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would envy.
"Well," I answered, suddenly aware that Darlanis was eying me in a way
that made me feel just a bit nervous again, "We did- n't figure on those
crossbowmen, but you handled things pretty good at that." Thinking of how she
had fought. Remembering that deadly singing rapier of hers that even I
wouldn't have cared to face! Then adding, "I was darn glad you were there at
my side, because you knew what to do without thinking, and I was knew that we
could depend upon a Warrioress like you to see us through."
"Let me tell you a secret, Lorraine," Darlanis answered af- ter a
moment's silent pause that made the blood chill in my veins. Saying then,
reaching out and clasping my hand in hers, "And that is until last night I've
never been in actual combat."* * Darlanis has fought a number of sword duels
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in her life, but this was her first actual "combat experience" as such.
Earlier she had merely sat on her unicorn and watched others "fight" for her
in her various wars of conquest that she has waged for the past twenty years
against one country or another. She is a woman "driven" by ambition, and
although Sharon "worships" her, I do not view Darlanis in quite the "same
light" as my stepdaughter! She can be a very "loving" woman, but also a very
dangerous foe!
"What!" I breathed, unable to believe my ears, seeing her smile and nod
in reply. It seemed so unbelievable considering her courage, her bravery. I
thought of how she had climbed alone to the deck of the Ronda to face us all.
Darlanis had "BALLS"! I suppose that really isn't the proper term, but it did
fit her!
"Actually it was you that gave me the courage to face those
crossbowmen," Darlanis answered. Her hand warm in mine and her beautiful azure
eyes asking for my understanding and compassion.
"But I thought that you'd seen combat before," I replied. Thinking of
how nervous and scared I had been and how comforting it had been to think that
at least one of us knew what they were doing! Her courage and bravery had
inspired us all, I knew too.
"No, Lorraine," Darlanis answered with a smile. "And all the time I was
so scared and terrified that all I could think of was to stick with you
because you looked like you knew what you were doing." Her words coming out in
a rush as she clung to my hand. Her breakfast forgotten there before her on
the tray. I had to smile at the thought. Neither of us had known the truth!
"Why did you go anyway?" I asked, having asked her that question before.
Remembering her answer. I understood now what sort of a woman she was. Why I,
like others, would follow her to the Gates of Hell themselves should she wish
to lead us there! I knew now that my heart, my sword, were hers to command
forever!* * It is perhaps Darlanis' own personality that makes her what she
is. She is a very "likable" person, one you "admire" despite yourself. Even
those who have hated her, like my friend Sanda, tell me that it is awful hard
not to "like" Darlanis in person!
"Why did you go?" she asked me back with a smile. I had gone because she
had gone. I told her that. It seemed to please her. I knew she liked me. I
knew I loved her. I worshiped her!
"I still can't get out of my mind the thought of you stand- ing there on
the deck of the Ronda," I said to her as she nibbled at a bit of her now cold
breakfast. She had been DARLANIS, THE EMPRESS OF IMPERIAL CALIFORNIA! Like
something out of some fan- tasy. Not a real woman, but something like "She-Ra"
there on TV. That cartoon character that Sharon had loved so much back "home".
And Darlanis did look a lot like "She-Ra" in a way, I thought...
"I knew that Janis wouldn't let me come to any harm," she smiled. She
hadn't planned on Sharon, of course. I wondered how she knew that Janis had
been aboard the Ronda. Darlanis merely smiled when I asked her and said that
she had her "own sources of information". Saying that she had planned to
intercept the Ronda and rescue her sister before I did the job for her! That
ex- plained much that I had been puzzled about since I first saw her.
What is the meaning of courage? What do we mean when we say that a
certain person, perhaps a Warrioress friend, has "cour- age"? Courage is
defined by the Caste Codes as "The willingness to engage the enemy in close
combat despite whatever fears you may have for your own personal safety." I
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guess that is just about as good a definition of courage as I can think of. I
have written this short chapter so that you might understand better what I and
my caste sisters are like. And perhaps to explain something that even Janis
had not ever mentioned to me! I under- stand now the hatred that burns in
Darlanis. And why she was so willing to carry on with a war against Dularn
that she could nev- er win! Why there is so much "hatred" burning in her own
heart!
Chapter Twenty Nine
Sarnian Lady rolled sickeningly in the heavy swells like a drunken
sailor weaving his way out of some waterfront dive. Her colorful lateen sails
flapping and shuddering as the big trireme barely made headway over the
heavily rolling blue green sea. The motion making my stomach heave once again
and reminding me that I would never make a good sailor. Darlanis walking up to
the rail alongside me on the tall quarterdeck, her azure eyes a pair of lovely
gems smiling into mine as she slipped her arm about me. I had already "fed the
fishes", and my poor heaving stomach seemed to have the idea that they were
still out there looking for more!
We were, captain Eric Stone informed me, skirting the edge of a storm
perhaps a hundred miles away. The oppressive heat and the heavy swells, plus
Sarnian Lady's shallow draft, the galley being flat bottomed like a canoe with
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