Starblade (19 page)

Frederika licked her pink lips and glanced
at Mia who smiled timidly at her. “Whose fire do I risk being
consumed in?”

“A powerful male, without a doubt. For him
you would willingly go into fire.”

“Out of love?”

“Perhaps. But loyalty can be a motivation.
This man is paternalistic to be sure. In your eyes, he can do no
wrong.” Teila appeared stricken for a moment. “Time shifts.”

Absently, she drew another card and placed
it down.

“Is that the High Priestess?” Frederika
asked seeing a winged noble woman with dusky features.

“No. It's the Empress. She demands to know
you, for you to know yourself…” Teila trailed off. “The road is
consumed by shadow. I can see no more.”

“My Lord? You asked to see me?”

Frederika entered Sharr Khan’s polished
lair. The Shotar motioned for the blonde to come closer. Clad only
in ox-blood colored silk pajama bottoms a triangular patch of
black-gold feathers puffed out on his chest in pride. He presented
an appearance of a rooster that had found a favorite new hen and
arose from his comfy, bulky chair.

“Take this off,” Sharr Khan ordered.

He pulled on the lace of Frederika’s red
velvet dress that clung to her perfect form. Accustomed to being
obeyed the Shotar waited for the dancer to comply. Sharr felt
obligated to ejaculate at least once a day, if not more (which
often it would be) to complete his sense of his day’s
accomplishments. He watched Frederika strip out of her body-hugging
gown and he grinned pleased. It dropped to her ankles and onto the
black and maroon carpet. She stood in front of him, wearing naught
but chunky fuck-me heels, a lacy black thong and matching bra.

Sharr took hold of her bottom. She let out a
pleasured moan at his caress.

Pouty pink lips parted, her pheromones
activated. Frederika touched her mouth to his, yet Sharr didn’t
appear to be affected by her body's pheromones anymore. Why?
Excited, thrilled she felt her heart pump harder.

“Kneel up,” Sharr Khan commanded.

He pushed his blonde trinket onto the
cushioned nest. Hips up, vagina exposed, her face turned to the
side. With her honey blonde curls in disarray, Frederika grabbed
the fabric of the nest in anticipation. Sharr loomed over her. Out
of the corner of an emerald eye she could see his shadow and she
longed for Sharr to thrust inside her. Flushed, Frederika shuddered
at what awaited her. He was going to use her until he was spent.
She understood this. Sharr had females at his merest impulse. This
encounter between them would be pure sex. The Shotar wished to have
her and that’s all that mattered. She could appreciate the honesty
of that, enjoyed the fact he lorded his carnal desires over
her.

His fingers explored her pink slit. Sharr’s
gentle touch made her wet, moist and ready. Her body arched and
felt his middle and index finger slide inside her. She groaned
while he rubbed at her sex.

His lips brushed her ear as he continued to
play. “Exquisite,” he whispered. “Such beauty.”

She smiled up at him, pleased that he was
pleased.

“This won’t be like intercourse with a human
male.” Sharr said.

She heard the warning tone in his voice.
Perhaps he dared for her to refuse him?

“There are certain chemicals secreted by a
Falcanian that stimulate the senses,” he told her. “Some girls
often find the experience overwhelming. For a Falcanian valka, the
effect can easily be put aside. But for a human female, it is like
a drug. And addictive.”

Was that why her pheromones no longer worked
on him? His sexual arousal canceled out her control over him. And
this helped explain the checkup conducted upon her arrival here.
The Shotar wanted to be sure his dancers could endure a sexual
encounter with him.

His fingers slid in and out of her,
heightening her pleasure. She remembered when she lost her
virginity to one of the footmen in her household as young woman of
eighteen. Oberon had learned of the tryst and became infuriated.
The Colonel had promptly dismissed the footman. Kreis found her
romp debasing and dealt with Frederika with a dose of his razor
strap to her butt. She hadn't been deterred, and still got a thrill
out of it all. She expected to enjoy this fuck just as much, no
matter what she must endure.

Frederika cried out and felt his erection
penetrate her.

Deeply, roughly he thrust. Sharr gripped her
hips as he pushed hard, his penis fully engorged, and warm inside
her. The Shotar’s great wings canopied them both. The synthetic
girl gasped and clutched the finely woven bed sheets. At the edge
of her eyesight colors swirled, Frederika moaned. He pushed deeper.
He rode her hard, unapologetically primal.

Much later, Frederika rolled over and moved
aside the covers. She ran her manicured fingernails up the Shotar's
bare chest to find the black-gold patch of feathers that took the
place of hair growth as a sign of maturity on a Falcanian
tierkel.

He had used her to his contentment.

She glanced around his chamber. She tried to
shake the grogginess from her head, but realized it was an after
effect from the stimulant produced from Sharr’s body, just as he
had warned her.

She stretched her arms above her head.
Frederika had never felt so exhilarated in the throws of
intercourse. When he bore down upon her she felt like she had flown
out of her body. Totally unlike any sex she’d ever experienced.
Frederika laughed a little. Maybe it simply had been that she just
hadn't done it in a while? The last time she fucked had been a
village boy back home the night before her birthday. She kept that
little fact from her guardian. Oberon wouldn’t have liked it. At
any rate, it had been fun being used by Sharr.

She pulled herself away from the Falcanian
male and got up, walking around the octagonal chamber. Frederika
welcomed the chance to learn more about Sharr Khan. There were a
myriad of swords and knives that decorated his walls. An altar, a
zakal if she recalled correctly, stood in an alcove. A shimmering
chain hung on the inside of the shrine where dangled a lamp made of
brass with a frosted glass dome. A blue light flickered inside the
glass, a telhri. Three dice and a cup to cast them from rested on
the zakal. A simple wood box beside the dice contained unknown
objects. There was also an arc of steel, the hallowed Kraris blade.
Approximately fifteen inches in length and single edged, the blade
curved forward like a predator’s talon. Three notches were cut into
the spine which made it look almost organic.

Frederika picked up the weapon and tested
its balance. She realized why a winged humanoid held a preference
for a knife over a sword as the central point of its religion. It
was more practical to use in air combat which stood almost in
contrast to feudal Japan and its love of a katana.

This Tarik faith which the Falcanians
practiced appeared spiritual, if not religious in custom. She had
seen many Falcanians in the midst of prayer to honor their lineage
and the Telchar when she had toured the marketplace. The Tarik Way
ultimately wasn’t so different from other religions despite
whatever facade of reason the Falcanians put up about it.

Frederika continued to walk the room and
discovered a picture of a female. She did not seem to be Falcanian.
Rather she had a very girl-next-door look. The woman in the picture
appeared either to be of Italian or Spanish heritage.

Who was she?

Frederika heard a sound behind her, turned
and came face to face with the Queen. Those brilliant blue eyes
penetrated her soul, as if Nadia could gaze right into her core and
see the truth behind Frederika's facade. “My lady,” she said
shaken, not sure how to behave with the Queen under such
circumstances.

“That didn't take him long.”
I knew he'd
fuck this one,
she thought. Nadia spoke more to herself then to
the girl. The musky scents of sex reached her nostrils. She
recognized her mate's own familiar sexual aromas mixed with those
of the girl.

Frederika felt uncomfortable. Nadia was the
last person she needed to offend or make suspicious. “I… I should
leave.”

“No, it is not my place to send you away.”
She cocked her head toward Sharr Khan in his nest who snored
oblivious to the two females. “He asked you here and it is Sharr
who rules.” Her gaze slid back to the dancer. “I was going to
bathe. Would you care to join me? I am sure it will make you feel
better.” the Queen knew that the human girl must suffer effects
from her coupling with Sharr Khan. “Besides, he'll sleep for hours
still.”

To bathe with the Queen, a most unexpected
offer. Frederika looked down at her naked body, worn from her sex
play. A warm bath would do her good since her body ached from Sharr
Khan's rough use of her. The Shotar's scent seemed to fill her
every pore and she was not entirely certain that she wanted to be
washed of it. Sharr’s scent made her feel good.

“I should like that, my Lady. Thank
you.”

The Maharani smiled and watched Frederika
walk nude down the blue mosaic stairs into the warm pool. The
blonde descended into the water and found herself a shallow area to
sit in. As she became comfortable, Frederika displaced pink flower
petals which floated on the water’s surface.

From the front Nadia unhooked her choli.
Full torpedo tits fell out of an ornate fabric encasement, brown
nipples stood erect. Then she unlatched her lengha and allowed for
it to drop at her ankles into a silky pile. Bangles and anklets
clattered when she stepped toward the large pool. Her rose-colored
wings opened downward and her tail casually swayed while she strode
into the water.

For the first time Frederika took in Nadia's
complete beauty. Though she must have been nearly as old as the
Shotar, the gleam of everlasting youth showed on Nadia's curvaceous
body. Where there should have been pubic hair a thin strip of
metallic brown and black feathers shimmered.

Nadia dunked downward, and seconds later
sprung up to shoot a stream of water from her mouth. Her brunette
hair plastered now against cinnamon breasts. She intently gazed at
the blonde girl who shared her bath.

Cautiously Frederika stared back at the
Falcanian female, and at that moment chose to lead-in the
discussion. Better she thought to take control and attention away
from herself. “There’s a picture of a woman in the Shotar's
chambers.” Frederika’s inquisitiveness overtook her. There seemed
no harm in being direct. “Who is she? She's not Falcanian, but
seems to be important to the Shotar.”

“My… My husband has had many loves,” Nadia
said, her voice thin.

For a moment Frederika felt sorry she had
brought it up, but then Nadia's expression softened. Frederika also
realized this was the first time she heard Nadia use the term
'husband' in reference to her mate. A rather telling moment.

Tears gleamed on the edges of Nadia's almond
blue eyes. “That is, or rather was, Aria DeFalco.”

“An old girlfriend?”

“Were it only that simple. Aria had the
dubious honor of being the girl who broke our Shotar's heart. The
one woman he could never have.”

“Why not?”

“Sharr has not always been the man you have
come to know.” A glint of pride replaced the tears in Nadia's eyes.
“Aria was the mistress of my Sharr's boss… Though in the end both
Sharr and his boss lost her to another man.” She hesitated for a
moment. “And then they lost her to death.”

Frederika was stunned for a moment. It
hadn't occurred to Frederika that he had not always been Sharr. It
was incomprehensible to her now that anyone could have been Sharr's
boss, given how he now carried such an aura of unquestionable
authority. But then had not the Falcanians reformatted themselves?
He could have been a much different person in his past.

“I had to be the one to pickup the pieces,”
Nadia explained to the exotic dancer. “Aria was his muse, his
reason for living. He would have willingly given up his life to
make her happy or The Phoenix Project.” Nadia shook her head,
annoyed she had confessed this tale. She had dedicated herself to
her mate and his people. Sharr's preoccupation with Aria was an
unwanted weakness not to be shared with this toy of the nodor. But
there was something familiar, important about this girl. Something
she couldn't quite place.

Frederika blushed when she noticed Nadia's
full attention fall back on her. The Queen pushed forward and came
close to Frederika. Her armored tail swooshed behind her beneath
the warm water.

Nadia picked up a sponge and began to wash
the dancer's back. “You’re really very lovely.”

“Thank you,” Frederika said. There were
still some things Frederika wondered about this Aria. “Did you not
attempt to ease his pain and longing… With your abilities?”

The thought had crossed Nadia's mind on more
than one occasion. To be rid of the shadow of Aria from her life
would at times have been a comfort. “No,” Nadia answered. “To take
her memory from him would lessen who he has become. There are no
magic wands, child. Life is what it is.”

Nadia continued to wash Frederika while she
examined her not quite Teutonic features which were actually very
exotic. Certainly more than Anglo blood flowed in her veins. The
girl oozed sex appeal as if she were created only for that purpose.
The Queen’s fingers touched the collar around the blonde's neck. A
hint of a tattoo could be made out beneath the fabric. An hourglass
shape… Nadia almost dropped the sponge.
Can it be?
She
pondered.
A
Morningstar!
Is she one of the
children created from Papa and Maa's work?
Thoughts ran rapidly
through her mind. There were at least twelve embryos. And perhaps
others not accounted for? She knew some came to power following The
War. King Odin upon the British throne, Darius Noorani the 12th
Imam, the pirate Temujin Sardur and the others yet lost.
Maa
will recognize Papa's work…