“Mars?” she said blankly.
He pointed upwards. “Mars. You’ve heard of the planet Mars?”
“Yes, of course. Are you saying …?”
“Yes, I am. I come from Mars.”
PART II
The Perfumed Breeze
Chapter Sixteen
Jan leaned over Prince Caspar and playfully tickled his bare chest with a lock of her now long hair. “Come on, my Lord and master, time for you to get up.”
Keeping his eyes closed Caspar brushed the hair away. “Why should I get up? It’s too early,” he groaned.
“Have you forgotten again? It’s another Duty Day for you in the control room. We’re due to arrive at Bandala in a few hours.”
“Oh shit,” he muttered. Then, “I don’t care. What does it matter if I turn up or not. Gorman is really in charge down there.”
That’s true, thought Jan, though she was surprised to hear Caspar actually admit it. But he probably didn’t believe this deep down—his self-deprecating words had just been for effect. “Nonsense, my Lord,” she told him, running a caressing hand over his chest. “You are indispensable in the control room and you know it. Gorman and his engineers are but clever hands ruled by your noble head.”
He opened his eyes. She never tired of looking into his eyes. “Flatterer,” he told her. But he didn’t sound displeased. Flattery always works, Milo had once told her. The human ego has no emotional defence against it even when the rational part of the mind recognizes it for what it is.
Jan kissed him on the mouth. “I speak the truth and you know it, my Lord.” Caspar responded by putting his arms around her and hugging her tightly to him. Then he rolled them both over on the bed until she was pinned beneath him. “Again … already?” she gasped.
“It’s your fault,” he said hoarsely as he entered her. “It’s that amazon smell of yours … It excites me so.”
When Caspar was finished he rolled on to his back again and was silent for awhile. Then he said, “You’ll accompany me to the control room today?”
“Of course I will, my Lord.”
“You like visiting the control room, don’t you?” He opened his eyes and looked at her.
Jan was instantly wary. “Yes, sire. I told you—I find it very interesting.”
“Women don’t find such things interesting. Machinery and the like. What’s your real reason?”
She felt a flicker of panic. Had he somehow divined the truth? Had some action of hers made him suspicious? Trying to keep the nervousness out of her voice she said, “What do you think my real reason is, my Lord?”
He gave a knowing smile. “You are having an affair with one of the engineers. They are rugged, muscular men—the sort that an amazon probably finds very attractive. Tell me which one it is. Is it Gorman himself?”
She relaxed, but not completely. “There is only one man in my life, my Lord, and that is you. I swear it. How could there possibly be room in my life for any other man when you fill it so completely?”
Caspar looked thoughtfully at her, then nodded. He believed her, but he was still puzzled. “Then what attracts you to that dreary place?”
“I told you, my Lord. I find it interesting. I’m an amazon, remember, sire, and not like normal women.”
Slowly his puzzled expression cleared. He accepted this explanation. Idiot, she thought. He propped himself up on one elbow and smiled at her. “It is because you are not like normal women that I have kept you as my exclusive companion for so long,” he told her.
Jan knew that was true too. As Milo had said, she had a novelty value for the Aristos. But how much longer would the situation last? It had been nearly six months since she had been with Prince Caspar and his mother and she knew that, for all her ‘amazon’ novelty, Caspar would sooner or later tire of her. Lady Jane was certainly showing signs of boredom. Only small signs so far, true, but it was only a matter of time.
From that first night when she dined with Prince Caspar and Lady Jane in their private quarters Jan had realized that both son and mother had an equal sexual interest in her, but whereas Caspar was quite open about it Lady Jane was being more subtle. Jan correctly deduced that any relationship she had with the mother would have to be kept from the son.
When she’d told Milo the situation he had calmly suggested that she sleep with both of them. “Exploit the situation as much as you can. From what you tell me Lady Jane is the power behind the throne. She will be as valuable to us as the Prince.”
“You’re asking me to prostitute myself for you,” she said bitterly.
“No, whatever you do will be for yourself as well. I’ve told you what the prize will be if I succeed in my aims.”
“If you’re telling me the truth.”
“You have no choice but to believe me, Jan. I’m your only hope.”
“I’ve heard that before,” she told him disdainfully. But to herself she had to admit it was true; he was. But whatever slim hope he offered was getting slimmer all the time. Despite her many ‘games’ on the keyboard of the device that the Engineers said was a useless relic but which Milo believed held the key to his scheme, she seemed to be no closer to achieving what he wanted. Nor did it help that he wouldn’t confide in her what his scheme actually entailed. “It’s best you don’t know, little amazon. For your own sake. Just in case you let something slip during a session of pillow-talk with their Royal Highnesses.”
She had protested that she would never do such a thing but it was to no avail. He would tell her nothing more.
Prince Caspar got out of bed, stretched languorously, then admired his naked reflection in the full-length mirror. Jan admired it too; he had a beautiful body. If only, she mused, he wasn’t so hopeless in bed with it. If only he had a fraction of the love-making skills possessed by his mother. But then Lady Jane was much older—over a hundred, she’d admitted—and naturally was much more experienced.
He went into the bathroom. Jan hoped it might be one of those rare days when he would actually take a bath but she knew that was unlikely. Water was plentiful in the Aristo part of the airship but they didn’t take advantage of it, preferring to soak themselves, and their clothes, with sickly-sweet scents.
Jan got up too and looked at her own reflection in the mirror. Unlike Caspar she didn’t like what she saw. I’m getting soft, she thought. No, she had become soft. Not fat, just soft. Her muscles had smoothed out and the flesh of her torso, arms and legs had become featureless and bland. And pale. No wonder Lady Jane was losing interest in her. That wild—even dangerous—looking ‘amazon’ that the jaded Lady Jane had found so sexually titillating six months ago had practically vanished.
When Jan had finally learnt the meaning of the word amazon—it had been Ceri who’d told her—she’d been vaguely amused but not offended. She didn’t mind that Minervans were compared with a mythical tribe of ferocious women warriors, even if the comparison was meant derisively.
Caspar emerged from the bathroom wearing his favourite robe. It was made of black fur, the hide of which hadn’t been properly cured and its underlying pungent odour could be easily detected through the perfume. “I’ll be leaving for the control room directly after breakfast. Be ready by then if you want to come with me.”
“I will be, my Lord,” she told him and picked up her own robe from the foot of the bed. She was just putting it on when he opened the door to admit Dalwyn, Caspar’s personal manservant and bodyguard who had been on duty outside Jan’s bedroom all night. Dalwyn was a big, good-looking man who seemed utterly devoted to Prince Caspar. He made it clear to Jan he resented her relationship with the Prince and though she went out of her way to be pleasant to him he was openly hostile to her. This morning was no exception. Her smile and friendly greeting to him drew nothing but a surly glare. As usual Prince Caspar pretended not to notice.