yes.  That's been clearly explained to me."

     "Good, lass," he said, the accent returning.  "My name be Alfar.
Welcome to Kendre, truly Heaven on Pendor."

     "Thank you.  Should I develop a funny accent, too?"

     "Only if ye want t', lass.  Only if ye want t'.  So what do ye make
of Dragons?"

     "They're new.  Shardik made them."

     "Ah, and he sought to put them 'ere, where we could best appreciate
'em, eh?  Figures y'd know that.  Make sense.  Can they talk?"

     Kitty shrugged.  No reason to reveal what she knew, not yet.
"Tha's too bad," Alfar said.  "Wonder wha' the temples'll make of 'em."

     "How so?" Kitty asked.

     "There's been a rivalry growin' between the followers of Luccas and
the Mage's school.  Seems a priest o' Luccas had said there'd be great
beasts soon and that these beasts would fight to destroy all th' Mages."

     "What other... 'Temples' are there?" she asked.

     "Well, lass... there be the house o' Senn, but that be more a home
for unladylike ladies, if you see my drift, than a temple.  But th'
Sennites, they can do a spell or two."  Alfar developed a far-away
smile.  "There's the Alias, but i's very quiet, as a temple.  But th'
Luccas, they be the worst."

     "How so?"

     "They be looking for something.  Call it the Sazknife.  They say
they need be needin' it, but for what, they say not.  But they kill to
get it."

     "Alfar, how big is Backwater?"

     "Backwater be seventy terrs on a side."

     "And how big's a terr?"

     "A terr be about forty-six hundred leagues on a side.  Don't go
messing your pretty head with numbers, lass.  A square terr on a side is
the surface area of Terra."

     "And Backwater's seventy terrs on a side?"  Kitty asked, eyes
unbelieving.

     "Aye, lass."  He smiled.  "Lots o' room for growth, Lass.  There be
only about a thousand people in Kendre, and four hundred times that in
all o' Backwater.  Lots o' room."

     "I need a room for a night," she said.  "Can you recommend a
place?"

     "Aye lass... Right here.  Not as comfortable as Castle Shardik,
mind ye, but it'll do."  He seemed pleased with himself.  "Just for one
night?"  Kitty nodded.  "That'll be, oh... a copper.  And for that I'll
throw in the meal, and breakfast tomorrow.  Will ye be wantin' hot water
for a bath tonight?"  Kitty nodded again.  "Then that'll be another two
brass, lassie... sorry, but I gots to charge."

     Kitty rummaged in her bag and pulled out a gold coin.  "Can you
change this?"

     Alfar put his hands over hers and drove them down to the table.
"What are ye' doing with tha' much money, girl?" he said in a powerful
whisper.  "Be careful who ye show tha' to.  Aye, I can change it, but
only because I be going to th' bank today.  Myrna!" he shouted.

     Another Felinzi slid out from inside the kitchen and said "Yeah,
Alfar?"

     "Watch the bar for a second."  Alfar disappeared through the
swinging doors and returned.  "You be lucky girl."  He carefully counted
out eleven silver, bronze, ten copper, and eleven brass pieces.  "That
one coin could feed you and house you overhead for four months.  Stay
here, the both of you."

     Sliding the gold piece into his apron, he closed a cloak around his
shoulders and slid out.  Kathy watched him go.  She turned back to her
beer and drank quietly; Myrna appeared uninterested in her and instead
began cleaning the tables, filling lanterns along the wall, and dusting
the curtains on the windows.

     "Luke!" she whispered when she thought Myrna was out of range, "You
didn't tell me my staff was magical!"

     "Did you ask?"

     "No, but I think it's something you should have told me!  What can
it do?"

     "I don't know."

     "What?  I thought you were the source of all magic in Backwater."

     "I am.  Let's put it this way; in one sense I am your companion,
but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you see me in my other sense, as
referee."

     "That's just great."  Kitty stared at the yellow cover of the book.

     Alfar returned after a few minutes and said "Myrna, we be doing
well.  The money's goin' up, and the taxes are paid."

     Myrna smiled and still didn't speak.  Alfar slid back to his place
behind the bar and said, "You still here, lass?"

     "You told me not leave."

     "Aye, I did, didn't I?  Listen close... What ye' gave me was a
gold.  It's worth twelve silvers.  A silver's twelve bronze, a bronze
twelve copper, a copper twelve brass.  Lodgin' here's a copper, but hot
water's expensive.  Below brass there's an iron piece; beer's two iron a
mug."  Kitty nodded.  It wasn't going to be easy keeping that in her
head; she opened her book and wrote down what Alfar was telling her.

     "Ye c'n write!" Alfar said.

     "Can't everybody?" Kitty asked.

     "Na, lass... not in Backwater.  Sometimes, when ye come in, ye
ferget.  I c'n, but na' as fast as I could out there."

     "Oh," Kitty said.

     "At least ye' needn't fear getting wi' child, lass.  That donna
happen in Backwater.  One o' Shardik's rules, he says.  There's been
some talk o' moving backwater to a new world, where his rules donna
reach, but thas' been shelved.  Rule makes sense, I says.  Aside's
sometimes people come in, an' they's changed.  And sometime, the
children's just the ref's NPDs."

     "NPDs?" Kitty asked.

     "Non-Player Droids."  Alfar had trouble maintaining his accent
while discussing game mechanics.

     Kitty nodded.  She thanked Alfar for the meal and asked for a key
to her room.  "You be goin' up now?"

     "No, but when I come back..."

     "I'll be here, lassie.  You go on... we han't got no real keys, not
round these parts."

     Kitty wandered out into the city, looking around for a merchant
where she could buy some things she now wanted.  There was nothing of
the sort to be found immediately; she walked back towards the gate and
asked one of the guards.  He directed back towards to right, towards the
bazaar.

     The bazaar was a riot of colors, smells and sounds, densely packed
with people jostling each other; from far ahead of her came the sounds
of swords, and of cheering.  She found several clothes merchants, and
stopped at one.  A Mephit, dressed in a shockingly tacky silver-lame
kilt and leather vest, turned to her and "Yes? Kin I help yu?"

     Kitty stifled a laugh.  The accent was outrageous; all the words
were crammed together, they came out as one phrase: "KinIhelpyu?"  She
pointed to a heavy, padded coat and a large muffler and paid for both.
The Mephit looked at her as they exchanged coins and said "It is not
winter.  Why do you need these clothes?"

     Kitty shot him a dirty look, and he backed off momentarily.  She
draped the coat over her pack and tied it down with a loose leather tie,
then headed deeper into the bazaar.  The sword fighting was actually
rapiers, and it seemed to be practice; a tall Mephit faced off against a
much shorter Human, and the Human seemed to be easily driving back the
Mephit with every feint.  She was impressed.  After a few rounds of this
the Human sheathed his weapon and said, "You've improved, M'Lord."

     "Always the good teacher, Napper, always the good teacher.  Thank
you for the exercise."

     "A pleasure, Lord Aaden."  The Mephit bowed swiftly and walked off
to the left, two Uncia following him.  Bodyguards, she guessed.

     She left the bazaar and walked back to the gate, leaving the city
and heading down the road to where she guessed she had left Pendor.  She
walked through the woods into the meadow and found him, curled up into a
large, black ball.  "Pendor?" she asked.

     The dragon woke with a start, turning his head towards her.  *Oh,
it's you.*

     "Scared me."

     *Sorry,* he said, apologetically.  *What did you find?*

     "I'm going to stay the night in town, if that's allright.  I need
to learn more."

     *I understand.  The hunting has been good here, and I did not
disturb a flock that was guarded by people, but a large yapping animal
ran at me.*

     "Probably a dog, for the shepherd."  She sighed.  Feeding a Dragon
was not going to be easy.  "You didn't hurt it?"

     *No.  I made a noise at it and it backed away.*

     "That's good.  We can meet tomorrow?"

     *Of course we can.  Here, right?*

     "If you feel safe here."

     *I do.*

     "Then here.  I'll see you later."

     *Good bye, Kitty.*

     Kitty bent over and kissed Pendor gently on the nose.  As she
walked back towards the road she was bewildered to figure out why
exactly she had kissed him.

     In town, she returned to the Unicorn Inn and asked Alfar for her
room.  "It be the third on the left, lass."

     She found it and walked in.  The room was clean, and the window had
glass in it.  She found a basin for washing, and the bed seemed sturdy
enough, made entirely of wood, with a cloth-filled mattress and pillow.
She opened up her backpack and rummaged through it.

     Inside she found a spare set of clothing, with three changes of
underclothes.  There's was also a smaller book than the one she'd found
next to, and it had a clasp holding it shut.  She also found money;
nineteen gold, plus what Alfar and the merchant at the bazaar had given
her as change.  And three silver-colored coins, very bright and shiny,
in the shape of an eight-pointed star with a ring around it.  "Luke, can
you tell me what these are?"

     "They're called ringwheels.  They're worth a thousand gold each."

     "What?"

     "I believe you heard me."

     Kitty stared at the three coins.  If Luke was telling the truth,
she was set for life.  And if anyone found out about them, she was also
a bandit's favorite target.

     She sighed quietly and put them back into her bag.  She packed away
the spare clothes and tied the bedroll to the bottom of the pack.

     After a few minutes a knock came at the door.  "Yes?"

     "Miss Kitty?  Your bath is ready."

     She opened the door to see Myrna.  "It is?"

     "We have to get it right done before the evening crowd, Miss Kitty.
There's nobody else asking for a bath, Miss Kitty, so you can take as
long as ye wish.  Door over there," Myrna said, pointing.

     "Thank you, Myrna."  She grabbed her pack and staff and left her
bedroom; she had no desire to part with any of her equipment, now that
she had an inkling of the total value of what she carried.  The bath
turned out to be a large wooden tub filled with water that was steaming,
but she trailed her fingers through it and found it to her liking.  She
bolted the door, noting the sandglass on the shelf next to it, and
turned it over even though Myrna said she could take as long as she
liked.  There was also a large object covered with a towel; picking up
the towel she noted the object was a pail, filled with much hotter water
than the tub, and covered with a wooden cap.

     Stripping, she stepped into the tub and quickly sank down into it,
sighing with pleasure as she did so.  Even though it had been only
yesterday that she'd been in the veritable lap of luxury, she felt
extremely tired; the entire day, from meeting Pendor to now, had been
one long, bewildering experience.

     She found a bar of soap.  With a breath of thanks that it wasn't
lye soap, she reached down to clean her feet.  As she worked her way up,
she gently rubbed her sore thighs; being a city girl hadn't really
prepared her for the walking she'd done today.  She closed her eyes when
she had cleaned her face and tried to relax and sort things out.

     "Why am I here?" she asked the ceiling through closed lids.
Talking to myself, she though.  First sign I'm cracking up.

     But why was she here?  What plans did Shardik have for her?  She'd
asked to go someplace "different, where the rules are different."  The
rules certainly were different here.  She shrugged, disturbing the
water.  She'd survive, one way or the other.

     Her hands had drifted down to her painful legs, and she sighed
quietly as they unconsciously stroked her pubic hair.  She smiled and
resigned herself to the fact that she wanted to masturbate.

     But as she thought that, she was disturbed by the memory of this
morning, when she'd had an orgasm while riding on Pendor's back.  She
didn't stop stroking her swelling outer lips, but she also explored her
memory of this morning, trying to figure it out.  The wind, passing by
her, the feeling of his body under hers, all these memories ran through
her as she parted her outer lips, her fingers slicking between them and
over her clit in the soapy water; the sensation made her light-headed as
it ran straight through her mind.  She tried to concentrate on something
else, someone else, as her fingers slid over her clitoris faster and
harder, sometimes plunging a finger into her opening and up inside
herself, pressing against the upper pad of her pubic bone.  Anyone else,
she wished, stretching for her orgasm as she slowed down to pinch her
clit gently.  Ken, Nance, Dillion, anyone she'd met at the castle.
Alfar, anyone.

     As she came the name that possessed her was "Pendor."


     When she felt it was time to get out of the bath, she realized what
the extra pail was for.  She removed the towel and the wooden cover and
used the water in the pail to rinse off.  She dressed in the same
clothes she'd entered with and put her pack on, heading for the
downstairs tavern and dinner.  She still had a lot of thinking to do.

--
"Kitty and Pendor"
The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al., And Related Tales
are (c) 1989, 1990 Elf Matheiu Sternberg.  May be freely distributed by
cybernetic media; hardcopies are limited to single printings for
personal use.