Sword of the Gods: The Chosen One (84 page)

“Show's over,”
Mikhail announced.  “Pair up.  Now it’s time for
you
to practice what
Pareesa just demonstrated."  He glanced at Chief Kiyan, who watched his
little prodigy with amusement.  Chief Kiyan had backed
Pareesa
in the
arrow incident, not his own son.  The man had an eye for talent.

"Chief
... would you mind sparring with our little weapon of mass destruction?”
Mikhail asked.

“Of course,”
Chief Kiyan said.  He put his staff into a fighting position and beckoned. 
“Come, little fairy.” 

Although the
exact method of staff-fighting Mikhail taught was new to the Chief, the older
warriors had learned to use a spear to block blows back when border skirmishes
with the Halifians were a lot more common. 

“Don't let her
get too cocky,” Mikhail whispered before turning back to the group.  He ordered
them to start.  “Ready ... set ... go....!”

Ninsianna
sauntered over.  Was it his imagination, or did she deliberately sway her hips
to taunt him? 

“She has a
crush on you, you know?” Ninsianna said.

“What?”

“Pareesa ...
has a crush on you?” Ninsianna repeated, a little smile on her face.  “Why do
you think she trains so hard.”

“Really?" 
He frowned as he glanced over to watch Pareesa keep glancing back at
him
as
she sparred the Chief, as though seeking his approval.  "You say that
about all of them.  How can you tell?”

“I can see the
energy, remember?” Ninsianna used the cover provided by one wing to reach
around and possessively pinch his backside.  “Ever since you rescued her,
Pareesa has had a huge crush on you.”

“She's just a
little girl.”  He glanced over to where his youngest student had knocked the
Chief onto his back and made him admit defeat before letting him back up. 
“Isn’t she a little too young?”

“She's a
fierce warrior in a young woman’s body,” Ninsianna said.  “And she is
exactly
the same age I was when I developed my first crush on an older man.”  Her
eyes crinkled up in an enigmatic smile.

“Oh,” Mikhail
raised one eyebrow.  “An older man?  Who?”

Her smile grew
even wider as she lowered her gaze and peeked at him through veiled eyelashes,
the look that never failed to make his heart race.

“Why?  Are you
jealous?” she teased. 

"Yes,"
Mikhail none-too-seriously admitted.

“It's none of
your business!" Ninsianna laughed.  "It happens to every girl at some
point.  Young girl.  Sexy older man.  Lucky you.   You get to have Pareesa
follow you around like a love-sick puppy!”

“How do I
discourage her without hurting her feelings?" Mikhail asked. 
"Pareesa is my best student.”

“Very
delicately,"Ninsianna said.  "Or you shall have another goat on your
hands!”

"Oh,
no," Mikhail groaned aloud, thinking of his ongoing war with the families
dairy goat.  “I don't want that to happen.  How do you recommend I handle
this?”

“Ask Pareesa
to help you train some of the young men who are having trouble mastering the
basics,” she said.  “Young Ebad over there has been mooning after her for
months.  Ask her to train
him
.  And about a dozen of his
worst-performing friends.  It will solve two problems at once.”

“Pareesa will
chew him up for dinner and spit out his bones for breakfast,” Mikhail said. 
“She won't be happy I've saddled her with someone as inept as Ebad.”

“He will learn
... for her,” Ninsianna said.  “And she will be the better for it.  Tell her
you want her to do it as a special favor because you're afraid he'll get
himself killed."

Now
that
wasn't
a lie! 

"How did
I ever get so lucky to win the heart of a wife as smart as
you
?"
Mikhail grinned. 

"You fell
out of the sky, remember?" Ninsianna said.  "Anyhow ... I have got to
go dress this bird so Mama can cook it for supper.  I'll see you in a few
hours, okay?”

He bent to
kiss her, lingering to taste her sweet lips.  She nipped his lower lip and
pressed into him.  Desire tingled through his body and made the outside world
fade from his consciousness.

The sound of
sticks hitting each other and grunts of pain had ceased.  Hoots and cat-calls
came from the back of the line.  They'd lingered longer than was appropriate. 
Between tending the fields, training new warriors, consulting with the Chief
about the village defenses, and helping Alalah and Behnam work the kinks out of
the women's archery training program, he could never seem to find enough time
to spend with her, even now that they were married and sharing the same bed. 
He had a tendency to grab stolen moments such as this and not want to let her
go, resulting in much good-natured teasing about the normally reserved Angelic
turning to putty in Ninsianna’s hands. 

Reluctantly,
he pulled himself away and turned back to his work, watching Ninsianna’s pert
little backside out of the corner of his eye as she went about her business.

“Okay,
everybody ... let’s get back to work!”

~ * ~ * ~
* ~ * ~

Galactic Standard Date:  152,323.09 AE

Uncharted Territories: 

Diplomatic Carrier
‘Prince of Tyre’

Special Agent Eligor

Eligor

“Bring this human to
the Prime Minister’s private quarters,” Zepar ordered.

Eligor looked at
Lerajie.  Lerajie looked like he wanted to throttle the weasely Chief of Staff. 
Things had been weird on this ship for a very long time, but the last few
months?  Well … even with
the so-called ‘combat pay’ and bonuses, if not
for the carrot of being first on Lucifer’s ‘mail order bride’ list the minute
the Prime Minister pulled off whatever little coup d’état he was cooking up
with the females he was 'gifting’ all over the Alliance, both of them would
have been out of here.

“Well?” Zepar asked. 
His eyes had that cold, feral stare that always made Eligor shudder.

“Sorry, Sir.”  Eligor
interrupted Lerajie before he could tell Zepar to go to hell.  “Right away,
Sir.”

The dark-skinned human
male had been a problem since the day Sata’an traders had transported him onto
their ship.  Lucifer’s goon squad always intercepted incoming shipments before
the others could get a look at the females they shipped in.  Rumor said they
were a bit simple, to put it kindly.  Or at least that was how the fourteen
pregnant females Lucifer had ordered them to guard around-the-clock acted. 
Like … monkeys.  Big, stupid, very attractive monkeys. 

But the male … the
male had been so combative that even Lucifer’s goons couldn't handle him. 
Eligor had been called in to hold him down while they sedated him.  The man had
been drugged into a stupor ever since, but as Eligor had looked into the
dark-skinned man's eyes, there had been real intelligence in those eyes.  The
sounds that had come from his mouth had not been the hisses and guttural yowls
of the fourteen females Lucifer had impregnated, but the pattern of a
language.  A pre-language, perhaps?

The dark-skinned man
shuffled down the hall, nearly falling as they led him through the ship.  He
didn't act like a sentient creature
now
.

“We've got to report
this to somebody!”  Lerajie interrupted his thoughts.  “Even if they
are
just
animals, we can’t keep standing by and doing nothing.  They are the precursor
to our species!”

“Do you really think
Lucifer will just let you just waltz off of his ship?”

“I don't care
what
I
signed,” Lerajie said.  “The Emperor would be furious if he found out how
Lucifer is treating his root stock!”

“I'm not worried about
the non-disclosure agreements,” Eligor said.  He noted the icy stare of the two
guards who perpetually stood outside Lucifer’s door like a matched pair of
gargoyles.  “Shh…  Not here.”

They handed over the
dark-skinned male.  They were dismissed.  The two goons shoved the
heavily-sedated male through the door.  Eligor and Lerajie headed towards the
mess hall to grab a bite to eat.

“What do you mean,
it’s not getting tossed in jail that worries you,” Lerajie asked as soon as
they were out of earshot of the goons.

“Did you ever hear
from Pistis again after he threatened to blab about the female Lucifer gifted
to General Kunopegos?” Eligor asked.

“He quit,” Lerajie
said.

“His sire contacted me
looking for him,” Eligor said.  “No one knows where he went.”

“So?” Lerajie said.

“What about Tabbris?”
Eligor said.  “Heard from him since he tried to file a report through official
channels about the rough treatment of the human females Lucifer raped?”

“No,” Lerajie said. 
“You don't think…”

“Open your eyes,”
Eligor said.  “Before you get yourself killed.”

~ * ~ * ~
* ~ * ~

Earth:  September 3,390 BC

Mesopotamian Plain

Colonel Mikhail Mannuki’ili

Mikhail

Every fall, great
herds migrated across the alluvial plain in search of the abundant grains that
grew not only where the Ubaid planted, but anyplace else the flood waters
deposited silt.   The herd they stalked now was a creature the Ubaid called
reem. 
Sand gazelles.  A dainty, goat-like creature that moved in herds across the
desert, searching for forage.  Although hunting gazelles didn't carry the
prestige that taking down a larger animal such as an Auroch would have, it was
an opportunity to take his most promising warriors, young and old, on a bonding
exercise. 

He'd selected the
thirty warriors to accompany him via the most democratic means possible.  A
contest.  Whoever scored highest in a cornucopia of skills that included not
only traditional warrior skills, but also newer ones such as ability to follow
orders, had been selected … including three women.  A contest was the best way
to avoid accusations of favoritism.

"Do you have such
creatures in the kingdom you come from, Mikhail?"  asked Varshab, one of
the Chief's older generation of warriors.

"Not these
creatures, exactly," Mikhail pointed to the dainty creatures.  "But I
believe I may have seen something like these before."

"Don't be fooled
by their diminutive size," Kiarash joined the conversation.  "They
are small, but exceptionally fleet of foot."

"And nimble over
rough terrain."  Varshab pointed off in the distance where the flat river
plain rose up sharply to meet the desert, a steep rocky rock face even a man
would have to work hard to climb.  "If they make it up there, we'll have a
hard time chasing them.  By the time we climb after them, they'll be long
gone."

"That shouldn't
be a problem for
you,
" Kiarash pointed to Mikhail's wings.