The Storm's Own Son (Book 2) (14 page)

Talaos had the sense another old ritual of Hunyos was unfolding before him, like his acclamation as warlord. Still he had little doubt as to what a statement like that last one could mean. Neither did he have any doubt of his reply. Then he remembered something from his readings in the great library of Carai. He understood. The Avrosans stood waiting on his word.
Soldiers of the allied army, those standing nearby, turned toward Talaos with the look of interested spectators.

Talaos answered with words from memory."I accept that which is offered. I will take Avrosa under my protection, and I will guide it through this crisis."

Akaros, and those with him, kneeled. Liriel did so with them. Milo's bearers carefully lowered the old man on his stretcher as they kneeled. Then Talaos stepped forward, put his hand on Akaros's shoulder, and helped the old man rise to his feet.

The former Patrician took a step back and raised a salute to him, then shouted, "Hail Talaos, Dictator of Avrosa!"

"Hail Talaos, Dictator of Avrosa!" shouted the Avrosan leaders and the crowd of their people with them. There were cheers from the Avrosans all around, and amazed expressions from the men of the allied army. Adriko grinned like he was watching some great spectacle of entertainment. Tescani looked as if he was calculating odds, and liked them. He suddenly made the faintest of smiles, wheeled his horse, and rode to rejoin his men.

Akaros whispered to Talaos, "The reply in the old way is often neglected in these times.  Dictators now sometimes fail to step down after the crisis... I am amazed a man from the Republic would know it."

"I used to study at the great library in Carai, when I had time," replied Talaos.

Akaros looked surprised and impressed. Talaos took a step back. He raised his right hand, and the Avrosans grew quiet. In his heart, Talaos felt the exultation of what had happened, and what was before him. He resolved to use it well. Inner power rose in reply to the temporal power he had just taken. His eyes smoldered with flickers of lightning.

"As my first act, "Talaos said in a voice suddenly as loud as thunder, "I call upon the people of Avrosa to look to your safety and defense. The army that approaches was allied to a council that no longer exists, the council of your enemies. That army will not be your friends. The army here with me are no longer your conquerors, but your protectors. Therefore, the Army of Avrosa will be mobilized again, and together we will defend this city."

From among the cheering Avrosans, the three men in gray military tunics stepped forward. Akaros introduced them, "Dictator, these are Tribune Megaras, Captain Sevri, and Captain Nerio. They are the highest ranking officers who were not followers of the Prophet, or in association with them. They were purged by Petani shortly before your army arrived."

Megaras was several years older than Talaos, with olive features and an intense, alert, solemn expression. Sevri was tall, only slightly older than Talaos, and fair-complexioned for a man of  Hunyos. He had a bright air. Nerio was powerfully built, dark, and watchful.

Talaos
nodded  to them, "Then you are now the first, and highest ranking commanders in the new army of Avrosa. Congratulations General Megaras, Tribune Sevri, and Tribune Nerio."

The three officers looked stunned, proud, and almost worshipful all at once. They saluted, and he returned it.

"Now," said Talaos, sweeping his arm to all around him, "we have much to do."

~

Dawn was not far away, and Talaos felt that at last, he might need some rest. He ascended the stairs of The Waverider with the Madmen and Liriel. He knew he'd need sort to out a more permanent headquarters, and there would be much more to do. There was no end of what would need doing, and sometime tomorrow, the enemy army would come. For the moment though, he could use time to reflect.

They reached the top floor, and the guard on duty saluted. The exhausted Madmen awaited his instructions, and he gave them leave to sleep. With no argument even from Kyrax, they quickly did so. As he walked to his office, Liriel stayed at his side.

"I told you to stay safe," he said, gently teasing.

"I feel quite safe, now that you are dictator," she answered with a cryptic smile.

"You certainly helped with that process," he replied, opening the door  to his room.

"Despite appearances, I still have a little influence," she answered.

He found her actions and that answer intriguing. As he entered his room, he gestured for her to follow. She smiled, lowered her face and the long black lashes of her eyes, and did.

Talaos took his chair at his desk, and she one of the many others around. She moved it close, across a corner of the desk from him. He poured some wine for them both.

"Still have a little influence?" he asked.

"There was a time when my family was wealthy, powerful, and respectable." she said, "We are, or rather were, a very old family in Avrosa. As far back as the height of the old Empire, we were merchant princes, scholars, councilors, and magistrates."

Talaos sipped a bit of his wine and interjected, "But then..."

"Yes," she smiled, "But then, my ancestors started to go astray, become eccentric, and manage their affairs... less well. In the last generations the wealth largely went away, though there was a trace of respectability left, until me. Certainly I was introduced to the best sort of young men when I was coming of age. Until..."

"Your gifts?" mused Talaos.

She took a sip of wine,
then leaned forward, and their eyes met.

"Yes. You understand me," she answered in a quieter voice, putting a hand on the desk. "Neither of us
are ordinary, or normal, and that has consequences. Yes, my gifts manifested themselves, and less controllably when I was younger. But that wasn't the only problem."

Not sure what was coming next, but sympathetic, Talaos reached a hand across the desk and took hers. She turned hers palm up beneath his, shivered slightly, and then spoke again.

"Talaos, when I'm not wounded and weary like this, I fancy myself a beautiful woman."

He watched her; luminous dark eyes with their heavy lashes, her elegant face with its high cheekbones and full lips framed by her mass of long, spiraling black hair, her smooth, light olive skin, her slender body and rounded breasts, and thought her beautiful now.

As if in reply to his attention, she flushed, but slid closer in her chair. "I...was not oblivious that men agreed," she added, "and I think I have stronger desires than most women. There was a young man, of a good family. He was a promising decurion in the army, and I was barely of marrying age, with a head full of foolish notions."

"Liriel, you don't have to apologize for... wherever this is going," said Talaos.

She smiled, seeming flustered for a moment, then regained her composure, "My apologies. I will eventually come to how I helped you. I had a lot of wonderful times with that young man. Enough that I became worried I might have a child, which would complicate things for everyone. The physicians took long good looks at me, and found something wrong.

"Talaos, they found that I am barren. I never could and never can have children. I simultaneously ceased to be in danger of losing my virtuous honor, or of any further interest to him as a wife, or as one to most other men. In any case, after he left me, he went on to die in another of Avrosa's wars, eight years ago now. But I learned and gained some things from my fate.

"From seeing the skill of the physicians I gained my interest in herbs, oils, and potions. Then I found an old woman in the city to teach me more, one who also worked with things physicians do not. I'm still young, but I am a crone and a sorceress. Many sought me for my powers or the counsel of the spirits, and some for my company, and I like powerful men."

She stretched her legs, and they
bared past the knee as the side-slits of her dress parted.

Liriel continued, "One of those powerful men later joined the Prophet's cause and then found me an embarrassment. I'd never asked him for a thing but his company. You struck him down with your lightning, on the platform. Of course, the Prophet's followers would have come
for me anyway, sooner or later. Others though, on the other side, remember me. Not that you've been remotely idle, but I've been putting out the word to help you for days."

"All because I rescued you, Liriel?" asked Talaos, gently teasing.

"As if that wouldn't be enough!" she replied, almost defensive, "but also more..."

He looked intently into her eyes, smiling. She averted hers, almost afraid, then raised them again, and returned his gaze. Her body shivered.

"Talaos, for all that has happened to me here, I love this city. It is my home, and my roots here are very deep. The stones and soil of Avrosa are in my blood and bones, and I have given it my heart, my gifts, my skills, my desire, and my flesh." She leaned closer still, eyes in his, and put her other hand next to the one he held. "Talaos, you freed me," she whispered, "but I've had the feeling ever since that it was more like a conquest. You... "

He put his other hand on hers. She smiled.

She whispered, lips parted, "What have you done here, in Avrosa? You've conquered it and freed it as you've freed and conquered me. Does that sound ridiculous? If it does, I don't care, it feels right to me. And not just the people... The spirits here are terrified of you, and yet circle you at a distance. As have I. Talaos, I..."

He interrupted her as he pulled her to him and kissed her inviting lips. She moaned and melted into his arms. He took one of his hands from hers and ran it up her bare thigh. She took one of hers and reached between his legs.

He picked her up. She was light in his arms, and he carried her to his bed. She reached an arm around his neck and kissed him as he placed her there.  She undid her dress and slipped it off with her undergarments. He removed his boots, armor, gear, and his tunic. As he did so, she loosened the cords of his pants, and put her hand inside, hard around his hardness.

"Talaos," she said, breath heavy and cheeks flush, "I've wanted you to take me, wanted you inside me, since I first spoke with you, but I was too broken, too pitiful until now."

In reply, he ran his hands along her bare slender body, the curve of her hips, her small waist, and the cups of her breasts. He kissed her neck and her mouth. She finished undoing his pants and they dropped to the floor. She stroked his bare hardness in her hand.

Talaos put his right hand in her hair at the back of her head. He felt the soft curls and spirals of it. He gripped it tight and she gasped. She tilted her head back, lips parted, and he kissed them, tongue forcing its way into her mouth. He slipped the fingers of his left hand between her legs and inside her. She moaned and thrust her hips against them. He curled his fingers up in her, and stroked. She gasped and writhed wildly, again and again until she released. Then he began again.

Her juices flowed, warm and vital, over his fingers as he curled and stroked inside her. She screamed and released almost violently, soaking the sheets. Then he climbed onto the bed, and looked at her beneath him. Her legs were open, her arms thrown back, her lips parted, her black hair wild all about her, and her body bared before him, beneath him. His.

"Please..." she panted, "Have me. Any way you want.
Every way. Please..."

He slid forward and pushed his hardness into her mouth, thrusting. She gripped his hips and teased him with her tongue. She put a hand to the base of his shaft, turning and playing with the skin. He thrust in her mouth again and again as he gripped her by the hair.

Then he pulled out, he slid back, and he forced her legs wider. She shivered. He pushed inside her and she moaned. He felt her warm and wet around him. He cupped a hand on her breast, then brought fingers together to pinch her nipple.  He put his other hand to her throat.

She gasped, fear and desire seeming to grip her both at once. She writhed and screamed as he thrust hard and wildly inside her. He felt his life and power strong within. He took her. He took her as he had taken the city, as all the possibilities of the world were his for the taking. He thrust so hard the bed shook, and she cried out. She released, again and again. The sheets were drenched. Then he released inside her.
Life and joy and ecstasy mingling as one.

He held her close, and they lay there panting for a moment. She kissed his ear and her hands roamed his body. He looked into her eyes, and she smiled. He kissed her.

Then he felt his desire rising again. He felt it so soon and so strongly that he was almost startled. Not even in the first rush of manhood had he been ready like that so soon, nor from anything he'd ever heard, was it normal.  But then, he wasn't normal. Not anymore. He drew her tight in his arms and pressed against her,

She gasped, and smiled, "Oh! Oh... Yes...."

Any way he wanted, every way, he thought with a smile. He took her by her shoulder and hip, and turned her onto her stomach. She moaned, and parted her legs. His hardness grew and throbbed. He ran a hand along her upturned bottom, rounded and firm.

"I..." she whispered in a panting voice, "I have a little vial of oil in my pouch on the table. Nothing strange, just good for the skin..."