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House Sorena – Chapter 2 Part 2

Sisters – Part 2

A Tale from Skyra

by T. J. Skywind

Note: Only a little sex in this one. Dayanna and Beri are both twenty.

Location: Sargossa, eastern member of Northumbrian Confederacy, northern Anzac

Date: May 2007

* * * * *

"I said I'd go with you, Dayanna." Just off her patrol shift and tired, Beri stretched in her chair, then drained her stein. At twenty, Beri was a hundred and seventy-five centimeters, lean and well muscled, and showed signs of still growing. She rubbed her hand tiredly through her short, blonde hair. "Did you think I'd forget? You're my shield sister. It was the first thing you ever asked of me. Don't you want me to go with you?"

A patron of the Drunken Giant bumped into Dayanna as he stood to leave. Dayanna glanced at him and then checked for her wallet before shaking her head. "Of course I want you to go. That's not the point. Patrol Captain Argelos promised to make you corporal if you went through leadership training. You've worked hard, Beri. I want you to get that promotion." She turned to her grandfather. "

Babba,

please, make her see reason."

Aelfin rose, his face full of pained determination. "You are both old enough to work this out for yourselves. Dayanna, this whole survival thing your church insists on is difficult to endure as it is. You've already survived your first combat and killed two opponents when you were but a child of thirteen, so to my mind, this should be moot. I'm only permitting it because I made promises to your grandmother. So please excuse me while I take my drink elsewhere." Moving to another table across the room, the grey elf turned his back to them.

Beri chuckled, her blue eyes dancing. "Your Grandda, he's a smart one. Figured out a long time ago he can't out-argue you. Told me once you're as bull-headed as your Grandma. And you are, too! Not that I could have known her, of course. But you are a stubborn mule sometimes. Shield sisters, bound forever. I made a promise to you, Dayanna, and I mean to keep it."

"I can wait, Beri. Really. I don't have to undergo the Rite this year. I can go next year or even the year after. Take your training and get your promotion."

Beri stared at her. Dayanna was twenty years old, but she looked scarcely older than when they'd pledged their vows to each other eight years earlier. Only now were Dayanna's breasts beginning to enlarge. Her raven locks when loose, reached below her bottom, but were in braided and folded and tied off warrior fashion. Beri continued. "Already put your name on the lists, didn't you? If you take it off now, they'll say things about you. Mean things." Beri shook her head. "If I lose the promotion, I lose it. Besides, what about the offer the church made you?"

Dayanna blinked, surprised Beri knew about it. Brother Rayan had approached her after the temple service just the day before, and she hadn't mentioned it yet. Ah, her grandfather, she thought. He always kept close tabs on her progress.

A monk of the church militant and expert in unarmed combat, Brother Rayan had been one of Dayanna's trainers for the past six springs, and she had come to think of him as a friend. Rayan had explained Dayanna showed all the marks of being a paladin, a holy warrior. The church was willing to pay the entire cost of her training. As a knight, she would automatically gain command as an officer.

Beri crossed her arms and rolled back on her chair, smiling clear up to her blue eyes. "Yes, I know about their offer. Do this knighthood training. You start later this summer, right after we get back. End of argument."

"And you said I was mule-headed. I don't have a say in this?"

"Nope! As your sister, it's okay for me to win once in a while. You train and become a knight, see? I'll go with you, be your squire and take care of you while you train. You'll earn ten times what I would as corporal. And one day, you build your own place. Hundreds of people, maybe more, all wearing your family arms, and me right there beside you. One day, I want the honor of being Captain of your Guard."

"Beri, we're blood-sisters. I won't have you serving me."

The blonde warrior leaned forward, lowering her voice. "I know you love me, and I love you, too. I'd positively die if anything came between us. We both know your long pedigree and a copper will get you half a loaf of bread. But you've also got the divine gifts of healing and light. Your goddess has picked you for something special. Even if you don't count all that, you've got King Donovan's sword – a thing right out of legend! Pallas Athena Sophia Brighteyes! One day –"

"Don't swear!" Her grey eyes looked at Beri with worry.

"– you will be a great Lady, Dayanna. And it will be my privilege to serve you. That's the way it is."

Dayanna pursed her lips, her grey eyes disapproving. "The gods should be spoken of with reverence – or at least respect – or you risk their wrath."

Beri waved her hand dismissively. "Fine. Now, are we going or not?"

"All right," Dayanna suddenly grinned, raising her hands. "I surrender! I'll add your name to mine on the survival lists. Might even be funny. When they see our names together, they'll assume we're lovers."

"And what's wrong with that? Heh, heh. I've been waiting to get into your panties for a long time. And I'll have you for a whole month, all to myself!"

"What about Phillipos? I thought you and he were getting to be more than, well –more than just friends."

"We're drinking buddies after watch, but he's not getting between my legs. Never has, never will."

Dayanna paused thoughtfully. "I know you've gone to Aphrodite's pleasure house. Did you ever visit with the men?"

"What difference does it make?" she asked, taking another drink.

"The spells necessary to prevent conception are cheap enough. If you don't have the money, I'll give it to you. But if you're never with a man, you don't need protection, do you?"

Beri's fist pounded the table. "That's my choice, isn't it? I don't want to talk about this."

Dayanna stood. "Quite right. A crowded room is hardly the place for such personal matters. Your old room?"

Beri guffawed. "Hah! Mother filled it with boxes right after I joined the Patrol. Even a dormouse couldn't squeeze into the room now!"

"Upstairs on the roof, then?"

Beri stared at the table top. Then she glanced up.

Dayanna stared back at her, her face firm.

"Hecate's tits! You're a hard one sometimes." Beri got up, kicking over the bench in irritation.

"Beri!"

Scowling and grumbling, the tall, blonde warrior stomped all the way up both flights of stairs. The smaller, leaner, black-haired woman followed behind her.

Outside on the narrow landing of the roof, the hot and humid May evening was surrendering to breezes from the Northern Ocean. The third sun hung low on the horizon. The Hellenes called the suns Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. To Dayanna, they were Aljahn, Tahna, and Miri, in Ba'lorian tradition, named after the first humans created by the Lawgiver. In the eastern sky, Sandahl, larger of the two moons rose pale green, waning bright. Pax, the smaller, white moon still lay below the horizon.

Dayanna sat down on the flat roof near the rungs by the loft window.

Beri sat on the other side of the ladder, staring out to sea. "Nice evening. Not too many clouds out. Should be warm again tomorrow."

"I don't want to talk about the weather, Beri. Are you afraid of men?"

"No!" Beri snapped. "I work around men all the time, no problem!"

"You're a young, healthy, lusty woman. You're an amazon warrior. Haven't you lain with a man, Beri?"

"I've been with a man! You were there when I was raped in that alley, remember?" Hugging her knees tighter, she glared at her sister.

"Oh, Beri." Dayanna grieved at wounds eight years fresh. "When

Babba

speaks about

Bamma

Theláyna, I can hear the love he still bears for her, even though she's been gone over sixty years. Men aren't the enemy. You once told me you wanted daughters of your own, to raise and love and follow behind you. A good dream. I always imagined us raising our children together. That won't happen if you never take a husband. What happened to you in that alley was cruel and–"

"Damn straight it was! I was thirteen! They had no right to hurt me like that! No right at all!" She looked away.

"Even if you can't forget, you need to move past it. You're a wire, stretched tight. I'm worried about you, Sister."

Beri wiped her eyes and said nothing, staring out to sea.

Dayanna sighed. "I blame myself. I should have kept more alert for trouble."

Beri whirled angrily. "What a bunch of tripe! We were kids, minding our own business and having a good time! If anyone's to blame, it was that rat bastard who raped me! But for you and your Grandda, they all would have had a turn, then killed and buried me without proper rites. And if not me, it would have been some other girl."

"Not all men are like that, Beri! Sure, few men turn down a woman offering sex, but they wouldn't force her."

The blonde warrior shook her head. "Maybe that's so with elves, but it happens a lot here in Sargossa. I work Patrol, Dayanna. I've seen it. A lot. A fat lip or a blackened eye, a dress torn to rags. Women so bruised and bleeding they can't even get to their feet. More often than not, it was men they knew who did it. Every time I see another woman victimized, I thank the gods my mother was an amazon and that I can be a warrior because of that birthright. Rape is against the law, but women learn to keep quiet or they get worse the next time. Some even wind up murdered. Women with money or power are safest, but even that's no guarantee. No, Dayanna. Men will rape if they can get away with it."

Dayanna shook her head. "I don't agree. There are many honorable men.

Babba

says the measure of a society is how it treats its women and what rights they have. I think he is right. An elvish maid can fight and no one looks twice. And the Lawgiver teaches that men and women are equal partners. A woman can be the head of a household or lead in battle as well as any man."

"At least you Ba'lorians kill rapists. If she can prove it, and most of the time the woman can't, Sargossa's courts may jail them for a year or two, and usually they just levy a fine. Once they're out, the woman catches it all over again."

Dayanna watched Beri sadly. "I've heard some of the insults they say to you. Only the fact I'm not legally an adult and

Babba

would be liable for anything I do has kept me from challenging them. It must be hard to endure."

"There's nothing wrong with women making love to each other. They make it sound dirty. It's not! I'm a good soldier. Does that mean anything? No. All they care about is who I sleep with. 'Oh, yes, kind sir! I'll wear a dress and breed your brats!' Heck I will! I'd sooner hump a dog." Beri looked away.

"Sometimes I see a man, and smell him, and–and, well, I get positively wet."

Beri smirked, eager to change the subject. "Really? Anyone I know?"

"No. Just some of the men training at the temple. Nobody I know really well.

Babba

once told me some female animals in the wild, before mating, make the male chase her. It's part of the foreplay, but it also lets the male know she's

letting

him take her. Anyway, after a good long workout, sweat pouring off me, the men exercising – with their big shoulders and tight butts – they look awfully good! All I know is I'm frustrated and I'm too young to do anything about it. My hands aren't enough anymore."

"I'll fix you, anytime, Dayanna."

"I know you would, and I appreciate the offer. That's not the point. By your religion, you are an adult. Until I pass the Rite, by the laws of my people, I am still a child. The law is specific. No coupling, and no sex with an adult. At the temple, they will teach me how to be a good lover. Besides, I want to know what it's like to feel a man inside me."

"I took a knife to the guts once. I can vouch it's pretty much the same."

"Beri!"

"Look, Dayanna. Some men I trust to fight beside me, but sweaty men don't do a bloody thing for me. I've been in the bathhouses and seen the statues in Aphrodite's pleasure houses. I think men look preposterous with that thing flapping about. Let's leave it at that, all right? Now what about this Ritual of yours? I'm not Ba'lorian. You're sure it's okay for me to go with you?"

She nodded. "Here's what I was told. Because of your age and your religion, you are considered legally an adult. But since you aren't a believer and have never taken the test, church law is that you can qualify as a child if that's what you want."

Beri made a rude noise.

Dayanna ignored her. "You have to follow the same rules I do, though. We will have to survive on our own skills for thirty days with what we can carry. No outside help. We may trade with those we meet, and we can accept aid in case of injury or illness, but we cannot accept shelter, money, or food as gifts. Some families think simply going to another city and living off your own labor is test enough, and I admit there is some truth to that argument. Everyone has the sexual initiation– that's required. Surviving in the wilderness is the old way, and that's how I want to test myself. Anyone who wants to be an officer, a knight or even the head of a household, must go through the full Ritual, in the traditional way. You know I am the last of House Sorena."

"Fair enough," Beri said. "Say, do brother-sister pairings do this survival test?"

"I haven't seen it, but I'm told it does happen."

"And do they, like, do it, when they're out there alone?"

"Copulate? Not always, but I suppose some do."

Beri screwed up her face. "Ewww! That's gross, Dayanna! And sick, too!"

"Unlike the gods? Zeus and Hera are brother and sister as well as husband and wife. And their parents, Chronos and Rhea, also siblings? The heavens of many faiths are filled with brother-sister matings, Beri. What if you had a brother, close to your age? He might have become a good friend, a protector, someone honorable, trustworthy, and dependable. Our faith discourages marriage or mate pairings among siblings, yet as long as the previous five generations have no such joining, it's permitted. Their children, however, must marry foreign spouses."

"If you had a brother, would you do him?"

Dayanna shook her head. "No. First of all, the elves wouldn't tolerate it. The elves of Cedardale granted the eldest heir to House Sorena the right to find a spouse from among them every fourth generation. My ancestors have exercised that right. I know the names of all seven elves whose blood runs in my family. Sleep with a brother? My religion says under the right circumstances, it's okay. But doing so would tarnish fourteen centuries of family honor and sever all connection to my elvish kin. The shame would kill

Babba.

I don't think I could live with that."

"Huh. You can really trace your family back fourteen centuries?"

"Sixteen. It's only thirty-seven generations. We get a longer life, but like elves, it's harder for us to conceive, we carry longer to term, and we are slower to mature."

"Thirty-seven generations? I don't even know who my father is. If Ma knows, she's never told me. Even though you lost your parents when you were little, I envy you. You know your roots – who you are and where you came from. I'm Beri Silvanos, daughter of Chloe Silvanos, former amazon captain and now innkeeper. I have two sisters, Selene and you. That's as much as I know."

"

Babba

once said your family has a long-time warrior tradition, proud amazons noted for their honor and bravery. He once said you are the very image of your great-great grandmother, Corisande Silvanos."

"Ma doesn't talk much about it. Mostly says that fighting is a hard life, that she wants better for Selene and me." Beri rubbed her ear. "Just like her, huh? Think he'd tell me more about this great-great grandma of mine?"

"I'm sure of it," she smiled.

"Dayanna, it's a Hellenic tradition before any quest to see an oracle. Will you go with me and get your future read?"

"If you wish. But I'm not Hellene and the oracle might refuse to see me."

"I'll convince them!"

Dayanna looked at Beri with wide eyes. "You wouldn't threaten them, would you?"

"And risk a curse? No. But in my experience, priests are always hungry for gold."

* * * * *

Snap!

A bound and the deer vanished into the thick underbrush.

"Sorry, Dayanna." Beri stared longingly where the animal once stood.

It was the fifth day of steady rain, and the third since their last solid meal. Very carefully, Dayanna eased the tension of her bow. "We're both tired, Beri, and soaked to the skin." She returned the arrow to her quiver and capped it, then unstrung the bow. "Maybe the snares caught something. There's still a chance we will have meat tonight."

"If I can get a decent fire going! I feel like I should have fins, I'm starting to forget what it's like to be dry." Beri removed her headband and wrung it, a futile gesture.

"Me, too." Dayanna gave her a quick squeeze on the shoulder before they set off for the snare line. "Once we're dry, we'll feel much better."

"Why couldn't we have found Mr. Cow? A quick whack of the blade and steaks galore. Pot roast, tip roast, rump roast–"

"Stop!" Dayanna covered her ears, laughing. "You're making me hungry! Besides, Mr. Cow is an oxymoron. It'd have to be Ms. Cow or Mr. Bull."

"Really? What if he cross-dresses on Tuesdays? Then Mr. Cow could be the correct form of address. Besides, I've never seen one yet that's too terribly smart."

"Mr. Cow works only if you are going to talk, Beri. I was under the impression you were planning to eat him. And what does smart have to do with it?"

"Spoilsport. You ruin my fantasies with your logic."

Dayanna glanced sidelong as she picked her way through the underbrush. "Huh! The other night you said I was your fantasy."

"Oh, you are, my dear. But in this fantasy, I introduce Mr. Cow to my plate and cutlery."

"So your interest in Mr. Cow is cupboard love, then?"

"Dayanna, that is twisted, not to mention being a horrible pun.

Na, na,

I just want to cook up a nice four-inch steak. Ma's cucumber sauce and tabouli would be good, too."

"There you go with the food again! When we're back in Sargossa, I'll take you to Nicolas' for the Ten-Gold Special. You can survive a week after one of those meals. Right now, you would do better keeping a lookout for some of the plants and mushrooms I showed you earlier. Unless you want dried hardtack again?"

"We finished the last of the hardtack yesterday," Beri reminded her. "I've tightened my belt three notches since we started this foray, so I guess another notch or two won't hurt. Hey, isn't that some of the funky fern?"

Dayanna stopped and examined the plant more closely. "Yes, it's licorice-root, all right. Remember, take only part of the plant, leaving some for next time. Beside, with that, a little goes a long way."

They managed to find some more greens and roots, and even a couple of wild yams. Despite their hopes, however, the snares were empty save for a single chipmunk. Beri watched sadly while Dayanna quickly prepared it.

"I could eat a dozen of those, all in one sitting, you know." Beri's stomach growled, and she rubbed it sympathetically. "Yeah. What

you

said."

"One chipmunk is better than nothing. Don't shun the blessings, my friend, just because they're not as obvious or as large as we'd like. It's better to thank the little one for its life so that we survive. With what we've found, we may even fill our bellies tonight." Dayanna cleaned and put away her skinning knife, then handed the prepared animal to Beri, who put it into her game bag. "You might give a word of thanks to your own gods, too. They do listen, you know." Dayanna collected the snare. Even with the rain, it would have to be set into a new location as the blood and remains would drive off other game. "Faith gives you strength and a sense of purpose. It can help you endure what you once thought unendurable."