This file is a part of Elf Sternberg's Collected Works on ASSTR.  The
complete archive of Elf's work can be found on his website at:

http://www.drizzle.com/~elf

The author can be contacted at:

mailto:elf@drizzle.com

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                               Leaning Post

Journal Entry 195 / 01028

Elenya, Urim 24, 01028

Crammed into one corner, a twelve-piece band played a quiet waltz. The
tension that Anlestin had borne for the last twenty minutes finally
become unbearable and she said, "Excuse me, but I see someone with whom I
must speak." Without waiting for a reply she pulled out of the standing
circle of nobles, including Lord siss-talek, and walked over to where
Aaden was engaged in a conversation all his own. Her bodyguard followed
her closely.  Aaden towered over the smaller llerkin, a black-and white
giant among the green and golden revelers. She thought of him as one of
a few friendly faces within the crowd. "Captain Satpulov?" she asked,
addressing him by the only title she knew for him.

"Yes, your highness?" he asked without a trace of irony or sarcasm. She
admired that quality in him. Too many Pendorians could not take the idea
of Goddess-given nobility seriously even as they lived under their far
more mundane kind of legal system. Perhaps even because of it.

"Could I speak with you privately for a moment?" she said.

He nodded. "Where would you like us to go?"

"My study is down that hallway a short distance. Pal, see to it that we
are not followed. We shall only be a few minutes."

"Of course, your highness," Pal replied with the same kind of dignity and
calm she had always carried, restraining the other two members of the
guard from following. Anlestin led Aaden down the hallway and through
a door that clicked open as she reached it and clacked shut and locked
after they had passed through.

She turned and looked up at her large, furry acquaintance. He was watching
her with intense curiousity. The militaristic uniform he wore, the show
uniform of the Pendorian Fleet, Captain, fit him perfectly, and he fit
it just as well. "Aaden, I know we don't know each other very well,
but... I need to ask a very large favor of you."

"If I can," the Mephit replied calmly, "I'll do whatever you ask."

She walked into his arms and wrapped hers around his torso. "I need
a hug."

Aaden smiled then pushed her back a step. To her surprise, he sat down
in a chair and gestured for her. She thought for a moment to reconsider,
then sat in his lap. He put his arms around her, allowing them to drape
around her back, and for a moment she felt comforted in the warm and
furred embrace of this mel her beloved appreciated so much. She was as
close to Ken as she could get, and she liked this tall, professional mel
who in turn loved Ken so much. "Is that all?" he asked as she disengaged
from him.

"For now," she said. "It was getting too much out there. I hate being
nice to that monster. You're not Ken and I understand that, but since
you love him so you seem to have some of his qualities, and right now
your optimism and friendliness are a comfort and a joy. That," she said,
gesturing towards the door, "is driving me crazy." She took a deep breath
and expelled it with a satisfied hiss. "It is too bad you're more Roiche's
type than mine."

He smiled. "Thank you for not seating him next to me. There are other
members of the nobility who share not only my predilections but also my
tastes. I'd rather talk to a straight pilot than a gay politician any day.
Did you really consider marrying him?"

She nodded. "He is a nice person. A little shallow, but nobody ever said
the Queen's Great Husband had to have any depth to him. Lesser husbands
and concubar could fill in where necessary if I need depth and love." She
released him, stood back. "It is too bad that one of the few men I would
have fill that position cannot do it."

Aaden knelt down, took her hand, kissed it gently. "He's not mine
to keep."

"No, but Ken is Pendor's to keep, if nobody else's. And he is his own. And
he does so adore both you and P'nyssa in a way that cannot be described.
He will continue to whirl into and out of my life like a typhoon, leaving
confusion in his wake. And we are both happier for it in that fashion."
Now that he was down to her eye-level, she reached out and touched his
ears gently, making him shake his head with a kind of pleasure. "Come. The
guests are probably frantically gossiping about your state and mine."

They returned to the verbal melee' in progress as nobles jockeyed for
positions in ways that only Jamis or Reeds could keep straight. Tomorrow,
she would consult with Jamis, the local AI at the Queen's Reach on
Pendor, and figure out who had gained what from last night's conversation.
Certainly, they would all be doing the same. Jamis, who had once been the
AI on llerkin itself until the war, would play no favorites. At least,
no apparent favorites.

She decided to join Aaden as he rejoined his circle. The conversation had
moved on, but quickly returned to the question of llerkin's ecological
status, a subject in which she knew Aaden to be intensely interested.
Although he insisted that his contributions had been minor, his value
both to the psychological well-being of the recovery team and to the
propaganda effort had been invaluable. He had actually fought for the
botanical restoration project that had finally been chosen, throwing
into the ring not only his position as Shardik's coimelin but also as a
well-respected xenobotanist in his own right. She had seen the results
of his work when she had visited llerkin and she approved. His decision
had been a correct one-- emphasis on the 'a', she thought, with all the
skill of a trained politician. There had been competing ideas that had had
their applications and suitability. She smiled, watching as he listened
to suggestions from the crowd. She could even feel him thinking. She
approved of Ken's good luck.

As the party wound down, Anlestin found herself feeling less tired than
when the entire event began. She commented on it to Pal, who asked,
"Is that bad?"

"I don't know," Anlestin mused. "Usually this time I feel like I've been
run over by a Magi arbortank," she said, referring to one of the larger
robot systems deployed to plant whole forests on llerkin. "I'm just not
tired right now, Pal, and I know I need to go to sleep."

"Is there anything I could do to help?" Pal asked, her voice as innocent
in its own way as Aaden's had been.

Anlestin sighed. "No, I don't believe so, not tonight."

"You're missing Ken, aren't you?" her bodyguard and confidant asked.

"Always, but yes, especially tonight. It has been too long since we had
more than a fleeting day together. This isn't fair, Pal."

Pal put her hand on Anlestin's shoulder, a gesture of familiarity that
would have shocked her mother. "No, Anni, it isn't. He'll come back. In
the meantime, does that suitable suitor over there look like he could
be of interest?"

Anlestin's eyes followed Pal's across the room to where Rulyon, young
heir of the Reffom family, cavorted playfully with a young lady of the
court as they wheeled around the room to the waltzing band overhead. "He
does," Anlestin agreed. "You aren't proposing I take him up to my rooms
like I did when I was a princess, are you?"

"The old ways are sometimes the best," Pal said with a smile. "You became
queen in a crisis, Anni, and you have always been a queen in a crisis.
Ever since your first day out of the hospital. Perhaps since your rescue.
You have not taken a lover in so long I start to wonder about your
suitability to the throne. The very fact that you have had Ipsi draw up
a list is refreshing."

"You're starting to sound like a noble," Anlestin grumbled, but then
gave her old friend a smile.

"You made me one," Pal pointed out with equal amusement. "I can't
encourage you enough, Anni."

"I know," Anlestin sighed. "Make it so."

"I shall do that. Shall I have it announced that the queen has taken
her leave for the evening?"

Anlestin gave Pal a mournful look. "Please don't. And when you get him,
do so discreetly, will you?"

"Did I ever fail in the past?"

"No, of course not," Anlestin replied. "This would just look..."

"Since when are you into keeping appearances?" Pal asked, surprised.

Anlestin looked over at her friend as she tried to get her feelings
back under control. "I've always been careful about my appearance,"
Anlestin responded.

"No, you were always cunning about your appearance, Anni. You let everyone
know, in subtle but unmistakable terms, exactly who you were courting
as Princess. You were also completely shameless about letting everyone
know that you had had Ken Shardik for the night. Your sudden swing into
celibacy has bothered quite a few people. It happened after you became
queen, when everyone expected your mother to live and reign long enough
for you to find a husband and whelp an heir before your succession. It
has long since past the time when you were supposed to go back to your
old ways and find lovers again."

"I found one! I found two, even!"

"And neither of them can give you children," Pal said patiently. "I love
you, Anni. But you are queen. An you can't stop being queen until you
have an heir. Or else Duke Conta siss-talek will become the next king
of llerkin."

Anlestin growled, "Never!"

"Then go upstairs, and I'll bring the handsome young Rulyon to you."

Anlestin smiled. "Thank you, Pal."

"Thank me after you're sated." Pal watched as her old friend disappeared
quietly down a hallway. She turned around and quietly made mental notes
as to who had watched the exchange, then found one of the many circular
tables occupying the edges of the room. She flagged down a waiter and
took a drink, non-ketonic, from his tray, and slipped him a note. "Take
this to that young man over there."

The waiter nodded. She watched as he walked back to the kitchen and
disappeared, only to reappear on a direct course for Rulyon. He was
a waiter; people treated him as if he were invisible, a part of the
furniture, and few noticed what was apparent to Pal. But she had been
doing her job for a long time. So, apparently, had the waiter. He handed
to note to Rulyon without saying a word.

Rulyon, despite his youth, knew better than to look up or acknowledge the
note. He simply placed it in his pocket and returned to his drink. Pal
watched as he excused himself from his courtiers, walked to the restroom,
then walked back towards her table. He sat opposite her, took a drink
as yet another waiter walked by, and smiled. "You're the queen's senior
guard," he said. Despite his calm exterior, Pal saw a nervous youth
underneath, watching her with great attention. He was barely thirty years
old; she had centuries on him. The differences were obvious to her. Then
again, they had probably been obvious to her when she was thirty. She
couldn't remember.

"Yes," she said quietly. "I have been asked to escort you someplace."

"May I ask where?"

"No," she replied, smiling at his discomfort. "Don't worry, Rulyon, we
will have you home before your father begins to miss you too much. And
I'm sure he will be pleased at your adventures tonight." She glanced him
over, curious about this mel in whom Anlestin had taken an interest. He
was about average height, with those very tall ears in which the nobility
of recent centuries had taken as fashion, although mainly in the female
population. His face was soft, with a broad, muted muzzle, and a nose
the color of a tiger-eye stone. His scales were very small; almost to
the point of appearing uniform at short distances, and a handsome green,
but it was obvious when he moved in the light that they had an underlay
gloss the same color as his nose; a very rare and handsome appearance. He
had no particular bulk, indicating no obsession with exercise. His
taste in clothing, at least for this event, had run to the conservative
although Pal noticed touches here and there that she admired. He hadn't
worn stockings, which might be considered insulting by some since they
were currently the very height of fashion, and although velvet was also
the height of fashion he wore only silk. To Pal, who despised the feel
of velvet, this spoke of common sense as well as luxury. He knew what
he liked to wear and he wore it without worrying about the opinions of
his fellow nobles. Either that or he was deliberately provocative, but
that didn't seem to go with the rest of the mel she saw before her. No,
he wore what he wore for his own reasons.

Rulyon pulled out a small communicator and spoke into it. Pal heard her
name but tried not to listen in on the conversation all the same. After
only a minute of conversation, he put the phone back into his jacket. "I
am yours for the evening."

"Not exactly," Pal replied, again with a smile. "But close enough. Come."
She rose and he followed. She led him down one hallway, then another,
then to an elevator. The doors to the lift closed behind them and Pal
said, "Jamis, I believe you know where we are to go."

"Indeed," the AI replied as they were lifted up to near the top floor
of the castle.

The door opened and Pal indicated that he should step out. As he did,
the door closed behind him and the elevator as a whole seemed to sink
into the floor, leaving him stranded in what appeared to be a very large
and opulent bedchamber. The floor was inlaid with a beautiful tilework
that he recognized as scenes from the crowning of Anlestin's ancestor,
King Rit, the first Monarch of All llerkin. There were two centerpieces
to the room, each not actually in the center. One was a water-filled
bath set into the floor; the other was a large bed. Both were covered
with netting to keep insects out, and even as he noticed the nets he
also noticed that all four walls of this room were missing and it was
open to the elements. The lights that burned low were clearly not flames,
although they flickered comfortably as flames would.

"Do you like my room?" a voice asked. Rulyon turne and watched as
Queen Anlestin appeared from the shadows, holding two tall chalices. She
smiled and held one out to him. "Please. Drink. I know you are old enough
for that."

He was too surprised to disagree and took one of the glasses. This
was happening far too fast. He found his voice well enough to stammer,
"On Pendor, everyone is old enough for that."

"To believe so is to misunderstand them," Anlestin replied. "You may do
anything you wish on Pendor, but for many things you must find people
willing to help you. Have you traveled much outside the Reach?" She
asked it simply and without provocation.

He nodded his head no. "I'm afraid I have not, your highness. I have
often wished to, but I have not had much opportunity."

"Rulyon," she chided. "I know better than that. You have chosen not
to. It is only a step to reach any Pendorian city or town. This isn't
a trip to Tegor or Suru. This is a simple visit to another land. Have
you traveled within the Reach, then?"

"Oh, yes," he replied. "I have been to our five cities here, and have
looked over much of the magnificent lands. I have even climbed the Rit
mountain range and visited that beautiful lake at its center."

She smiled. "'Magnificent.' 'Beautiful.' I take it you are one of
those people who approves of the life we have made for ourselves here
on Pendor?"

He sipped from the cup she had given him. The wine warmed him more than he
would have thought, and he gave the glass a cautious look. "It's ketoned
port," she explained. "A Terran drink with a llerkin twist. It's rather
popular. My question?"

"I don't know how to answer it. Yeah, I think we've created a good
life here. But I've never been to homeworld. How would I know how to
compare it?"

"I did not ask you for a comparison."

"Then yes, I think the life we have here is a good life. The land is
beautiful, healthy, and ancient. The cities we have created are models
for the future. This land is truly a gift."

"A gift is easy when it represent one one-millionth of your worth,"
she said.

"But it is one one-millionth that he can't take back. And to a Pendorian,
every square inch here is precious. They talk about how much they adore
the Terrans, but they haven't given Terrans this kind of gift."

Anlestin nodded her head, deciding not to debate the Unity decision. "Join
me in the bath? I'm chilled."

"You're asking me to... ?"

"Get naked with the queen, yes," she said, smiling. "Or bathe, at any
rate." She gave him a reassuring smile. "I will not ask too much of
you. I assure you."

"I guess I must accept, then," he replied. Anlestin smiled and fingered
the crease of her robe, allowing it to fall to the floor. She could see
the surprised look on Rulyon's face as he looked over her body. "You
are quite lovely, my queen."

"As are you," she complimented as he removed his shirt. He had a handsome
torso to compliment his beautiful scales. She reached out to brush her
hand along his chest, touching the glossy, soft scales that covered the
criss-crossed bands of muscles underneath. "As handsome as your father."

He blushed. His father had been something of a rake in his youth and both
he and Anlestin knew that period of history well. "I'm pleased that you
think so," he said.

She took his hand and led him to the bath, stepping down into water so
warm steam listed slowly across its surface. She sighed as the water
reached up over her chest and shoulders, and then smiled back up at
Rulyon as he joined her. "My queen, may I ask you something?"

"You just did," she said, suddenly laughing aloud afterwards. "I'm
sorry, Rulyon. But I have asked that same question of others so often,
and recognized it for what it is, that the irony of it has became
funny. What is your question, Rulyon?"

He sank into the bath and found a seat some distance from her. "Why am
I here tonight?"

"You are here, Rulyon, because your queen wishes for you to be here, and
because it is no hardship for you to be here. If you want to know why I
wish you to be here, let's just say that I am in need of company. Male
company. And if you call me queen once more, I shall scream. Call
me Anni."

"Yes... Anni."

"Do you have a familiar name?"

"Ruly, perhaps, although I understand that in Anglic that means 'easy
to control or discipline.' I am not comfortable with that definition."

"Anglic is used so rarely these days, Ruly, I suspect that I won't get
you confused with someone who is easy to control. That is a quality more
admired in the common man than in the noble."

"But it is admired in the common man," Ruly admitted.

"That seems to bother you," she observed.

"Shouldn't it?" he asked.

"I don't think it should," she replied. "It is important that a certain
element of conformity exist among most people in the population. Try
to remember the early 20th Century of Terra, Ken Shardik's own time,
when the vast majority of people were indoctrinated by their environment
to rebellious individualism. It was a particularly nasty time as most
people reacted badly to both the knowledge that they were herd animals
of a sort, and that their 'individuality' was in fact created by a
propaganda machine so subtle that it was hardly noticed."

Rulyon looked puzzled. "Doesn't media do that now, too?"

"Not the way it did back then. In our culture there are a lot of people
who rebel and pay for it with tragic consequences. And there is a
literature that shows that part of the rebellious process as well, too.
Tragic though it might be, it is often the real consequence of stepping
outside." She slid closer to him, smiling with amusement at the look of
confusion on his face. "Ruly, please. Try not to be afraid of me."

"I do not think I can avoid it, Anni. You are..."

"A person. Flesh and blood. A woman, and right now one who desires
you. Is that difficult for you to grasp?"

He looked at her, momentarily confused, and then nodded. "It is,
actually."

"Why?"

"Because I have never looked upon the queen and seen someone who would
want for anything. Passion included. I spoke with my father before
coming here. He told me to behave in a best possible fashion as you
might be looking for a husband. When you are asking me to become, well,
carnal with you, I do not know what my 'best behavior' might be."

She kissed his shoulder, touching her lips to his hide for a brief
fashion. "Do you think you know enough to please a woman, Ruly?"

"I am not sure about that, either," he gulped.

"What is there not to know?" she asked, looking into his eyes. "You just
have to let go and do what you think is best-- and whatever I ask for."

"You won't..."

"I won't ask you for anything too strange, Ruly. I mean that." She leaned
her head against his shoulder, appreciating the feel of someone nearby
again. "I have been lonely for many years, and yes, I am looking for a
husband. But I am also looking for a lover. Would you be that for me?"

Rulyon's hand touched her arm and reached down the length to find her
own hand. "I will be whatever my queen commands," he said, his face
aglow with a smile that said he was joking, but only partially.

"Then come here and share a Pendorian decadence with me," she said,
closing the gap between their mouths, kissing him softly, and she was
pleased when he reacted positively, kissing her back, their mouths
touching, the slightly thickened ridges of their lips meeting and
touching. In the warmth of the bath his hands actually felt cool upon
her chest and arms as he reached for her and pulled her closer even as
he broke the kiss. "You do that well," she said. "Are you sure you don't
know enough?"

"I will give anything a try. Once or twice."

"That's the proper spirit," she whispered into his ear. "Oh, Ruly,
thank you for staying."

"Did I have a choice?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes," she said, simply. She wondered if she should say anything else.
Perhaps 'yes' would be enough, being the truth. "Come," she said. "Let's
retire."

"Anni? When we are... done... "

"You may stay the night and recover. Or you may return home. Whichever
suits you. Jamis will see to your needs, in either case."

"Thank you," he said, following her out of the tub. She presented him
with a large terrycloth towel and he accepted it graciously.

Soon, she was pulling him towards the bed, and when she had him next to
it, she pushed him over before tumbling beside him, crawling close to him
and draping an arm over his naked body. "Tell me about yourself, Ruly."

"What do you want to know?" he asked. "My life on Pendor has been one
of idle luxury, like most peoples', I'm afraid. I actually hope we get
back to homeworld soon; I think too many people here feel like they
don't have enough to do."

She laughed. "Oh, Ruly, keep saying things like that and I will marry
you!" She kissed his cheek with new enthusiasm. "It's true; on Pendor,
Pendorians have figured out what they have to do to find happiness, but
I'm afraid that too many of the llerkindi don't have that kind of insight.
And since the AIs see to it that they won't starve or freeze to death,
they wonder what they have to do next."

He nodded. "Did we come to bed to philosophize?"

"No," she said, turning over and kneeling up on her knees. "But it's good
to hear that we think the same way." She leaned to kiss him again. "Think
of this as a kind of job interview."

"For which position?"

"Queen's Great Husband, of course." She felt his body stiffen. "Is it
not a job you want?"

"Can I refuse?"

"Only if we haven't become such friends that to do so would break my
heart," she said.

"That's a hard position to find," he replied. "Will you tell me when
we're getting there?"

"Would you refuse me?" she asked.

"I haven't decided yet. I'm only thirty, Anni. You are now almost four
hundred. Your generation discovered immortality and still thinks of
thirty as grown."

She nodded. "I'm sorry, Ruly. Oh, I am doing this all wrong!" She turned
over and sat down abruptly.

"No, no!" he said, sitting up. "Really, Anni, I like you. I think you
could be a ringing person, when you're not being queen."

She smiled. "'When I'm not being queen.' Very well, Ruly, then I am not
queen. For tonight, I am your Princess, understand?"

He laughed aloud, then reached for her and nearly threw her down onto
the bed, straddling her naked body with his. "Okay, my Princess." He
smiled momentarily. "I believe I like the way that sounds."

His sudden show of strength shot a thrill through her she hadn't felt
since... since Ken had visited her on llerkin. "I had a feeling you
would," she replied as he kissed her mouth, hard, and she responded back
with all the passion she felt tied up within her, forgetting for a moment
the gulf of loneliness behind her, the one that yawned between her and
Kennet. She wanted Rulyon to be more than a diversion. She wanted to
find in him the kind of pleasure she had found elsewhere.

The warmth of his kisses spread through her body; she felt her sex grow
wet and full; she heard whimpers before she realized they were coming
from her. "Ruly," she gasped.

"Shhh... Princess." His kisses touched her throat, then her chest, easing
down the length of her body. "I know a little of what I'm doing." She
touched his head, mindful of the tips of his ears, and tried to guide
him all the way, but he resisted, instead kissing her flat belly and the
narrow hollows where hip meets thigh. He lavished his attention on her
hide, kissing the insides of her thighs even as she opened her legs to let
him in. He kissed at the lip of her sex, touching the now-pouting knobs of
flesh that surrounded her circular opening, sending thrills through her
that she hadn't experience in far too long. Pal was good, but Pal... was
Pal. It wasn't even that she was fem. Anlestin liked fems. Pal was just
dedicated, rather than impassioned. She could feel it from Rulyon, the
wish to do this because it would suit his needs just as well as hers. His
hands were on her thighs, parting them even as he settled down onto
the bed between them, providing him with a view of her that was all too
obvious. He looked up. "Jamis? Lights to one-fourth." The lights dimmed
as he requested. "There," he said, looking up the length of her body.

"You... are already on my 't' list, Ruly."

"Mmmm," he sighed as he kissed the soft ridge at the very front of her
sex, making her thrill as bolts of pleasure swept up through her. She
whimpered a little louder, as if to ask him for more, to demand more
of him. But he was going to be patient, and for that she blessed him as
his tongue swept into the crevices of her sex and sought out her secret
places. Each touch made her want more, each kiss demanded that she respond
with a desire for more. She was quickly being carried into paradise, and a
fragment of her wondered if he had been joking about his lack of skill. He
was not lacking in anything at all, so far. He had just needed permission.

Rulyon's fingers crept under her buttocks, one hand slowly easing itself
into position to invade her more forbidden back door. She lifted her legs
a little more to give him better access. He took the hint readily, slowly
easing one finger against the rear slit of her asshole, pressing the
sides apart gently, prying her open. His tongue continued it's tempered
assault on her sex, probing deeper, each touch finding someplace new. She
could hear herself breathing fast and allowed herself to sink into the
sensations. The invasion of his finger within her ass was almost more than
she could bear, jerking a gasp out of her even as Rulyon's ministrations
promised more to follow. His other hand caressed her soft belly, tickling
out the ridges of cartilage underneath, forcing her to press her hips
upward. She wanted so much more of him! It was almost as if he were
trying to not understand her requests, no, her demands! Didn't he hear
her moans, see her thrusts, taste her wetness? It didn't seen to matter
to him as he became yet more insistent. The finger within her backside
squirmed its wet way further into her, probing corners of her that had
not been touched in... was it really centuries? His tongue caressed her
sex to even hotter heights.

She couldn't take more. She needed something else. "Ruly... fuck me."

"Princess?"

"Fuck me, please!" she begged him. He slid his finger out of her slowly,
rising between her legs to position himself, his long, narrow cock
pointed into the billowing cup of her sex. He plunged downwards into her;
she felt his cock pass the narrow of her sex and her whole body clamped
down onto his cock, holding him in. He moaned as her whole sex seemed
to fold around his shaft and grasp ahold, milking his cock. She pushed
her hips up against his body in a violent spasm as she strove to take
even more of him into her. He thrust against her, his body pummeling
her against the bed, giving her what she asked for and more, giving
her the pleasure she had sought all evening long. His eyes were close,
his face a mask of male concentration as he gave her everything he had,
but the look registered only for a second in her mind as she allowed her
body to give way to the tumult going on between her thighs, allowed him
to give her what she has asked for.

It was over soon enough, but not too soon. Ruly came with a cry of his
own pleasure, a few final spasms marking the end of his tour of duty. He
sighed and subsided next to her, taking his breaths hard and sharp. She
could feel each hot exhalation against her hide, and each one made her
want him to do that again... not immediately, but soon. "Tomorrow?" she
said aloud.

"Excuse me, your... I mean, Anni?"

She giggled. "Nothing, Ruly. I was just thinking to myself that it would
be nice if you came back and did that again tomorrow."

"To... Tomorrow?" he asked, laughing. "I suppose I could be talked into
such an endeavor. I have not met a woman such as you in a long time. You
truly enjoyed that! Especially after--" He cut himself off as if catching
himself about to say something... inappropriate. Anlestin knew exactly
what he had been thinking.

"After my Pendorian lover?" she asked. "Ruly, you needn't have worried.
You were wonderful. Your tongue reaches places his cannot, and so does
your manhood there," she said, pointing to his subsiding member. "This
is not a competition. He cannot be my Great Husband, and you know better
than to expect monogamy out of me."

He nodded, his face seeming sad. "That may be the one thing that
discourages me from accepting any offer you may make. I think I would
prefer it."

"What do you mean? Monogamy?" He nodded. She touched his cheek softly.
"Rulyon, I said not to expect monogamy. That does not mean you should
expect profligacy. I cannot see myself doing that either, no matter
what my youth may have been like. If I were enough for you, could you
be happy knowing that you may not be the only one for me?"

A look of confusion crossed his face. "I may have to think about that. But
that sounds more palatable to me than many alternatives."

"Such as?"

"Such as my father killing me for not accepting the Queen's offer to
become her Great Husband." He paused. "How can you extend such an offer
to me anyway? I understand that I'm at the very front of a long line
of auditions."

"No," she said. "A very short line. Less than thirty nobles actually
fit my criteria out of the several thousand now alive. You were first
on the list because I liked what I saw. It was my position to ask you,
not the other way around. Rulyon, there will be others, at least for a
little while. But I like you." She touched his cheek. "We have discovered
that we are good in bed. At least, I was pleasured. Were you?" He nodded,
blushing bright blue at his eartips. "Good. We have much else to discover,
but the simpler things are now sure. Too many marriages have been ruined
because this discovery was put off until too late; I am determined to
not make this mistake. And although it may not seem like it would matter
much to a Queen, I have to ask you-- Rulyon, can you cook?"

"I can, your highness. With some skill, I believe."

"Good. You will have to show me someday soon." Sudden exhaustion swept
through her with a yawn. "I think I am now going to get some sleep, Ruly.
What will you do?"

"Is the offer to spend the night still open?" he asked.

"It is," she replied. "If that is what you really want."

"I would not think of doing otherwise," he said with a smile. "Jamis,
lights off." For some reason Anlestin found their positions reversing
often, he leading, then she, then he. It excited her, this give and take
of power and control. She wondered how open he would be to... She put
those thoughts out of her mind, even as she began to fall asleep. She
felt Ruly cuddle up close to her and wished him a night visited only by
the sweeter spirits. Her favorite sweeter spirit was still light years
away, but she felt that at least now she had one a little closer.

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Standing on a balcony outside the main dance hall, Duke Conta siss-talek
looked up and across the royal campus to the Queen's pyramid. He saw
the lights go down, and then a while later go out. He waited.

The glass doors parted and his personal aide, Mahrn, joined him. The
Duke tossed a privacy ball into the air; it hovered over the two of them,
extending a field that even the AI couldn't penetrate to hear.

Satisfied, Duke siss-talek leaned back against the railing and asked,
"Did you find anything?"

Mahrn nodded. "She is no closer to choosing a first husband, much less a
second or third. You are not on the list, as far as I can tell. I received
the impression that Ipsi would like you on the list, but that Anlestin
would have her flayed alive if she raised your name as a suggestion. I
also received the impression that she had tried."

"So she won't have me as husband?" Conta growled. "I had a feeling she
may not. Is there any movement?"

"The rumor has it that she chose to break her celibacy tonight."

"Yes, I saw some activity in her quarters that suggested more than light
reading before bed. Do you know who it was?"

"The evidence points to siDuke Rulyon. Guard Neshlid led him away from
the party about an hour ago."

"Rulyon?" the Duke said, surprised. "He isn't fit to be a king. He's
still a boy!"

"My Lord, in your great grandfather's age, being Rulyon's age was more
than enough to have received a commission in the military, a position
leading men into battle, and the power of law at your left hand. The
Emperor Hunach was said to have conquered the entire world before he
was twenty seven."

"But that was before my great grandfather's age, Mahrn. In these days,
his age is barely enough to be considered out of puberty. And he has never
set foot on llerkin itself! What does he know about the homeworld? What
does he know about the war, the hardship, the terror?"

Marhn bit back that Conta had been only three when the war occurred and
probably didn't remember all that much himself. "He is still a noble of
the house of Reffom, My Lord."

Conta shook his head. "Not content to remain an eggless, bestial whore,
she has to go tromping into noble cradles now to get her thrills. The
more I think about it, Mahrn, the more I come to the realization that
something must be done about Anlestin. Something... permanent."

"Sir, you aren't proposing..."

"I haven't proposed anything. We simply have to find a way to convince
the people, and Anlestin, that I belong there, on the dais of the throne."

"Yes, sir."

  ----------------------------------------------------------------------


Original document is available from:
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The Journal Entries of Kennet R'yal Shardik, et. al., and Related Tales
are Copyright (c) 1989-2000 Elf Mathieu Sternberg. Distribution limited
to electronic media not-for-profit use only. All other rights are reserved
to the author.
