Clockwork Goddess (The Lesbia Chronicles) (15 page)

Chapter Twenty One

The armlette's walking eventually terminated in the stopping of walking, that was to say in making camp in a cave. There the seven women sat around a fire, chewing on dried beef in relative silence. Though many were friends in their own right they were not a natural group in their entirety. Kira and Ayla sat near one another with Aeron to Kira's rear. Moon was sitting in Trebuchet's lap while Vix leaned against the wall somewhat distant. Liz sat furthest away from the group toward the mouth of the cave, staring out at the stars.

"So this seems stupid," Liz eventually announced. "You think a queen doesn't know how to look in a cave?"

Nobody much responded but Vix nodded her agreement in the shadows. She had said as much herself, but Liz seemed to be able to say what she could not. Liz seemed to be able to do anything with impunity.

Taken with sudden curiosity, she scooted toward the front of the cave and nudged Liz. "How do you do it?" She whispered the question.

"How do I do what?" Liz whispered back.

"How do you say things without anybody being angry at you?"

"Ah," Liz nodded. "Well. That's a kind of magic."

"I open my mouth and people jump down my throat," Vix said, unburdening herself to the one person who was no risk at all.

"You don't have enough practice at it," Liz replied. "You don't usually speak up, so when you do you misjudge the speaking."

Vix looked at Liz in surprise. For once, Liz actually made sense. Good sense, even.

"You're so serious and reserved," Liz continued. "Even when you're hiding in bushes like some kind of rat animal. You take yourself seriously. And that makes other people take you seriously."

"You know, sometimes I think you're not stupid," Vix said.

"There you go," Liz said. "If I were inclined to believe words, I would be upset by that. You say a lot of mean things sometimes."

"I do?"

"You do," Liz confirmed. "About me especially. Probably because you think I can't hurt you."

"Well that makes me sound like a bully."

Liz shrugged. "I don't know. You're definitely uptight. You got to loosen up. Say whatever to whoever whenever."

"That sounds like a recipe for disaster."

"Oh it is," Liz agreed. "But you need a few disasters. Disasters are good."

Maybe it was the moonlight, or the oddness of the situation, maybe it was the stress of the day, but Vix was starting to think that Liz had some very good ideas.

"Tell you what," Liz said. "You say what you have to say, and I'll back you up."

"What do you mean you'll back me up?"

"I mean you won't get in trouble for it. I promise. Go ahead. Say the thing you're most scared to say. Say it loud."

Vix glanced over her shoulder at the group over by the fire. "I couldn't."

"You can," Liz encouraged her. "You can say whatever you like."

"I don't want to," Vix said, still looking over her shoulder at Kira and Ayla and Aeron and the rest. "I want to..."

"You want to go and sit in a bush," Liz said. "How long are you going to live in a bush for?"

"They don't care about what I have to say," Vix muttered more to herself than anything.

"So? You don't say it for them. You say it for you. So you can feel good about yourself."

Vix thought about that and it seemed that it was a good idea. Liz nodded encouragingly as Vix rose to her feet and faced the group.

"Kira," she said. "You don't treat me very well. And it's not right and frankly, I hope the queen does catch you because you deserve to be caught, playing all these games with everyone. Pretending to be immortal and on a mission from a goddess. You just want to have the last witch in your pocket as a bargaining chip, that's all."

The resulting silence was broken by Liz's low whistle.

There was a creaking of leather as Kira stood up slowly. "Let's you and I have a little chat, Vix." The tall warrior took a step forward, long legs cutting the distance between her and the hengineer. Her expression was unfathomable, her eyes narrowed more in concentration than annoyance.

Vix stood her ground for all of two seconds before turning tail and running. Kira did not give chase, but Aeron did. She was like a blonde streak, moving after Vix almost as fast as an arrow. Vix was just outside the cave when she was bought down in a heap. She squealed furiously and called for Liz.

"You said you'd help me!"

"I didn't think you were going to say that," Liz said, leaning against the mouth of the cave with her arms folded over her chest. "That was really incendiary. Shocking, even," she said with a soft tutting sound. "So disrespectful."

Vix jaw dropped as she was pulled up from the ground and delivered to Kira. She vigorously wished that she had not taken Liz's advice, and that she had grown several more inches as she was at a distinct physical disadvantage caught between the two larger women.

Kira reached out, taking her by the hand. "Come here," she said, her voice devastatingly calm. "It's time I paid you a little more attention."

"I would be okay with no attention," Vix said hastily. Her words were to no avail as she was lead back into the cave, where a flat rock provided a place for Kira to sit and take poor Vix over her thighs. Facing the pebble strewn floor, Vix deeply regretted the events of the previous minutes. She was keenly aware of the eyes on her, of Ayla and Trebuchet watching in silent approval and Moon's gaze locked on her with a sort of mute concern.

Nobody said a word. The cave was silent save for the crackling of the fire and Vix's somewhat panicked breathing. She had never been so close to Kira before, never imagined how hard the warrior's thighs were. It was like being held by someone not quite human, someone more than human, some sort of human rock hybrid, maybe. There was nothing yielding about Kira, there was no softness to be felt. From the ridges of her thighs to the flat of her stomach she was hard.

Nothing happened at first, Kira just held her there in place, letting her contemplate her position along with the fact that she was about to be punished publicly.

"You hold a place in history," Kira said, her voice resonant with meaning. "You don't understand that yet, because your beliefs are so mundane you can't begin to fathom just how important this moment is. That's alright. I don't need you to believe me. I do need you to do your job. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am," Vix agreed. She would have agreed to anything to avoid being struck.

Kira lifted her hand high and bought it down in a sweeping arc. The musculature of her arm rippled as her palm swing toward Vix's vulnerable cheeks with a wicked swiftness. It seemed Vix was about to be very, very sore and very, very sorry but at the very last moment the warrior caught herself and the blow landed with no more force than a light tap.

Vix's resulting high pitched squeal was therefore more borne of anticipation than pain, a fact which put little smiles on Kira, Ayla and Trebuchet's faces.

"Keep your own counsel," Kira murmured down at her captive. "Your hide is not tempered enough to take the consequences of being bold."

Squirming, Vix could only nod. Her britches were riding high and tight between her thighs, putting pressure on parts of her anatomy which were starting to brim with excitement as she realized she was not in nearly as much strife as she had imagined.

"Keep your mind on your little cogs and wheels," Kira said, her voice becoming sterner with each passing word. "And keep a respectful tongue in your head. You will not be warned again. The next time I hear a disrespectful word from your mouth... or if I so much as see an untoward expression on your face I will strip you bare and lash your bottom until sitting is a distant memory. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma'am, I understand," Vix agreed hastily. "I am sorry."

The warrior helped Vix to stand, then sent her on her way with a light slap to her left cheek. Vix scuttled quickly into the shadows, loathe to make eye contact with anyone. There was no doubt she had been vanquished as surely as any of Kira's foes.

As the conversation resumed she curled up in her cloak and kept her counsel. She no longer had any intention of crossing Kira. Liz, the traitor, was another matter altogether.

Chapter Twenty Two

Some time later Liz was at the mouth of the cave smirking up into the stars when Ayla's fingers slid through her hair from behind. The witch gently drew Liz's head back so she was forced to look upwards and backwards.

"That was not nice," Ayla said mildly, giving Liz's hair a little tug.

In spite of her uncomfortable arched position, a slow smile spread over Liz's face and a little twinkle established itself firmly in her eye. "What wasn't?"

"What you just did to Vix."

"I didn't do anything to Vix."

"Oh yes you did," Ayla said, dropping her hand to from Liz's hair to Liz's buttocks. One swift slap later and Liz was cursing and holding her cheeks in both hands, for Ayla's long and witchly palm had managed to catch a significant portion of her rear.

"Stop that!"

"No," Ayla said firmly. "I'm not going to watch you do your best to get Vix hurt."

"I didn't. I was helping her."

"And how do you imagine you helped her?"

"I helped her speak her truth."

"You encouraged her to go out on a limb and then you left her to her fate, that's what you did," Ayla corrected. "That was underhand."

"If you're worried about underhand, you shouldn't be worried about me," Liz replied. "There's a whole lot going on you don't even know about. There's plans on top of plans and secrets on top of secrets."

"And those are none of your concern," Ayla replied. "As far as I can tell, you're here simply to cause trouble."

"I'm here as Ariadne's emissary."

The witch's eyes glittered in the moonlight and her expression seemed suddenly cold as she gazed down at Liz. "It is no secret that I am no friend to Ariadne. Invoking her name will not earn you any mercy from me."

"You seem tense," Liz observed. "Is there something wrong? Are you worried about where your little warrior friend might be leading you?"

"Your tricks will not work on me," Ayla replied.

"Do you think it's a coincidence that she is taking us toward the elven isles?"

Ayla folded her arms under her bosom, long fingers extending up her arms as she gazed down at the smallest giant in Lesbia. "I think you should do something other than stir up discord or I will remove your powers of speech."

"Your spell won't work on me," Liz smirked.

Ayla's answering smile was as cold as it was broad. "I don't need a spell to gag you. Have you forgotten what I am capable of?"

"I have not," Liz growled. "But brutality will not dissuade me either. I do not fear consequences. Cause and effect are nothing to me."

"Then you will inevitably be hurt, perhaps even harmed."

"I welcome it," Liz smirked defiantly. "Run back to your hengineer, comfort her for her hurt little feelings. I have no need for you, witch, and your ears are deaf to what I have to say to you."

"Arrogant little wretch aren't you."

"Arrogant is just another word for correct," Liz replied.

"You could at least be grateful to Vix. She did save your life."

"It was not hers to save," Liz replied. "Besides, I did help her. I took her from the fringes to the very center. I made people care about her."

"She already had people who cared about her."

"Oh yes, people happy for her to catch her death of cold each night, people who only noticed her when they needed a widget tweaked," Liz snorted. "You know as well as I do that my little game did her more good than any of her so called friends or commanders."

"Kira could have beaten her to within an inch of her life for that disrespect. You did not help her," Ayla declared. "You are a danger to yourself and everyone around you."

Liz lifted her chin and stared Ayla dead in the eye with a defiance that went to her very core. When she spoke it was without any trace of whimsy or faith. It was with a soft but dangerous ferocity which belied her true intentions as she smiled in a way which made her canines flash in the moonlight.

"Oh I hope so."

Ayla laughed, the sound warm and amused in that dark space. "So shall it be," she said, turning to leave Liz standing defiantly before the stars. She crossed to the corner of the cave where Vix had curled up on her own and sat down beside the sleeping hengineer, casting her cloak over Vix's sleeping frame.

Sleep did not come to Ayla that night. Nor did it come to Liz. They both kept silent watch as the stars cycled through the sky and the moon deferred to the dawn.

Kira stirred first, stretching her arms and welcoming the day with a great yawn.

"Good morning," Ayla said, greeting her with warm broth. She had stoked the fire and started vittles knowing that all would wake hungry.

"Thank you," Kira said, taking the proffered bowl in both hands. "You did not wake me to take a watch?"

"I did not feel tired," Ayla replied.

"She did not trust anyone else to watch me," Liz interjected with a smirk. She took a bowl and dipped it in the broth before slurping loudly. "She fears me."

Kira's dark gaze ran over Liz's form with great displeasure. It was far too early in the day to be provoking a warrior.

"She is trying to cause trouble," Ayla said. "Ignore her."

"Ignore me," Liz agreed. "Until you no longer can - or until it is too late, I don't much mind either way."

"By the goddess," Vix groaned as she came to consciousness. "Are you still talking?"

"I am talking," Liz said. "I am talking and I will go on talking until I decide otherwise...ooooof!"

The wind was knocked out of her and broth was spilled as Kira stretched her leg and casually swept Liz onto the ground. Liz landed on her butt with a loud curse. She looked askance at Kira, who in turn looked back at her with an expression which clearly telegraphed the notion that to continue talking would be a bad idea.

And then a miracle happened. Liz shut up. She sat in the spot where she had landed and looked thoroughly nonplussed at Kira's roughness. The warrior refilled her bowl and handed it back to her.

"Eat," she said gruffly.

Liz ate, her lower lip trembling as she did. Her eyes welled with uncried tears as she slurped her soup loud enough to wake Moon and Trebuchet and Aeron besides.

"What a baby," Vix muttered underneath her breath. She did not eat, instead she sat back from the group as everyone else filled their bellies.

Breakfast should have been the meal which began the day but for some strange reason, one by one each of the travelers fell asleep again. Even Liz slumped to the side snoring softly. When the last of them had sunk into slumber. Ayla rose from the fire and looked toward Vix.

"You didn't take the medicine," she said. "That was wise."

Vix looked at Ayla askance. "Why did you do this to them?"

"They have plans for me," Ayla said simply. "And I am far too old to have plans made for me. I will make my way on my own."

Vix nodded, understanding the impulse for a solitary journey.

"I am sorry to see you go," she said. "I am sure they will give pursuit."

"Likely," Ayla agreed. "But they will not find me."

"How do you know?"

"Because where I am going, they cannot follow."

Vix nodded. "Well," she said. "Goodbye."

There was a long moment of silence before Ayla held her arms out. "Come."

"I will not, if it is the same to you," Vix said. "There is no point in embrace. You are leaving now and we will not see one another again. Our time is at an end."

"I think perhaps it is not," Ayla replied. "I think you should come with me."

"Why?"

"Because I think you might be able to follow," Ayla said, her gaze as magnetic as her words were nebulous. "And I think you need to."

Vix looked at the witch uncertainly. "I have no skills which could possibly aid you. I do not believe in the magic you possess, nor do I have any talent in herbalism. Moon would be a better choice, or even Liz. She has some kind of queer power."

"I wish for you to come with me," Ayla said. "I will not compel you. If you come it will be your choice." She bent, picked up her satchel and slung it over her shoulder, then walked to the mouth of the cave and set forth into the forest, leaving Vix to make her decision on her own.

After a few moment's hesitation, the hengineer grabbed her bag and set forth after Ayla. She caught up with the witch on the forest trail.

"I'm coming," she said. "But this doesn't mean anything."

"Of course not," Ayla greed with a soft smile.

"Where are we going?" Vix had to scurry to keep up with Ayla who was striding with undeniable purpose.

"To find Ariadne."

"Oh. Right." Vix rolled her eyes to herself. "To find a goddess. Well, I'm sure we’ll be very successful doing that."

"I'm going to enjoy teaching you," Ayla said with one of her charismatic smiles which made Vix's stomach do little flips of excitement. "There is so much more to this world than you can imagine."

"Like what?"

Ayla stopped, making Vix come to a halt too. She turned, leaned down and took Vix's chin between thumb and forefinger. With the hengineer firmly in her grasp, Ayla brushed her lips over Vix's mouth.

The touch unleashed a thousand butterflies in Vix's stomach and made her hips squirm. It had been but the briefest, most chaste of kisses but it left her entire body brimming with excitement.

"Like that," Ayla said softly, releasing Vix's chin. "That and so much more."

She began to walk on again, leaving Vix quite stunned.

"Come," Ayla called back to her. "We do not have time for tarrying."

Vix could still feel the witch's lips on hers as she scurried after Ayla once more. This was real adventure. She felt it in her gut, and more importantly - in her loins.