The Towers Of Melnon

Chapter SEVENTEEN

Blade had only seen Ye-Jaza once, at the meeting of the Council of Leaders. That brief glimpse had given him no clues as to her character. He remembered a small, slender woman, with a thin, almost bony face, and a mass of blue-black hair worn long like a young girl's. Not at all what Blade would call attractive, but definitely not ugly either. She had seemed to be staying remote and distant from the discussion. He suspected that she was a woman who knew her own mind much too well to be susceptible to any such simple-minded strategy as Bryg-Noz had proposed. But try as he might, Blade could not see that there was anything better they could do-at least without waiting indefinitely for Ye-Jaza to make up her own mind. They did not have time for that kind of waiting.

They did not have it, because Nris-Pol's position in the Tower of the Serpent was growing stronger each day. About every third day the underground group remaining in the tower sent over a messenger, and the messages always told the same story. Nris-Pol was strengthening the guards, and assigning to them warriors loyal to himself. Nris-Pol had caused seven prominent warriors who opposed him to be degraded to the Low People on false charges of treason and violations of the Wisdoms. Nris-Pol had caused four women who spoke against him to be sent to the pleasure chambers. Nris-Pol had done this, Nris-Pol had done that, Nris-Pol, Nris-Pol — always Nris-Pol.

One day Blade exploded in frustrated fury, «What the devil is Queen Mir-Kasa doing about all this? Can't she do anything against Nris-Pol?»

«She can keep herself alive,» said Bryg-Noz shortly. The strain was telling on him even more than it was on Blade. The lines in his face were growing deeper each day, and even his hair seemed to be growing grayer. «And that is about all she can really do. Unless-«

«Yes?»

«Unless she guesses what we are planning and what Nris-Pol is planning. She might-she's no fool. And if she does, she might be waiting for us to attack, so that we and Nris-Pol can destroy each other.»

Blade nodded. «Leaving her in complete command of the Tower of the Serpent-or what's left of it.» He shrugged. «If she knew what we were really planning, that would be very short-sighted of her. But I don't suppose she knows about our plans for raising the Low People.»

«I hope not,» said Bryg-Noz grimly. And there they had to leave the matter.

Fortunately, good news came before Bryg-Noz's hair had turned entirely white. Ye-Jaza invited Blade to a private dinner in her chambers.

«Marvelous!» said Bryg-Noz. «You can begin making an impression on her now. But for the Wisdoms, don't move too fast!»

«Didn't you say I had a way with women?» said Blade sourly. «Then leave this to my judgment.» Reluctantly, Bryg-Noz agreed.

In fact, there was no opportunity to move fast or slowly at that dinner. It was «private» only in the sense that there were no more than a dozen people there. They seemed to be there principally to provide an audience for Ye-Jaza, however. If she had been silent and remote in the council meeting, she was certainly not that way at the dinner. Her mouth hardly ever closed, except to chew her food, for the space of two whole hours. This might have been deadly dull, except that she at least had a well-stocked, even brilliant mind. Her conversation would have been fascinating if there hadn't been so bloody much of it! There was no opening all evening for Blade to do anything but sit back and be part of the passive audience for the autocratic hostess.

Bryg-Noz, who had let his hopes rise unreasonably high, was greatly downcast by Blade's report.

«Isn't there anything you could have done?» he implored.

«Certainly,» snapped Blade. «I could have snatched Ye-Jaza from her chair and raped her on her own dining table in front of her own guests in the middle of her own tableware. But that wouldn't have done us any good. There was nothing I could have done that would have helped us.»

Bryg-Noz glowered at Blade, but kept his peace. At least he had enough sense to let «the one who fights the bull» do the job the way he saw it.

In any case, four days later Blade got another invitation to one of Ye-Jaza's parties. There were only six people this time, and Blade found at least one of the openings he had been looking for. Something Ye-Jaza said reminded Blade of something he had encountered on his own travels elsewhere in Dimension X. Breaking into a pause in Ye-Jaza's flow of words, he began telling anecdotes of those travels. He had always been a reasonably good conversationalist, but now he knew he had to rise to unusual heights.

He succeeded. Before Ye-Jaza had her mouth empty and was ready to start talking again, Blade had the other four at the table listening entirely to him. And this time it was to him that they listened for the remaining two hours of the dinner party. The four were obviously fascinated. Ye-Jaza glowered for a few minutes-being shut out of the conversation at her own dinner table was something new for her. Then she stopped glowering and started listening. Gradually her expression changed, and began to show interest, then fascination, then finally even a little awe. When the party finally broke up-hours after it was supposed to-Ye-Jaza's eyes followed Blade out the door with unmistakable interest.

This was all very well as far as it went, but that was not very far. Fortunately there was no more bad news from the Tower of the Serpent for several days. Nris-Pol had apparently done as much consolidating of his position as he thought he needed to, at least for the moment.

Then on the fifth day two things happened. Blade received another invitation from Ye-Jaza, this one sent by messenger and written on perfumed paper. And word came from the Tower of the Serpent that Queen Mir-Kasa had appointed Bryg-Noz's younger brother Kir-Noz to be Queen's Steward. Bryg-Noz was in a sweat of anxiety over this, although he could not really say whether it was good news or bad news.

«A little of both,» he finally said with a sigh. «If Mir-Kasa can appoint somebody with so little love for Nris-Pol, she must not yet be completely helpless. And Kir-Noz will be a good man to have giving orders to her guards and standing between her and the ambitions of Nris-Pol.

«But that also makes him Nris-Pol's first target, doesn't it?» said Blade.

Bryg-Noz nodded wearily. «Yes. Nris-Pol's next move will be my brother's death sentence. It cannot be otherwise. Before Nris-Pol is ready to move, we must be.» Bryg-Noz did not add any urgings to Blade this time. He knew that Blade was moving as fast as he could.

Blade nearly moved all the way to his goal that same night. When he arrived in Ye-Jaza's dining chamber, he saw that the table was laid out for only two people. And a large bottle of what both looked and smelled like wine stood in the middle of the table.

Ye-Jaza appeared a moment later. When she did, Blade wondered who was planning to seduce whom. She wore a gown of shimmering black and green threads that flowed around her slender limbs. As far as Blade could see, she wore nothing at all under it. Her hair was piled high on top of her small head, and a thin gold circlet shone against the blackness of the hair. She seemed slightly ill at ease, and there was a definitely strained note in her voice as she welcomed Blade and told him to sit down.

The meal came on, course after course, spicier than usual. This inevitably produced a lively thirst, and that was where the wine bottle came in. Blade saw that Ye-Jaza was drinking twice as much as usual. He held himself back, carefully not keeping pace with her.

Gradually Ye-Jaza's eyes began to sparkle as they had never done before, her movements became quick and lively, and her laughter louder and more prolonged. Her speech did not become slurred, but it flowed less readily. For the first time the conversation actually flowed back and forth between the two of them, instead of being a monologue by one or the other.

Blade became more and more aware of Ye-Jaza's real physical attractiveness as the meal wore on. And he became less and less able to keep his eyes off her. It was particularly hard to do this when she leaned back in her chair, and the outlines of small but well-formed breasts appeared under her gown. There was definitely nothing else covering them except that gown.

Dessert came, and with it a second bottle of wine. Ye-Jaza's laughter now occasionally faded out in a girlish giggle. Her dignity had almost entirely fallen away. Or had she perhaps let it drop deliberately?

But nothing further happened, and he decided it was best not to make anything happen this time-unless Ye-Jaza asked for it. He rose to leave, taking great care where he put his feet. He weighed nearly twice as much as the woman, and had drunk barely half as much wine. But it had been strong wine.

Ye-Jaza rose also, tottering slightly on her high heels, and keeping her face straight with obvious difficulty. She came around the table toward Blade, coming closer and closer until she was just one step beyond the reach of his arms. Blade stood motionless, waiting for her to take that last step of her own free will.

She took it, and slowly his arms closed around her, pulling her gently the rest of the way against him. He saw her slim white throat contract several times as she swallowed rapidly. Suddenly there was a glaze of sweat on her high forehead. Blade's hands ran down to the small of her back, fingers playing a gentle rhythm along her spine. Then they rose and stroked the sides of her neck, from just below the small neat ears down to the shoulders of her gown. Definitely she had nothing on under the gown. Blade could feel the warmth of her body striking through the threads, and soft round limbs pressing harder and harder against his. Genuine desire was in him as he moved his hands down lower, over the gentle upper curves of her breasts.

Her throat contracted again, and this time her breasts rose also as she took in a deep breath. «N-n-no,» she said. It seemed to Blade that she was talking more to her own body, denying its urgings, than she was to him. She took another deep breath. «I-you don't-not-this-«Between the wine and the arousal she could barely talk coherently.

She did not back out of Blade's arms. Instead he let his hands fall away, and stepped back, looking straight into her eyes as he did so. They seemed larger than ever before, and they were filled with tears. «I'll be back,» he said softly, as he turned to go.

Outside Blade took a deep breath of his own, and let it out in a sigh of relief. The physical attraction was there, and so were the responses of Ye-Jaza's unawakened body. But she still had to decide whether to let that body wake fully, or try to club it back into its sleep. He wondered how long it would take her to decide.

Bryg-Noz was waiting in their chambers when Blade returned. He was obviously as excited as a schoolboy about something. But he could not help noticing the expression on Blade's face.

«Did you-?»

Blade held thumb and forefinger about half an inch apart.

«This close.»

«Do you think you can do it the next time?»

«How the devil should I know?» exploded Blade. «Women are unpredictable creatures at best. Those who are still virgins at thirty are more so than most. Besides, what makes you think that simply one night with me will make Ye-Jaza my slave? It may take weeks even after I reach my first goal, damn it!»

Bryg-Noz sighed. «I know, Blade. In my head I know all of these things, but in my heart-«He shrugged. «There is important news from the Tower of the Serpent. Nris-Pol has organized a war with the Tower of the Ox. He is sending out one hundred warriors.»

Blade's lips pursed in a silent whistle. That was by far the largest war party he had ever heard about. The usual war party was the forty he had seen his first day in Melnon; occasionally there were fifty or sixty. But a hundred?

«Who are they?» he asked, his voice sharp.

Bryg-Noz looked bewildered. «What do you mean?»

«I mean-are they all of Nris-Pol's own faction, or are they his enemies, or is it a mixture, or what? That makes a difference-an enormous difference.»

«Yes, I can see that it would.» Bryg-Noz might be confused briefly, but he never stayed that way for long. «As far as I know, Nris-Pol is sending out only warriors who are not of his faction.»

Blade nodded. «That is not good. It suggests to me that he wants to get the hard core of the opposition out of the Tower of the Serpent and involved in fighting a war. That would leave him free to make some dramatic move-against Mir-Kasa, for example.»

«Or breaking out the great wands,» said Bryg-Noz grimly.

«Exactly,» said Blade. «When is the war going to be fought?»

«The second day of the next ten-day.»

Blade grimaced. That was only seven days away. Seven days was hardly enough time for getting everything ready, even if they started now. And they couldn't start now. But equally well they couldn't just sit and wait.

Blade grimaced again and slapped Bryg-Noz on the shoulder. «My friend, you know what the plans for the war-the real war-are. So does the First Warrior here. You and he should get together at once, and start picking men for key positions. Plan on our striking the day of the war against the Tower of the Ox. With a hundred Serpent warriors out of the way, our job will be easier.»

«But-«began Bryg-Noz, and then he closed his mouth with a decisive snap of teeth. «Very well. But if the First Warrior is detected-«

«I know. It will mean his position. But he will not be detected. At least not by the only leader we have to fear, Ye-Jaza. I'll be keeping her too busy!»

«You'll be keeping her too busy,» Bryg-Noz echoed. He shook his head. «You seem to be very confident all of a sudden.»

«I am-somewhat,» said Blade. «But even if I weren't-do we want to run any avoidable risk of finding the balcony of the Tower of the Serpent lined with Nris-Pol's men, all carrying great wands?»

There was no answer to that question, so Blade and Bryg-Noz shook hands on their agreement and settled down to planning. Blade also sent off a message to Ye-Jaza, inviting her to dine privately in his chambers. It was a bold reversal of the female-dominated etiquette of the Tower of the Leopard. But Blade knew that if Ye-Jaza accepted, he was one more long step toward his goal.

She did. Blade forgot about planning for the war in a flurry of planning for the dinner. Food, drink, decorations, his own clothing (shorts and boots only)-he chose them all with an eye to creating the most relaxed and erotic atmosphere he could imagine.

He set the dinner for the very next evening. The fact that Ye-Jaza accepted on such short notice suggested that she was already half-willing to do his bidding. But only in minor matters, and the war was not a minor matter. Blade did not like having the whole future of a dimension depend on his skill as a host and a seducer, but there seemed to be no way out of the situation.

So he was relaxed and calm as he greeted Ye-Jaza and smiled down at her. She was easy to smile at tonight. Her gown was the same mass of threads with nothing underneath, but this time the colors were red and black. And the circlet in her high-piled hair was silver instead of gold. Her shoes were high-heeled, also black and red. She was not quite shaking in those shoes as she held out her hand to Blade, but he could see and feel the tension in her.

Her eyes never left his face as the servants brought in the food and the jug of wine. Her tongue kept creeping out between her small even white teeth and creeping back again. She gulped one, two, three glasses of the wine without doing more than pecking at her food. She was obviously doing it deliberately, and Blade knew that she knew what was in his mind. The only question was-what did she think of it?

She settled that matter almost in the next moment. Putting her glass down with a solid thump on the table, she fixed Blade with a stare and a grim little smile. «I know what you want, Blade-Liza. I do not know whether I want it. But I want to decide with a clear head. I will take no more wine. But you will come here, Blade-Liza, and you will try to take me.»

That was not the warmest invitation that Blade had ever received from a woman. But his heart leaped within him at her words. Here was his chance. Now to make the best of it.

They both rose in the same moment, and stepped away from the table. Blade raised his arms, and once more Ye-Jaza moved into them, step by step. But this time her own arms were raised as well. As his went around her, so did hers go around him. She clung to him with surprising strength, but Blade could feel her trembling. She was clinging to him for support rather than in passion.

He ran his hands up and down her back, and this time he did slip his fingers in through the threads. His fingers touched bare skin, smooth and warm and firm. He heard a little gasp. His hands moved down, until they were at the small of her back. They moved farther still, until he felt the swell of her buttocks. The gasp came again, louder. Her arms tightened still more, and Blade felt the small «give» as her breasts pressed against him. Unmistakably, he could feel the hardening buds of rising nipples through the threads.

He bent down and began kissing her, moving his lips slowly from place to place. Forehead-a chaste kiss such as a brother might have given-then both eyes, the tip of her rather prominent nose, both cheeks, ears, the sides of her neck-and finally full on the lips.

Those lips were dry and tight under his for a moment, a second moment, a third. Then they opened, slowly at first, then in a rush into great warm clinging wet blossoms that seemed to want to suck him in. Her tongue came out and caressed his. He saw her eyes roll up and close, and for a moment he thought she was going to faint. Her body stiffened and her breathing slowed almost to the vanishing point. For what seemed like an age she stood like that against him. Then her hands moved, and they did not push him away. Instead they closed on his hands and drew them around from her back to her stomach, Then her slim fingers released his to push the threads aside from her breasts and let his hands in.

They were the breasts of a girl rather than of a woman, in size but also in firmness. Blade's hands each cupped one very nicely, and he felt the surprisingly large nipples harden still further against his palms. Vaguely he wondered what color they would be.

Now her hands were moving again, across his shoulders and down his back, to tighten around him and pull him still more tightly against her. And in that moment Blade knew that he was through her last barrier. Ye-Jaza was listening now only to the call of her body, a body waiting and ready to be transformed in all ways into a woman's.

Blade heard the call of his own body too, and so he picked her up in his arms, his lips caressing her throat as he did so.

She was even lighter in his arms than he had expected. It was no effort at all to carry her to the bedchamber. He lowered her on to the bed, then turned aside to take off his shorts and boots.

He was half-afraid this necessary pause might give her a chance to change her mind, but she did not. When he turned back to her, naked, his arousal jutting out before him like a ship's bowsprit, she was lying where he had left her. Her eyes turned toward him, and widened as they took in his erection. But there was no fear or flinching in those eyes. Ye-Jaza seemed to have retreated into some private world of her own, beyond resisting him-but perhaps beyond feeling him or responding to him also. He would have to follow her into that private world, in order to get the results he wanted.

He lay down on the bed beside her. His hands could roam freely all over her body, and they did so. He spent a long time on her breasts, and before that time passed those breasts were rising and falling with the frantic speed of her breathing. Then his hands darted swiftly down over the flat stomach, to burrow between her thighs. Those thighs spread apart slowly but surely as his hands reached the crucial point, and a long slow shudder racked her body. Not a climax-not yet. Just the reaction to new and uncontrollable sensations, beyond what her mind had conceived or her body had felt until now.

The hair between Ye-Jaza's thighs was a small mat of silky strands, already beginning to go limp with the wetness of her arousal. But Blade did not take that first wetness as his cue to enter. Instead he let his fingers work up and down her body again, both on the front and the back, gradually peeling away the threads of the gown until she was as naked as he was. Once her eyes flickered down at her bare body, widening in surprise. But she did not stiffen or stop or speak. Instead she shook her head and gave a little whimper that might have been delight, might have been protest. Her pubic hair was so black it was almost blue, Blade noted. And those now outrageously swollen nipples were solid cones of chocolate brown.

Eventually Blade noticed that her gasps and moans were coming almost continuously, and her eyes were riveted on his erection. It was as if she wanted to draw him inside her by the sheer power of her glance. He did not wait any longer. Swinging up on his arms, he positioned himself precisely, knowing that she neither could nor would give him much help. Then as her thighs spread apart again by another reflex, he slid down and into her.

There was a short tugging, then a sudden easing as he broke through. She gave a short, sharp cry, then her tight wetness closed around him, so suddenly that it was his turn to gasp. He knew he had to hold back particularly long with Ye-Jaza, for bringing her to climax would be harder than usual. But knowing this and doing it were two different things. Very different, when she was writhing under him, clutching him with her arms and the more intimate parts of her body.

It seemed forever before that body's reaction came. And when it came, it was with an almost terrifying violence. Ye-Jaza sobbed and howled and clawed at Blade's back until blood ran from the gouges her nails made, thrashing and heaving and jerking under him. With the final shudder of her tormented pelvic muscles her eyes rolled up in her head, and she fainted. It was as if thirty years of virginity had built up a monstrous accumulation of energy, all ready to be discharged in that one moment.

But if Ye-Jaza released all her energy then, she regained it soon enough. And she found more than Blade had imagined she-or any woman-could. It was three entire days before she left Blade's chambers. By that time both she and Blade were a little unsteady on their feet. It had not taken Ye-Jaza more than her first experience of love for her to become an addict. Specifically, an addict to Blade.

Now this was all well and good up to a point, for it gave Blade all the influence over her that he had ever dreamed of having. But she insisted that he promise to return to the Tower of the Leopard after the liberation of the Tower of the Serpent. She wanted him always around her, beside her-and in her.

Again, this was all very well and good, for the moment. But Blade strongly suspected that Mir-Kasa, if she survived the war, would make the same request. He could perhaps look forward to being caught in a tug-of-war between two strong-minded, able, and jealous women.

But that would be after the war. In the meantime that war had to be fought and won. And Blade had accomplished the crucial part of his mission, whatever difficulties he might have landed himself in during the process. Ye-Jaza remained as stubborn and proud toward everybody else as she had ever been. But she was putty in Blade's hands. And she gave her consent to the war against the Tower of the Serpent.