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Lorraine was in command!
"Deck!" Maris cried down, "Run up a truce flag!" The sweat wet beneath
her tunic, the little dark eyed Princess beside her!
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"They're running up a truce flag," Valerie said to me. I saw it myself
flying from the North Star's flag rope. It was the only thing that Maris could
have done. She had Sela as hostage!
"Stand down!" I cried to the men. There would be no fight today. I only
hoped that I might be able to convince Maris to give me Sela. She could keep
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the Tarl if she wanted as a trophy!
"Thank God you're safe!" I sobbed, clutching Sela to me as I would a
child, crushing the little Princess to my bosom, stroking the dark damp hair
as I regarded Maris, Queen of Dularn standing there. Overhead the flag of
truce that I had now ordered flown.
"She saved my life," Maris said to me, explaining in a few words how she
had fallen from the main mast cross tree. I nod- ded, holding the little
Princess in my arms. I had my Sela back!
"We have to get my Tarl," Sela said, looking up at me then.
"She's got a lot of `guts'," I said to Maris as we watched the Princess
of Talon creep out to the end of the Corsica's main mast crosstree, holding a
big piece of raw meat on a pike to en- tice the bird to jump from the North
Star over to my own ship. The two ships now lashed together to hold them side
by side now.
"Your masts are even higher than mine," Maris breathed.
"I'm not referring to that," I smiled, "But the bird."
"Are they that `dangerous'?" Maris asked, looking up.
"About like a lion or tiger," I answered, watching Sela.
"There is a second trireme coming," Valerie interrupted us.
"I'll take care of that," Maris spoke, barking swift orders.
"There is more courage in that curvy little figure of yours than in a
woman twice your size!" I told Sela Dai as Dularn now became just a bluish
haze there on the horizon astern. I had seen Sela stand there on that cross
tree of Corsica's sixty feet above the sea, and feed that horrible monster of
hers by hand! Holding chunks of meat in her hand, letting it take them from
her with a beak that could have taken her arm off with one snap! She would
make Mark Berson an excellent wife, I mused privately too!!
"A bird girl always feeds her bird," the Princess smiled.
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"I think that Lorraine is `right' and you are `wrong'," Sharon said to
Darlanis as the two stood there looking at the map. "Although I think we need
to do `more' than just give the `disputed territories' back to Dularn to
insure a lasting peace."
"And what you would suggest?" Darlanis challenged the girl, a tone of
"annoyance" showing a bit in her silvery toned voice.
"We need to extend the `Commonwealth' idea," Sharon said, looking up
into the beautiful azure of the Empress' lovely eyes. "Bring together Dularn,
Sarn, Trelandar, Talon, Baja, the Neva- das, even the Montanas into a union of
nations working together."
"It will not be `easy'," Darlanis answered, studying the map. There was
a considerable distrust even now between those of Talon and those who
supported her. Adding Dularn would be even worse, especially considering the
hostilities that had existed. And the Nevadas and the Montanas had fought each
other for cen- turies now. Then there were other groups like them further
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east!
"But I think it could be done, if you wanted it done," Shar- on said,
putting her arms around Darlanis, looking into her eyes. "You are the `second
Janet Rogers' they talk about," Sharon said.
Chapter Thirty
"We might be able to sneak on past Arsana at night," I sug- gested. The
strait at this point was about a dozen miles across. "Especially if there is a
bit of fog to help conceal us," I ad- ded. Sela nodding, her dark eyes meeting
mine. Arsana had three heavy triremes in its harbor. Slow, heavy vessels. With
any sort of a wind my ships would easily "show their heels" to such!
"And Maris could easily `bottle us up inside'," Jers said, his wife's
eyes glowing into mine as she sat there at his side. Bring up enough ships to
deal with even forces like mine. Maris was a competent military commander. One
could "rely" upon her.
"Your original plan probably was best, Lorraine," Janice of the Huntress
smiled. She had gotten to know me quite well now.
"It is something that Maris won't be expecting us to do," Valerie of the
Corsica said to me as she sat across the table.
"I think we might be able to destroy Maris' triremes," Sela said. "A
gallon jug of lamp oil, and an attack from the air with all three birds at the
same time." Her two companions nodding.
"I would assume that by now Maris has men with light ballis- tae and [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]