The Lotus Ascension (15 page)

“
It is strange to me, you know. I had my Sunjaa coming-of-age four
years ago, just like Merieke. Soren came of age two years ago.”

“
It is Sunjaa wisdom to realize that women mature more quickly than men.”
Konas released her hand and tugged on another cord, pulling up yet another
white panel. The balloon rose higher in response, and they caught a fresh
current of air, one going more directly west than the previous one.

“
Yes, everyone considered Merieke a woman then.” Sillara looked out
over the ground beneath them. It was dune upon dune, white sand for as far as
even her eyes could see. “But no one considered me a woman until now. I was
treated as an Ausir, and Soren was treated as a Sunjaa. But we are neither of
us either one.”

“
Yes, you are.” Konas's response was vehement. “You are Ausir. You
are Tamari, even.”

“
You say so because you do not see me as others do.” Sillara smiled.
“You see me as your pupil, so of course you see me as Ausir.”

“
And the Sunjaa of the city see you—and Soren—as Sunjaa. You are
better than either alone, for you have the best of both.”

“
No one sees us as Sunjaa. They never see me at all, and Soren, oh,
you should know!” Sillara felt afresh what Soren had felt the first time he had
been to an orgy. “All the Sunjaa of Arinport desire my brother, think him more
beautiful than any other—as indeed he is—but they do not look at him as Sunjaa.
They want to—to fuck him in the same way they would want to fuck a prized
gladiator.”

Konas shook his
head. “You think they do not recognize him, recognize you, for what you are?”

“
They do not.”

“
And what does that mean for you?” asked Konas.

“
For me, nothing.”
Sillara pulled the cloak more tightly around her. The air was cold
up here. “I am promised to His Grace, and that is the end of it. He does not
love me, nor do I expect it. He needs me, and I have been promised to him. But
for my poor brother—he has no hope.”

“
No hope?” Konas pulled her close against him, putting his arms
around her, warming her.

“
Merieke is the most beautiful woman in Arinport, and she desires my
brother. Because she was our childhood playmate and the child of Darien and
Saerileth she does not
quite
see my brother as a prize stallion and no
more. But she cannot deserve him.” Sillara sighed. What woman could be worthy
of him?

“
I could say the same things about you, Sillara.” Konas tilted her
face to look up into his eyes. “You have no equal, and when the gods made you,
they broke the mold afterward.”

Sillara did not
know what to say, but a sudden jerk of the line behind her prevented her from
speaking at all. They were falling, falling out of the sky, and the sands
rushed up to meet them.

Chapter Nine

Soren pushed
his thumb against the senet box and popped its drawer out. When he tipped the
case over, the pieces fell onto the blanket where he sat crosslegged waiting
for Nathen. He picked up his five pawns and arranged them on his side of the
board, but his mind was not on the game. It was on Sillara. He missed her
already, and he still felt the pain that had stabbed him when the wind had
whisked her from his sight.

“
What's taking you so long?” Soren called out. He was generally
irritable. Not only was Sillara gone up in a balloon out into the wilds of the
desert, but Soren had been several days on this journey without a good fuck. He
was horny. He knew the slaves were working as fast as they could, but that did
not offset his impatience.

Nathen appeared
from the tent. “I'm right here.” He carried two earthenware jugs.
“Water?”
He set the jugs in the sand as he held a small wax
tablet in the crook of his arm.

Shade sheltered
the pair, but Soren could still feel the desert heat. Nathen, Orien, Soren, and
Merieke all being half-bloods could not take the blistering sun as long as
other Sunjaa could. Soren chuckled to himself to think of how thoroughly Konas
had to wrap his fair face in cloths to keep from burning. He looked like some
tall, horned mummy.

Thinking of
Konas brought Soren's mind back to his sister. He hoped Sillara enjoyed her
balloon ride. Soren had ridden before—he had directed his own voyage once—and
it had thrilled him to see the world from so high up. In the desert, he could
only imagine how fast and how high they could go, what with the unusual
intensity of the sun.

“
It'll be nice to play this without the rocking of the deck.” Soren
examined the setup of his board.

Nathen handed
the wax tablet and stylus over to him. “Here. You keep score.”

Soren shrugged
and, while Nathen set up his own starting position, scratched his and his
friend's names into the soft wax. When Soren looked up from writing, he noticed
how Nathen's gaze snapped away from him. Nathen had been watching him intently.

“
What is it?” Soren asked.

Nathen looked
up, puzzlement in his eyes. “What do you mean?”

Soren smiled.
Nathen was playing coy.
“Something on your mind?”

Nathen
straightened his back and cast his gaze around. Sounds of preparation came from
the largest tent. “I just can't wait for the orgy.”

Soren nodded
and made his first move, moving his pawn up in a classic opening. Nathen
countered just as he thought he would. Movement caught Soren's eye, and he
glanced over to see Merieke approaching. She crouched down next to the sleeping
Orien and kissed his cheek. Then she stepped over him, smiled at Soren with one
of her little funny, twisted smiles, and came closer. She kicked up sand with
her bare toes, and her thin, white Sunjaa gown clung to her skin with sweat.

Soren watched
her with appreciation and rising desire. Her nipples poked through the fabric,
and her dress hugged the curve of her flat stomach as it fell toward her pussy.
Merieke wore no undergarments, a boldness Soren liked to see in her.

Merieke came to
stand on the blanket. She crossed her arms across her breasts and watched the
game, but senet did not hold Soren's attention. He wanted Merieke.

“
Stop fidgeting.” Nathen reached across and stopped Soren's knee from
shaking. “It's worse than being at sea, isn't it?”

“
What?” Soren's gaze started at Merieke's foot, traveled up her legs
to her pussy, and then up farther to the swelling of her breasts.

“
Wurm-hunting.
No common quarters out here in the burning sands.”

Soren tore his
gaze from Merieke, who also seemed to be appraising him. “There'd be no one to
fuck if Konas hadn't brought some entertainment.”

“
That's not precisely correct,” Merieke said.

Soren glanced
back up. The sun beamed through the branches just above Merieke's head, and he
had to shield his eyes from the glare.
“How so?”

Merieke cocked
her head and pursed her lips. “Pleasure slaves aren't the only people in
Arinport who know their way around a bed.”

Nathen laughed.
“To that I can give most reliable testimony.”

Soren abandoned
his game and stood. “Are you offering yourself?” He took Merieke's body and
pressed it against himself, bringing his mouth near her brow. His lips brushed
her forehead. “I thought you'd monopolize Nathen.”

Merieke
responded in kind, pushing her crotch into Soren's and reaching around to pat
the taut muscles of his ass. “I can have him anytime. Today I look for new
sport. We are, after all, on a hunt, are we not?”

Nathen stood,
too. “That slutty Ausir really knows how to keep a group of friends engaged.”
To Soren he said, “You take her today, Soren. I noticed one of those slave
girls giving me the eye these past few days.”

Merieke slapped
Soren's ass once more and disengaged herself. “See you at the party.” She
retreated to her own tent, though she went slowly, deliberately, in a way to
showcase every sexy move and curve she had. Soren watched her until she disappeared
inside.

“
I shall have to thank Konas for this,” Soren said to himself, though
the comment summoned Nathen closer.

“
Yes.” Nathen sighed. “Though he's not suffering, I wager. He's got
Sillara with him.”

As Nathen
gathered up the senet pieces and snapped the wax tablet shut, Soren dwelt on
his friend's words. Sillara was with Konas.
Alone.
That was the unspoken meaning he had gleaned from Nathen. He was worried, but
what could be done? It would be inappropriate for Sillara, as future Queen of
the Ausir, to have her honor later questioned by having attended an orgy.
Even if she did not take part.

But she was
alone with Konas.
Alone in a balloon sailing high over the
earth.
Could not her honor be doubted simply by this day-trip?

Soren had no
more time to pursue this line of thought, for the shaking of the tambourines
summoned everyone to the main tent. A male and female pleasure slave, clad in
near-nothingness, stood at the entrance and greeted the revelers. Nathen gave
Orien a light kick.

“
Get up, sleepyhead. Delight calls.”

Orien groaned,
squinted against the light, and rolled over. He rose, shook the sand from his
massive, muscular frame, and stretched. His face broke into a wide grin. “Is it
time to travel the marshes already?”

Soren nodded.

“
Merieke brought plenty of herbs, so no one has to worry about
bastards, so I am going to take one of the girls for myself. You all can fight
it out over whoever's left.”

Orien, Nathen,
and Soren entered the tent and were carried along on waves of music, incense,
and herbs. Soren watched as a slave crushed the petals of a purple flower in
his hand and threw it into the brazier. Immediately he felt his mind slipping
away to that thrilling realm of supreme carnal gratification. The slaves had
some touch of their master, and though Konas was not here, his influence
remained. Soren knew he was in for another unforgettable orgy.

Merieke came,
too, and her natural beauty shamed the crafted appearances of the pleasure
slaves. She wore nothing save her jewelry, and even her brothers turned and
gasped at her arrival. Gold and malachite earrings dangled from her lovely
earlobes, and a wide necklace of gold and silver fashioned in the likeness of
two birds' heads looking in opposite directions lay across the upper half of her
breasts. Her lips were red as the ripest apples, and black wings of kohl rose
from her eyes, giving her a cat-like look. Soren was almost convinced that she
was purring. A belt of thin gold coins linked together hung on her hips,
drawing his attention to her exposed and beautiful pussy. Clean. No hair. Just
the way the Sunjaa liked it. But most magnificent of all was Merieke's
headpiece, an ornate black wig decorated with cold-worked glass of varying
colors.

“
Hello, boys,” she said.

No one
responded, so stunned were the men by the sudden revelation of her charms.

Soren noticed
that she held something in her hand, but whatever it
was,
it was small enough to be concealed in her closed fist. The only thing he could
see was the long ribbon of silk that hung from her hand. It put him in mind of
something fun, and with a grin, he walked over to a nearby casket and rummaged
through its contents of toys in search of a blindfold.

Orien took one
of the slave-girls and commandeered her. Due to Orien's unpleasantly oversized
cock, that was no more than Soren expected. That left two male pleasure slaves,
one female, and Merieke.

Merieke walked
over to Soren, reached up inside his skirt without breaking eye contact with
him, and grabbed his cock. “It's about time, don't you think? We've known each
other all our
lives,
and still we haven't fucked?”

Soren untied
his skirt and let it fall. “Well, I've been at sea.” He liked bantering with
her.

Merieke's eyes
glowed. “From what I hear about what you sailors do to each other at sea, I'd
say you're more than ready to take what I'm offering.”

Soren grinned
and ran his hands through his long hair, freeing any small tangles from his
horns. “I'll make your first time with an Ausir something to remember.”

Merieke went up
on her tiptoes and kissed
Soren's
mouth. “And I'll
make your first time with me unforgettable.”

Soren smiled
back at Nathen, who nodded his approval. Merieke's brother turned his attention
toward a female pleasure slave, invited a male pleasure slave to join them, and
moved off. Knowing that he was going to tell Sillara everything about this
afterward, Soren resolved to thoroughly thank Merieke for her kindness in
giving Sillara her first climax.