Blackjack wayward the bl.., p.10
Blackjack Wayward (The Blackjack Series), page 10
The female Vershani were larger than the males, almost as tall as a human man and with a sturdier build than their male counterparts. The two who guided me had lighter skin as well, more like a bronze hue atop a pale base than the bright metallic sheen of the males, giving them a look more akin to a well-tanned human woman. Their hair was long and black, pulled back into twin tails with long threads of silver silk. They wore cropped tops with sheer sleeves and a silver bodice, with matching red velvet pants that made them look like something out of Arabian Nights. They wore nothing on their faces, and only minimal jewelry save some gold bangle bracelets.
They led me to a large chamber dominated by a decorated pond, replete with colorful fish that reminded me of Retcon’s idyllic koi pond. Perched on a golden ring were several red and yellow birds with long plumage and even longer tail feathers. One of them spread its wings and shook them for a moment before returning to its feeding bowl. Plants rose from the pond and ringed the room, making it feel more like a hidden oasis than a chamber deep in the bowels of a ship.
One of the girls motioned for me to enter the pond down a set of steps, and when I hesitated, she went in first and beckoned me to follow. I shrugged and went in, figuring I could use a bath. The water was cold at first, and the small fish scattered when my body entered the pond. The first girl flashed a smile when I flinched from the cold water, revealing teeth more like mine, rather than Drovani’s sharp fangs. She motioned me to follow her to the deepest part of the pond, where the water reached her waist and halfway up my thigh. More girls came out of nowhere, surrounding me and gently making me come to my knees. They reached into the water, coming out with blue and red sponges with which they scrubbed my body clean. It felt like the sponges were covered in some sort of anesthetic, or perhaps it was the water itself, because I felt the tingling cold of the water fade and my senses dull. Then again, I had these attractive creatures rubbing my upper body, shoulders and head, and the feeling was intoxicating. The lead girl stayed in front of me, whispering something softly in her tongue, the seductive repetitiveness of her voice lending itself to the euphoria of the moment.
“What are you saying?” I asked her. She smiled, cupping her hands in the water and lifting them over my head to spill their contents all over my face.
“Seshine,” she said, so close I could feel her breath on my face.
With her hands she rubbed my cheeks and eyes, massaging tired muscles along my face and jaw, on my chin and lips. I couldn’t help myself, reaching out and feeling the smallness of her waist, pulling her closer to me.
“Alessine, Seshine,” she said, and when I opened my eyes, I saw her smiling and shaking her head playfully. Perhaps now wasn’t the time, but my, did I feel like it was! The others continued unabated, ignoring the two of us. I brought her closer to me, one hand around the curve of her back and the other reaching down her leg, then coming up to her small breasts.
“Alessine,” she said again, and I wasn’t sure if it was her name, or if she wanted me to stop. Her face told me to go on so I pressed my chest against hers to give her a kiss, but she brought her hand gently across my mouth, letting me know it wasn’t all right.
“Sorry,” I said, letting her go, but she didn’t recoil or retreat. She stayed right where she was, lowering her hand, her blue eyes flashing from my lips to my eyes. Only then did I notice the other girls had stopped their ministrations and were watching us with a growing sense of curiosity.
“I don’t understand,” I said.
She was tempted, coming closer, caught in the same feeling I was, pressing against my body. I reached down and held her buttocks, so tiny in my massive hands, lifting her toward me until we were but a few inches from each other. The girl had a hard time keeping her eyes open almost in a stupor, and I felt my whole body responding to hers.
Before we could kiss, though, one of the girls behind me made a coughing sound and I turned to see someone was approaching from the hallway we had used to enter the room. I put the girl down in time for Drovani to enter the chamber, wearing the same clothes as before but now sporting a long, regal cape, with a pair of adjutants in tow.
“My friend,” he said, either unaware of what was about to happen, or unconcerned.
“Hey,” I responded, looking back at the girl who had shaken the moment off and now just sat in the water with her head bowed low, subservient to Drovani like the other girls.
He snapped at them and they returned to cleaning me.
“They will clean you and prepare you for the goddess,” he said.
I nodded, realizing I had completely forgotten about her in the bliss that had overtaken me.
Drovani came up to the edge of the pond and crouched so we would be closer to eye level, giving the girls instructions.
“Your women are beautiful,” I said, still feeling the girl’s warmth on my chest and face.
“They have their uses,” he said. “These girls, take them if you wish. Do what you want with them. They are your rewards, if you like.”
“And the goddess?”
He laughed.
“You must save your energy, I suppose. These two men,” he motioned to the two armed Vershani soldiers that flanked him, “Hroneth and Elgar. They are your bodyguards. They will die before you are harmed. I have taught them the basics of your tongue, so anything you need, they will ensure you have, including food, drink and ... well, anything else within reason.”
“Thank you,” I said.
He stood.
“No, thank you, my friend. Because of you, our world will have life and not death. Because of you, my people have a future instead of a certain doom. I could spend a lifetime thanking you, rewarding you, and it would prove unworthy of the thanks my people owe you.” He bowed curtly. “I do not wish to trouble you with affairs of state, or talk of politics. Instead, you must eat, rest, and bathe. In the name of the goddess, I could smell you from above decks. Later on we will speak more, and you will have an audience with the goddess herself.”
“Aryani,” I said, and noticed how everyone bristled at the mention of her name.
Drovani smiled, “Yes. But please refer to her as ‘Goddess’ for your own sake.”
I nodded, looking back at the girl, who had barely moved.
“What does Seshine mean?” I asked.
He looked over at the girl, his expression suddenly stern, almost murderous.
“That one used the term?”
Drovani was tense, his fingers clenched. He was quick to anger, that one. This was the third time he had gone from friendly and fun-loving to dangerous in the blink of an eye.
I moved over to her reflexively, “Easy,” I told him.
He sneered a threat to her and the girl began to cry, but he took a step back when he saw me interceding between them.
“It means ‘consort,’ Blackjack,” he said, becoming calm and composed as fast as it had taken him to turn baneful. “In the feast of celebration, the goddess will proclaim you and grant you both title and property. You will become as wealthy as the richest of our people, with thousands of...” Drovani struggled for the right word a moment before finding it, “...workers. A large estate in our home world, and one hundred Harkul Champions, like Elgar and Hroneth here, who answer only to you.”
I must have had my mouth open in wonder, because he laughed.
“Yes, my friend. You will be richer than I with one wave of the goddess’ hand, and you will be her first Seshine.”
“I...I don’t,” I stumbled, looking around at the girls and the two warriors. “I don’t know if I’m worthy of–”
Drovani raised his hand, in pause.
“It is done,” he said. “Or it will be, but do not count your Versupen before they fall into your pouch, Blackjack. We must still fight to reclaim our home world. A long war lies ahead of us before you can bathe in a Chelen pond of gold and silver.”
“I see,” I said, understanding at once.
“Do not worry, my friend. We shall lead an army that will blacken the lands, like a thousand Kotoron beetles at a kill. As you become Seshine, I have been named High Champion of the Castle and will decree you my First Paladin, so together we will lead our army from victory to victory. Not even the Wardens of the Old Gods will be able to stop us.”
I rubbed my nose, feeling a sudden headache settling in my sinuses and migrating through my face and head.
“So we have to fight a war.”
Drovani laughed, “It will be a slaughter! For who can beat an army led by the mighty Blackjack?”
Chapter Six
After Drovani left, I wasn’t in the mood, especially with the two “guards” watching my every move. I waved the girls off and took a robe that one of them offered me when I got out of the pond. It was far too small, so I just dried myself with it and followed the girls to my chambers. The room was large but spartan, with a simple bed and washbasin, and a bucket for my necessities.
One of the guards, whose name I had already forgotten, came inside and barked some orders at the girls, clearing them out. The fellow was as stern as Drovani, but younger, slimmer, if such a thing was possible, wearing heavy golden armor with ornate etchings. He herded the girls out with his spear and bowed to me, turning to follow them.
“Wait a second,” I told him.
He paused, bowing again.
“What is your name?”
“Elgar,” he said, maintaining his bow.
“And the other guy is, Thro–”
“Hroneth. My caste-mate.”
“Got it. Can someone get me some clothes?”
Elgar looked up for a moment, confused.
“I’m sitting in my underwear here,” I said, motioning to the simple loincloth.
“You are to be Seshine,” he said simply. “You do not wear clothes.”
“Oh really? Well this one does. I don’t like my junk flopping around, you know?”
He shook his head, conflicted between the need to serve me, and the rules of his people.
“Look at it this way,” I said. “I’m not Seshine yet.”
It took him a few moments to follow my logic, but he nodded a few times and left the room. Moments later, the girls returned. At least I thought it was the same group. I only recognized the one that had pressed against me. She carried a bundle of cloth and her companions brought baskets with thread and metallic adornments. The two guards also came in and took positions on either side of me, their spears ready.
“What are you doing?” I asked Elgar, who was discernible from Hroneth because he was about an inch taller and had a much slighter build. Hroneth had the look of a bulldog, with large shoulder muscles that made it seem as if he had no neck.
“We will protect you in case they harm you with the needle. Seshine shall not spill his blood until the bonding rituals.”
I reached out to one of the baskets and held up a threaded needle. It was tiny, even when compared to the ones I was used to.
“This could never hurt me,” I said, poking myself with it and showing the guards my pristine forearm. I did the same with a pair of scissors to the same effect.
Elgar eyes widened, “Those are sharp, Seshine.”
“Not sharp enough,” I said. “Just stand down, guys. Let them do their thing and–” I paused because the girl with the scissors had cut off my loincloth, leaving me stark naked.
The Vershani looked at my nakedness and were all aghast, one of the girls going so far as to cover her face.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, feeling a sudden rush of blood to my face.
Hroneth smiled, he was the less severe of the two.
“You are disgusting, Seshine.”
“What?”
“Like a dirty bull Czentok.”
I looked down at myself not understanding what he was talking about. I’m a big guy, so I’m big all over, but it wasn’t something I ever gave much thought and suddenly, here was a room full of these wretched creatures laughing at my pecker. Elgar hushed the girls, who were staring dumbfounded at me, but not in wonder. More like genuine shock and disgust.
“What are they saying?” I asked Hroneth.
“They were commenting on how filthy a Czentok male is.”
“What the hell is a Czentok?”
Elgar shot a guarded glance at his companion, and Hroneth just shook his head. “It is nothing. Forgive me, Seshine.”
“No, no. I want to know. What the hell is it?”
Hroneth looked back at Elgar who just shrugged.
“It is a hairy beast, low to the ground and powerful. A Vershani warrior must kill one when he is....” he paused, not knowing how to translate a word.
“Grown,” Elgar assisted.
“Yes, when he is grown to adulthood.”
“And their...?” I motioned to my pelvic area.
“It is hairy and dirty. And big, like a man’s arm.”
I laughed.
I got to like the two guards, Elgar and Hroneth, who as time passed became friendly. The girls remained nervous while they stayed, but they worked diligently, making me a sort of Roman toga-like garment that was both comfortable and form-fitting. They decorated me with silver and gold adornments, including the pair of bracers I had taken as booty. The women fitted it as an overlay to a set of leather bands that took some time to size, encrusting it with gems of topaz and amber that bore the mark of my station, the Seshine. One of the girls made me a pair of sandals, though there was some amusement when she measured my foot.
“A Czentok?” I asked Hroneth, causing all the Vershani to laugh or giggle.
Hroneth shrugged, and his mate motioned to his foot, displaying what was probably a woman’s size five.
“Big is....” Elgar struggled to find the right word.
“Stupid,” Hroneth finished for him, not caring if he hurt my feelings or not. “Stupid and clumsy.”
Then I understood. Since they were a smaller species, they associated large size with brutishness and stupidity.
Hroneth started acting like a clumsy fool, showing me what he meant, dropping his spear and picking up, slamming it into his face. It was like watching a bad version of Rowan Atkison’s Bean character, struggling with the spear.
“Keshek,” Hroneth said. “That’s what we call those that are big and daft.”
Elgar fought to hold back a laugh.
“I like Keshek more than Seshine.” I said. “Sounds like something you eat with chopsticks.”
Hroneth scratched his head. “Keshek we cull when they are young. The city priests use a eethush....” he looked at Elgar.
“A hammer.”
“Yes, this,” Hroneth continued. “The priest hits it into the Keshek boy’s head and he is dead. The body we toss on the street for the dogs to eat.”
I looked at them, hoping they were joking, hoping that their people couldn’t be so absurdly brutal, but neither flinched. It was something they were used to, something almost irrelevant.
“And the parents?”
“Most times the father will dispose of Keshek long before that,” Elgar said, matter-of-factly. “It is a great dishonor to the caste.”
“Dispose of the wife too. Keshek is bad news, Seshine.”
I couldn’t contain my horror, wanting the whole conversation to end, but Hroneth was unaware of my displeasure, and eager to share his culture. “Wife we take to city priest. He cuts her apart and takes her womb to flame. To cleanse the caste.”
“Jesus,” I whispered.
“Eethush,” Hroneth corrected, thinking I had misspoken the name of their ritual hammer. “But no, priest uses a Corzo blade to open the woman. It is fast, she will bleed out in moments.”
Elgar said something in his language that made Hroneth smile.
“What is it?”
“He calls me a liar,” Hroneth said.
“It is not fast, Seshine,” Elgar said. “It is agonizing for them.”
“I was trying to make it easier for you,” the other added. “You look like a woman who is with the child sickness.”
“Me?”
Hroneth laughed, motioning at my face. “You show worry, so I meant to soften the words.”
“So it’s pretty bad, huh?”
Elgar continued, “The female’s insides are cut apart and thrown to the flames while she still lives. The priest makes a spell ... magic, you know this?”
I nodded.
“It binds the flesh as one, even if it already outside of her.”
I looked at them, confused.
Hroneth motioned at two things, one in each hand. Then did as if one was burning, then the other, and he smiled when I finally understood.
After the girls were finished, they bowed and left the room. The two guards resumed their posts outside, and I had the feeling of a man in prison. I walked to the door and found it unlocked, but just as I peeked out; Elgar came over, barring my way.
“You need anything, Seshine?” one of the girls said.
I shook my head and went back inside.
They hadn’t let me keep one of the girls in the room, nor had they let me stay with them by myself. When I gestured to the bed, letting the guards know what I meant to do with her, they just scoffed.
