Episode 2: Lexa the Conqueror

"Wings!" Gundar gasped, struggling frantically as the shadow of the great bird loomed larger. He could see the talons now. "I swear it! We must fight together, or die together."

"Wings?" Tasso asked. His eyes softened, but he did not turn to look.

"Stasi! You old rascal!" a female voice sang out from above in the Talassian tongue. "Are you in need?"

The weighted ends of a rope ladder thumped onto the deck. A short moment later, a woman descended lithely from the sky. She jumped down and whistled shrilly. The great bird moved off, dragging the swaying ladder behind it.

Gundar lay still, overcome with wonder. Northern women wore leather leggings, but not like this one. The oxblood suit she wore appeared to be all of one piece, tighter than her own skin, revealing every ripple of her muscles. This woman had seen perhaps three or four summers more than Gundar's sixteen, and was in the prime of her life, with high breasts and taunt thighs. Her unspoiled body lit a fire in Gundar's groin, filling him with shame. His vow of lifelong constancy to his departed Lili had not been overly difficult to keep until this very moment.

"Lexa!" Tasso was grinning outright now. "And in fine fettle!"

"Indeed," she said. "I won fame and fortune at the Theronian games, and was crowned Warrior Queen. You know I have coveted that honour since I first held a sword."

Tasso bowed his head. "Felicitations, Basilea!"

"Thank you, Patrocule," she answered graciously. "You know full well I could never have grasped such honours without your teaching." She touched Gundar's leg with her toe. "Who is your friend?"

"No friend this, but a spoiled pup who needs to learn manners!" Tasso growled. Gundar racked his brains for words to express his indignation, but his command of the Talassian was inadequate.

Lexa sized Gundar up with a shrewd glance. "He looks well-bred enough."

"He attacked me as I lay sleeping, for no reason whatsoever."

"For shame," Lexa said softly. Gundar cringed, seeing himself momentarily through her eyes.

"If you will allow me to rise," Gundar said haltingly in the unfamiliar tongue, "I will show proper respect."

Tasso looked into his eyes. He seemed somehow ennobled, not like a beggar at all. "I will take you at your word, but I warn you -- I allow no one to betray me more than once." He released Gundar and held out his hand to Lexa, who pulled him to his feet.

"No wonder he despises you," Lexa laughed. "Why do you persist in assuming such repulsive disguises?"

"It is the simplest way to discern which hearts are charitable," Tasso said. Gundar rolled onto his hands and knees and pushed himself to his feet, feeling smaller than ever.

"You are hurt!" Lexa said.

"A scratch," Gundar shrugged, though the whole front of his tunic was soaked in blood.

"It more than a scratch," Lexa said, and laid the palm of her hand on the wound.

She closed her eyes. Gundar felt a stirring within him such as he had never known. He swayed. Tasso grabbed his shoulders from behind and supported him. Gundar's legs turned to water, and he barely managed to keep his feet as sweet waves of energy surged through his chest -- the very wine of life, drawn from some source that he could not fathom. He was overcome with a profound desire to fall to his knees and worship at the feet of this youthful goddess, for a goddess she must surely be, to command such power.

She opened her eyes and smiled. "There. That's better. But you have lost a lot of blood, and it will take time for your strength to return." She patted Gundar's chest. He felt no pain.

Gundar groped at his chest, digging through the hole in his tunic with his fingers. The flesh had closed, leaving behind an irregularity no more significant than an ancient scar.

"Who are you?" he asked. "Tell me your true name, and I will see to it that my people sacrifice to you at every festival."