Westrons

Thanks again to Iriad Alianath, who gave me excellent suggestions (many of which have been incorporated into the chapters which follow).

*****

- "You're not really from Pylos at all - are you?" said Countess Kanitz.

I hesitated just a split-second too long. She had me - and she knew it. Talley'd been wrong: I wasn't a very good liar, after all.

There's a story about a little chick (a baby chicken) who wasn't paying attention in the farm yard. A cow unloaded a massive dump on her. Covered in bovine excrement (almost submerged in it, in fact), the little chick began plaintively calling for its mother.

A hawk heard the chirping, and swooped down, to collect the little chick.

The moral of the story is, when you're neck deep in shit, keep your mouth shut. Things can always get worse.

Countess Kanitz was studying me. She didn't seem angry to me - more ... curious.

- "Care to tell me the truth?" she said.

Ouch.

- "I'm not sure that you'd believe me, Countess." I said.

- "It's really quite odd. The Pylos that you've described in our conversations is somewhat like the place Pratha told me about. But different, too, in several key particulars."

"Pratha had never heard of Owusu. And you've obviously never met either of them. Yet all three of you have travelled to our shores."

"How many Pylosians have come to the Westron Kingdom? I find it hard to believe that you wouldn't know each other - that you never met to compare your impressions, or to share knowledge. Is there no 'Westron explorers' club' in Pylos?"

I had no answer for that shrewd guess.

"You know, none of the Pylosians who've been here ever came back. Once they leave, they never return. Isn't that odd?"

"I gave Pratha a letter for Owusu. There was no reply. Wouldn't you think that at least

one

Pylosian who came here would have formed a meaningful friendship? That they might correspond with a Westron friend? They'll sire children, but they won't write a letter?"

"You seem to have truly loved your Vanova. But you never mentioned writing to her. A Pylosian ship brought you to Cercen - might not another carry a letter back for you? Or is it that you

cannot

write to her?"

"Did you make her up? She sounded so real."

- "She's real." I mumbled. I'd almost said: She

was

real.

- "But she's not in Pylos, is she? Is that why you don't write?"

Kanitz was too damned smart. She couldn't envision space travel, but she knew - thanks to Themis, no doubt - that the only letters I'd written while I was at Tonol had been delivered to Cercen - to Talley. From him they'd gone straight to Kanitz herself.

With their technology, letter-writing was the

only

form of long-distance communication. I knew that. But humanity had long lost the ability - and the inclination - to communicate in that manner. And Kanitz had figured it out.

She was sitting on the bed, with her legs off to the side. Still naked, which was more than a little distracting. That might have been one reason why my brain was working so sluggishly. I couldn't think of a damned thing to say that would help.

Kanitz simply watched me, and waited.

- "I don't want to lie to you." I said.

- "But you won't tell me the truth."

- "That's ... not quite the same thing."

- "Evasion." she said, with a sigh. Kanitz slid off the bed, and reached for a robe.

"We might as well have something to eat, I suppose. Are you hungry?"

I looked at her, in disbelief.

- "But ...?"

She came to my side of the bed, and rested one knee beside me. Then she leaned over and kissed my cheek.

- "Cook - I'm not going to have you arrested, or imprisoned. You know

my

secret, remember?"

"You saved Tonol, so the Queen is in your debt. Langoret swears that you're some kind of military genius. Aneli says that she'll need a year to recover before her next hemmer."

"And Themis says that you are a good man. The best she's ever met."

I blushed.

"There." said Kanitz. "How can you do

that

- and yet lie about who you are, and where you come from?"

I was completely at her mercy. She stood up, and paced the room.

"Cook, Cook, Cook. What am I to make of you?"

- "Do you need to know so badly, Countess?" I asked. "Isn't it enough to know that I'll do everything I can to help you defeat the Crolians?"

She paced some more.

- "I suppose the secret - or secrets - are older than you are. The mysteries of Pylos are one thing, or many things - and you're another. Your story of exile ... that also rang true."

"Ah, well ... One thing at a time. Food, first. Then we'll see about having sex again. I think I'd like to be on top, this time."

***

She fed me, while sitting on the bed, wearing a robe that did little to conceal her charms. It gaped open, at the top, revealing the shape of one perfect breast. It also left a delectable stretch of thigh uncovered.

It may seem odd, that in my present predicament, I was growing aroused. I should probably have been afraid - or busily trying to construct some plausible lies.

But she'd said she wasn't going to kill or imprison me.

- "Why did you help me gain command of a regiment?" I asked her.

- "You mean, if I thought you were lying about Pylos?" She smiled. "Perhaps it's the way my mind works. I seem to be like a cabinet, with separate drawers for all of my different concerns."

"Pylos and Pylosians ... Whatever your people were doing here, I suspect that they did not intend to harm us. Not directly, at any rate. Then they all left, so I closed that drawer."

"There was Talley, of course. I had him watched, discreetly. He is no spy."

"And more than a decade later, you arrived. I found you interesting, and ..."

She brushed back her hair, and tucked a few rebellious strands behind her ear.

- "And?"

- "I liked you, Cook. From the very beginning. You are engaging and entertaining. I enjoy talking to you; you fire my imagination."

"And yes - I wondered if I should sleep with you."

- "But?" I guessed.

- "But the Queen was dying, Maia Matila's succession had to be assured, and you re-awakened my suspicions of Pylosians."

- "So you tested me."

- "Of course. Your knowledge of military matters, your ability to resist Nystu in hemmer, and your performance with Airta ..."

Just like that, I felt a big piece of the puzzle slide firmly into place.

- "Themis didn't go to Tonol just to observe the army, did she? She was also there -"

- "To observe you. Yes."

My heart dipped a little. It didn't sink, entirely; I couldn't for a moment believe that Themis had faked her feelings for me. No - those were real.

"I myself am quite cynical." continued Kanitz. "But in your case, I had to consider if my judgment was clouded by wishful thinking. I wanted to believe that you could be trusted, because I found you so fascinating, and because I wanted to copulate with you."

"Princess Maia Simonia is a good judge of character. Her appraisal of you would also be completely unaffected by sexual interest - of course, we never expected her to go into hemmer so soon. That was quite extraordinary."

- "So the story that she volunteered ... that she wanted one last adventure .."

- "All true." said Kanitz. "It was all her idea. The Princess suggested that she could be an impartial judge of your character, where I could not."

- "I see." That made me feel a little better.

Kanitz sighed. "Cook, you may be a skillful tactician, and a student of military science. That, with a bit of courage, may get you killed."

That got my attention. "I don't understand."

- "You are a political neophyte - a babe in the woods. You look around, and see the prospect of a glittering military career, with beautiful women whose hearts beat faster for you, when they are in hemmer."

"But we are an ancient people, steeped in intrigue and political skullduggery. There are women here who will eat you for breakfast, and spit out your bones."

"You mustn't trust everyone you meet, Cook. Especially me."

- "You?"

- "If it served the Queen's interest, I would dispose of you. With regret - but I

would

do it."

- "Thank you ... for the warning."

- "I am serious. You mustn't trust everyone you meet. Or copulate with."

- "Aneli?"

- "She's very fond of you. She loves the attention she has received, for having such a controversial Colonel. And you certainly gave her a memorable hemmer."

"But if our opponents find a way to offer her something she wants more ..."

- "Really? And Langoret?"

- "I believe that Colonel Langoret is exactly what she appears to be: a professional soldier. But there could very easily be much more to her than meets the eye."

I took what Kanitz said very seriously. I suspected, though, that she didn't know Talley's family very well. I found it hard to believe that Tallia had some kind of secret political agenda.

- "Why would you tell me not to trust you?"

She laughed. "Really? How would you respond if I said: Trust no one -

except

me."

- "So I shouldn't trust ... Themis, either?"

- "Ah ... I believe that you know the Princess better than I do. In several ways. I suspect that she fell in love with you, at Tonol. She's not a practiced liar, either, Cook."

"But ask yourself: does she love you more than she loves her sister?"

I couldn't answer that.

Kanitz stretched - and her robe slipped, a little.

- "Have you had enough to eat?" she asked.

- "More than enough." I said. Truth be told, I wasn't hungry.

- "Good. Because I'm

monstrously

excited. Political intrigue always does this to me. Would you be interested in copulating again?"

"I may not need so many preliminaries, this time."

***

Yes, I rose to the occasion. But I didn't skimp on the preliminaries, as she called them. Foreplay needn't be simply a pre-requisite; it can be an end in and of itself. I caressed, fondled, and teased her, and stroked, kissed, and licked.

But mainly, I teased her.

- "You're paying me back, for all those tests, aren't you?" she said. "Oh - that's evil."

I'm proud to say that I wore her out.

Afterwards, she lay beside me, sleeping peacefully. I stared at the ceiling of her bedroom, wondering what I'd gotten myself into.

She'd exposed me as a liar, and revealed her own most precious secret. She knew that Pylos and Pylosians were something of a myth - and then she let the matter drop.

And we'd had sex twice. Good sex. Not the fireworks of hemmer, but unlike Westron females, Kanitz could do it again next week, if she chose to. I dearly hoped she would.

After that? That's where my idle dreams began to lose steam.

I was Colonel of an 18th-century style regiment, in the midst of a just, defensive war. I'd caught the eye of the Queen (and the Queen's sister), and my prospects were golden. Expulsion from AFOTA was far behind me.

Yet I was in an alien land, run by women, who could only have sex (rather spectacularly) once a year or so. And if Kanitz was being honest, I was up to my neck in intrigues and power struggles that I didn't even begin to understand.

- "Deep thoughts?' she said.

- "I thought you were sleeping."

- "Dozing. You took a lot out of me, there. That was quite a test."

- "I was hoping that I could see you again." I said.

- "Of course you'll see me." She turned on her side, and rested her head on her arm, so that she could look at me. "What you really hope is that we'll end up in bed again."

- "Yes. You're magnificent."

- "Ah, but I can't compete with a woman in hemmer."

- "You can, Wenzla. Successfully."

She stroked my face. "That's sweet of you to say. I do enjoy your company, Cook. You change things. You change

me

. And I'm just as delighted with our coupling - you're wonderful."

- "Thank you."

- "But you must see: I can't have you here, as often as I would like - which would be always. My secret would never last, if you were in my bed every night."

"And could you be happy in the Palace? What would you do, to occupy yourself? Could you be satisfied, with the limited time I would be able to devote to you?"

"You weren't made to be a consort, Cook. It sounds tempting ... to have you at my beck and call. But neither of us wants that."

She made perfect sense. Langoret and I were building a force which might play a decisive part in the war; I couldn't abandon that. Nor I could make repeated visits to the capital, just to see Kanitz.

- "I can't keep you here." she said. "I can only hope that you'll return, from time to time."

- "Ships passing in the night. Like the moons." I said. "Each of us travelling our own path, but coming close together every now and then - close enough to touch."

- "That's a lovely thought. I think that you should make love to me again. Is that not how you say it, in Pylos - wherever it may be? Make love to me one more time, Cook."

***

She was an incredible, fascinating woman. One of a kind. I was hopelessly infatuated with her. Not in love - she was far too calculating for that. And she would always be the Queen's Chancellor first. But Kanitz could swiftly become an addiction for me.

She was probably right: it was best for both of us to pursue our own objectives. We could help each other, that way.

Kanitz was also making me think of my own situation. She'd given me plenty of food for thought. As I walked back into Cercen, my mind was skipping ahead.

I wanted a military career: Kanitz and the Westrons were offering me one. I liked these people - very much. I could feel useful - and valuable - if I helped them fight their war.

But in my personal life, could I be happy with a succession of encounters with females in hemmer? I was enough of a horndog to imagine a schedule - a rotation, if you will - of beautiful women who would do their best to fuck me to death. I figured that I could probably survive a hemmer every two weeks or so. Maybe three weeks would be safer.

The romantic - and the realist - in me wanted someone to love. That included sex, of course - frequent sex. Kanitz had just shown me that she could be that person, physically. She was also intellectually stimulating enough to hold my attention.

But emotionally? Talley and Tisucha had a true bond; they loved each other. Could I find someone like that? And given what Kanitz had told me about hybrids, perhaps I already had.

When I arrived at their house, Tallia and Esyle were preparing the family's evening meal. The younger daughter was grilling meat, while my aide was baking bread for her father and me. The females would nibble at a small piece, to be polite; they were mainly carnivores, who just didn't appreciate warm, fresh bread with a dab of butter or oil.

But they were all familiar with Talley's more omnivorous tastes, and happily catered to him. Tallia did the same for me, in camp: she was an expert at locating and acquiring a variety of foodstuffs, to keep me healthy and happy.

We ate, and drank, and I answered all their questions about the Palace. After dinner, Talley produced a bottle of fortified wine, which we sipped from tiny crystal glasses.

When her husband began to nod off a bit, Tisucha shooed him off to bed. Tallia might be in the army now, but in this house, her mother was the ranking Field Marshal. The girls helped their father up the stairs.

Tisucha re-filled my glass.

- "You seem to have the weight of the world on your shoulders, tonight." she said.

- "Me? Ah - I've been thinking."

Tisucha waited patiently. But I wasn't about to start telling her that I'd been thinking about her daughter. Bent over a map table, in those tight little breeches ...

- "Two nights at the Palace." said Tisucha. "A woman, then?"

- "Yes." I was no longer surprised at how open - and how curious - Westrons could be about sexual matters. That's not to say that I'd reached their level - or ever would.

- "Was it Countess Kanitz?" asked Tisucha.

I couldn't help it. This time I sprayed a mouthful of fortified wine across the table, narrowly missing my hostess.

- "How-? How could you possibly -?"

- "Only two nights." she said. "And you look nowhere near as exhausted as you did after Airta - remember? So you weren't with a female in hemmer."

- "But-"

- "And Kanitz is the only hybrid that I know of, at the Palace."

I was stunned. How could she possibly know the Countess' secret?

Tisucha saw my confusion, and smiled. "I delivered her baby, Cook. I've seen her naked. Why do you think she asked for me, specifically, to attend her? Kanitz knows very well who my husband is."

- "I thought ... I thought that was a closely-held secret."

- "Perhaps. But not from her physician."

Portions of my conversations with Wenzla came back to me. She'd specifically warned that I shouldn't trust her. She'd also pointedly told me that I was a babe in the woods, when it came to intrigues - which she loved so much, they aroused her.

The Queen had to know that her Chancellor was a hybrid. Themis, too? I wasn't so sure about the third sister, Maia Ariana. But Airta had to be in on the secret. How many more knew?

Or was Kanitz just playing with me?

- "You know Kanitz."

- "Yes."

- "And she knows you."

- "Yes."

Devious. Unnecessarily so. Kanitz could've simply sat me down, and explained everything. Instead, she'd seduced me, as a prelude to introducing the subject of hybrids. Moves within moves, plans with more layers than an onion.

Was anything she'd told me true? I didn't know, at this moment, if Owusu or Pratha had ever existed. All she'd needed to do was ask me about Tallia.

But if that was her goal - to get me thinking about Talley's daughter - she'd succeeded.

Tallia.

***

Kanitz called us back to the Palace one last time.

- "While I understand that you are doing excellent work, Ensign," she said, to Tallia, "I have some concerns about Colonel Cook's safety. For that reason, I am assigning him two more aides. Bodyguards, in fact."

- "Bodyguards?"

- "There have been a few ... disquieting rumours. Surely you won't refuse two additional soldiers for your regiment? They will be subordinate to Tallia, and can assist with her duties. But they can also provide some protection for you, Colonel."

She presented my two new aides. Oshide was short, slender, and surprisingly dark-skinned. She moved like a feather-weight prize fighter.

Yehla was tall - nearly my height - and plain-featured. She had an athlete's body, except that she seemed to be a little ... top-heavy.

Neither one smiled.

***

Countess Aneli decided to remain in the capital, to enjoy her new-found celebrity. That meant that Tallia and I could do without the ox-cart.

We took advantage of the opportunity to teach Oshide and Yehla how to keep pace with me. Run 100, walk 50. Every time I did this, I was reminded of how I'd learned the very first time - with Themis.

Both bodyguards caught on quickly, despite the disparity in their sizes. Yehla was powerful, if a bit ponderous. Oshide moved like a panther, cat-quick.

Tallia made every effort to be pleasant with them. I gradually became accustomed to having at least one of them near me, almost all the time. Disquieting rumours? They seemed to take it all very seriously.

Langoret had everything well in hand, back at our camp. She raised an eyebrow at my two new aides, but didn't comment when I explained Kanitz' reasoning.

We had a long talk. She already knew of my plan, but it was time to work out the details, and prepare our regiments - without letting them know what it was they were preparing for.

***

Then it was time.