The Golden Steed

CHAPTER FIVE

They rode long and hard the next day, but this time they ended their ride well before dark in a Pendari village of a hundred-odd mud and stone huts. Guroth's men rode past the village's goats and gaunt cattle and its straggling fields of grain, stopping outside a palisade of sharpened posts interlaced with thorny branches. Naked children and scrawny chickens scattered in all directions as Guroth sprang down to the ground and strode over to the gate. He raised his lance and pounded on the gate.

«Open, toilers. Open, my brothers. I, Guroth, bring the Pendarnoth among you.»

If he had set the village on fire, he could not have produced a greater commotion. A stunned silence gave way in seconds to a furious babble of voices. Prayers, questions, and cries rose and mingled in a total pandemonium. Then the gate flew open so fast it nearly knocked Guroth off his feet. The villagers began to pour out, and from the other direction, the men in the fields who had been watching the flocks and herds also came running. In a few minutes people were massed 400 strong and ten ranks deep around Blade. Men, women, and children alike were raising their hands to him, praying to him, invoking his name, begging to be allowed to touch him or the Golden Steed. If Guroth had not ordered his men to dismount and lock lances in a circle around Blade, the Pendarnoth might have been pulled out of the saddle by his enthusiastic worshipers.

Half-deafened by the villagers' cries and pleas and half-stifled by their unwashed mass, Blade could not help grinning. Guroth had wanted to make a dramatic entrance into Pendari territory. He had succeeded. Indeed, he had succeeded better than he could have hoped, if nearly starting a riot among people in the grip of religious hysteria could be called «success.» How was Guroth going to get out of this one? From the expression on the captain's face, he hadn't the faintest idea.

Eventually the uproar died down because people simply lost their voices. More than a few fainted in the crush, and Blade could only hope that none of them would be trampled to death. Finally, with no more than fifty people talking at once, Blade thought he could make himself heard.

«Hail, people of Pendar. What is this village?»

«Lio, oh Father,» came many voices at once.

«People of Lio, I, Pendarnoth, Father of the Pendari, Rider of the Golden Steed-«

«He proclaims himself, he proclaims himself!» came in a chorus of gasps and screams, as everybody seemed to find their voices again. Several more people fainted. Blade sighed wearily, and once again settled down to wait for a lull in the uproar.

It came as throats once again became raw from shouting. «Let me speak, oh people of Lio. Let it be written of this day, that the people of the village of Lio were the first to greet the Pendarnoth as he entered the land of the Pendari. But let the people of Lio do honor also to Captain Guroth and his men, who brought me here safely through the land of the Rojags. The Rojags indeed would have slain me and taken the Golden Steed if Guroth and his men had not been mighty warriors.»

Now the cheers were mixed with cries of horror. The hands reached out again to clap Guroth and his men on the backs and shoulders. For a moment the crowd surged in against them, and it looked as if the circle was going to collapse and all order with it.

But the crowd ran down again before that happened, and this time they stayed run down. Guroth's men were able to push and shove until they had gained themselves a little breathing room. And Blade was able to speak to the villagers without raising his voice to a bellow.

«People of Lio, for all this we thank you. But we have ridden fast and far, and the day has been hot. We will thank you more for food and water for us and our horses, and for a place to rest.» He did not add «in peace and quiet,» although he was tempted.

The crowd did not immediately break up, but it did move aside to form a path to the gate. While his men retrieved their horses, Guroth took the bridle of the Golden Steed and led it and Blade toward the gate.

As they passed into the narrow main street of the village, Blade saw a slim dark-haired figure peering intently at him from a shadowy passage between two houses. He pointed her out and asked Guroth, «Who is that girl? She was not among the other people, was she?»

«She would not be, oh Pendarnoth,» said one of the villagers. «She has Rojag blood, thanks to her mother's whorish habits. She is-«

«You lie, you fat pig,» the girl screamed. «My mother was a better woman than your wife or daughters will ever be. What happened to her was not her fault. And even if it was, what about me?»

The villager growled angrily, then snapped, «Get out of here, you whore's daughter! You profane the sight of the Pendarnoth.»

«Whore's daughter?» the girl screamed. She snatched up a large dry turd from the alley and flung it at the villager. Her aim was good. He let out a bellow of rage and jerked out a knife. He would have leaped to slash at the girl if Blade had not brought down a hand and grabbed the back of his collar.

«There will be no brawling in Lio this day, my friend. And no killing of girls in my sight ever. I have fought Rojag warriors, but I have no quarrel with their women and children. Remember that, and put the knife away before I come down from the Golden Steed and break your arm.» He twisted the collar tight until the man's face went purple and his eyes bulged. «Do you understand?» The man nodded, and Blade let him go. Then he looked at the girl and said, «Approach me. What is your name?»

«Curana, if it pleases the Pendarnoth.» The girl stepped into the light. Seen more clearly, she was definitely attractive. Although her brown skin was dirty and her blueblack hair tangled like a thicket, there was a gracefully curved body under the black robe she wore. The bare feet were slim, and long-toed. The eyes-Blade suddenly realized that he was staring at the girl more intently than he had intended. Mutterings were rising from the villagers behind him. Guroth was looking down at the ground.

Blade realized that this was not the time to do a thorough job on the prejudices of the people of Lio. He reached down and let Curana hold his hand for a moment, then raised it in farewell. «Go in peace, Curana. And let none do her harm in my sight or hearing, people of Lio.» He nodded to Guroth, who raised his head and led the Golden Steed on into the village.

Although the villagers were packed like sardines into their houses, they would have emptied half the houses in the village for the Pendarnoth and his escort if asked. As it was, Blade asked only for one house for his escort and another for himself. The villagers obliged, not only providing Blade with a house to himself, but cleaning every nook and cranny of its one room. He suspected he was still sharing it with a horde of bugs, but he wasn't inclined to worry about that. Nor was he inclined to complain about the half-raw meat and the more than half-burned bread they gave him for dinner. In this village there could be little food to spare. There was enough to fill his stomach, and after that he was able to curl up in the smelly sheepskins and drift off to sleep.

He was awakened by a faint scratching in the room. It was no louder a sound than a mouse might have made, but it was too regular for any animal. Instantly awake, he silently drew his knife from beneath the sheepskin and stiffened, waiting. The scratching went on. It seemed to be moving in a circle around him, from right to left. He risked moving his head slightly, enough to be able to look off to one side.

The room was almost totally black, for it had no windows and the door was closed. But a tiny bit of light crept through a hole in the roof over the hearthstone. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Blade could see in that faint light a human figure crouching almost within arm's reach. It was small but shapeless, and its back was turned to him. An inch at a time, Blade slid toward it.

Blade was almost within reach of the figure when it suddenly rose to a standing position. Blade froze, waiting to see if it would turn around, poising himself to move fast. The figure's shoulders heaved, and it began to turn.

Blade moved also. A mighty thrust of his powerful arms sent him rolling toward the figure, while at the same time his legs kicked out, hurling the sheepskins away from him. He crashed into the figure like a log rolling down a hillside, knocking it to the ground. Before it could move or do more than gasp faintly, he was kneeling above it. Both its hands were clasped tightly in his own left hand, while his right hand held the knife at its throat. The wrists he was holding felt slim and delicate.

Then he started as he recognized the face looking up at him out of a black hood. It was the girl Curana. Her eyes were wide, but he could see neither surprise nor fear in them. In fact, her lips were curled in a faint smile. Her voice was low and calm as she spoke.

«Pendarnoth, I have come to you, for it is said that you have the strength of ten men in all things.»

Blade found it hard to keep from laughing out loud. Instead of an assassin, the lurking figure was only the local pariah curious about the alleged superhuman sexual prowess of the Pendarnoth. He released her hands and sat up. He tried to make his voice severe.

«Why did you come sneaking around here like a thief, Curana? That was not a wise thing to do around a warrior. There are some who would have stabbed first…» He showed her the knife-«… and asked questions of the corpse. And how did you get past the guard Guroth placed outside the door of this hut?»

«Is that what you call that man who was sprawled on the ground outside the door? He was asleep and snoring so that one could hear him three streets off. A child could have made its way past him. And I am no child. I am a woman.» She reached down for the hem of her robe and with a swift motion, drew it over her head and threw it on the floor. «I am a woman,» she repeated.

Blade hardly needed her to tell him that. His own eyes told him the same thing. The slimness he had suspected was there, but there were firm conical breasts and well-fleshed hips he had not suspected. And he was responding to them. Unmistakably, undeniably, he was responding. And Curana was noticing this response. The faint smile on her face was now a grin.

«You are not ten times as big as a man,» she said gleefully. «Does that mean anything?»

«It means nothing that you need worry about,» said Blade. He could not help finding both the situation and Curana amusing. He wondered if indeed there would be many women curious to see if the Pendarnoth's prowess was as the stories predicted. He hoped there would not be too many. If there were, he would find it hard to retain the prowess of one man, let alone ten.

But that was nothing to worry about now. He had been sleeping naked. There were no clothes to strip off before he reached out and put his hands on Curana's shoulders. The tips of his long fingers almost met across the back of her neck, under her hair. She had somehow managed to clean and comb it. It felt silky and straight in his fingers, no longer tangled and stiff with dirt.

Her eyes closed and her mouth opened as she felt his touch. He felt her body stiffen slightly, and a thought struck him. Was this girl possibly a virgin? It seemed improbable, or was it? The girl was a pariah in Lio. What man of the village would have her? So she had come to the Pendarnoth? He would soon find out.

She slowly raised her hands, placing her fingers gently, tentatively, around his erect organ. Those fingers of hers were not skilled, but their softness and their delicacy were having the usual effect. Blade noticed Curana's lips curling tentatively, as if they wanted to join her fingers. But there was a tension in her body that said she wanted to hold back as much as she wanted to push forward.

He knelt down in front of her and took his hands from behind her neck, moving them down her body. He stroked her throat as he would have stroked a cat under the chin. Again her eyes closed and her mouth opened. It opened wider and a little moan came out as his hands moved down and closed on her breasts. They were firm and proud beneath his hands, but seemingly as lifeless as the breasts of a statue. Then he felt them move as her breathing deepened, and the nipples stiffened into delicately firm points against his palms. He kept his hands moving around and around, up and down on her breasts, until her breathing was hissing and moaning almost continuously in her throat. Her head was thrown far back now, and her hair streamed down her back.

His hands left her breasts and moved with lightly playing fingers down her body. For a little while they were around her waist, stroking the small of her back. Then they slipped back around and inwards, playing in the curly black triangle between her thighs. His touch was light at first, as if he had been playing with soap bubbles. Then he stroked harder and faster. She arched her body and clutched at him, her hands roaming wildly over chest, arms, stomach, and groin. She was pulling at his organ now, as if she wanted to pull it inside her.

In spite of her urgency, he was slow and careful when he pressed her down on the furs and entered her. She was indeed a virgin, as the slight resistance he met proved. But it was only slight, and there was only a little gasp from her as he broke through and entered more deeply. Soon there were other gasps and moans, coming faster and faster as he speeded up his thrusts.

She was moist and warm and incredibly tight and snug as he pushed deeper and deeper. He felt himself beginning to have to fight for control. For the moment he won the fight, and his strokes kept on. Gradually her body began to writhe and jerk, rolling gently from side to side with him still deep inside her. The rhythm of her motions increased, her legs tightened around his waist, her hands clawed at his back until he felt blood flow. Then she gave a choking cry and arched her body until Blade wondered that her spine didn't snap. He felt a fierce and terrible contraction of muscles gripping him, and it was all that he could do not to answer her spasm with his own.

But though he might not be able to show ten times the power of a normal man, he could not let her pass with a single spasm her first time. His endurance kept him going, until she heaved and writhed a second time, then a third. Then his own body arched and his breath came out in a terrible groan, and his arms and legs seemed to lose their strength as he poured himself into her.

His arms and legs went so limp, in fact, that he very nearly fell down on top of her with his full weight. But he managed to avoid that embarrassment, and rolled heavily away from her onto the furs. He was breathing as heavily as she was, and for the moment he wanted only to lie quietly and relax.

But Curana was still moving, slowly reaching one hand toward Blade while she reached the other under the furs. Did she want more? Blade hoped she wouldn't be disappointed if he couldn't manage more right now.

Then the hand that was under the furs came out. It came out in a single swift motion, almost faster than Blade's eyes could follow. Clutched tightly in that hand was Blade's knife. It gleamed dully in the faint light as it darted toward Blade's exposed chest. He knew in a second that he could ward it off easily if he brought up a hand to block it. He was far stronger than Curana. But all the strength seemed to have gone out of his body.

Then the knife stopped its point only inches from Blade's skin. For a moment it hung there, as if frozen in midair. Then it began to waver as Curana began to shake and tremble all over. Blade saw her eyes close tight, and tears ooze out from under her long lashes. Then her hand jerked away, and the knife went flying into a corner of the room. It landed with a faint clatter as Curana collapsed onto Blade's chest, sobbing hysterically.

Before Blade could move to either console her or even get out from under her, voices rose outside and fists began pounding on the door.

«Come out of there, you murdering whore, or we'll-!»

Blade recognized Guroth's voice, and stood up. «Nobody's murdering anybody» he bellowed. His voice brought a sudden silence, except for Curana's sobbing.

«Are you all right, Oh Pendarnoth?» came Guroth's voice again.

«Of course I'm all right,» snapped Blade. «Why shouldn't I be?»

«The Rojag bitch drugged the guard, Oh Pendarnoth. Is she in there with you?»

«Yes, but-«Blade couldn't say any more before all the Pendari outside set their shoulders against the door and pushed. There was a squeal of twisted metal and a cracking of wood. The door flew open so suddenly that half the Pendari fell sprawling on the floor. But Guroth came leaping over the sprawled bodies of his men, grabbed Curana by the hair, and jerked out his sword. He set it to her throat and his arm muscles tensed as he prepared to drive it into her flesh.

«Stop!» roared Blade. He took one long stride across the room and a hand like iron pincers clamped down on Guroth's wrist. The Pendari captain gasped and his sword dropped to the floor. Blade gently shoved him back into a corner and picked up the sword.

«Now,» he said sharply, «what's going on here? Why were you going to kill that poor girl? What has she done?»

Guroth was rubbing his wrist as he answered. «I said she gave the guard outside your door some drugged milk.»

Blade nodded and looked from Guroth to Curana. «Is this true, Curana? You said the guard was sleeping.»

«I-oh yes, I drugged him, but-«Her sobs broke through her words.

«Is the guard alive?» Blade asked Guroth.

«Yes, but-«

«Just go on with your story, Captain.» Blade's tone was short and commanding.

«Then she came in here. She was going to kill you, Pendarnoth. She must be in the pay of the Rojags. She must be.»

«Guroth, I do not like having people killed for what they 'must' have been going to do. You-«

«But you are the Pendarnoth!» exploded Guroth. «To think of killing you-«

«What is all this talk of killing me?» said Blade acidly. «Curana and I were doing what is natural to a man and a woman when they are alone together and find each other desirable. That was all. And while I may not have the force of ten men, I do not think she was unhappy with her choice. Nor was I with mine. So let us have no more talk of killing, Guroth.»

«But she drugged the guard. She must have…»

«The next time you say 'must,' Guroth, I am going to tell King Nefus that you are a hot-tempered man whose presence I find displeasing. Do you want that?»

Guroth's throat suddenly seemed to be blocked by something. He made a choking nose and shook his head.

«Very well. Now take yourself and your men out and leave us alone.» Bowing deeply, Guroth backed out. His barked orders brought his men to their feet and took them out the door after him.

When the door was safely shut and Blade was sure that none of the Pendari were lingering to eavesdrop, he turned to Curana. She had fainted, apparently with relief. Blade sprinkled water from the water jug on her face and rubbed her wrists until she revived. Then he sat down in front of her and said quietly, «Now, Curana, you know perfectly well that you were trying to kill me. Guroth need not know it, or why, but I want to know. If you tell me who you are and why you wanted to kill me-and why you didn't-I won't let anything happen to you.» He hoped he could keep that promise.

«I was going to kill you,» she admitted in a small voice. «I… the Rojas chiefs told me to do it. They…» She fell silent, then began again. «They want to help the Lanyri. The Lanyri have promised them Pendari territory and gold and slaves. They want to kill you and take the Golden Steed and put their own Pen-Pend- P-«

«Pendarnoth,» Blade supplied.

Curana nodded. «So I was supposed to kill you. But after.. what we did… I… I couldn't. We were so good together I couldn't.» And she burst into tears again. Blade held her gently until the sobbing subsided, then put a hand under her chin and raised her head until he could look into her eyes.

«Curana,» he said, making his voice gentle and severe at the same time. «Do you want to go back to the Rojag people?»

She very nearly bust into tears again, but managed enough self-control not to. Then she shook her head. «Not now. I have failed. They would have me staked out in the sun over an ant's nest until the ants ate the flesh off my bones. I cannot go back to them now.»

Blade nodded. «Then I will take you with me to Vilesh.» She gasped but he held up his hand to quiet her. «I will take you to Vilesh, and I will ask the Princess Harima to take you into her service and protect you. I have heard that she is a good mistress.» He knew not one single thing about the Princess Harima other than her age and her loyalties. But at this point he would say almost anything to ease this poor girl's mind. «Are you willing to go? Remember, in Vilesh you will be far from the Rojags. And you will have not only Harima's protection, but mine as well. I think as Pendarnoth I will be something of an important person, so that should help.»

Curana found the spirit to giggle faintly at his description of the Pendarnoth as «something of an important person.» Then she was silent for a while, apparently turning the idea over in her mind. Finally she nodded. «I will go with you to Vilesh, Pendarnoth. But will you be able to protect me from that Captain Guroth? He wanted to kill me. I know it.»

Blade nodded. «He did. But if his soldier is all right tomorrow morning, I will be able to handle him. He respects me not only as the Pendarnoth, but as a warrior. And now I think it is time for you to stop worrying about tomorrow and get some sleep.» Curana nodded again, lay down, and by some miracle was asleep within a few minutes.

Blade wished he could follow his own advice, but for a long time sleep eluded him. Had he made the right decision, saddling himself with this girl who might still be in the pay of the Pendari's enemies? He only knew that there didn't seem to be any alternative. Guroth would kill her quickly, the Rojag chiefs slowly and painfully. And the villagers? If they learned what their half-Rojag pariah had tried to do to the Pendarnoth, what they would do to her was an ugly thought. Taking Curana to Vilesh was the only way to save her life. And saving an innocent girl's life wasn't a bad way to start off a career as a messiah, in any Dimension. That thought brought Blade enough peace of mind so that he shortly drifted off to sleep himself.