GALLANT (The Innerworld Affairs Series, Book 3) (7 page)

Emitting an elongated belch, Princess Honorbound announced the end of a highly satisfying meal. "So, Josep, my friend, do you bring us good news?"

All eyes turned to him in anticipation. "Some, though not as celebratory as you had hoped. When I left Norona several weeks ago, the Consociation representatives were almost evenly divided about what action should be taken with regard to Illusia's dilemma."

With the long curved fingernail of her right index finger, Honorbound picked a piece of meat out of her tooth and flicked it onto the bone pile. "That is not unexpected. What about Gallant Voyager? Where is he?"

Josep noted how unconcerned she tried to look and knew it was for the others' sake. Her anxious thoughts came through to him whether she wished it or not. "The Consociation Regent, Esquinerra, heeded my suggestion to give Voyager the assignment to track down the Weebort trader. At the time I departed, I was informed that Voyager was on his way to Innerworld Terra, where the Weebort was last reported to be."

"And the assassin?" Honorbound asked with a little more interest.

"Frezlo was also headed in the same direction."

"Good," she said, though so much more was going on in her head that only Josep could hear.

He was one of the very few of their people who had been born telepathic. That ability had earned him his position as the Princess's chief advisor. On the other hand, her fear of that ability caused her to give him a mission that would keep him far from her side most of the time. It was a mixed blessing at best.

She questioned him on a few other matters before adding her own piece of information. "According to the chronology of our plan, Bessima should be planting her seeds now as well. It is too bad we could not maintain contact with her, but she is most trustworthy. She will complete her assignment in the time frame she was given then all will be ready for us."

The Princess clapped her hands and a short, plump woman in her middle years appeared seconds later. An abrupt hand signal from her mistress was all the instruction the servant required before she was off again.

"Your timing was excellent, Josep," Honorbound said with a smile. "You may have already guessed by our feast that we had a celebration planned for tonight even before your arrival. Five of our children have reached full maturity and are ready to be integrated."

The plump woman returned then, leading three young men and two young women, all wearing only a piece of white linen wrapped diaper-style, and a white band circling each of their heads. They stood at stiff attention in a straight line as the Princess rose and inspected each one from head to toe.

"Not a bad-looking group," Honorbound said to the woman, who immediately beamed at the praise. "You must have fed them better than the last candidates. Let's hope it did not lessen their hunger for more important things."

Josep had not participated in a Maturation Ceremony in a very long time. It was the most important day in the life of an Illusian. Though he had once reveled in the celebration activities, he now simply wondered if he was up to it.

The Princess must have caught him frowning because she laughed and said, "Don't worry my old friend. Your own maturity permits you to sit and observe the first half of the ceremony."

Josep nodded in appreciation but he had received the unspoken message that his active participation in the second half was mandatory if he did not wish to be shamed in front of the others. His gaze traveled over the maidens and was met by a particularly bold stare from the more well-formed of the two. She clearly intended to receive the high honor of being chosen by the chief advisor. As his body responded to her look of raw sexual hunger, Josep shed his fear that he would not be able to perform as expected.

The Princess stepped back from the novitiates and removed the thong and medallion from her neck. With the thong wrapped around her clenched fist, she held the medallion in front of her as she spoke. "This royal medallion has been handed down through my family for nine hundred years. As the current possessor, I have sworn to protect all of Illusia and to regain the power we once held.

"To that end we have struggled to replenish our army with strong bodies and aggressive minds. You five come before the council this evening on the brink of maturity. Are you prepared to shed childhood and accept the responsibility of mature adults?"

"Yes, I am," the five answered in unison.

"And do you welcome this initiation?"

"Yes, I do," they replied.

Honorbound nodded her head and they all knelt. She walked up to the first young man in the line and pressed the medallion to his forehead. "To what do you owe your total allegiance?"

"The honor and glory of Illusia," he responded firmly.

"To whom do you grant the power over your life and death?"

"The possessor of the medallion may take my life if I ever dishonor our people."

"Do you swear to destroy all enemies of Illusia?"

"I do."

"And who are your enemies?"

The young man's face twisted into a savage snarl as he roared his answer. "All Noronians and their allies!"

She repeated the oath-taking with the other four then turned to her council. "You have witnessed their vows of loyalty. Now witness their bravery and strength. Let the battles begin."

The young people rose and all but the first moved to the edge of the room. The Princess's second in command stood and strode to the novitiate. He was taller, heavier and had the advantage of experience, but the younger man reflected the utmost confidence in his own abilities.

The servant woman brought forward a tray bearing two short-bladed knives and waited until each man had taken up a weapon. The moment she backed away, the experienced warrior and the young hopeful began circling each other.

Honorbound stated the rules of the skirmish. "This is for blood only. Death is not acceptable. The fight ceases when the novitiate receives a scarring cut, the badge of his courage. However, I remind you that the longer it takes for the council member to deliver that blow, the greater the honor for the new warrior." She returned to her place then clapped her hands once. "To blood."

The young man did not disappoint the observers as he demonstrated considerable agility to counter the smallness of his frame. He did not manage to mark the commander but he avoided being sliced for an impressive length of time.

By the time the first novitiate received his cut, Josep's blood was singing in his veins. He was tempted to change his mind and take on one of the others after all but another hot look from the girl made him decide to conserve his energy.

A different council member battled each of the young warriors and every one of them could be proud of his or her show of bravery. After all their wounds were bound in such a way to insure attractive scars, the Princess pronounced the end of the first part of the ceremony.

The council briefly rehashed the skirmishes and declared that the two novitiates who had fought the most valiantly and the longest were the second young man and the maiden who had been eyeing Josep. They would be rewarded with the highest honor of all—having their virginities taken by the Princess and her chief advisor. The others were partnered by rank and ability in a like manner. In preparation, the stone table was cleared of debris and covered with a white cloth.

Josep completely abandoned his veneer of civility as the Princess and the new warrior removed their wraps. From opposite sides, they crawled onto the makeshift stage, growling, clawing and biting each other like animals. Josep soon found himself urging the young man to greatness as loudly as the others. In practically no time at all, the Princess's bellow of pleasure proclaimed the boy to be a man in every way, even before she removed his white headband.

Josep's own performance some minutes later earned so many cheers from his audience that he could hardly wait for the formal ceremony to end and the open celebration to begin. For that night at least, he was once again one of the infamous barbarian warriors of Illusia.

* * *

"You're blocking something from me," Aster accused Rom as they finished breakfast. "I feel it as strongly as this baby's kicks. Whatever it is, I'm going to find out sooner or later, so you may as well get it over with."

Rom tried not to appear as guilty as he felt but she saw through that also. "I just didn't want to upset you. It's nothing serious."

"Then tell me."

With a sigh, Rom ran his fingers through his hair. "Cherry won't be having lunch with you today either."

Aster narrowed her brows at her mate. "Yesterday, you told me she couldn't keep our lunch date because she was tied up. What's today's excuse?"

"I didn't say tied up. I said detained, and that still goes for today."

"Tied up, detained, whatever. It sounds like we're back to variations of the truth game." The Noronian code of honesty forbade anyone from lying outright but evasiveness was occasionally employed to avoid the whole truth. "Your daughter and I are both getting upset. I want to know what you're hiding."

Rom shook his head in resignation. Actually, he had managed to keep it from her longer than he'd expected, hoping the whole time that Cherry would be back before Aster knew she was gone. It was probably best to get the facts out as simply and quickly as possible. "Cherry witnessed an assassination the night before last and has been temporarily removed from Innerworld for her own protection."

Aster blinked at him. "I beg your pardon? I believe I am still Co-Governor of this colony and, as such, assassinations and Terrans being
removed
from Innerworld would normally be brought to my attention."

"Well, yes," Rom said with a decidedly sheepish expression. "Normally that's true, but under the circumstances..." He looked at her swollen abdomen and hoped that would be sufficient explanation for his duplicity. Her annoyed frown told her he'd have to give details.

"The other day, I introduced you to an old friend of mine from the academy, Gallant Voyager."

Aster could not have easily forgotten the dangerous-looking man with the odd name. "Yes, you said you hadn't seen each other for a while and I left you alone to catch up on old times. What did I miss?"

"He was here as part of a highly confidential mission. The only information he would give me was that he was currently in the employ of the Consociation of Planets and that the future of the entire civilized universe could be at stake."

"You said there was an assassination. Did he—"

"No. He didn't do it, though he is authorized and has been known to use lethal force on occasion."

"Please, Rom, just get to the point. How could there have been an assassination and no one in Innerworld is talking about it?"

"Gallant was on the trail of a man who had come here as a visitor. The assassin was on the same trail. The man was incinerated in Fantasy World, right in front of Cherry. Gallant was there also, in the guise of an actor, but he was unable to prevent the murder. He convinced everyone that it was a part of the enactment, so that no one would panic. That was why you didn't hear anything about it."

Aster was not at all satisfied with that explanation but Cherry's situation had to be discussed first. "So, what happened to Cherry?"

Rom shrugged. "Unfortunately, the message I received from Gallant was very vague—only that she was under his protective custody and that he would return her as soon as it was safe. The one thing I want to know is how he got Cherry out of here without anyone being the wiser. Security has not been able to explain that, but they're still investigating the matter... discreetly, of course."

"I don't like any of this, Romulus."

He knew just how upset she was by the way she used his full name and he sought to reassure her. "There's really nothing to worry about. If Gallant says he's protecting Cherry, you can be certain no harm will come to her. His less-than-sterling reputation is mostly hearsay." In spite of his words, he sincerely hoped Aster never got wind of some of that
hearsay.

She did not care for the sound of that one bit. "Mostly? Even if he's only half as wicked as he looks, Cherry could be in serious trouble."

Rom raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Our Cherry? More than likely, Gallant's the one in trouble by now."

Aster thought about it for a moment then decided he might be right. There hadn't been a man born that Cherry couldn't twist around her little finger in no time. Surely Gallant Voyager wasn't that different from the other men Cherry had encountered. But then she recalled her first impression of him—the devil in black leather—and she started worrying all over again.

Chapter 4