Stardust Dreams (31 page)

Not knowing what sort of
behavior was expected of him, he chose to ignore her advances and, instead,
motioned for her to offer some food to Cherry. He was somewhat surprised when
he turned toward her and saw the dangerous gleam in her eyes as she glared at
the forward serving girl. But what the servant did surprised him even more.

In one quick movement, she
picked up one of the ribs and hurled it at Cherry, hitting her squarely in the
chest. Meat juices smeared the front of Cherry's white jumpsuit before she
could grab hold of it. Gallant held his breath, as he fully expected Cherry to
throw the rib right back at the girl, but instead, she picked the rib up off
her lap and took a dainty bite.

He relaxed a second too
soon. As the serving girl walked behind him, she suddenly let out a cry and
stumbled to the floor on her face. One glance at Cherry's extended leg told him
how the girl had tripped.

Clearly enraged, the girl
made a series of hand movements at Cherry as she leapt to her feet. But a loud
clap from the princess put a stop to whatever she was trying to say.

Your concern for the woman
is showing. It is considered a sign of weakness here. Be careful.

Gallant heard the voice in
his head, but instinctively knew it was not Mar-Dot thinking to him. Casually,
he let his gaze touch on each of the faces around the table, but they were all
intent on their food.
Who are you?
he thought.

When nothing else came to
him he hoped that it was because whoever it was could not read his mind any
better than Mar-Dot could without touching him. He was slightly shaken by the
awareness that these people—or at least one of them—was telepathic. Since he
had no such ability and no records indicated otherwise, he had been under the
impression that Illusians could not communicate mentally.

One thing these Illusians
did
do was appreciate their food. Several more platters were brought to the table
before one after another tossed their last scrap into the center and belched
their satisfaction.

Cherry watched the council
members pick their teeth and wipe their hands on their clothing and immediately
understood what caused the sour smell that surrounded them. She had been hungry
enough to clean the tasty meat off the rib she was tossed, but the table
manners of the Illusians killed her appetite for any more.

At the princess's signal,
the serving girls cleared the table and hauled away the remains. As they were
leaving the room, Honorbound gave a separate signal to the girl Cherry had
tripped, then spoke to Gallant.

"Though Josep managed
to arrive before you, we had no way of knowing precisely when you would get
here, so we planned no festivities for your first evening with us. However, it
appears that you have brought our entertainment with you." Her eyes
shifted to the left and narrowed on Cherry. "Your slave attacked one of
mine. For that I have the right to punish her… without your approval. But I
will waive that right if she accepts my slave's challenge to fight her."

Cherry's eyes grew wide as
Gallant turned to her. He had to know she didn't know the first thing about
fighting! Besides, that girl looked at least twenty years younger and fifty
pounds heavier than she was. On the other hand, she really didn't want to know
what the princess considered fair punishment for a slave.

"How's your arm,
woman?" he asked, pointedly nodding at her robotic limb.

As the light bulb came on
in her head, she almost spoke aloud, but caught herself just in time. Instead
she gave him a thumbs-up and a nod of comprehension. Even though she had never
been forced to use her arm to defend herself, she knew she could do it if she
had to.

Her confidence faltered when
the girl came back in the room wearing nothing but a white diaper and headband
like the horn blowers had worn. Cherry stood up as the girl approached the
princess, knelt before her, then rapidly moved her hands and fingers. Cherry
could guess half of what she was saying simply by watching. But when she turned
to Gallant and practically stuck her heavy breasts in his face, the other half
became pretty clear as well.

Honorbound interpreted the
sign language for Gallant. "This girl's name is Vella. Though she was born
a slave, she has earned the privilege of training with the novitiate warriors. If
she proves herself worthy, she will eventually be permitted to change her
status. You see, we are always anxious to increase the number of our soldiers.

"As much of an honor
as that would be for her, she is willing to forego it for another honor. A
novitiate must remain virginal until he or she completes the required training.
But Vella would relinquish the opportunity to advance for the privilege of
becoming bed-slave to our new sovereign."

Much to Cherry's dismay,
Gallant paused to look over the goods being offered. "I'm unfamiliar with
your customs," he told Honorbound. "If I accept her sacrifice, but
she doesn't please me, what then?"

The princess shrugged. "As
sovereign you may keep as many slaves as you wish and reward or punish them as
you see fit. Once you have used her, you may dispose of her. She understands
that and would strive to please you all the more because of it."

Gallant rubbed his chin and
motioned for Vella to turn slowly around for him to inspect the rest of her. "She
might be entertaining," he said after some consideration. "But I'd
like to see what passion she possesses. The way she fights will tell me a
lot."

Honorbound gave a husky
laugh. "Well decided, my lord." She rose and tapped Vella's shoulder.
"Take your place." Turning toward Cherry, she sneered down at her. "Slaves
are not permitted weapons. You will have only your body and your mind. We would
appreciate it if you would make an attempt to defend yourself, but even if you
do not, Vella will not spare you. The fight begins when I clap and continues
until one of you is unconscious… or dead."

Dead?
Cherry stared
at Gallant's profile, but he only had eyes for Vella. All she needed was a brief
glance from him, anything to let her know that he wouldn't allow the girl to
actually kill her. How far was "trusting him to know what he's doing"
supposed to go?

As the seconds ticked by
and he continued to ignore her and ogle Vella, anger oozed into her mind. It
didn't matter that she had asked to come here with him. He could have stopped
her if he'd really cared about her safety. Hell! He could have left her in
Innerworld to begin with and saved them both a lot of trouble.

Straightening her shoulders
and lifting her chin, she walked out to the open area to meet her opponent. What
she really wanted to do was fight with Gallant, but Vella would do as a
substitute. She met the girl's narrow-eyed glare with one of her own and tried
to remember any boxing or wrestling matches she had ever seen.

The only thing that came to
mind was an old Mohammad Ali quote, "Float like a butterfly, sting like a
bee." The expression seemed to be appropriate advice considering her
smaller stature, but how she was supposed to render the girl unconscious with a
bee sting was beyond her. Cherry shook the tension out of her arms and legs,
discreetly testing her robotic reflexes. She supposed she was as ready as she
would ever be.

The instant the princess
clapped her hands, Vella lunged forward with her hands aimed at Cherry's
throat. A quick duck and a sidestep left Vella off-balance and grasping for air
as Cherry lifted her foot into the girl's path. Again Vella landed facedown on
the stone floor and came up spitting mad.

Like a matador with a
frustrated bull, Cherry waved Vella to try again. This time, as the girl
attacked, Cherry spun out of her way at the last second and gave her a poke in
the back as she passed. Her robotic strength was barely needed to cause Vella
to tumble once more.

Bounding to her feet, the
girl was determined to avenge herself. Cherry thought Vella looked more like a
cow than a bull with her big udders jiggling around as she bent at the waist to
deliver a running head-butt. Just to change the routine, Cherry stood still as
Vella charged, then raised her right arm at the last possible moment. A light
shove against the girl's forehead sent her sprawling backward.

The palm of Cherry's hand
tingled a bit after contacting Vella's skin, and she hoped her robotic arm
wasn't going to start acting up now.

At first, the council
members were mumbling among themselves, but Vella's clumsiness soon had them
laughing out loud and urging both females on.

Cherry made the mistake of
glancing Gallant's way and instantly paid for it.

Vella brought her to the
floor in a bone-jarring tackle around her legs. She tried to kick free, but
Vella's weight and strength were a definite advantage in a close encounter.

They rolled across the
floor, one over the other, as Cherry tried to escape and Vella strained to hold
on. The battle escalated when Vella bit Cherry's left thigh so hard, severe
pain shot through her hip. It immobilized Cherry long enough for Vella to
straddle her waist and go for her throat.

Bucking and squirming,
Cherry's thin fingers clawed at the girl's meaty ones. Although her robotic arm
was able to drag one hand away from her throat, Vella was strong enough to
maintain the choking hold with the other.

While the tingling in her
arm was increasing with the continued contact, Cherry felt her strength ebbing.
She knew unconsciousness might soon follow, but the look on Vella's face said
she would not be satisfied with anything short of Cherry's death.

Anger took a back seat to
desperation as Cherry realized she was truly fighting for her life. Without
another thought, she released Vella's hand, pulled back her fist and slammed it
into the girl's jaw.

Vella's teeth clacked
together as her head snapped to the side. Cherry barely had time to gasp for
air, however, before Vella tried to return the punch. Cherry's arm flew up to
block the strike, then reversed itself to deliver a backhanded swing against
Vella's other jaw. This blow had sufficient power be-hind it to throw Vella off
and send her sliding across the floor.

Lungs heaving and throat
burning, Cherry struggled to her knees and prayed the girl would not get up.

Her prayer went unheard. Vella
lifted herself on an elbow, shook her head, then climbed drunkenly to her feet.
As she staggered forward with bloodlust in her eyes, Cherry forced herself to
rise as well. Swaying on her feet, she wondered how much more it would take to
end this insanity.

The answer came to her with
her next strained heartbeat. It was going to take everything she had.

In preparation, she sucked
in as big of a breath as she could hold. The second Vella was within reach,
Cherry drew back her fist and aimed for the girl's diaphragm. The punch lifted
Vella off the ground and threw her several feet in the air before she crashed
down again.

The hoots from the
onlookers might have been satisfying if Cherry hadn't been so sickened by the
cracking sound she heard when the girl hit the ground. In spite of the
knowledge that she had had no choice in this, she feared she might have killed
the girl.

The princess's clap
signified the official end of the match. Cherry stood by anxiously as a plump,
middle-aged woman bustled out of the corridor and over to Vella. Two girls of
Vella's age followed closely behind. The woman felt for a pulse, raised Vella's
eyelids, then skimmed her hands over the girl's un-conscious form. A cursory
exam of Vella's skull caused her to groan.

"She will be able to
report back to work tomorrow," the woman declared, then walked out of the
room.

Each of the girls who had
followed her in grabbed one of Vella's wrists and proceeded to drag her away.

Cherry breathed a sigh of
relief that Vella was not seriously hurt. The moment she relaxed, however,
exhaustion threatened to buckle her knees, but she was afraid that if she
collapsed, someone would come and haul her off, too.

"Your little Terran
has more strength than one would imagine," Honorbound said to Gallant. "My
curiosity is aroused. Perhaps you will permit us to question her now."

Gallant cocked an eyebrow
at her. "I believe there is the matter of
my
curiosity to be
satisfied first. Besides, I'm disappointed with her at the moment and would
prefer to have her out of my sight. She didn't even give her opponent a decent
nosebleed."

Cherry's gasp was covered
by the laughter that echoed through the room.

Honorbound was still
smiling as she called for the woman who had examined Vella and instructed her
to take Cherry away.

"Is there a private
area I can claim for my rest period?" Gallant asked.

"Of course," the
princess answered quickly. "It has been prepared for some time awaiting
your arrival."

"Good. Take the woman
there." He caught Cherry's eye for a brief moment. "Don't go to
sleep. I'll expect you to make up for your lack of fighting passion when I join
you."

The others around the table
clearly approved of his disgusting attitude, but if Cherry's mouth wasn't so
dry, she would have spit at him. Before she even left the room, he was back in
deep discussion with Josep.