“Me!” cried one of the males in a choked voice, moving hard in the leather which bound him. “Come to me, girl. I shall not disappoint you!”
I gazed down upon the captive beneath my hands and thighs, then leaned farther down so that my hair fell across my left shoulder and brushed him. “I see there is one who would be pleased to have me use him,” I murmured, exciting myself further in the feel of my breasts against his chest. “I shall go to him, then, and allow you your chill solitude.”
I moved against him slowly, then made as if to rise from him. His breath came harder and harder still, his head tossed about, his light eyes blazed with the agony of his need, and surely, had he been free, he would have pulled me to him with fingers like stone.
“No!” he choked out abruptly, his body attempting to rise after me. “Do not go to another!”
“You wish me to remain?” I said, reaching behind my neck as I sat upon him, so that I might free my hair from the war leather holding it close. “You must then ask me nicely.”
Deep in his throat he growled in fury, yet his skin burned beneath my own. He held my eyes as his teeth clenched, and his shoulder muscles tightened in desperate attempt to free himself, but he had been bound expertly. I waited a scant moment, then shrugged and again made as if to leave him.
“No!” he gasped yet again, fear of being left unseen to turning him wilder still. “I—wish you to remain with me.”
“So that I might use you?” I prompted softly, leaning to him slightly, my hands gentle upon his ribs.
A sound, nearly a sob of desperation, escaped his lips, and his eyes closed to curtain his pain. “So that—you might—use me,” he whispered, the words choking him terribly. Part sigh, part moan came from others of the males, and I smiled and moved to the captive’s thighs, taking possession of him to feed my own high excitement. Quite hard did he move, attempting to use me, yet this I would not allow. He had asked that I use him, and this I did and well. More than once was he drained, and the amusement and encouragement of my warriors sounded out above his grunts of release. When my satisfaction was complete, I rose to my feet and reclaimed my swordbelt, then spoke to Larid, who stood near to me.
“Use the others as far as they will go,” I directed as she grinned, “then force upon them the sthuvad drug so that none of our warriors might be excluded. We have three feyd yet before we shall reach Bellinard. Let us put the darkness to use.”
My warriors laughed happily at my words, then they turned to the males. Cries of protest came from the males as their coverings were removed, and soon all were busily engaged at the hands of hungry warriors. The pale-haired warrior who had been questioned stood above the captive I had used, staring down upon him with a faint smile evident upon her slender face. The captive looked upset. He would not, I knew, ask to be used again, yet a warrior need not be asked. A Warrior took what she wished, finding no need to be asked.
A strong watch had been posted about the clearing, and I took those warriors who would not soon use the males, and returned to our camp. Word of males to be had spread quickly to those warriors who had been left behind, and there was much bustling and preparation. I gave orders that all kand, ours and those of the prisoners, were also to be brought to the camp where the males were, then cut for myself a good slice of nilno. A taste of daru would have been pleasant, yet was daru ever left behind when the Hosta moved to battle. I made do with water from the skins, smiled at the excitement of my warriors, then took to my sleeping leather. The strong male smell of the captive was still upon me, and I savored it till sleep claimed me.
3
Bellinard—and encounters with city ways
The new light brought the tears of Mida to us early, although the sky was clear when we halted for our first meal. The Hosta do not eat upon first arising, for it is not wise to stay overlong at a campsite. Far better to pass one meal each fey, than to pass the balance of one’s life. Belly down were the male captives tied across their kand, and little sound came from them. Briefly had I awakened in the darkness when they had been brought to our camp, and then again when the sthuvad drug had been forced upon them. The new light had shown them surly and well used, their coverings hanging as cut, from their bound arms. They snarled when prodded toward their kand, yet the feel of leather striking their backs silenced their snarls. We rode through the dripping forests, my warriors, at least, pleased with the feel of Mida’s tears upon their bodies, until we came to the edge. Before us lay gently swelling hills, brightening as the skies touched them with new gold. There, at the edge of the woods we halted to take our meal, the males being removed from their kand so that they, too, might be fed. They were placed upon the still damp ground, surrounded by warriors, but I had to approach them when they made a disturbance upon being offered food.
Fayan stood in charge of them, an excellent warrior nearly of a size with me. She had heavy golden hair and dark eyes, keen battle delight, and a well-made figure, but little patience had she for males. She frowned at their refusal, then gestured me to her.
“What may be done with these, Jalav?” she asked in annoyance. “If they continue to refuse to feed, they will be of little use even with the sthuvad drug!”
“We do not refuse!” protested the leader of the males in anger. “We are not animals that we may be given uncooked meat! You have seen fit to bind us helplessly; now you may also feed us properly!”
“We give you only what we, ourselves, feed upon,” I informed him, taking a strip of the meat from a warrior who held it. I approached the male and crouched near him, took a bite of the meat to chew, then proffered the meat for him to taste of. He frowned at the bloody meat.
“What manner of women are you?” he demanded. “You wear almost no clothing, you treat hunters with contempt, you bear weapons like men, have no fear of the forests, and eat raw and bloody meat! Never before have I seen your like!”
“We are warriors of the Hosta of the Midanna,” I informed him, then I tasted of the meat again. “You have never heard tell of the Midanna?”
“But the Midanna are the stuff of fools’ tales!” he scoffed, glancing for support at the other males bound near him, who nodded. “They are unreal save in the minds of frightened old men! Many kalod ago, a city to the east fell of its own neglect, and it was then said that it had been taken by Midanna. What foolishness! A city cannot be taken by mere women....”
His discourse broke off at sight of my smile, then he paled somewhat as he glanced about at my warriors. The other males stirred and muttered, yet no distinct words came from them. Their leader returned his gaze to me and looked worried.
“Not Bellinard!” he rasped his anger in part desperation. “You cannot be thinking of taking Bellinard!”
“We merely mean to visit Bellinard,” I assured him, then stood straight once more. “I am pleased to learn that Midanna will not be known there. We shall in that event, have little difficulty in entering its gates.” His anger was for himself, then, realizing how much he had told me. It is truly said that one word is but the first of many. “We shall not build fires merely to feed males,” I continued. “You may feed as we do, or go hungry. How would you have it?”
In silence he measured me with his eyes, then he smiled very slightly and leaned at ease in his bonds. “If wenches may eat uncooked meat,” he said lazily, “hunters may do no less. We have done so before this, and shall undoubtedly do so again. That other, I believe, called you Jalav. Bring the meat to me, Jalav, that I may satisfy my hunger.”
His smile lengthened and became grin. I, too, grinned at the jest, for he spoke of a hunger other than of the belly; indeed I, too, had the desire, but unfortunately had not the time.