WESTRONS Part 31
Themis and I saw each other again, of course. We still met at least once a month, with Kanitz and Tudino, to discuss military matters.
Kanitz was mostly worried with keeping costs down. She wanted us to reform and improve the army, but only if we could do it on a budget. Themis understood the military needs better, but her main concern was keeping the peace on our little committee.
It struck me as odd, the first few times, that I could feel that I truly loved both Kanitz and Themis - without feeling the need to act upon it. We'd been lovers, and I would always treasure those experiences. I didn't have serious regrets, and didn't confuse myself with second guesses.
It is what it is
, as Isa said. And
You can't go back
, as I could attest to.
Tudino, on the other hand, was very much part of my present. She understood, immediately, what I was hoping to achieve. We butted heads, several times - she was remarkably stubborn - but there was no one who shared my interest in technical details to such a degree.
We agreed on the need for more rifles.
- "The Crolians may learn to adapt to your skirmishing tactics -" she said.
- "They will."
- "But we can create a new advantage if we equip even more of our soldiers with rifles. Accuracy, range ..."
I wanted a shorter barrel - under 30 inches - so that it could be loaded from the prone position. When a riflewoman rested the piece (instead of firing from the shoulder, while standing or kneeling), her accuracy improved tremendously.
Tudino favoured a longer barrel, which could be fitted with a bayonet.
- "Without it, they'd be practically defenceless at close quarters!" she argued.
But she also championed several clever innovations, such as a scrolled trigger guard, which would ensure a firmer grip than if it were smooth.
We met with a number of the capital's better known gunsmiths - all males, of course - and sought their advice. They told us that it was possible to create standard features, so that different gunsmiths could produce rifles more easily. Those weapons would also be more durable, and more dependable.
I also convinced Kanitz that the rifle units could be issued with two sizes of ammunition: a larger ball, which had to be carefully loaded (a time-consuming procedure), and a smaller ball. The second type could be used when the barrel of the rifle became fouled, but it could also be loaded much more quickly, by simply dropping it into the barrel.
This technique was much, much faster. It sacrificed accuracy, but increased the rate of fire, so that the rifles could keep up with muskets.
I remembered a few things about the Baker rifle, the weapon issued to British rifle units during the Napoleonic era - especially to the famous 95th rifles. Every so often, I tried to nudge development towards that standard.
In the back of my mind, I wondered if it was possible to create a breech-loading rifle. It could be quicker to reload, and the loading could easily be done from the prone position. I just couldn't remember how to marry a breech-loader with black powder propellant.
In the end, I just planted the idea in the heads of our gunsmiths, and hoped that one or more of them might come up with something.
Tudino and I were in full agreement, though, about
who
to train.
- "Young officers." she said.
- "Young NCOs. Corporals and promising privates, who will probably be sergeants by the time the Crolians are ready to try again."
- "Yes."
- "You know, I really enjoy working with you." I told her.
- "You said that yesterday." she said, with a grin.
- "Well ... I
really
do."
***
Koroba didn't invite me to her next hemmer. Or the one after that. In both cases, she told me in advance that she wouldn't be asking me to join her.
- "I hope you don't mind." she said.
I had to laugh. I had no claim on Koroba.
- "You make me feel old." I said. "It's like I'm your grandfather, and you're asking my permission." I was all of 35 years old.
- "You're not my grandfather!" she said. "My weird
great-uncle
, maybe ..."
- "Oh,
there's
a nice image."
- "Seriously, Cook. You know what I'm doing. And why."
"You belong to Isa, and to Esyle. And Tudino has a claim on you, too. Not to mention the lady by the sea."
Koroba knew very well who I'd gone to meet, in the royal hemmer cottage.
- "That's over." I said.
- "Maybe. Even so, that leaves me fourth or fifth in line - " She held up a hand when I began to answer. "I know, I know - it's not like that."
"But I can still enjoy your company, even while I'm looking for a male of my own. And if I don't find him right away, that doesn't mean I should stop trying."
- "You have to kiss a few pigs to find a prize hog." I said. What I'd wanted to say, of course, was 'You have to kiss a lot of frogs before you find a Prince' - but she wouldn't have known that story.
- "Kissing pigs?" She made a face. "I don't want to know that much about your past."
***
Tudino, on the other hand, reserved me six months in advance.
- "I want you to come to my next hemmer." she blurted out.
- "Already? You can't possibly -"
- "Not now. I mean, when I
am
."
- "Are you sure?"
- "Of course I'm sure! We wouldn't be talking about it at all if I wasn't." she said. "Now, don't say anything to Esyle until I get a chance to ask her myself."
***
- "Tudino was here." Esyle told me, the very next night. "She asked if she could have you for her next hemmer. Very thoughtful of her. I said yes, of course."
- "Thank you."
- "I know how you feel about her. And -"
- "And?"
- "Nothing."
-"You were about to say something else."
- "Just ... that your circle seems to be shrinking. Are you alright? I worry about you."
- "My
circle
?"
Esyle nodded. "You don't stay over at the Palace anymore, so you haven't seen Kanitz for some time. Or Tallia."
- "That's ... more complicated, sweet."
- "I know. But you haven't been with Koroba, either. And you turned down Colonel Neslann."
- "She didn't ask directly. She just ... hinted." Truth be told, I didn't want to start something new with Neslann when I still hadn't figured out my old relationships.
- "Still. Now it's only Tudino and me. And Isa. Plus the Princess."
I couldn't hide my shock. "You knew?"
- "No. You've been very discreet. Tallia figured it out."
- "How?"
- "Maia Simonia wasn't in the Palace when the Queen went into hemmer." (Maia Matila was pregnant again)
"Tallia asked Kanitz where she was. The Chancellor was ... evasive. Tallia knew that you were travelling. She asked Kanitz straight out if you were with the Princess."
- "Esyle - it was the first time ... since Tonol. We came together before ... before you. I didn't know she was a Princess. And then, when I found out ... I didn't think that I could tell you - or Tallia, because ..."
- "Politics. And the Princess was married. I understand." she said. "I'm glad that you told me, though." Something about the way she said that struck me as odd.
- "Wait - you
didn't
know."
- "No. Kanitz wouldn't admit anything. Tallia just guessed."
Amazing.
- "How much do you want to know?"
- "Whatever you want to tell me." said Esyle. She was being honest, too. Where Tallia had concealed her jealousy, Esyle had none. While her sister was competitive, and possessive, she only wanted a piece of me. A share, as she and Tallia had agreed in the very beginning.
She was also a true Westron, in the sense that she loved hearing about, and talking about sex. She actually
wanted
to know about my other lovers.
Esyle sat, cross-legged, on our bed, as I told her the story of Ensign Themis, and Tonol.
- "You loved her."
- "Very much." I admitted. "But once I found out who she was, I knew that we couldn't be. For many reasons."
"Until she told me that, once she'd had two or three children, we could meet again."
- "She loves
you
." Esyle's lips were slightly parted. To her, I think, this was some sort of romance novel, or a drama vid - a story of star-crossed lovers. Never mind that one of the characters was
her
lover.
- "She loves what we were." I said. "We both understand that, now. We had a wonderful moment, in the past. But there's no future for us. And our memories might have been better off if we
hadn't
tried to recapture that past."
- "That's so sad."
- "Bittersweet might be a better word."
After a short silence, she asked "Are you going to tell Tallia? Or should I?"
- "What do you think would be best?"
- "I'll tell her." said Esyle.
- "Thank you."
- "May I ask you something else?"
- "Something you don't already know?"
- "We discussed it before. You know that I would like another child. And ... tonight would be a good time ..."
Esyle was more passionate than usual. She was always warm, and caring, more attentive to my pleasure than her own. But this night she was intense, and demanding, and just a little bit wilder than I'd ever seen her before.
I made myself a promise to start telling her more stories.
***
Meeting Tudino for her hemmer felt ... just right.
- "I was a fool." she said. "We should have been together last year. I'm sorry."
- "We're here now. You have no idea how happy I am that we are."
- "You're the only one I want. I feel so lucky to have found you - how could I push you away?"
- "You're not pushing me away now."
- "No."
Tudino had put on a little weight. There was an extra four ounces or so on her hips, and a few more ounces in her little breasts. She was still lean, almost thin, her body a combination of whipcord and muscle, covered over with an exotic collection of scars.
But I absolutely adored her proud nipples, and paid them extra attention with my lips and tongue. Tudino must have decided to shed her customary reticence: her right hand lifted the hem of my kilt, and slid under it, to find my erection. She stroked me, even as she moaned into my ear.
We were both impatient to be fully joined. But Tudino would only get warmer and wetter as her hemmer progressed. So I wrestled her to the ground, and proceeded to tease her mercilessly.
- "Are you going to -? Ah! Cook - come on. Don't ..."
