The Towers Of Melnon

He went on pumping until it began to seem that all of his body's fluids were going to follow the semen. He had a moment's grotesque vision of his dehydrated corpse growing stiff beneath Queen Mir-Kasa. Then the vision passed. After a slightly longer time, so did his spasm.

He lay sprawled on the floor, completely drained both physically and mentally, barely aware of the pain in his abused shoulder. He was a little more aware of the Queen slumping down on top of him with a faint groan, letting his now limp member slide out of her. They lay there in a passive heap for a good while, practically bathing in each other's sweat.

By a heroic exertion of mind over matter, Blade was the first to recover. At least he was the first to speak a coherent word. «Mir-Kasa, I do not know about my own qualities. But yours are-«He could not quite find the proper adjectives.

He did not need to. Mir-Kasa dimpled almost like a girl, and her weary face broke in a faint smile. «Your qualities are-not lacking, Blade. Between your legs-well, that is a masterpiece that whoever fashioned you can be proud of.»

She rolled off him and lay on her back, her breasts still rising and falling with her quick breaths. She reached out and gently curled her fingers around «the masterpiece.» Then she smiled again, and in a stronger voice said, «Are you wondering why I-took you-now? After your war and your wound and everything else?»

That was a question that seemed to require the same answer that Blade would have given anyway.

«Yes, I am.»

«It was a-test. If you could do well-if you could show your qualities-when you were tired-«

«What marvels might I not perform when I was in really good condition?» Blade could not keep a slightly mocking tone out of his voice.

She raised a hand to his lips and gently stroked them. «Don't mock yourself. Your qualities are-well, Nris-Pol at his best has not done half this well. And he will not get the chance to see if he can do better. Tomorrow you shall become the Queen's Steward of the Tower of the Serpent.»

Blade nodded. «What am I to do in that position-other than more of this?»

She laughed. «You are very definitely to go on doing this, and on, and on. And you will do it in that position and as many others as you and I together can think of. I hope that you have something between your ears half as good as what I've found between your legs. And I hope the first will guide the second. I love variety, and there has been little of that for me lately.»

«I shall do my best,» said Blade. And he added, with a grin, «Considering what inspiration I have, what else could I do?»

Again the quick dimpling, but this time it was followed by a more sober expression and tone of voice. «That is much of what you will do, but not the greatest part. It is what everybody will know you are doing. But the greatest part of what you will be doing, I hope none discover. That part will be more dangerous. But it will also have great results.»

Chapter TEN

The first result of Blade's becoming Queen's Steward was that from a mere scoffing skeptic, Nris-Pol, the former steward, became Blade's open and active enemy.

Not that Blade really blamed the man. To sit in the Council of Wisdom and listen to the queen cast him down from the powerful office was bad enough. To see a man who had literally come from nowhere elevated not only to the status of a hero but to his old office was worse. And worst of all was sitting and listening to the queen's explanation of why this new arrival and new hero was receiving the appointment. Custom and good ma

However, there was nothing he could do, except grumble and growl and spread evil gossip and ugly rumors. The stewardship was by law and custom and common sense entirely the gift of the Queen herself. «Common sense» was perhaps the strongest consideration, since one of the steward's duties was the sexual gratification of Her Splendor. With some queens this had been an easy job. With others, such as Mir-Kasa and her mother Bena-Kasa, it was a demanding job that wore out a good many of its holders. So the queen's preferences would have ruled whether the law said so or not. Any Council of Wisdom that ignored the fact would have shown itself sadly lacking in the quality after which it was named.

The fact that Nris-Pol was as impotent officially as he had become in the queen's bed did not keep him silent. Nor did it keep him from causing trouble. A rumor that he spread industriously was that Blade and the queen were considering compensating the dead slave-girl's family for her administered death at the hands of the First Warrior. Blade found both the rumor and the idea that it could have any serious effect ludicrous. That is, he found them ludicrous until people began coming up to him and asking him quite seriously:

«Is the queen compensating that girl's family?»

«How are you ever going to find the right people? You must realize, the Low People breed like animals. They have no real families. They could never have them. So the money would never get to the people who deserved it, even if they did deserve it.»

«It's a ridiculous precedent.»

«It's dangerous nonsense.»

And much more in the same vein. Blade started taking both the rumor and the talk it was causing more seriously, at least to the point of denying the rumor. Neither he nor the Queen were pla

Eventually Blade mentioned the matter to the queen herself. The discussion that followed gave Blade a much clearer notion of how things were run in the Towers of Melnon. At least in the Tower of the Serpent, he corrected himself. Each tower had its own set of rulers with their own set of rules and rivalries. And the Tower of the Leopard was set apart from the others by even more than that. He still had not found out what those differences were, however, and he did not feel that Mir-Kasa was the right person to ask. At least not now.

But she was very eloquent on the problems of Low People versus High People in the Tower of the Serpent.

«Of course I wouldn't think of offering compensation. That girl was wantonly disobedient. She would never have fitted into my plans for the Low People.» Blade resisted the temptation to ask what those plans were. He had already tried once, and Mir-Kasa had at once become exceedingly cold and formal. «It is not time for you to know them,» she had said, with glacial politeness. «Please do not ask me again.»

The queen shrugged and continued. «Besides, whoever said that the Low People breed like animals is quite right. It's all catch-as-catch-can down there on the Low Levels.»

Blade ventured to inquire, «Are you sure it's their fault?»

Mir-Kasa looked at him as though his face had broken out with yellow and pink spots. «You sound too much like Bryg-Noz for your own good. Or my peace of mind. He was always saying that the Low People are wretched because we force them to live under wretched conditions, and nonsense like that. The present batch of Low People is useless. But in time-yes, in time-we shall see.»

What was going to happen «in time» obviously concerned those secret plans of Mir-Kasa's. And it was obvious that whatever changes in the scheme of things in Melnon the Queen might be pla