Her Paladin, mature,Tess,complete , Mar 11, 2017
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Her Paladin, mature,Tess,complete , Mar 11, 2017
Title: Her Paladin
Author: ken_r AKA ken242 AKA Kenneth Renouard
Genera: CC kind of
Disclaimer: Roswell story is not mine, but something had to happen later
Author note: Michael and Maria "Story of Rosie Dee" will be done as soon as Carole has time to proof it. Again this is a relative short story.
Rating: Mature
Summery: Tess returns with Max's baby. She blows up the Air Force base and is killed. Max and friends return from their road trip and go on with their lives, then... You know those aliens, half aliens, clones of aliens are hard to kill.
Admittedly, the picture of Emilie i got from some collection on the internet birthed this story. I PhotoShopped it, extensively to fit my plot and the story ran. It at least is very different.
Her Paladin
The yellow sun beat down on the hot gravel road. Her feet burned and the sharp gravel cut, but she had to push on. She had no idea or where she had come from and less where she was going. She only knew that she was now free and she must avoid being taken back to that place. “That place,” the words made little sense because she had no memory of anything further back, than a few hours ago. Even with the pain, she could only stumble going forward because she couldn’t think of going back. She could not remember what was so terrible behind her. Her feet were dirty and looking down, she could see that they were bleeding from obviously not being used to such rough treatment. She was a child of society, not the daughter of the woods. The dust of the road mixed freely with the blood and sweet running down her legs.
On either side of the narrow road, fields of grain were growing. She could see the heads, curled with the weight of the ripening grain standing in places almost shoulder height. Along the ditch running beside the road, tall plants of cannabis were growing, the fragrance adding to her confusion as she tried to bring reason to her addled mind. She continued stumbling down the middle of the road even with the threat of the hot, sharp gravel. She had tried to walk in the vegetation at the side of the road hoping for some relief, but the almost friendly looking grass also contained grass burrs and some sort of thorn called goat-heads, sort of four pointed tacks, where no matter how they lay on the ground, one sharp point always was up.
She continued to stumble down the road, the yellow sun beating down on her fair skin. Where she could see her arms, they were already turning red from burn. She could feel the burn, but she could do nothing about it. Clearly, she was not used to the raw sun. Again, she tried to order her mind, but everything conspired to continue the confusion. Who was she? Who had she been yesterday and who would she be tomorrow? She had no idea. The once beautiful woman existed without past or future. In the distance, she heard the roar of a powerful vehicle approaching. It was not coming from the direction from which she way running away, so maybe, it wasn’t chasing her.
The road was narrow, but she hoped she could get far enough to the side that the vehicle could pass without forcing her into the thorns along the shoulder.
Far ahead, she saw the shimmering mirage of the vehicle blinking like a blue wraith, above the hot road. The roar became louder and as it approached. She recoiled slightly as the noise became more the act of a burned valve than a super hot cam in a likewise hot roadster. As it approached, the blue of the vehicle became margins for the rust spots covering the badly abused car. As the vehicle pulled beside her, it slowed and stopped with the driver bending down to look out the passenger window at her.
She was confronted with a pimply face that was so dirty that she could imagine that it could be scraped removing pimples, abscesses and grime at one time. She saw a crooked tooth grin filled with yellow teeth and green scum at the gum line. That was coupled with the worst breath she had ever smelled as he tried to speak. “Hey, sweet cheeks,” he called out imitating some male mentor in the proper way to attract women. “Can I give you a lift?”
She had leaned toward the car, because it was the first thing other than her self she had seen, at least in the brief memory allotted to her. The odor from the car of stale beer, decaying food and the still terrible oral hygiene of the driver caused her to recoil back on her heels. This precipitated the pain of the hot road throwing her forward again.
In whatever life she had lived before, there would be no way that she would consort with the likes of him. Now, what choice did she have? He was the first creature she had seen. To the pimply-faced one’s glee, she started to open the passenger door. She hesitated, he was going the way she had come. That would not be wise. There was something back that way that she did not want to ever see again. The pimply-faced one saw her hesitation and quickly leaned across the car seats to grab her arm. There was no way he was willingly going to give up his prize now it was so close.
She dug in her heels and leaned back, but the youth fueled with lust was too much for her. He was now groping her tee shirt and feeling for the waist-band of her panties as he struggled to pull her into his car.
Their struggles had covered the approach of another vehicle, a pickup, from behind. Yes, he might be chasing her. A muscled arm reached across and twisted her clothes out of the grasp of the over sexed youth. The arm surrounded her and pulled her back against a strong body. “Hey, ass hole, get your own girl, I saw her first,” the youth screamed.
“It’s not a matter of first. It’s not even a matter of, can you back it up. The lady’s not going with you so shove off,” the calm mature voice said.
“If I had of had a gun you wouldn’t talk to me like that,” the youth shrilled.
“If you had had a gun, I would have killed you outright. Be thankful that you can back off and live,” the cultured voice answered.
The youth was cussing and crying and gnashing his crooked teeth, but as he had no choice, he slammed the door of the car and roared off leaving a smoke trail. Yes, it had been a burnt valve. She then leaned back in the supporting arms of her benefactor and thought, “How did she know anything about burnt valves or hot cams either?” There were lingering memories about hot cars, though.
It was almost like being in a dream as her savior propelled her toward his truck. Then, seeing the condition of her feet, in one fell swoop, he lifted her in his arms to deposit her in the vehicle. Quickly the fear ran though her that he had been coming from the same direction as she had been traveling. Was he pursuit rather than rescue? This was a moot point because he didn’t give her much choice. He didn’t turn his truck around so they continued in the way she had been stumbling. “Who are you and what are you doing here?” she finally managed to squeeze out of her parched throat.
With his left hand, he reached out and unhooked something from the outside of his truck. The man handed her a leather bota, or water bag, that he had hanging in the breeze. Hanging in the dust the bota was covered with mud, but the water was cool. She now had mud added to the stains on her tee shirt and running down her bare legs. “I am your paladin and I am ordered to get you out of here,” he simply stated.
“Get me out of here to where?” her now renewed voice asked also backed with a bit of bravery from somewhere.
“Just out of here. I don’t know where to111, yet,” he again answered with little flourish.
They drove in silence, the road always going with the grain on either side, the cannabis along the fence line and the thorns on the roadside shoulder. The heat was sticky and she asked again for a drink of water, which he produced in the same manner, reaching outside the window for the bota hanging on the side of the truck. There were no other vehicles, no houses or any turn-outs from the graveled road. They could have been the last people in the world for all she could tell. That was something to think about, the paladin and the pimple boy sharing the dead and deserted world with her. As far as she could tell, the grain, the cannabis, the grass burrs and the road went on forever.
She must have drifted off because the next thing she knew was that it was dark outside. The truck had slowed considerably and was driving under very dim headlights. With no warning, the paladin swerved into a side road, the first one she had noticed. At the same time, he turned out his headlights and continued at a crawl as he navigated the almost invisible road.
She was sure that they had changed direction, but for all she could tell the road was still gravel and cannabis was still growing along the way. The gravel she heard under the tires of the truck and the cannabis still gave off a sweet heady aroma. After what seemed forever, the truck stopped and the paladin got out and led her to a faint doorway. He must have had a key, somehow they entered and after everything was buttoned up, the paladin turned on the lights. He pointed across the room to a doorway. “Bathroom and shower over there. Take a hot one and we will see about medicating your feet and sunburn.”
She slowly entered the room. It was small, but there was a shower stall with a translucent sliding door. She stripped off her panties and tee shirt. Her whole body was scratched and bruised. The smell of her clothes as she stripped them off gave rise to the thought that it had been a time since she had been free to use facilities. From the urine smell there must have been times when she had no other choice. All of her short life she had been an icon of fashion. How did she know this? She stood about five foot two, she was of slender build with streaming yellow hair. Looking in a mirror in the bathroom, she saw piercing blue eyes, which must be her most memorable characteristic. Now, looking at herself, bare feet, bare legs, skimpy black satin panties and a badly soiled tee shirt so thin she could see the outline of her breasts under it, she wondered how she came to this. Toenails, formally fashionably cared for and painted, now were in ragged tares, the nails broken into the quick and in a few places, festering at the edges, oozing puss. Hands, also, carefully manicured, now were ragged and bleeding, her cuticles cut and her skin splitting from lack of moisturizing. Those bright blue eyes were squinting from the glare of the sun.
She took the paladin’s advice and turned the temperature up as soon as she was in the shower. The stinging rivulets of the spray at first were painful, but eventually, the heat and the force of the water became soothing. She found a bar of lavender soap and then a fruity smelling shampoo. She had no idea of how long it had been since she had any bath or shower. Her blond hair was deeply matted and she spent several minutes running her fingers through trying to untangle it.
Finally, the heat and force of the shower no longer became medicinal, rather they became uncomfortable and she turned the water off. There was a knock on the sliding door and she jumped. A soft towel was flopped over the door and a voice said, “Here’s some clean clothes, the size is probably all wrong, but its better than what you had. Get dressed and we will have a look at those feet.”
She was still as a statue. What would this paladin want in return? He had rescued her and he was ordered to take care of her, but would he consider her fair game for whatever liberties he might desire? A brief thought flitted through her brain, what kind of woman was she? Would she be willing to trade liberties for sanctuary? Had she traded liberties for something before? She heard the bathroom door close and she tentatively looked out to see slacks, underwear, a bra and a tee shirt along with a pair of sandals.
The pants were too loose and required the belt to be tightened. The bra was too small and required considerable adjustment to be wearable much less comfortable. The shoes flopped a bit, but it was all better than what she had before.
Dried, dressed and limping even with the sandals, she emerged into the room with the paladin. “Sit,” he ordered and he raised her feet to place them on a chair. He deftly removed her sandals and examined her feet. “Its worse than I thought. Here stand up and drop your trousers,” he again ordered.
She shuddered at this, was she any better off with him than she would have been with that boy? Then she thought, the paladin smelled good and he wasn’t that bad to look at for a middle-aged man. She guessed she would just take what came. Her slacks in a pile on the floor, he again ordered her to sit. He took a small jar and began to rub its contents into her feet and legs. The ointment had a sweet spicy odor. “What is that?” she asked.
“Mixture of honey, royal jelly to be specific, and several herbs that are rich in vitamin E all in a matrix of bee’s wax. I add an extract of Cloves to kill pain and colloidal silver to kill germs. It works for almost anything,” he informed her.
After the dinner he fixed, they sat quietly. The cabin was warm and comfortable. She wondered how long before her memory returned. Then she wondered, did she want it to return? She had some vague feeling that she had done something terrible. After a while, the pain did seem to go away. The man continued to look at her. She became very uncomfortable, but she figured that she owed him this much. “Who are you? What is the first name that comes to your mind?” his voice hammered at her like a machinegun.
She was caught off guard. “Ttt…eresa,” she stuttered. “Teresa or maybe Tess.”
The paladin sat there and nodded. This was the first break that Teresa’s mind had found. Yes, that is what her name was, Teresa or maybe Tess. She was… Everything closed back down. All she had learned was that her name was Teresa. “Well we now know more than we did before. They didn’t tell me anything about you. They just said pick you up along side the road. I guess if I had been a few minutes later, I never would have been able to complete my mission,” he said.
Teresa was perplexed. “Who is this they?” she asked.
“They, are those who want you away from here,” he simply said. Then, he pointed to a door. “Bed in there, block the door if your will feel safer. We leave early tomorrow.”
Teresa entered the room and closed the door. There was a chair, a bed and a table with a light on it. She did block the chair under the doorknob like she had seen in the movies. Seen in the movies? What movies and when? She had no more idea than that. She sat down on the bed and removed her clothes. Where he had applied the ointment, her split skin seemed softer. She was sure that it would be several days before she could walk very well. The hot shower had removed the blood and grime from her limbs and she almost felt clean as she climbed between the sheets wearing only her panties. Who was she? She had some sense of fashion and she was uncomfortable with the condition of her non-manicured hands and feet. She had no idea of how old she was nor what she had been doing. She only knew that they wanted her out of here. “Out of here,” to where? That was the question she asked her self over and over. Who was this paladin and what did he want? Not what was he ordered to do, but what did he want as a man? Right now, he was all that stood between her and some unspeakable horror that she had only a vague memory of. The more she depended on him the more she wondered what he would want in return. She wondered if she would be able to give him whatever he demanded. Then, she found a hairbrush and comb. A half hour with these and the world seemed better.
Last edited by ken_r on Sat Mar 11, 2017 2:16 pm, edited 5 times in total.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Her Paladin, mature,Tess, Dec, 20, 2016
Chapter 2
Bam, Bam, was hammered on her door. “We have to be out of here before sunrise,” the voice called out. Before she could react very well, the door was flung opened and clean panties were thrown in at her. “Wash the other pair before breakfast. For a while you are going to make do with the other clothes, but we can afford clean underwear for the moment.” The door closed and Teresa quickly put on last night’s clothes with the one pair of clean underwear to emerge where the paladin was placing a plate of eggs and sausage for breakfast.
“I don’t eat meat,” she started.
“Now, you eat what ever we have. When I am gone, you can follow any cause you want. Now, I need you strong,” he ordered.
It flashed in her mind that at one time she would have challenged him for giving her orders. Now she quietly sat and chocked down what he handed her. Soon, they were back in the truck and driving down the path without any lights. Either he knew the path well or maybe, he could see in less light than she. The truck crawled to the road and turned in the direction she assumed they had been driving yesterday.
Teresa’s mind was trying to find reason. They were driving down the same gravel road, lined by the same cannabis plants, separating the same grain fields. No people were evident. Except for the paladin and the pimply-faced boy, she hadn’t seen any soul in her mind’s brief history. People, there must have been people in her life somewhere before. Where in this country could you drive this far without seeing some sort of evidence of people? Well, there were the fence lines, but who kept up the fence lines? Who kept up the road, such that it was? Whose house had they stayed at last night? The paladin seemed to know.
Her mind drifted for a few minutes, again where in this country could you find this much open country? Did that mean that she no longer was in the United States? Where was she? What had happened to her before she found herself running down the gravel road half naked? Where did she get those black satin panties? The paladin had ordered her to wash them out so now she had three sets of underwear. The threadbare tee shirt was barely holding together so he had said nothing about it.
Tonight, if she got a chance she would look at the stars. Tess worried, why hadn’t she paid more attention to her science classes. Would she know if they were in another country by the stars? What about a different planet? Would she recognize the stars well enough to tell if they were still on Earth or not?
The tires crunching over the gravel gave up a vibration; soon it seemed to be even a song. The cannabis plants swished by their aroma confusing her already addled memory. The grain fields, some distance from the road, remained the same. Maybe the grain fields were traveling at the same rate as the truck. The paladin shifted his butt once and a while trying to get comfortable in the long drive. He would shift hands from time to time as he guided the truck down the straight road. Then, he might grab the wheel with both hands as he navigated one of the rare curves, on and on and on, the same thing to utter monotony.
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He was dressed in an expensive suit, the shirt opened at the collar. His hands were encased in expensive driving gloves as he gripped the steering wheel of the bright red roadster, in the accepted ten and two formation. The steering wheel rimmed in rich mahogany with brass rivets showing through. The center of the wheel was black with a yellow shield printed with a black prancing horse. Of course, the car was bright red. With that prancing horse, what other color could it be? The wind blew through her long blond hair as it trailed behind her. The countryside passed by so fast that she could only imagine what it was. Tess was trying to see the man driving. Behind his expensive dark glasses, she couldn’t make out anything about his eyes. She didn’t know if they were fixed on the road or if he was glancing covertly at her. Her dress had blown up to above mid thigh as she leaned back luxuriating in the feel of the cool breeze on her legs. Teresa looked down, she was wearing high heeled sandals, but no hose. The wind was blowing against her bare skin. Unless the driver wasn’t human, her bare white, thighs should have stirred something in him. She leaned back, her loose blouse billowed letting the wind play between her breasts. Thinking, Tess could feel that the dress was all she was wearing. She didn’t have a stitch of underwear under it. Where did she get the black panties? The wind-blown skirt must have showed more than her bare thighs. What did that do to this inhuman driver?
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An unexpected bump brought Tess out of her reverie. “How far do we have to go?” she asked the paladin.
“A long ways,” he grunted. “They told me to get you completely lost so no one could find you. They said that is the only way you can be protected.”
Tess again looked down the monotonous road. “Who are they?” she asked.
“The people who want you lost. They hired me to protect you and to hide you where no one can find you,” he replied.
“So, I am just a job to you?” she asked again.
“Everyday is just a job to me. That is what I do. People hire me to do things that are impossible for others to do. I usually do them, the impossible things, that is,” he stated.
The paladin stopped the truck. He leaned over and took out two rolls of toilet paper. Pointing to the field across the road, he said, “Go over behind the cannabis plants. Don’t loose sight of the road and don’t take too long. We can’t afford to be stopped very long.
Taking the other roll he went to the side of the road nearest where he parked the still running truck. Teresa surprised herself. After his suggestion, she really did need to go to the bathroom, all be it country style. The whole time she was in the bushes, she kept her eyes on the truck. She almost expected it to run off and again leave her alone and lost on the gravel road. On returning, she found him already in the truck. He tossed her a wet paper towelette in exchange for her roll of toilet paper. “We will make do with civilization as long as we can. If we stay out too long, you may have to learn to use corncobs like the locals,” he stated.
First of all rubbing her bottom with a rough corncob didn’t sound like much pleasure to her and second, locals. What locals? They hadn’t seen anyone since the pimple-faced boy.
She had been given a water bottle and watching the paladin, she drank sparingly as did he. When the water got hot, they would both have to go back to the bota.
Time was told by the sun traveling from her side, across the front of the truck to the driver’s side. When the sun was almost overhead, the paladin reached in his sack to pull out some crackers and a small wedge of cheese. Holding the steering wheel with his knees, he cut the wedge of cheese and handed a piece to her. That, along with the water was lunch.
The afternoon was more of the same. The same gravel under the tires, the same “pot” plants drifting by her window and the same grain fields beyond the fence. Her eyes were heavy and soon she had drifted off again.
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The flashy red car pulled up to the villa. The driver quickly got out and hurried over to her side. As he bent over to open the low door of the roadster, Teresa knew that he had been looking down her blouse, blown out from the breeze. He could almost be seen licking his lips in lust; of course that was only a metaphor. She was sure that he had appreciated her milk white thighs as she swung her bottom to stand with his help. This gave Teresa a thrill, why else would she have not worn any underwear? The front of the villa was crowded with people. The rich and famous, all trying to outdo each other in fashion and statement of how much skin they laid bare. Whores, prostitutes and johns all making their way using their bodies, their reputations and for some their brains as coinage buying and selling their way in the world. Tess thought what was she? Dressed the way she was and clearly allowing a man, whom she didn’t even know by name, to ogle parts of her naked body at his will, what did that say?
Tess stood. It had been important that she gain entrance to this villa. At the time, in her mind, this had seemed the best way. The tall man offered her his arm and together they strolled up the walk. Tess looked at the people as she passed. One lady in a bare-backed sun dress was standing and as Tess and her consort passed, Tess saw the lady had an arm around her back with a hand reaching under the waist band groping her bare ass. As they walk up the stone walk, Tess wondered if she would be strong enough to do what must be done. Would she end up screwing her consort? Would he pass her around, as rumor had it he usually did and would Tess find herself gang-banged by these rich and famous.
When she had snaked a leg out from a split in her skirt to attract his attention along side the highway, it had seemed like a good idea. No one else had a better suggestion. She needed to get in. She needed to get close. Now she had to confront the price she was going to be asked to pay. Not the group, but Tess alone was going to pay the piper. The others had all agreed on this, but they left unsaid that things go right or things go south, it would be Tess who paid.
-----------------
“Are you remembering?” brought her back to reality.
“I think so. I was worrying about the cost to me personally in doing what I intended,” she answered. Then, Tess shrugged, “Of course, what I intended to do escapes me.” For the first time, she thought she saw a grimace on the face of the paladin.
“Payment is always personal, it is never carried by the group. They may talk about all being in this together, but finally, it is always one ‘snook’ who coughs up the ante,” he stated
Tess thought that she was hearing a bitterness in his voice. Was this a break in the brick wall she almost believed made up the paladin? The fuzziness seemed to return to her mind. It was as if the cannabis again infiltrated her thinking. How did the paladin keep going? Where in the world were they going? Where in the world were they anyway? Were they on another world? Then, something made her shiver. Was this reality or was this all a complex fantasy for her alone? Was she in a truck speeding to who knows where? Was she sitting in a doctor’s office as they pumped something into her veins to make her believe what they had concocted?
The sun was sinking on his side and to the rear. The paladin was consulting his watch and a map over and over. She could hear him mumble, “We have to get there before night fall. I don’t want to chance that road in the dark.”
Tess saw what she thought was another chink in his armor, his knuckles were turning white with strain. Something was going to happen and to protector her; he had to be at a certain place at a certain time. Tess started to ask what was the problem then, she thought better of it. There was nothing she could do and there was no reason to make things harder for the paladin. Tess felt her mind drift again. It was so hard when you had to depend on some one else completely. They had all offered support, but when she agreed to enter the villa, she had to go in alone. There was no way that they could get more than one operative in there. When she was finished, they promised her that they would stop at nothing to get her out. They promised a full scale assault if necessary. Of course, that was hard to believe. She would be depending on her one contact on the outside. What made her sure that he could maintain his side of any promise, especially a promise to bring more help? What made her believe that the paladin would protect her? Something ahead frightened him. Would he abandon her to save himself?
The sun was sinking almost to the horizon. The paladin was driving like a mad man; then, he made a turn. The light was growing dim. The paladin had entered a path that started to climb. This was different from the country of the grain, the cannabis and the graveled road. As the light faded and the road became more difficult, the paladin slowed considerably. Times were when he stopped and got out to scout the faint markings of the path to return and proceed further to stop and repeat it all again. Finally, it was so dark that Tess could make little of what was outside. She knew that there was a powerful light in the cab of the truck, but he had stubbornly refused to use it, answering, “They see a bright light up here they will know exactly where we are.”
Finally, it got so dark that Tess couldn’t see a thing, the paladin must have the vision of an owl. The paladin stopped and let out a deep breath. “It was touch and go for a minute, but we made it. Come on, quickly get inside so we can get out of this infernal darkness.”
During the day, they had made a few stops to use the country bathroom, but except for squatting among the cannabis and thorns, they had been driving for many hours. Both of them were stiff. “Get in there and get a hot shower,” he ordered. “There is a warm robe to wrap up in so you can get all of your clothes washed. I will start supper and it should be ready by the time I get my shower.”
Tess entered the bathroom and pealed off her clothes. They had a certain stink about them, the oppressive heat along with the scent of the cannabis all made them pretty ripe. After the long hot shower, Tess wrapped herself in the robe setting her fresh washed clothes out to dry. Tess wasn’t wearing anything under the robe as the paladin made it clear that he wanted all of her clothes to be cleaned. When she came into the main room, the smell of a spicy stew permeated everything. When the paladin returned from the shower, he was wearing a wife-beater shirt along with shorts.
The two of them ate in silence, each hording their personal thoughts. Finally, they finished and she was leaning back, her eyes closed trying to bring more memory to the surface. “They told me to try to get you to tell as much of your story as possible,” he said.
The first thing that came out of Tess’s mouth was, “Who are they?” Then, she laughed and said, “I know, they are those who want to know about my story. Will I never get any answers?”
He smiled. He seemed to be loosening up a little. “They feel that they need to know.”
“I think I was involved in some sort of plot. There was an argument ending in the statement that I was the only one who could get in. Now, into what, I am still not sure. I seduced my way into the crowd and was being driven by a man to this villa. My dress or lack of that and my body language were all to make them accept me into the inter sanctum. I think I made it past my first hurdle, but after that, I am not sure. What memory I have made it look like an orgy. I don’t know what I was required to do and I don’t know if I was able to do it or not. Maybe that was what gave me away. Maybe, I failed and they were holding me for information. It seems like this occurred yesterday, but there are many things that make me believe that it all happened some time ago. I think there is a long bit of time I can’t account for. I think there are still many things that happened that I don’t remember yet,” she explained.
The paladin grimaced. “That must have been Nicholas who was your driver. I would enjoy the contract on that skinny son-of-a-bitch. Do you remember anything else about him?”
Sitting in the warm cabin not answering the paladin, Tess remembered what she wanted to ask of him. “Can you take me outside to look at the stars?”
He looked surprised, but after a few minutes thought, he shrugged. “I guess that wouldn’t do any harm.”
“Do you know anything about the stars?” she asked him.
Again, he shrugged. “Not much, I never had to depend on that knowledge.”
“Oh well, so much for rugged survivalist, reading the stars and checking tree trunks for moss to find north,” Tess thought. I wonder how much I remember. There was only one part of the sky clear. The rest was overcast with some sort of front moving in. The paladin studied the clouds for several minutes. “I don’t like the look of that weather. If it storms, there is no way I am going to go out on that path.”
Tess was sure that she could recognize the big and little dippers if she could see them. Then, there was Orion, but she couldn’t remember the part of the year it was visible and she didn’t know what part of the year they were in anyway. There was one bright star that shown through the wispy clouds on the edge of the front, but without more stars she couldn’t identify it. This was a bust. She still had no idea where she was on Earth or even on some place else. Tess leaned back against the strong body of the paladin. She shivered in disappointment more then being cold. The paladin misinterpreted the shiver and pulled her close for warmth. Again Tess’s thoughts wandered. The paladin knew that she had no clothes on under the robe. Did her body pressing against his cause any arousal in him. Tess thought he is an old guy, but she quickly reassessed her opinion of him. He wasn’t that old and he was pretty good looking in a rugged sort of way. On the way to the villa, she had been both afraid that she couldn’t seduce her driver and the rest in the villa and also afraid that she would seduce all of them and loose control, not being able to handle the results. Could she control the paladin? Would she want to control him? Tess was only sure that she would experience strong love if she ended up in his bed. Tess struggled to snuggle tighter against him, in her mind, hoping she would feel any arousal through his shorts.
Tess shook her head. Later she heard him talking to someone on an unseen phone. “Unless you can get someone else into that circle, we are going to have to wait to find out what she did. It could be months before they let any information out. There is a storm moving through, we may be stuck here a while. Yes, I know that they are not very far behind me. That path, you laughingly call a road will be impossible in a storm.”
Bam, Bam, was hammered on her door. “We have to be out of here before sunrise,” the voice called out. Before she could react very well, the door was flung opened and clean panties were thrown in at her. “Wash the other pair before breakfast. For a while you are going to make do with the other clothes, but we can afford clean underwear for the moment.” The door closed and Teresa quickly put on last night’s clothes with the one pair of clean underwear to emerge where the paladin was placing a plate of eggs and sausage for breakfast.
“I don’t eat meat,” she started.
“Now, you eat what ever we have. When I am gone, you can follow any cause you want. Now, I need you strong,” he ordered.
It flashed in her mind that at one time she would have challenged him for giving her orders. Now she quietly sat and chocked down what he handed her. Soon, they were back in the truck and driving down the path without any lights. Either he knew the path well or maybe, he could see in less light than she. The truck crawled to the road and turned in the direction she assumed they had been driving yesterday.
Teresa’s mind was trying to find reason. They were driving down the same gravel road, lined by the same cannabis plants, separating the same grain fields. No people were evident. Except for the paladin and the pimply-faced boy, she hadn’t seen any soul in her mind’s brief history. People, there must have been people in her life somewhere before. Where in this country could you drive this far without seeing some sort of evidence of people? Well, there were the fence lines, but who kept up the fence lines? Who kept up the road, such that it was? Whose house had they stayed at last night? The paladin seemed to know.
Her mind drifted for a few minutes, again where in this country could you find this much open country? Did that mean that she no longer was in the United States? Where was she? What had happened to her before she found herself running down the gravel road half naked? Where did she get those black satin panties? The paladin had ordered her to wash them out so now she had three sets of underwear. The threadbare tee shirt was barely holding together so he had said nothing about it.
Tonight, if she got a chance she would look at the stars. Tess worried, why hadn’t she paid more attention to her science classes. Would she know if they were in another country by the stars? What about a different planet? Would she recognize the stars well enough to tell if they were still on Earth or not?
The tires crunching over the gravel gave up a vibration; soon it seemed to be even a song. The cannabis plants swished by their aroma confusing her already addled memory. The grain fields, some distance from the road, remained the same. Maybe the grain fields were traveling at the same rate as the truck. The paladin shifted his butt once and a while trying to get comfortable in the long drive. He would shift hands from time to time as he guided the truck down the straight road. Then, he might grab the wheel with both hands as he navigated one of the rare curves, on and on and on, the same thing to utter monotony.
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He was dressed in an expensive suit, the shirt opened at the collar. His hands were encased in expensive driving gloves as he gripped the steering wheel of the bright red roadster, in the accepted ten and two formation. The steering wheel rimmed in rich mahogany with brass rivets showing through. The center of the wheel was black with a yellow shield printed with a black prancing horse. Of course, the car was bright red. With that prancing horse, what other color could it be? The wind blew through her long blond hair as it trailed behind her. The countryside passed by so fast that she could only imagine what it was. Tess was trying to see the man driving. Behind his expensive dark glasses, she couldn’t make out anything about his eyes. She didn’t know if they were fixed on the road or if he was glancing covertly at her. Her dress had blown up to above mid thigh as she leaned back luxuriating in the feel of the cool breeze on her legs. Teresa looked down, she was wearing high heeled sandals, but no hose. The wind was blowing against her bare skin. Unless the driver wasn’t human, her bare white, thighs should have stirred something in him. She leaned back, her loose blouse billowed letting the wind play between her breasts. Thinking, Tess could feel that the dress was all she was wearing. She didn’t have a stitch of underwear under it. Where did she get the black panties? The wind-blown skirt must have showed more than her bare thighs. What did that do to this inhuman driver?
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An unexpected bump brought Tess out of her reverie. “How far do we have to go?” she asked the paladin.
“A long ways,” he grunted. “They told me to get you completely lost so no one could find you. They said that is the only way you can be protected.”
Tess again looked down the monotonous road. “Who are they?” she asked.
“The people who want you lost. They hired me to protect you and to hide you where no one can find you,” he replied.
“So, I am just a job to you?” she asked again.
“Everyday is just a job to me. That is what I do. People hire me to do things that are impossible for others to do. I usually do them, the impossible things, that is,” he stated.
The paladin stopped the truck. He leaned over and took out two rolls of toilet paper. Pointing to the field across the road, he said, “Go over behind the cannabis plants. Don’t loose sight of the road and don’t take too long. We can’t afford to be stopped very long.
Taking the other roll he went to the side of the road nearest where he parked the still running truck. Teresa surprised herself. After his suggestion, she really did need to go to the bathroom, all be it country style. The whole time she was in the bushes, she kept her eyes on the truck. She almost expected it to run off and again leave her alone and lost on the gravel road. On returning, she found him already in the truck. He tossed her a wet paper towelette in exchange for her roll of toilet paper. “We will make do with civilization as long as we can. If we stay out too long, you may have to learn to use corncobs like the locals,” he stated.
First of all rubbing her bottom with a rough corncob didn’t sound like much pleasure to her and second, locals. What locals? They hadn’t seen anyone since the pimple-faced boy.
She had been given a water bottle and watching the paladin, she drank sparingly as did he. When the water got hot, they would both have to go back to the bota.
Time was told by the sun traveling from her side, across the front of the truck to the driver’s side. When the sun was almost overhead, the paladin reached in his sack to pull out some crackers and a small wedge of cheese. Holding the steering wheel with his knees, he cut the wedge of cheese and handed a piece to her. That, along with the water was lunch.
The afternoon was more of the same. The same gravel under the tires, the same “pot” plants drifting by her window and the same grain fields beyond the fence. Her eyes were heavy and soon she had drifted off again.
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The flashy red car pulled up to the villa. The driver quickly got out and hurried over to her side. As he bent over to open the low door of the roadster, Teresa knew that he had been looking down her blouse, blown out from the breeze. He could almost be seen licking his lips in lust; of course that was only a metaphor. She was sure that he had appreciated her milk white thighs as she swung her bottom to stand with his help. This gave Teresa a thrill, why else would she have not worn any underwear? The front of the villa was crowded with people. The rich and famous, all trying to outdo each other in fashion and statement of how much skin they laid bare. Whores, prostitutes and johns all making their way using their bodies, their reputations and for some their brains as coinage buying and selling their way in the world. Tess thought what was she? Dressed the way she was and clearly allowing a man, whom she didn’t even know by name, to ogle parts of her naked body at his will, what did that say?
Tess stood. It had been important that she gain entrance to this villa. At the time, in her mind, this had seemed the best way. The tall man offered her his arm and together they strolled up the walk. Tess looked at the people as she passed. One lady in a bare-backed sun dress was standing and as Tess and her consort passed, Tess saw the lady had an arm around her back with a hand reaching under the waist band groping her bare ass. As they walk up the stone walk, Tess wondered if she would be strong enough to do what must be done. Would she end up screwing her consort? Would he pass her around, as rumor had it he usually did and would Tess find herself gang-banged by these rich and famous.
When she had snaked a leg out from a split in her skirt to attract his attention along side the highway, it had seemed like a good idea. No one else had a better suggestion. She needed to get in. She needed to get close. Now she had to confront the price she was going to be asked to pay. Not the group, but Tess alone was going to pay the piper. The others had all agreed on this, but they left unsaid that things go right or things go south, it would be Tess who paid.
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“Are you remembering?” brought her back to reality.
“I think so. I was worrying about the cost to me personally in doing what I intended,” she answered. Then, Tess shrugged, “Of course, what I intended to do escapes me.” For the first time, she thought she saw a grimace on the face of the paladin.
“Payment is always personal, it is never carried by the group. They may talk about all being in this together, but finally, it is always one ‘snook’ who coughs up the ante,” he stated
Tess thought that she was hearing a bitterness in his voice. Was this a break in the brick wall she almost believed made up the paladin? The fuzziness seemed to return to her mind. It was as if the cannabis again infiltrated her thinking. How did the paladin keep going? Where in the world were they going? Where in the world were they anyway? Were they on another world? Then, something made her shiver. Was this reality or was this all a complex fantasy for her alone? Was she in a truck speeding to who knows where? Was she sitting in a doctor’s office as they pumped something into her veins to make her believe what they had concocted?
The sun was sinking on his side and to the rear. The paladin was consulting his watch and a map over and over. She could hear him mumble, “We have to get there before night fall. I don’t want to chance that road in the dark.”
Tess saw what she thought was another chink in his armor, his knuckles were turning white with strain. Something was going to happen and to protector her; he had to be at a certain place at a certain time. Tess started to ask what was the problem then, she thought better of it. There was nothing she could do and there was no reason to make things harder for the paladin. Tess felt her mind drift again. It was so hard when you had to depend on some one else completely. They had all offered support, but when she agreed to enter the villa, she had to go in alone. There was no way that they could get more than one operative in there. When she was finished, they promised her that they would stop at nothing to get her out. They promised a full scale assault if necessary. Of course, that was hard to believe. She would be depending on her one contact on the outside. What made her sure that he could maintain his side of any promise, especially a promise to bring more help? What made her believe that the paladin would protect her? Something ahead frightened him. Would he abandon her to save himself?
The sun was sinking almost to the horizon. The paladin was driving like a mad man; then, he made a turn. The light was growing dim. The paladin had entered a path that started to climb. This was different from the country of the grain, the cannabis and the graveled road. As the light faded and the road became more difficult, the paladin slowed considerably. Times were when he stopped and got out to scout the faint markings of the path to return and proceed further to stop and repeat it all again. Finally, it was so dark that Tess could make little of what was outside. She knew that there was a powerful light in the cab of the truck, but he had stubbornly refused to use it, answering, “They see a bright light up here they will know exactly where we are.”
Finally, it got so dark that Tess couldn’t see a thing, the paladin must have the vision of an owl. The paladin stopped and let out a deep breath. “It was touch and go for a minute, but we made it. Come on, quickly get inside so we can get out of this infernal darkness.”
During the day, they had made a few stops to use the country bathroom, but except for squatting among the cannabis and thorns, they had been driving for many hours. Both of them were stiff. “Get in there and get a hot shower,” he ordered. “There is a warm robe to wrap up in so you can get all of your clothes washed. I will start supper and it should be ready by the time I get my shower.”
Tess entered the bathroom and pealed off her clothes. They had a certain stink about them, the oppressive heat along with the scent of the cannabis all made them pretty ripe. After the long hot shower, Tess wrapped herself in the robe setting her fresh washed clothes out to dry. Tess wasn’t wearing anything under the robe as the paladin made it clear that he wanted all of her clothes to be cleaned. When she came into the main room, the smell of a spicy stew permeated everything. When the paladin returned from the shower, he was wearing a wife-beater shirt along with shorts.
The two of them ate in silence, each hording their personal thoughts. Finally, they finished and she was leaning back, her eyes closed trying to bring more memory to the surface. “They told me to try to get you to tell as much of your story as possible,” he said.
The first thing that came out of Tess’s mouth was, “Who are they?” Then, she laughed and said, “I know, they are those who want to know about my story. Will I never get any answers?”
He smiled. He seemed to be loosening up a little. “They feel that they need to know.”
“I think I was involved in some sort of plot. There was an argument ending in the statement that I was the only one who could get in. Now, into what, I am still not sure. I seduced my way into the crowd and was being driven by a man to this villa. My dress or lack of that and my body language were all to make them accept me into the inter sanctum. I think I made it past my first hurdle, but after that, I am not sure. What memory I have made it look like an orgy. I don’t know what I was required to do and I don’t know if I was able to do it or not. Maybe that was what gave me away. Maybe, I failed and they were holding me for information. It seems like this occurred yesterday, but there are many things that make me believe that it all happened some time ago. I think there is a long bit of time I can’t account for. I think there are still many things that happened that I don’t remember yet,” she explained.
The paladin grimaced. “That must have been Nicholas who was your driver. I would enjoy the contract on that skinny son-of-a-bitch. Do you remember anything else about him?”
Sitting in the warm cabin not answering the paladin, Tess remembered what she wanted to ask of him. “Can you take me outside to look at the stars?”
He looked surprised, but after a few minutes thought, he shrugged. “I guess that wouldn’t do any harm.”
“Do you know anything about the stars?” she asked him.
Again, he shrugged. “Not much, I never had to depend on that knowledge.”
“Oh well, so much for rugged survivalist, reading the stars and checking tree trunks for moss to find north,” Tess thought. I wonder how much I remember. There was only one part of the sky clear. The rest was overcast with some sort of front moving in. The paladin studied the clouds for several minutes. “I don’t like the look of that weather. If it storms, there is no way I am going to go out on that path.”
Tess was sure that she could recognize the big and little dippers if she could see them. Then, there was Orion, but she couldn’t remember the part of the year it was visible and she didn’t know what part of the year they were in anyway. There was one bright star that shown through the wispy clouds on the edge of the front, but without more stars she couldn’t identify it. This was a bust. She still had no idea where she was on Earth or even on some place else. Tess leaned back against the strong body of the paladin. She shivered in disappointment more then being cold. The paladin misinterpreted the shiver and pulled her close for warmth. Again Tess’s thoughts wandered. The paladin knew that she had no clothes on under the robe. Did her body pressing against his cause any arousal in him. Tess thought he is an old guy, but she quickly reassessed her opinion of him. He wasn’t that old and he was pretty good looking in a rugged sort of way. On the way to the villa, she had been both afraid that she couldn’t seduce her driver and the rest in the villa and also afraid that she would seduce all of them and loose control, not being able to handle the results. Could she control the paladin? Would she want to control him? Tess was only sure that she would experience strong love if she ended up in his bed. Tess struggled to snuggle tighter against him, in her mind, hoping she would feel any arousal through his shorts.
Tess shook her head. Later she heard him talking to someone on an unseen phone. “Unless you can get someone else into that circle, we are going to have to wait to find out what she did. It could be months before they let any information out. There is a storm moving through, we may be stuck here a while. Yes, I know that they are not very far behind me. That path, you laughingly call a road will be impossible in a storm.”
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Her Paladin, mature,Tess, ch 2, Jan 4, 2017
Chapter 3
Tess woke up. Everything was dark. The wind was howling. She could hear the rumble of thunder, still some ways off. They had made pit-stops along the way to go to the bathroom, but that had been at his command and her body was off a bit. Tess stood and feeling for the wall she tried to navigate to where she thought the bathroom could be found. She had no sooner finished and was trying to remember which way back to her room, when a lightning struck right out side her window. There was no time interval between the lightning and thunder. It was followed by another strike and thunder clap followed by another and another. Tess screamed.
The paladin was up in a second. He pulled her to his chest and that is when Tess remembered that she had left the robe on her bed. It seemed like nothing to creep to the bathroom and back without the encumbrance of the robe. He tightly held her naked body, burying her face in his chest as the storm raged. In the flashes, which came around the curtains, Tess saw that she was in his strong arms, with nothing between herself and the paladin, if he so chose.
The repeated hammering of thunder swept any other fears away from her. If they had been in bed, she would have curled up against him no matter what might be the result. Then, the flashes took their toll. Tess passed out, her muscles hardened in a trance. Tess no longer knew anything around her. The paladin hoped that when she came out, she might have another piece of the puzzle.
With great difficulty, he maneuvered her back to her room and turning on a dim light, he laid her on the bed and tried to wrap her back in the robe. She truly was a beautiful young woman. He wondered who wanted her and what they wanted to do with her? He kept telling himself that she was just a job. His mind kept rebelling that someday, he was going to have to shuck this job and run off with someone like her. Someone like her, would she follow him through fear and necessity or could she follow him for another reason? The lightning and thunder continued to beat the mountain retreat. Paladin wondered what they would do if the building suffered a direct hit.
Morning brought wind and continued rain. Thankfully the thunder boys had gone somewhere else to play their noisy games. Tess woke up. She looked out the window and saw streams of water running across the bare stone on which the building had been built. Looking for the truck she couldn’t see it. Then she saw a brush pile and realized that the paladin had hidden it from view, at least from above.
“Morning,” he called. “You can shower if you want, but just keep your robe on. We aren’t going anywhere for a while.”
Tess looked around and saw that he had changed clothes, sometime last night, probably to go out in the rain to hide the truck. The paladin was wearing slacks and a heavy shirt. On a chair another pair of pants along with a shirt lay drying or at least trying to dry in the humid weather. “Breakfast is cold, I didn’t want to light a fire in the daytime. Smoke is too easy to see against the clouds. I cooked everything we need today early this morning before first light,” he stated.
Tess wasn’t sure she agreed that smoke could be seen in weather like this, but he was the expert. “What do you remember from last night?” he asked.
Memories from the last night brought shivers from her. “Do you believe in Hell?” she asked.
He smiled or at least, she thought he did. “I have enough trouble believing in reality. I leave the meta-physical to others,” he answered.
“I think I saw Hell, last night. Where I originally come from we don’t have words or descriptions of Hell, but here, I think it is part of reality. I think I saw and felt Hell last night,” she stated.
He didn’t laugh or put her off. “What was it like?” he asked.
“It was like nothing,” she answered. “There I existed, but I felt nothing. I could not feel any existence even though I was knew that I was somewhere. Being cut off from any sensation except for knowing that you still exist, was terrifying. I think that I did something terrible and if I stay here, I am going to end up in … in Hell. I am going to spend eternity somewhere without any sensations.”
Tess’s mind went back to the thunder-claps. She did remember screaming and she did remember the paladin pulling her naked body close to his. She remembered wondering if she was causing arousal in him. Then, nothing, her mind closed down, except for the thoughts of Hell.
The paladin said nothing. Several times he went out in the storm and returning shaking his head. He was clearly worried. About noon, the storm blew itself out. The paladin was now even more worried. He looked out the window at the sky, but he did not go outside the cabin. The wind blew and Tess saw the puddles shrink. The paladin grunted, “By morning, I think we can make it.”
The afternoon was harder for Tess. She still tried to bring up memories with little luck. Now her own emotions were playing with her psyche. Tess knew that her beauty was more than adequate. Being in the embrace of the paladin was crowding her other thoughts. Tess had prepared herself to be screwed by who knows how many of the rich and famous at the villa. Last night before her blackout, Tess had been held naked in the paladin’s arms. That was more than she had willingly given any of those young studs. What effect had this had on the paladin. She didn’t even know his real name. She believed that even now she would willingly spread her legs for him. She had seen him as an older man, but now she saw him as a bulwark of security. She was only a job to the paladin, but Tess was wishing that she might be more. A paladin was some kind of knight, wasn’t he? Knights protected people didn’t they? Weren’t knights, also, known for seducing young women? Well she had tried to seduce him, at least she thought she had. Maybe, her blackout ruined the seduction. He certainly was having a strong effect on her. More and more he was gaining control of her whole life.
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Tess wondered if they had valet parking at the villa. Was there someone who the young man would entrust to park his red car? When they walked into the villa it was like some vision of Arabian Nights meets Los Angeles. Men and women were lying around in all stages of dress and undress. They were playing with each other; they were screwing each other. Her driver leaned forward and with his hand on the fastenings of her loose dress, he whispered, “At least you came prepared. Let’s lose the dress and join the others.” She felt his hands start to unfasten her dress, then her mind, again, shut down. Something must have happened that she did to want to remember,
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Tess shook her head. The paladin was watching her. “Did you remember something more?” he asked.
For the moment, Tess ignored his question. “How long was I out?” she asked instead.
“A couple of hours,” he replied.
“I entered the orgy,” she stated.
“Then what?” he asked. Tess was surprised that he expressed no judgment at where she had been.
Tess shook her head. “I don’t know, I think I joined in.”
“Can you describe any of the people you met there? Can you describe any of the men or women you had sex with?” he asked again.
Tess slowly shook her head again. “There was the driver. When he removed his dark glasses, I couldn’t help but think he was awfully young to be there. There was some sort of office or, maybe, just a room that overlooked the entire orgy. Men kept coming down and whispering to different women and the women would follow them up the stairs. I can guess what they were doing there, but it would be only a guess. I didn’t ever know. My mind kept coming back to my driver. I think he undressed me and I think he undressed himself. I keep thinking did I see him walking around? All I get is that he looked very young, to young to be at an orgy. I don’t think I talked to anyone else.”
The paladin grimaced. “That Nicholas always chooses to look like a kid. It is thought that he comes from some ancient race and is in reality several hundreds of years old. Appearances with those people don’t mean much. Can you think of anyone else?”
“There was one woman, taller than me, better figured than me and a lot more sure of herself than I ever was. She had long, blond hair and deep brown eyes. She wasn’t wearing any clothes at all, but then, neither was I by that time. She was surrounded by naked men, but when she stood they all scattered. She stood because someone on the stairway beckoned to her. She went to the room and I never saw her again, at least not in this memory,” Tess related.
“That sounds like Vilandra or Lonnie as she is sometimes called. She is a Paraná. She eats men alive. She was preparing herself to go up to the room as you saw. If who I think was in the room, he has almost as big an appetite as does she. Lonnie is a problem, she is the daughter of the former king. She, thus, is the sister of the present king. The Vilandra original was killed by her lover. Now, even when we see her clone bringing the kingdom down, there is not much we can do. Her other clone here on Earth, turned out to be a nice girl, although a little cold to humans as you might imagine.” The paladin was lost in deep thought.
“Who was in that room?” Teresa asked.
“Lets wait and see what you find out. If I say anything now, it might warp your views later. It is very important who was in the room and what you did,” the paladin explained.
There was no storm that night and Tess slept like the dead. That is her body slept, but her mind was digging up more and more things of her past.
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“Stupid slut, you were supposed to take the king. Why do you suppose the master allowed you to be cloned? Now you got here late and the king already has his eyes on a local woman. If you don’t bust them up, then someone is gonna haft to die.” That voice came from someone she had sometimes called father. “Damn it, screw the damned king and get pregnant. You have no other purpose in this life.” “In this life,” Tess had visions of being brutally murdered on that other life.
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That dream resonated over and over in her mind as she slept. The voice emanated from a being that looked innocent. He was a middle-aged man slightly balding. Thinking, Tess realized that his innocence was only an appearance. Actually, he was as vicious as a mad dog. Somehow, Teresa had been in a love triangle with the king. The man she called father had orchestrated the triangle. No, he was merely following orders from someone else, that someone who had allowed her to be cloned, that someone who had allowed her to be created. Tess had been told years ago that messing in the business of kings was very dangerous. That must have been long ago before in her first life. This was getting complicated.
First question she had was the fact that she had been cloned. Wasn’t she real? That, was nonsense, of course she was real. Cloning simply meant that she shared genes with some other entity.
That afternoon, Tess sat relating all her thoughts to the paladin. He nodded from time to time. He didn’t seem to be surprised at anything she said. “Yes, by careless mistake, you were injected into a situation that could do nothing but hurt the king. Maybe, even if the mistake had never been made, you still might have hurt him. You were created for some evil plot. This is very important, the plot was evil, you never were. Nasado was the man you called father. He tried everything to make you as evil as he was. Now, you must fight to not let him succeed. We think you did a very great and courageous thing, but the spirit of Nasado will still try to turn you to evil, even if what you did destroys their nefarious plans. Somehow that is where you get the visions of Hell. I believe that the others, not you, are destined to spend their eternity in that place.
The paladin sneaked out for a look-see at dusk, that time when the transition is between day and night, being neither. He refused to allow her to go outside saying, “They will be looking for us. They will have eyes in the sky and sensors on the ground. Hopefully, I was able to dodge detection from either.”
The paladin droned on. Tess tried to catch every word, trying to understand the world in which she found herself. “Stories are seldom as simple as the telling of them. The story started eons ago and will rage across the universe for eons to come. It all started with power and the strength to gain this power. Kings begat kings. They traded for wives to breed even more powerful kings. Finally in their breeding something, they did not account for. One prince was born who could rule with power, but he also was intelligent enough to see past that power. This prince wanted to rule with logic and logic told him that to get the most out of his people, they needed careful nurturing. He wanted armies for protection. He wanted alliances for progress. He had two children, a boy and a girl who were twins. They had the same father and the same mother, but the boy wanted peace to gain knowledge and the girl wanted something from the past. She wasn’t even sure of what that was. The boy wanted his subjects to be his friends and the girl wanted them to be her servants. The boy turned to a wife from another land and the girl turned to the brother of her brother’s wife.” The paladin stopped.
“Go on,” begged Tess. “What happened next?”
The paladin sat in silence. “I can’t. Already, I might have said too much. We will just have to wait and see.” Then he continued, “We should get ready for bed. If it is clear we need to an early start. I want out of here as soon as I can see the path.”
Tess watched to see if he made any invitation for her to join him in his bed. That was silly. The Paladin would only make a move if he thought it would protect her. Tess didn’t discount those strong arms around her, but they would only be there is she had a need, not for the need of the paladin. It would be for Tess to wonder what constituted a need.
Tess woke up. Everything was dark. The wind was howling. She could hear the rumble of thunder, still some ways off. They had made pit-stops along the way to go to the bathroom, but that had been at his command and her body was off a bit. Tess stood and feeling for the wall she tried to navigate to where she thought the bathroom could be found. She had no sooner finished and was trying to remember which way back to her room, when a lightning struck right out side her window. There was no time interval between the lightning and thunder. It was followed by another strike and thunder clap followed by another and another. Tess screamed.
The paladin was up in a second. He pulled her to his chest and that is when Tess remembered that she had left the robe on her bed. It seemed like nothing to creep to the bathroom and back without the encumbrance of the robe. He tightly held her naked body, burying her face in his chest as the storm raged. In the flashes, which came around the curtains, Tess saw that she was in his strong arms, with nothing between herself and the paladin, if he so chose.
The repeated hammering of thunder swept any other fears away from her. If they had been in bed, she would have curled up against him no matter what might be the result. Then, the flashes took their toll. Tess passed out, her muscles hardened in a trance. Tess no longer knew anything around her. The paladin hoped that when she came out, she might have another piece of the puzzle.
With great difficulty, he maneuvered her back to her room and turning on a dim light, he laid her on the bed and tried to wrap her back in the robe. She truly was a beautiful young woman. He wondered who wanted her and what they wanted to do with her? He kept telling himself that she was just a job. His mind kept rebelling that someday, he was going to have to shuck this job and run off with someone like her. Someone like her, would she follow him through fear and necessity or could she follow him for another reason? The lightning and thunder continued to beat the mountain retreat. Paladin wondered what they would do if the building suffered a direct hit.
Morning brought wind and continued rain. Thankfully the thunder boys had gone somewhere else to play their noisy games. Tess woke up. She looked out the window and saw streams of water running across the bare stone on which the building had been built. Looking for the truck she couldn’t see it. Then she saw a brush pile and realized that the paladin had hidden it from view, at least from above.
“Morning,” he called. “You can shower if you want, but just keep your robe on. We aren’t going anywhere for a while.”
Tess looked around and saw that he had changed clothes, sometime last night, probably to go out in the rain to hide the truck. The paladin was wearing slacks and a heavy shirt. On a chair another pair of pants along with a shirt lay drying or at least trying to dry in the humid weather. “Breakfast is cold, I didn’t want to light a fire in the daytime. Smoke is too easy to see against the clouds. I cooked everything we need today early this morning before first light,” he stated.
Tess wasn’t sure she agreed that smoke could be seen in weather like this, but he was the expert. “What do you remember from last night?” he asked.
Memories from the last night brought shivers from her. “Do you believe in Hell?” she asked.
He smiled or at least, she thought he did. “I have enough trouble believing in reality. I leave the meta-physical to others,” he answered.
“I think I saw Hell, last night. Where I originally come from we don’t have words or descriptions of Hell, but here, I think it is part of reality. I think I saw and felt Hell last night,” she stated.
He didn’t laugh or put her off. “What was it like?” he asked.
“It was like nothing,” she answered. “There I existed, but I felt nothing. I could not feel any existence even though I was knew that I was somewhere. Being cut off from any sensation except for knowing that you still exist, was terrifying. I think that I did something terrible and if I stay here, I am going to end up in … in Hell. I am going to spend eternity somewhere without any sensations.”
Tess’s mind went back to the thunder-claps. She did remember screaming and she did remember the paladin pulling her naked body close to his. She remembered wondering if she was causing arousal in him. Then, nothing, her mind closed down, except for the thoughts of Hell.
The paladin said nothing. Several times he went out in the storm and returning shaking his head. He was clearly worried. About noon, the storm blew itself out. The paladin was now even more worried. He looked out the window at the sky, but he did not go outside the cabin. The wind blew and Tess saw the puddles shrink. The paladin grunted, “By morning, I think we can make it.”
The afternoon was harder for Tess. She still tried to bring up memories with little luck. Now her own emotions were playing with her psyche. Tess knew that her beauty was more than adequate. Being in the embrace of the paladin was crowding her other thoughts. Tess had prepared herself to be screwed by who knows how many of the rich and famous at the villa. Last night before her blackout, Tess had been held naked in the paladin’s arms. That was more than she had willingly given any of those young studs. What effect had this had on the paladin. She didn’t even know his real name. She believed that even now she would willingly spread her legs for him. She had seen him as an older man, but now she saw him as a bulwark of security. She was only a job to the paladin, but Tess was wishing that she might be more. A paladin was some kind of knight, wasn’t he? Knights protected people didn’t they? Weren’t knights, also, known for seducing young women? Well she had tried to seduce him, at least she thought she had. Maybe, her blackout ruined the seduction. He certainly was having a strong effect on her. More and more he was gaining control of her whole life.
-----------------------
Tess wondered if they had valet parking at the villa. Was there someone who the young man would entrust to park his red car? When they walked into the villa it was like some vision of Arabian Nights meets Los Angeles. Men and women were lying around in all stages of dress and undress. They were playing with each other; they were screwing each other. Her driver leaned forward and with his hand on the fastenings of her loose dress, he whispered, “At least you came prepared. Let’s lose the dress and join the others.” She felt his hands start to unfasten her dress, then her mind, again, shut down. Something must have happened that she did to want to remember,
-------------
Tess shook her head. The paladin was watching her. “Did you remember something more?” he asked.
For the moment, Tess ignored his question. “How long was I out?” she asked instead.
“A couple of hours,” he replied.
“I entered the orgy,” she stated.
“Then what?” he asked. Tess was surprised that he expressed no judgment at where she had been.
Tess shook her head. “I don’t know, I think I joined in.”
“Can you describe any of the people you met there? Can you describe any of the men or women you had sex with?” he asked again.
Tess slowly shook her head again. “There was the driver. When he removed his dark glasses, I couldn’t help but think he was awfully young to be there. There was some sort of office or, maybe, just a room that overlooked the entire orgy. Men kept coming down and whispering to different women and the women would follow them up the stairs. I can guess what they were doing there, but it would be only a guess. I didn’t ever know. My mind kept coming back to my driver. I think he undressed me and I think he undressed himself. I keep thinking did I see him walking around? All I get is that he looked very young, to young to be at an orgy. I don’t think I talked to anyone else.”
The paladin grimaced. “That Nicholas always chooses to look like a kid. It is thought that he comes from some ancient race and is in reality several hundreds of years old. Appearances with those people don’t mean much. Can you think of anyone else?”
“There was one woman, taller than me, better figured than me and a lot more sure of herself than I ever was. She had long, blond hair and deep brown eyes. She wasn’t wearing any clothes at all, but then, neither was I by that time. She was surrounded by naked men, but when she stood they all scattered. She stood because someone on the stairway beckoned to her. She went to the room and I never saw her again, at least not in this memory,” Tess related.
“That sounds like Vilandra or Lonnie as she is sometimes called. She is a Paraná. She eats men alive. She was preparing herself to go up to the room as you saw. If who I think was in the room, he has almost as big an appetite as does she. Lonnie is a problem, she is the daughter of the former king. She, thus, is the sister of the present king. The Vilandra original was killed by her lover. Now, even when we see her clone bringing the kingdom down, there is not much we can do. Her other clone here on Earth, turned out to be a nice girl, although a little cold to humans as you might imagine.” The paladin was lost in deep thought.
“Who was in that room?” Teresa asked.
“Lets wait and see what you find out. If I say anything now, it might warp your views later. It is very important who was in the room and what you did,” the paladin explained.
There was no storm that night and Tess slept like the dead. That is her body slept, but her mind was digging up more and more things of her past.
-------------------------
“Stupid slut, you were supposed to take the king. Why do you suppose the master allowed you to be cloned? Now you got here late and the king already has his eyes on a local woman. If you don’t bust them up, then someone is gonna haft to die.” That voice came from someone she had sometimes called father. “Damn it, screw the damned king and get pregnant. You have no other purpose in this life.” “In this life,” Tess had visions of being brutally murdered on that other life.
----------------------------
That dream resonated over and over in her mind as she slept. The voice emanated from a being that looked innocent. He was a middle-aged man slightly balding. Thinking, Tess realized that his innocence was only an appearance. Actually, he was as vicious as a mad dog. Somehow, Teresa had been in a love triangle with the king. The man she called father had orchestrated the triangle. No, he was merely following orders from someone else, that someone who had allowed her to be cloned, that someone who had allowed her to be created. Tess had been told years ago that messing in the business of kings was very dangerous. That must have been long ago before in her first life. This was getting complicated.
First question she had was the fact that she had been cloned. Wasn’t she real? That, was nonsense, of course she was real. Cloning simply meant that she shared genes with some other entity.
That afternoon, Tess sat relating all her thoughts to the paladin. He nodded from time to time. He didn’t seem to be surprised at anything she said. “Yes, by careless mistake, you were injected into a situation that could do nothing but hurt the king. Maybe, even if the mistake had never been made, you still might have hurt him. You were created for some evil plot. This is very important, the plot was evil, you never were. Nasado was the man you called father. He tried everything to make you as evil as he was. Now, you must fight to not let him succeed. We think you did a very great and courageous thing, but the spirit of Nasado will still try to turn you to evil, even if what you did destroys their nefarious plans. Somehow that is where you get the visions of Hell. I believe that the others, not you, are destined to spend their eternity in that place.
The paladin sneaked out for a look-see at dusk, that time when the transition is between day and night, being neither. He refused to allow her to go outside saying, “They will be looking for us. They will have eyes in the sky and sensors on the ground. Hopefully, I was able to dodge detection from either.”
The paladin droned on. Tess tried to catch every word, trying to understand the world in which she found herself. “Stories are seldom as simple as the telling of them. The story started eons ago and will rage across the universe for eons to come. It all started with power and the strength to gain this power. Kings begat kings. They traded for wives to breed even more powerful kings. Finally in their breeding something, they did not account for. One prince was born who could rule with power, but he also was intelligent enough to see past that power. This prince wanted to rule with logic and logic told him that to get the most out of his people, they needed careful nurturing. He wanted armies for protection. He wanted alliances for progress. He had two children, a boy and a girl who were twins. They had the same father and the same mother, but the boy wanted peace to gain knowledge and the girl wanted something from the past. She wasn’t even sure of what that was. The boy wanted his subjects to be his friends and the girl wanted them to be her servants. The boy turned to a wife from another land and the girl turned to the brother of her brother’s wife.” The paladin stopped.
“Go on,” begged Tess. “What happened next?”
The paladin sat in silence. “I can’t. Already, I might have said too much. We will just have to wait and see.” Then he continued, “We should get ready for bed. If it is clear we need to an early start. I want out of here as soon as I can see the path.”
Tess watched to see if he made any invitation for her to join him in his bed. That was silly. The Paladin would only make a move if he thought it would protect her. Tess didn’t discount those strong arms around her, but they would only be there is she had a need, not for the need of the paladin. It would be for Tess to wonder what constituted a need.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Her Paladin, mature,Tess, ch 3, Jan 31, 2017
Chapter 4
Tess was wakened by his call. It seemed that she had just barely fallen asleep. The paladin assured her that she had been sleeping soundly since shortly after sunset the previous day. The paladin made no mention of his story the evening before. Tess wasn’t sure if it was true or just a yarn. Maybe he thought the story up as a love story, or at least his attempt at a love story. Tess thought, love stories should have happier endings.
The breaking day gave Tess a chance to see the path they had driven during the storm. The path hugged the cliff and looking out her window, she saw the thousand foot drop. The path was slanted toward the drop and the paladin had to continue to fight to keep the truck from sliding off.
Finally, they were back on the flats, or at least what was flatter than the terrible path off that mountain. The road was gravel, grass complete with sandburs and cannabis covered fences again. Tess looked, but she couldn’t see the grain. That was at least one thing, which had changed from before. “We are still trying to find out what went on in the office during the party? They are keeping a tight lid on everything. What more do you remember about the orgy?” he asked.
“The people were all so beautiful. Almost as if they were all made up to be in a show. I said I remember the blonde you called Vilandra going up to the office. I remember because I was trying to watch her and the man you called Nicholas kept pawing me. I wasn’t sure what he wanted and I wasn’t sure that if I figured out what he wanted, I could make myself give it to him. Looking out at the people in the room, it was a complete “Kama Sutra” enactment. The call that I was wanted in the office and the feeling of anger I felt from Nicholas gave me both redemption and fear. Climbing those stairs I felt eyes from the whole room on me. I don’t know why because everybody was naked and I was far from the most endowed woman in the room. There was someone or something in that room of great importance. That was the reason I had attended this orgy. Really, sex like this wasn’t my thing. I had to subdue many inhibitions to continue every minute.” There was a chuckhole in the road and the bump was like she dropped her script. What else she wanted to say was again obscure. Tess shook her head, she couldn’t continue, for now.
They heard the rumble of an engine in the distance. The paladin quickly looked in his mirrors and pulled to the far side of the road. He ungallantly pushed her to the floorboard and closing his eyes she could see that he was doing something that required great concentration.
The old blue junk heap roared past them as if it didn’t know they were there. Scrunched down, Tess couldn’t see if the pimpled youth was still driving. The paladin extended his hand. “Sorry, I couldn’t hold a mind warp for more than one person.” Then he took out some sort of instrument and spoke into it. “They are looking for me. We were just passed by that pimply-faced kid, but I warped him to not see us. That answers one question, he isn’t Nicholas. I could never have fooled Nicholas. Must be a human or some other race working for them.”
That was the first diversion they had had since the paladin had found her. Tess still wondered where were the other people. In her world of experience there were only three people, herself, the paladin and the pimply-faced boy. Well, there was whomever he was talking to, but that was in his experience not hers. For all Tess knew, he could have been talking to a blank phone line. Tess shuddered at the memory of her driver who the paladin called Nicholas pawing her body. True, she had encouraged this from the minute she had met Nicholas. None of this really made sense. Who would pick up a hitchhiker as she had pretended to be and taken her to so exclusive location? What sensible hitchhiker would have been dressed, as she had been allowing the wind to show so much of her body? What had been her intentions?
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“The queen mother bought you to screw her son to keep him content. You, the first you, couldn’t keep him distracted long enough for the master to take over. Now, as another clone, you had another chance to take control. You couldn’t even manage that. Screw the little bastard, get pregnant so we can get out of this hellhole,” Nasado, who Tess had once called father, screamed.
“You are the one who took me out of the incubator,” Tess answered back.
“Well you are here now. Get rid of that stupid Earth girl and screw that damned king,” he returned.
“You get rid of her,” Tess screamed back. “You are so good at killing things! For once, you do the dirty work!”
For a minute Tess thought Nasado was going to strike her, then he lowered his eyes and mumbled. “She is chosen of the king. Only royalty can kill royalty.
“I will try a mind warp. Maybe, I can appeal to her own love for the king,” Tess heard herself say.
--------------------
Even with the seat belt, Tess had been thrown hard against the door. The paladin was having trouble holding the truck on the road. Outside the wind was howling. “I think I was pushed into something that even Nasado didn’t know how to manage. I think I did screw the king and I did produce his heir. I think I killed someone else along the way,” Tess confessed.
The paladin was having a lot of trouble driving in the windstorm. He looked up from his driving for a second. Where had this revelation come from, he wondered?
“Can you tell me who I killed?” her plaintive voice asked.
“Tonight, we will talk more tonight,” the paladin answered. “Concentrate on that orgy. That is what we need to know.”
“Yes, I know. I just seems that I have to explain to myself why I was willing to go so far. Attending that orgy and whatever I was supposed to do there, must have been atonement for something else. I wonder what happened to my son, the baby I had with the king?”
The paladin said no more.
-----------------------
Tess thought, Nicholas is surely angry, but he won’t argue with whoever is in that upper room. Then, she thought about her bare feet encased in the high-heeled opened sandals sliding along the old wooden steps. jamming her toe into a splinter would not be pleasant. Idly, she glanced down to the crowd. Most of them were going about their lovemaking, but a few were looking up at the naked woman from below. The door opened smoothly and she was greeted by the tall blonde. Let’s see what was the name the paladin called her? Vilandra, that was it.
“He wants to see you and for god’s sakes, put a robe on. He is not into incest, yet. Seeing his naked sister won’t particularly please him,” Vilandra said petulantly. Tess wondered, was Vilandra so jealous that she even feared sexual competition from his sister?
Tess took a robe from the rack by the door and knocked softly. Inside the second room, she saw a young man or as she later evaluated him, an ageless man. He had blond curls and eyes the same color as hers. He was wearing a brief kilt. Pilled at the side of the room was a stack of robes, apparently the score of the lovelies he had defrocked this morning. “Ah… sister of mine. You have returned. Did you bring me another issue of the king? This time, maybe, genetically more pleasing to me?”
So this was the great Kivar. He had called her sister, Lonnie had spoken of incest so this must be her mission. Kill Kivar. Kill her brother. Tess was a strong, well developed woman, but there was no way that she could defeat Kivar in hand to hand combat. She was naked except for her robe. She had no weapon. With what means did they expect her to kill this powerful prince?
“Come, sit beside me, sister. Let me examine you. Are you truly with child, a child from the king?”
Tess let the robe fall open and walked carefully to the chair beside Kivar.
-----------------------
The truck turned up another side road and Tess was thrown against the door. Trying as best he could, the ride was very rough. The paladin was still driving on very poor roads. This brought her concentration back to the present. “They have prepared a place for us,” the paladin explained. “They think we will be safe there for about a week.”
A week without running and looking over their shoulders was a blessing. Tess didn’t know how much freedom they would be allowed, but anything would be better than the constant bouncing in the truck. If someone had prepared it, maybe, there would be more changes of clothing.
After the hot shower and meal, Tess sat and kept counsel to her own self. The paladin was busy with his own thoughts so she remained in a world of her own. Her mind again drifted.
----------------------
Kivar frowned as he looked at the naked body of Tess. He kept calling her Ava and there wasn’t any reason to correct him. “So you do not have any issue of the king? What were you doing on that miserable planet this whole time?”
What had she been doing? Kivar would never understand trying to reinstate herself with the Roswell clones. Kivar would never understand trying to hide her baby from both aliens and the Special Unit. Kivar would never understand the loneliness she felt after rejection even from Kyle, the only one in Roswell she could have really had a willing relationship with. Suddenly Tess screamed. The Air Force was chasing her, the king’s choice of consort had refused to vote for her execution, then, the consort, Liz, had driven her to the Air Force base to destroy it, in a self destroying fire. Tess was screaming in sensory overload.
------------------
“It was Kivar, it was Kivar my so-called brother,” she screamed.
From whatever reverie he had been in, the paladin jumped to hold the screaming, shaking woman. “Kivar was the man in the upper room? He was the man who called you?” the paladin asked.
“Yes, at the orgy I had taken off all of my clothes. When I arrived at the upper room, Vilandra disdainfully tossed me a robe saying that my brother certainly didn’t want to see me naked. Once in his presence, he demanded that I show him that I was pregnant. Of course I couldn’t because I hadn’t been back with the king. He demanded to look at my body to prove the lack of child. It was Kivar whom I was ordered to murder!” she screamed.
The paladin held her tightly. She was screaming, shaking and sobbing all at once. He spent several minutes trying to calm her, but she as too hysterical. Finely, he led her toward her bedroom. “No, no, don’t leave me alone tonight,” she cried.
The paladin shrugged and turned to the other bedroom and helped her into bed. He turned out the lights and Tess heard or maybe felt him as he removed his clothes. Once in bed, Tess snuggled up to him pleading, “Hold me tight. That is the only way they can’t get me.”
He hated to do it, but they needed more information. “I guess you were not killed when you blew up the Air Force base?” he asked destroying the whole mood.
“I remember fire; I remember heat; I think I was killed. Someone brought me back to life. I remember them saying that death was too simple. I owed too much for that easy of a solution.”
“Who brought you back to life? Was it a friend or someone else?” the paladin asked.
“I don’t know. They gave me back my life and they gave me back my beauty. I am vain enough to thank them for that,” Tess responded.
“What do you remember next?” the paladin asked.
“I was in a large room. They were all arguing. Someone kept saying, you brought her back, now use her. I am sure they were talking about me,” Tess stated.
Suddenly, she turned and whimpered, “No more questions tonight, just hold me and make me safe,”
Tess was wakened by his call. It seemed that she had just barely fallen asleep. The paladin assured her that she had been sleeping soundly since shortly after sunset the previous day. The paladin made no mention of his story the evening before. Tess wasn’t sure if it was true or just a yarn. Maybe he thought the story up as a love story, or at least his attempt at a love story. Tess thought, love stories should have happier endings.
The breaking day gave Tess a chance to see the path they had driven during the storm. The path hugged the cliff and looking out her window, she saw the thousand foot drop. The path was slanted toward the drop and the paladin had to continue to fight to keep the truck from sliding off.
Finally, they were back on the flats, or at least what was flatter than the terrible path off that mountain. The road was gravel, grass complete with sandburs and cannabis covered fences again. Tess looked, but she couldn’t see the grain. That was at least one thing, which had changed from before. “We are still trying to find out what went on in the office during the party? They are keeping a tight lid on everything. What more do you remember about the orgy?” he asked.
“The people were all so beautiful. Almost as if they were all made up to be in a show. I said I remember the blonde you called Vilandra going up to the office. I remember because I was trying to watch her and the man you called Nicholas kept pawing me. I wasn’t sure what he wanted and I wasn’t sure that if I figured out what he wanted, I could make myself give it to him. Looking out at the people in the room, it was a complete “Kama Sutra” enactment. The call that I was wanted in the office and the feeling of anger I felt from Nicholas gave me both redemption and fear. Climbing those stairs I felt eyes from the whole room on me. I don’t know why because everybody was naked and I was far from the most endowed woman in the room. There was someone or something in that room of great importance. That was the reason I had attended this orgy. Really, sex like this wasn’t my thing. I had to subdue many inhibitions to continue every minute.” There was a chuckhole in the road and the bump was like she dropped her script. What else she wanted to say was again obscure. Tess shook her head, she couldn’t continue, for now.
They heard the rumble of an engine in the distance. The paladin quickly looked in his mirrors and pulled to the far side of the road. He ungallantly pushed her to the floorboard and closing his eyes she could see that he was doing something that required great concentration.
The old blue junk heap roared past them as if it didn’t know they were there. Scrunched down, Tess couldn’t see if the pimpled youth was still driving. The paladin extended his hand. “Sorry, I couldn’t hold a mind warp for more than one person.” Then he took out some sort of instrument and spoke into it. “They are looking for me. We were just passed by that pimply-faced kid, but I warped him to not see us. That answers one question, he isn’t Nicholas. I could never have fooled Nicholas. Must be a human or some other race working for them.”
That was the first diversion they had had since the paladin had found her. Tess still wondered where were the other people. In her world of experience there were only three people, herself, the paladin and the pimply-faced boy. Well, there was whomever he was talking to, but that was in his experience not hers. For all Tess knew, he could have been talking to a blank phone line. Tess shuddered at the memory of her driver who the paladin called Nicholas pawing her body. True, she had encouraged this from the minute she had met Nicholas. None of this really made sense. Who would pick up a hitchhiker as she had pretended to be and taken her to so exclusive location? What sensible hitchhiker would have been dressed, as she had been allowing the wind to show so much of her body? What had been her intentions?
------------------
“The queen mother bought you to screw her son to keep him content. You, the first you, couldn’t keep him distracted long enough for the master to take over. Now, as another clone, you had another chance to take control. You couldn’t even manage that. Screw the little bastard, get pregnant so we can get out of this hellhole,” Nasado, who Tess had once called father, screamed.
“You are the one who took me out of the incubator,” Tess answered back.
“Well you are here now. Get rid of that stupid Earth girl and screw that damned king,” he returned.
“You get rid of her,” Tess screamed back. “You are so good at killing things! For once, you do the dirty work!”
For a minute Tess thought Nasado was going to strike her, then he lowered his eyes and mumbled. “She is chosen of the king. Only royalty can kill royalty.
“I will try a mind warp. Maybe, I can appeal to her own love for the king,” Tess heard herself say.
--------------------
Even with the seat belt, Tess had been thrown hard against the door. The paladin was having trouble holding the truck on the road. Outside the wind was howling. “I think I was pushed into something that even Nasado didn’t know how to manage. I think I did screw the king and I did produce his heir. I think I killed someone else along the way,” Tess confessed.
The paladin was having a lot of trouble driving in the windstorm. He looked up from his driving for a second. Where had this revelation come from, he wondered?
“Can you tell me who I killed?” her plaintive voice asked.
“Tonight, we will talk more tonight,” the paladin answered. “Concentrate on that orgy. That is what we need to know.”
“Yes, I know. I just seems that I have to explain to myself why I was willing to go so far. Attending that orgy and whatever I was supposed to do there, must have been atonement for something else. I wonder what happened to my son, the baby I had with the king?”
The paladin said no more.
-----------------------
Tess thought, Nicholas is surely angry, but he won’t argue with whoever is in that upper room. Then, she thought about her bare feet encased in the high-heeled opened sandals sliding along the old wooden steps. jamming her toe into a splinter would not be pleasant. Idly, she glanced down to the crowd. Most of them were going about their lovemaking, but a few were looking up at the naked woman from below. The door opened smoothly and she was greeted by the tall blonde. Let’s see what was the name the paladin called her? Vilandra, that was it.
“He wants to see you and for god’s sakes, put a robe on. He is not into incest, yet. Seeing his naked sister won’t particularly please him,” Vilandra said petulantly. Tess wondered, was Vilandra so jealous that she even feared sexual competition from his sister?
Tess took a robe from the rack by the door and knocked softly. Inside the second room, she saw a young man or as she later evaluated him, an ageless man. He had blond curls and eyes the same color as hers. He was wearing a brief kilt. Pilled at the side of the room was a stack of robes, apparently the score of the lovelies he had defrocked this morning. “Ah… sister of mine. You have returned. Did you bring me another issue of the king? This time, maybe, genetically more pleasing to me?”
So this was the great Kivar. He had called her sister, Lonnie had spoken of incest so this must be her mission. Kill Kivar. Kill her brother. Tess was a strong, well developed woman, but there was no way that she could defeat Kivar in hand to hand combat. She was naked except for her robe. She had no weapon. With what means did they expect her to kill this powerful prince?
“Come, sit beside me, sister. Let me examine you. Are you truly with child, a child from the king?”
Tess let the robe fall open and walked carefully to the chair beside Kivar.
-----------------------
The truck turned up another side road and Tess was thrown against the door. Trying as best he could, the ride was very rough. The paladin was still driving on very poor roads. This brought her concentration back to the present. “They have prepared a place for us,” the paladin explained. “They think we will be safe there for about a week.”
A week without running and looking over their shoulders was a blessing. Tess didn’t know how much freedom they would be allowed, but anything would be better than the constant bouncing in the truck. If someone had prepared it, maybe, there would be more changes of clothing.
After the hot shower and meal, Tess sat and kept counsel to her own self. The paladin was busy with his own thoughts so she remained in a world of her own. Her mind again drifted.
----------------------
Kivar frowned as he looked at the naked body of Tess. He kept calling her Ava and there wasn’t any reason to correct him. “So you do not have any issue of the king? What were you doing on that miserable planet this whole time?”
What had she been doing? Kivar would never understand trying to reinstate herself with the Roswell clones. Kivar would never understand trying to hide her baby from both aliens and the Special Unit. Kivar would never understand the loneliness she felt after rejection even from Kyle, the only one in Roswell she could have really had a willing relationship with. Suddenly Tess screamed. The Air Force was chasing her, the king’s choice of consort had refused to vote for her execution, then, the consort, Liz, had driven her to the Air Force base to destroy it, in a self destroying fire. Tess was screaming in sensory overload.
------------------
“It was Kivar, it was Kivar my so-called brother,” she screamed.
From whatever reverie he had been in, the paladin jumped to hold the screaming, shaking woman. “Kivar was the man in the upper room? He was the man who called you?” the paladin asked.
“Yes, at the orgy I had taken off all of my clothes. When I arrived at the upper room, Vilandra disdainfully tossed me a robe saying that my brother certainly didn’t want to see me naked. Once in his presence, he demanded that I show him that I was pregnant. Of course I couldn’t because I hadn’t been back with the king. He demanded to look at my body to prove the lack of child. It was Kivar whom I was ordered to murder!” she screamed.
The paladin held her tightly. She was screaming, shaking and sobbing all at once. He spent several minutes trying to calm her, but she as too hysterical. Finely, he led her toward her bedroom. “No, no, don’t leave me alone tonight,” she cried.
The paladin shrugged and turned to the other bedroom and helped her into bed. He turned out the lights and Tess heard or maybe felt him as he removed his clothes. Once in bed, Tess snuggled up to him pleading, “Hold me tight. That is the only way they can’t get me.”
He hated to do it, but they needed more information. “I guess you were not killed when you blew up the Air Force base?” he asked destroying the whole mood.
“I remember fire; I remember heat; I think I was killed. Someone brought me back to life. I remember them saying that death was too simple. I owed too much for that easy of a solution.”
“Who brought you back to life? Was it a friend or someone else?” the paladin asked.
“I don’t know. They gave me back my life and they gave me back my beauty. I am vain enough to thank them for that,” Tess responded.
“What do you remember next?” the paladin asked.
“I was in a large room. They were all arguing. Someone kept saying, you brought her back, now use her. I am sure they were talking about me,” Tess stated.
Suddenly, she turned and whimpered, “No more questions tonight, just hold me and make me safe,”
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Her Paladin, mature,Tess, ch 4, Feb 7 , 2017
Chapter 5
Tess heard someone talking from the next room. It was only one voice so it was probably the paladin talking to someone on his phone. “She did make it into the room with Kivar. No, I don’t know what happened next. She had a melt down last night. She remembers the fire at air base and someone bringing her back to life. No, she doesn’t remember who it was. She was very confused that Liz didn’t vote for her execution. Seeing her background it is not surprising that she can’t imagine anything done except for personal gain. That Liz would not want her killed doesn’t register. I know that time is running out, but she is on the verge of a breakdown and that is something that I don’t know how to handle. We will try again later today.” With that, the voice silenced.
Tess got up and showered. Once in the main room she confronted the paladin. “Can you promise not to hurt me?” she asked.
The paladin stood for several minutes. “No… you have information that is very important,” he drawled slowly. We all need this information and I am obliged to get it from you any way I can. Time is running out. To protect you, it might be necessary to hurt you.
Tess sat in the chair next to the eating table; her head bowed gazing at her folded hands. “I will try very hard to dig deeper, if I can,” she murmured.
There was a degree of freedom, except that the paladin wouldn’t allow her to go outside. “There will be eyes in the sky,” he said, “Both day and night.”
The paladin was in conference much of the time on his phone. Tess wandered about the house, picking up a few books from the shelves and turning over a couple of magazines by the easy-chair. She couldn’t interest herself in anything available. Maybe that was good because the paladin had stressed the importance of her letting her mind drift back in time.
-------------------
When Tess arrived in Roswell with Nasado, she was the complete outsider. Nasado had ordered her to break into the tightest clique in the school. Tess was an alien and she was supposed to use this to discover the other aliens, but this clique was also populated by humans. Tess was confronted with the problem of opening up to the aliens and still concealing her identity from the humans who she couldn’t trust. It was confusing because the humans were very comfortable in what they knew of their alien friends. Her entrance had to be Isabel. Max was her target. Max was the clone of the king. Approaching him directly would only raise up the wrath of the human who was closest to him. Isabel seemed sort of lost. Michael, the king’s second, was wound up with a human of his own. Isabel still kept her alien distance from relationships. It had to Isabel who brought Tess into the group.
Tess idly thought, after Nasado disappeared, how had she gotten so close to the sheriff and Kyle? The sheriff became the father she never had in Nasado and she manipulated Kyle to go from would-be lover to brother to wanta be lover and finally, just manual slave to accomplish what she needed. Accomplish what she needed! That is what she had been looking for. Tess had killed an innocent being just because he was willing to help her. Yes, help her, but slow, too slow. Tess had killed Alex because of her own impatience. She had forced Kyle to assist her in disposing of the body. That was her crime. Alex the almost lover of Isabel, the surrogate brother to Liz and Maria and the boy genuinely well liked by everyone, was killed for no good reason, only her impatience.
Tess didn’t say anything to the paladin because this was not what he was looking for and she wasn’t proud of how she handled herself at this time. Now, she knew her sin; maybe, she could understand what she had been made to do next. Question, who pulled her body out of the fire and who was able to give her back her life?
That evening at meal time, the paladin asked, “Did you learn anything new?”
Tess never raised her eyes from the table, “Yes, I killed a boy whose only crime was helping me.”
Tess could only think how horribly evil the paladin must think her. He had protected her and cared for her and now, she confessed that she had slain a boy just because of her impatience. The paladin himself showed impatience, “How close are you to knowing what happened after you met Kivar?”
Tess still couldn’t look him in the face. She kept her eyes on the table. “I know that he was my brother and I was sent to kill him and standing before him naked had been foreseen. I just don’t know what I had been expected to do. Until I pass that block, I can’t tell what I did to him, if anything.”
Sometimes the harder one works at a problem the greater obstacles block the solution. That was Tess now. The harder she tried to remember the cloudier her memory became. She sat looking out a window as the sun set behind some mountains.
-----------------
Tess felt hands as they pulled her battered body from the rubble. Her face and voice box were so badly burned that she couldn’t scream from the pain, she could only make grunting noises. Where the hands touched her, she felt searing pain.
-----------------
This memory brought forth tears as she saw the sun slowly disappear. All that she could hope for was to die the same time as the sun. The paladin said he couldn’t promise not to hurt her and this must have been what he meant.
------------------
Tess in her battered state wondered if her limbs still even existed. Her eyes were gone, they had been boiled away at the first of the fire. Intellectually, she wondered how did she even feel as they dragged her from the wreckage. She had said she felt hands, but Tess’s body was a mass of terminal burns. She really couldn’t have felt anything. How had she differentiated one pain from another? It all must be some sort of mind play. Yes, that is what it must be. The sensation of being carried to some sort of vehicle and the vehicle bouncing across the desert must be some sort of mind game. The alien clones really knew so little about their bodies or anything else about themselves. Voices, asking, “How much is left?”
“Shouldn’t we just let her die?”
“What purpose can she serve now?”
“So what if she is the sister of Kivar? How much care do you think he would make toward her welfare?”
“Hands, feet, face, these will all have to be rebuilt.
“Ava is still buried deep inside her mind. That is what we want.”
“What about the clone Tess, how much do we want to save of her?”
“Did the clone, Tess, ever serve a useful purpose?”
Tess was sure that if her face had been burned that badly, her hearing mechanism must have been likewise destroyed. How was she getting these voices?
------------------------
A plate being placed in front of her brought Tess back to reality. It was reality, but now she could feel phantom pain that she had felt somewhere else. The plate contained roast beef, potatoes and other garden vegetables. The Tess of now, had long ago given up her strictly vegetarian diet. She didn’t particularly like eating the pieces of meat that the paladin presented, but she had placed herself in his care from the first. Now, the pain of her other self was too fresh in her mind. Tess pushed the plate aside and only drank the glass of water that he had given her. The paladin said nothing and Tess sat alone staring at the table until he announced that it was time for bed.
Tess grabbed a gown from the closet. Someone had been very thoughtful to include many things they had forgone the last few days. Tess stepped into the bathroom and changed. When she got out she walked to her bedroom and stood at the door looking at the bed in the corner.
Last night, she had spent in his bed huddled against his strong body shaking from fear at the ghosties, beasties and things that go thump in the night. Tess was now confused. This wasn’t the same body that had presented the child of the king only to be rejected. This wasn’t the same body, which had taunted Alex until he expired. The pawing and mauling of Nicholas was all that this body had ever experienced. That is, unless, something happened while she was with Kivar.
Tess turned back to the room where the paladin was preparing for bed. He had removed his clothes down to his undershirt and shorts. He had turned down the covers on half of the bed and was climbing into it. Tess walked up and asked, “May I share your bed again?”
The paladin shrugged as he had done last night and pulled the blanket back for her to get in. Tess stood with one knee on the bed as she stared at the paladin. Finally, she pulled her gown over her head and facing her protector she stated, “I want more tonight. I know that you will always try to protect me because you gave your word to those who hired you. Tonight, I want believe that you will protect me because I am part of you. Take me tonight, this body might even be virginal even if this mind is certainly not.
The paladin looked at her and asked, “Are you sure?”
Tess nodded and the paladin reached out taking her in his arms pulling her first to the bed in front of him and then raising up he pulled her under him. There was no pawing, mauling or foreplay as Nicholas had called it. The paladin immediately entered her and she melted in his arms. Tess thought back this was making love to a man not anyone who could be confused to be a boy. When she had assured the paladin that she knew what she wanted. He took both her body and soul. The paladin had drawn a line that he wouldn’t cross as her protector, but she had brought that wall down. Now, every feeling that he had held back was loosened. Later as he held her tightly, that time he had been looking for was now. It was time to retire and if she would continue with him, they said she needed to be lost, he would do all that he could to make it so. Wait, first they needed more information. Well, they had told him to remain here for several days. He would see what he could do.
Tess woke up suddenly. Yes, she didn’t feel alone any longer. The paladin had made love to her and if he was willing, she would return the love in the future. It is said that women give love to gain security and men give security to get love. Tess, remembering the loneliness of walking down that road, half-naked, didn’t think she had given up anything. Nasado, the king, her betrayals of Liz, Alex and Kyle, now, Tess believed that given a chance, she might be in love with the paladin. Yes, she knew that in stress, affections get transferred to those who care for one, but Tess knew that she had always wanted more. The paladin was a powerful being and if she could make him love her, maybe, Tess could forget the others in her life, her many lives. First, Tess had to give him what he wanted, information. That would be the test. Would he still love her after he got the information that he had been hired to find.
--------------------
Tess heard someone talking from the next room. It was only one voice so it was probably the paladin talking to someone on his phone. “She did make it into the room with Kivar. No, I don’t know what happened next. She had a melt down last night. She remembers the fire at air base and someone bringing her back to life. No, she doesn’t remember who it was. She was very confused that Liz didn’t vote for her execution. Seeing her background it is not surprising that she can’t imagine anything done except for personal gain. That Liz would not want her killed doesn’t register. I know that time is running out, but she is on the verge of a breakdown and that is something that I don’t know how to handle. We will try again later today.” With that, the voice silenced.
Tess got up and showered. Once in the main room she confronted the paladin. “Can you promise not to hurt me?” she asked.
The paladin stood for several minutes. “No… you have information that is very important,” he drawled slowly. We all need this information and I am obliged to get it from you any way I can. Time is running out. To protect you, it might be necessary to hurt you.
Tess sat in the chair next to the eating table; her head bowed gazing at her folded hands. “I will try very hard to dig deeper, if I can,” she murmured.
There was a degree of freedom, except that the paladin wouldn’t allow her to go outside. “There will be eyes in the sky,” he said, “Both day and night.”
The paladin was in conference much of the time on his phone. Tess wandered about the house, picking up a few books from the shelves and turning over a couple of magazines by the easy-chair. She couldn’t interest herself in anything available. Maybe that was good because the paladin had stressed the importance of her letting her mind drift back in time.
-------------------
When Tess arrived in Roswell with Nasado, she was the complete outsider. Nasado had ordered her to break into the tightest clique in the school. Tess was an alien and she was supposed to use this to discover the other aliens, but this clique was also populated by humans. Tess was confronted with the problem of opening up to the aliens and still concealing her identity from the humans who she couldn’t trust. It was confusing because the humans were very comfortable in what they knew of their alien friends. Her entrance had to be Isabel. Max was her target. Max was the clone of the king. Approaching him directly would only raise up the wrath of the human who was closest to him. Isabel seemed sort of lost. Michael, the king’s second, was wound up with a human of his own. Isabel still kept her alien distance from relationships. It had to Isabel who brought Tess into the group.
Tess idly thought, after Nasado disappeared, how had she gotten so close to the sheriff and Kyle? The sheriff became the father she never had in Nasado and she manipulated Kyle to go from would-be lover to brother to wanta be lover and finally, just manual slave to accomplish what she needed. Accomplish what she needed! That is what she had been looking for. Tess had killed an innocent being just because he was willing to help her. Yes, help her, but slow, too slow. Tess had killed Alex because of her own impatience. She had forced Kyle to assist her in disposing of the body. That was her crime. Alex the almost lover of Isabel, the surrogate brother to Liz and Maria and the boy genuinely well liked by everyone, was killed for no good reason, only her impatience.
Tess didn’t say anything to the paladin because this was not what he was looking for and she wasn’t proud of how she handled herself at this time. Now, she knew her sin; maybe, she could understand what she had been made to do next. Question, who pulled her body out of the fire and who was able to give her back her life?
That evening at meal time, the paladin asked, “Did you learn anything new?”
Tess never raised her eyes from the table, “Yes, I killed a boy whose only crime was helping me.”
Tess could only think how horribly evil the paladin must think her. He had protected her and cared for her and now, she confessed that she had slain a boy just because of her impatience. The paladin himself showed impatience, “How close are you to knowing what happened after you met Kivar?”
Tess still couldn’t look him in the face. She kept her eyes on the table. “I know that he was my brother and I was sent to kill him and standing before him naked had been foreseen. I just don’t know what I had been expected to do. Until I pass that block, I can’t tell what I did to him, if anything.”
Sometimes the harder one works at a problem the greater obstacles block the solution. That was Tess now. The harder she tried to remember the cloudier her memory became. She sat looking out a window as the sun set behind some mountains.
-----------------
Tess felt hands as they pulled her battered body from the rubble. Her face and voice box were so badly burned that she couldn’t scream from the pain, she could only make grunting noises. Where the hands touched her, she felt searing pain.
-----------------
This memory brought forth tears as she saw the sun slowly disappear. All that she could hope for was to die the same time as the sun. The paladin said he couldn’t promise not to hurt her and this must have been what he meant.
------------------
Tess in her battered state wondered if her limbs still even existed. Her eyes were gone, they had been boiled away at the first of the fire. Intellectually, she wondered how did she even feel as they dragged her from the wreckage. She had said she felt hands, but Tess’s body was a mass of terminal burns. She really couldn’t have felt anything. How had she differentiated one pain from another? It all must be some sort of mind play. Yes, that is what it must be. The sensation of being carried to some sort of vehicle and the vehicle bouncing across the desert must be some sort of mind game. The alien clones really knew so little about their bodies or anything else about themselves. Voices, asking, “How much is left?”
“Shouldn’t we just let her die?”
“What purpose can she serve now?”
“So what if she is the sister of Kivar? How much care do you think he would make toward her welfare?”
“Hands, feet, face, these will all have to be rebuilt.
“Ava is still buried deep inside her mind. That is what we want.”
“What about the clone Tess, how much do we want to save of her?”
“Did the clone, Tess, ever serve a useful purpose?”
Tess was sure that if her face had been burned that badly, her hearing mechanism must have been likewise destroyed. How was she getting these voices?
------------------------
A plate being placed in front of her brought Tess back to reality. It was reality, but now she could feel phantom pain that she had felt somewhere else. The plate contained roast beef, potatoes and other garden vegetables. The Tess of now, had long ago given up her strictly vegetarian diet. She didn’t particularly like eating the pieces of meat that the paladin presented, but she had placed herself in his care from the first. Now, the pain of her other self was too fresh in her mind. Tess pushed the plate aside and only drank the glass of water that he had given her. The paladin said nothing and Tess sat alone staring at the table until he announced that it was time for bed.
Tess grabbed a gown from the closet. Someone had been very thoughtful to include many things they had forgone the last few days. Tess stepped into the bathroom and changed. When she got out she walked to her bedroom and stood at the door looking at the bed in the corner.
Last night, she had spent in his bed huddled against his strong body shaking from fear at the ghosties, beasties and things that go thump in the night. Tess was now confused. This wasn’t the same body that had presented the child of the king only to be rejected. This wasn’t the same body, which had taunted Alex until he expired. The pawing and mauling of Nicholas was all that this body had ever experienced. That is, unless, something happened while she was with Kivar.
Tess turned back to the room where the paladin was preparing for bed. He had removed his clothes down to his undershirt and shorts. He had turned down the covers on half of the bed and was climbing into it. Tess walked up and asked, “May I share your bed again?”
The paladin shrugged as he had done last night and pulled the blanket back for her to get in. Tess stood with one knee on the bed as she stared at the paladin. Finally, she pulled her gown over her head and facing her protector she stated, “I want more tonight. I know that you will always try to protect me because you gave your word to those who hired you. Tonight, I want believe that you will protect me because I am part of you. Take me tonight, this body might even be virginal even if this mind is certainly not.
The paladin looked at her and asked, “Are you sure?”
Tess nodded and the paladin reached out taking her in his arms pulling her first to the bed in front of him and then raising up he pulled her under him. There was no pawing, mauling or foreplay as Nicholas had called it. The paladin immediately entered her and she melted in his arms. Tess thought back this was making love to a man not anyone who could be confused to be a boy. When she had assured the paladin that she knew what she wanted. He took both her body and soul. The paladin had drawn a line that he wouldn’t cross as her protector, but she had brought that wall down. Now, every feeling that he had held back was loosened. Later as he held her tightly, that time he had been looking for was now. It was time to retire and if she would continue with him, they said she needed to be lost, he would do all that he could to make it so. Wait, first they needed more information. Well, they had told him to remain here for several days. He would see what he could do.
Tess woke up suddenly. Yes, she didn’t feel alone any longer. The paladin had made love to her and if he was willing, she would return the love in the future. It is said that women give love to gain security and men give security to get love. Tess, remembering the loneliness of walking down that road, half-naked, didn’t think she had given up anything. Nasado, the king, her betrayals of Liz, Alex and Kyle, now, Tess believed that given a chance, she might be in love with the paladin. Yes, she knew that in stress, affections get transferred to those who care for one, but Tess knew that she had always wanted more. The paladin was a powerful being and if she could make him love her, maybe, Tess could forget the others in her life, her many lives. First, Tess had to give him what he wanted, information. That would be the test. Would he still love her after he got the information that he had been hired to find.
--------------------
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Re: Her Paladin, mature,Tess, ch 4, Feb 21 , 2017
chapter 6
Her ultimate betrayal had been to Liz. Seducing Max had sealed from Liz the hope of giving herself to Max the same time he first gave himself to her. Tess took that fantasy or maybe, dream, away. It was a complicated ploy. Liz had to be convinced that true love was being willing to let go. Liz had to be convinced that she alone was going to be responsible for Max’s death and maybe the death of the world. Liz had to make Max fall out of love with her for the good of everybody.
When Tess had sex with Max on the steps of the observatory, there had been no feeling. Max was a totally lost soul and Tess had offered the only anchor in sight. Tess had never loved Max. She might have been cloned from a queen, but the half-human Tess was not a queen. Max was so serious. Given a choice, Tess would have turned to someone like Kyle. Kyle always looked at her with eyes full of lust turning to love and then back to lust again. Tess didn’t know what Kivar saw in her as his sister, but in Nicholas, there was only raw lust. The combination of love and lust would have made Kyle an exciting mate. In Alex, Tess only saw willing respect. She had asked a favor and he, the always, helpful Alex, the one who was always ready to do favors for others, readily complied. It was her impatience, which pushed Alex to the brink and death.
True to form, the responsible Max took over when he thought he had gotten her pregnant. From that time until, Liz exposed Tess’s killing of Alex, Max only thought of the welfare of Tess and her baby. Tess could only wonder what it would have been like if she had offered herself to Kyle? If Kyle had made her child, how would he and his father have surrounded her in their protection?
After the explosion at the Air Force base, who were those, who took her body and gave it repair? Had they done it in love or had they had other reasons? Tess remembered that someone said, “Death is too easy. She still has more to do.” That wasn’t a phrase of love.
--------------------
The paladin was busy with something all day. Tess was left to muse about what had happened last night. She no longer saw him as an older man. Now, he truly was her paladin. Love from his body had been sure, not stumbling like it might be from a boy. Not selfish like she remembered from the pawing she received from Nicholas. From a distance, Tess watched him. He knew all about her now or at least as much as she knew about herself. He clearly showed he would do anything to assure her protection. Wasn’t that what he had been paid to do? When he held her tightly in his arms last night, Tess just couldn’t believe it was all in the line of duty. He must have something of a life beyond that of a paladin. That is what Tess now believed she wanted to share.
“Any more to report?” the paladin asked at lunch.
“Yes, but it is just more understanding of who I used to be and why. I hurt many people and that is why I was willing to do whatever I did in approaching Kivar. I still can’t see how I was supposed to kill him. I have feelings that they all expected me to face him naked. I also believe that they had worked out a way I could attack him. It was later that I was taken somewhere where I got the black panties and was held for some reason,” Tess explained.
The paladin nodded.
Tess looked at him very hard, “What happened to us last night?”
The paladin looked away, but he did reply, “You asked me to make love to you and I did,” he answered.
Tess could feel her heart almost break. “Is that all?” she asked.
“Maybe, maybe not. I don’t want to talk about it right now. Concentrate on what happened in that room with Kivar. When that is known, we will have time to talk about many things,” he said.
After lunch, the dull heat of the day permeated her body and Tess drew faint.
--------------------
She was naked and she was hanging from a hook on the wall. If they had used hot irons, she would have seen her flesh wither and smoke with the pain. As it was, the pain was all in her mind and there was no way to shake it. Her body had suffered burns before, now, the pain was all deeper. Tess screamed each time but she couldn’t tell them what they wanted. There was a block in her mind and even as she wanted to, she couldn’t break that block to stop the pain. Yes, they had fixed her up. They had repaired her body, but they also put a safety in her mind for their own protection. Tess couldn’t even give up the wanted information to stop the incessant pain.
-------------------
Tess woke up in a heavy sweat and shivering. “Tess what happened?” the paladin asked.
“They were torturing me to find out who sent me. I couldn’t tell them because blocks had been placed in my mind,” Tess screamed.
“Can you tell me who they are?” the paladin calmly asked. “those who were giving you so much pain and those who apparently rebuilt you to do some duty”
Tess was quiet for several minutes, “Yes, I think I can, at least those who dragged me from the explosion. There is a group of Anterians who support Max, Liz, Michael and Isabel in staying on Earth. They want to protect them from the wrath of Kivar. I think they are the ones who took me out of the explosion and put me back together. I think the attack I was supposed to make on Kivar was their idea. I still wonder about loosing my high heeled shoes and where did I get those panties.”
The paladin shook his head. “Forget the panties, the shoes and all the things with the king. We need to know what happened when you were with Kivar,” he shouted angrily.
That was too much for Tess. She began to cry. “I am sorry, I just can’t help thinking that the shoes and panties figure into all of this someway,” she sobbed.
Almost before he stopped talking the paladin felt shame. He wasn’t prepared to handle those tears. He had told them that if she had a break down, he wouldn’t be able to handle it. “I am sorry, it is just so important that we understand what happened in that room,” he murmured.
Tess wasn’t ready to go back to what he wanted. “Didn’t I hear you say that this would be your last job? What will you do when this is all over? What will happened to me when this is over?” she continued not giving him time to answer.
“You will be well taken care of, maybe here or maybe, someplace far away. I will insist on you receiving the best protection,” he answered her last question.
“Can you guarantee that I will be protected and not just disposed of? She asked.
It was several minutes before he spoke again. “Of course, if I am not with you I cannot guarantee anything. We will have to trust the integrity of those who employ us,” he said carefully.
That didn’t do anything to allay her fears. Again, she was asked to trust strangers with her life.
That evening after supper they both sat with their own thoughts.
______________
It was Villandra who kept up the torture. It almost seemed that she enjoyed pain in others. The paladin had said that the Vilandra clone on Earth, was a nice girl, The one facing Tess now, was sadistic and cruel. Day after day, they would pull up her chains and stretch her naked body against the wall. In between interrogations, they loosened the chains so she could lie down and move around to use the bathroom bucket and such. Finally, she heard someone scream, “Put some clothes on her wretched body and bring her in here.”
Tess had never seen the tee shirt or black panties before. They were not clean and she was left to wonder about the fate of the previous owner. When she was brought before Vilandra, Tess didn’t recognize her. Gone was the beautiful face, the well toned body and beautiful long hair. Tess, was confronted by a harridan her blond hair broken and showing signs of patches being pulled out. She wore no makeup and her eyes were as red as fires. “Who sent you here? How did you get Nicholas to bring you? Why did you attack your own brother?” Lonnie screamed.
Lonnie could scream all she wanted. Tess was not psychologically able to tell her anything. The blocks were very strong. Tess, by this time, would have willingly told her anything to gain release from the torture. The small spark that was Tess had begun to climb back in the place it had hidden when she blew up the Air Force base. As they prepared to replace her chains, Tess could only feel dirty and pained. That was when half the garrison wall was blown up. Tess wasn’t the only one who knew how to blow things up. That was when Tess slipped out and began to run down the road. Tess was dressed only in the panties and shirt Vilondra had insisted she wear. The shoes had long since disappeared. The gravel, the heat and the pain she had been subjected to for so many days, drove all thoughts other than escape out of her mind.
--------------------------
Tess sat up. It was dark and she could see that the paladin was reading and taking notes. “Lonnie was so jealous that she didn’t want to even think of me naked in front of Kivar. She made me put on the black panties and shirt. They never were mine. I have no idea of what happened to their owner. It was the shoes, which I used to attack Kivar. I was before him naked except for the robe Lonnie made me wear. I drove the heel of one of the sandals deep into his brain. That was the plan all along.” Then, Tess looked down at her hands. “I don’t think I killed him. I probably only wounded him severely.”
The paladin jumped up and quickly called whom ever he was continually talking to on his phone. “She didn’t kill him, she only wounded him. I imagine it will slow him down considerably. She placed the heel of her high-heel shoe in his brain. I imagine he has gone back home. Attack now and I think you will only have a shell of a force to remove. This should keep him away for a while. Yes, I still want to retire. No, I don’t know what she wants to do, yet. I only insist that she is cared for.”
It was as if a huge weight had been removed from Tess. The paladin saying he planned to retire, she had only a little time left to convince him that she wanted to remain with him, if possible.
It was surprising with all of this excitment that they both soon fell asleep. Yes, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
The paladin indicated that it would be several days before they were both cleared to continue their separate journeys. “Separate journeys,” that wasn’t what Tess wanted now. She thought and thought how she could tell the paladin without completely debasing herself. Could she fall on the floor and beg for him not to leave her? Could she swear undying love and plead how she needed him? Tess was sure that the paladin was an honorable man. She could probably force him to eternally care for her. She had forced Kyle, she had forced Max and finally, she had forced Alex to do her bidding. Those all turned out badly for everyone. Tess didn’t want to be the creature, who brought doom to those around her any more. Tess now, wanted to be the one, someone else pleaded to, for her eternal company.
How could she show the paladin she was ready to do anything he asked as long as he took her with him? Tess and the paladin slept in the same bed while waiting for whom ever was running this pageant. They had sex every night and Tess was sure that the paladin wasn’t faking his interest in her person. Tess just didn’t know how to tell the paladin how much she now, loved him.
“Yeah, she beaned him a good one. We all knew that killing an Antaarian prince wasn’t going to be that easy. By the time he convalesces we should push his forces back to one of the dead moons of Antar. Have you thought how to handle her?” the distant voice stated to the paladin.
“No, I wish she would want to stay with me. She is younger than me and she could probably return to society and find lovers her own age,” the paladin answered.
“Yes, she is younger than you, but she has been killed and reborn more than any soul should suffer. She doesn’t need new things in her life. Jacob, you might at least ask if she would like to walk with you the rest of your journey,” the voice stated. “Jacob, you both need to find peace.”
That was the first time any client had ever used his first name. They were considering that he no longer was a paladin for hire.
Epilog
The man was on the far side of middle-aged. The girl could have been his daughter, but the way they looked at each other showed that she wasn’t. She was way too young for him until you looked deep into her eyes. Those eyes had felt pain beyond description. Then, the way she held on to him became understood. She had suffered pain and he had guided her through it. Tess hoped that some day she could face Max and Liz and, in some way, convince them that she genuinely felt remorse. No longer did she try to hide behind Nasado. Yes, he was evil, but she was still responsible for what he led her to do. Tess felt that she could never face Isabel, clone of Vilandra, on Earth and explain how she felt about Alex. That was something that she must carry to her grave. Her grave, that ending of her journey that no one would dig up and force her to live again. Humans, at least some of them, believed that there would be judgments that would be paid at the end of life. But, no matter, she wanted to live her life out with Jacob and not be recalled to fight any more of this universe’s wars. Michael the soldier and the feisty Maria should be avoided also. Tess thought that there was probably more to Maria than she had ever seen. Remembering that the Maria she had seen was all claws and fangs over the death of Alex. When Michael said that she betrayed them all and she should die, he wasn’t thinking of the never ending cloning and rebirth. There was no way Tess could face him either.
Tess only wanted to face the paladin who protected her and who she now, knew as Jacob. She shuddered at those memories of Hell. She also remembered that those who retained the memory of Hell also retained the beliefs of redemption. Redemption to the universe not for all the individuals in it. Tess hoped that as with the time after he found her half naked walking along the road, Jacob would still walk with her to the end.
Her ultimate betrayal had been to Liz. Seducing Max had sealed from Liz the hope of giving herself to Max the same time he first gave himself to her. Tess took that fantasy or maybe, dream, away. It was a complicated ploy. Liz had to be convinced that true love was being willing to let go. Liz had to be convinced that she alone was going to be responsible for Max’s death and maybe the death of the world. Liz had to make Max fall out of love with her for the good of everybody.
When Tess had sex with Max on the steps of the observatory, there had been no feeling. Max was a totally lost soul and Tess had offered the only anchor in sight. Tess had never loved Max. She might have been cloned from a queen, but the half-human Tess was not a queen. Max was so serious. Given a choice, Tess would have turned to someone like Kyle. Kyle always looked at her with eyes full of lust turning to love and then back to lust again. Tess didn’t know what Kivar saw in her as his sister, but in Nicholas, there was only raw lust. The combination of love and lust would have made Kyle an exciting mate. In Alex, Tess only saw willing respect. She had asked a favor and he, the always, helpful Alex, the one who was always ready to do favors for others, readily complied. It was her impatience, which pushed Alex to the brink and death.
True to form, the responsible Max took over when he thought he had gotten her pregnant. From that time until, Liz exposed Tess’s killing of Alex, Max only thought of the welfare of Tess and her baby. Tess could only wonder what it would have been like if she had offered herself to Kyle? If Kyle had made her child, how would he and his father have surrounded her in their protection?
After the explosion at the Air Force base, who were those, who took her body and gave it repair? Had they done it in love or had they had other reasons? Tess remembered that someone said, “Death is too easy. She still has more to do.” That wasn’t a phrase of love.
--------------------
The paladin was busy with something all day. Tess was left to muse about what had happened last night. She no longer saw him as an older man. Now, he truly was her paladin. Love from his body had been sure, not stumbling like it might be from a boy. Not selfish like she remembered from the pawing she received from Nicholas. From a distance, Tess watched him. He knew all about her now or at least as much as she knew about herself. He clearly showed he would do anything to assure her protection. Wasn’t that what he had been paid to do? When he held her tightly in his arms last night, Tess just couldn’t believe it was all in the line of duty. He must have something of a life beyond that of a paladin. That is what Tess now believed she wanted to share.
“Any more to report?” the paladin asked at lunch.
“Yes, but it is just more understanding of who I used to be and why. I hurt many people and that is why I was willing to do whatever I did in approaching Kivar. I still can’t see how I was supposed to kill him. I have feelings that they all expected me to face him naked. I also believe that they had worked out a way I could attack him. It was later that I was taken somewhere where I got the black panties and was held for some reason,” Tess explained.
The paladin nodded.
Tess looked at him very hard, “What happened to us last night?”
The paladin looked away, but he did reply, “You asked me to make love to you and I did,” he answered.
Tess could feel her heart almost break. “Is that all?” she asked.
“Maybe, maybe not. I don’t want to talk about it right now. Concentrate on what happened in that room with Kivar. When that is known, we will have time to talk about many things,” he said.
After lunch, the dull heat of the day permeated her body and Tess drew faint.
--------------------
She was naked and she was hanging from a hook on the wall. If they had used hot irons, she would have seen her flesh wither and smoke with the pain. As it was, the pain was all in her mind and there was no way to shake it. Her body had suffered burns before, now, the pain was all deeper. Tess screamed each time but she couldn’t tell them what they wanted. There was a block in her mind and even as she wanted to, she couldn’t break that block to stop the pain. Yes, they had fixed her up. They had repaired her body, but they also put a safety in her mind for their own protection. Tess couldn’t even give up the wanted information to stop the incessant pain.
-------------------
Tess woke up in a heavy sweat and shivering. “Tess what happened?” the paladin asked.
“They were torturing me to find out who sent me. I couldn’t tell them because blocks had been placed in my mind,” Tess screamed.
“Can you tell me who they are?” the paladin calmly asked. “those who were giving you so much pain and those who apparently rebuilt you to do some duty”
Tess was quiet for several minutes, “Yes, I think I can, at least those who dragged me from the explosion. There is a group of Anterians who support Max, Liz, Michael and Isabel in staying on Earth. They want to protect them from the wrath of Kivar. I think they are the ones who took me out of the explosion and put me back together. I think the attack I was supposed to make on Kivar was their idea. I still wonder about loosing my high heeled shoes and where did I get those panties.”
The paladin shook his head. “Forget the panties, the shoes and all the things with the king. We need to know what happened when you were with Kivar,” he shouted angrily.
That was too much for Tess. She began to cry. “I am sorry, I just can’t help thinking that the shoes and panties figure into all of this someway,” she sobbed.
Almost before he stopped talking the paladin felt shame. He wasn’t prepared to handle those tears. He had told them that if she had a break down, he wouldn’t be able to handle it. “I am sorry, it is just so important that we understand what happened in that room,” he murmured.
Tess wasn’t ready to go back to what he wanted. “Didn’t I hear you say that this would be your last job? What will you do when this is all over? What will happened to me when this is over?” she continued not giving him time to answer.
“You will be well taken care of, maybe here or maybe, someplace far away. I will insist on you receiving the best protection,” he answered her last question.
“Can you guarantee that I will be protected and not just disposed of? She asked.
It was several minutes before he spoke again. “Of course, if I am not with you I cannot guarantee anything. We will have to trust the integrity of those who employ us,” he said carefully.
That didn’t do anything to allay her fears. Again, she was asked to trust strangers with her life.
That evening after supper they both sat with their own thoughts.
______________
It was Villandra who kept up the torture. It almost seemed that she enjoyed pain in others. The paladin had said that the Vilandra clone on Earth, was a nice girl, The one facing Tess now, was sadistic and cruel. Day after day, they would pull up her chains and stretch her naked body against the wall. In between interrogations, they loosened the chains so she could lie down and move around to use the bathroom bucket and such. Finally, she heard someone scream, “Put some clothes on her wretched body and bring her in here.”
Tess had never seen the tee shirt or black panties before. They were not clean and she was left to wonder about the fate of the previous owner. When she was brought before Vilandra, Tess didn’t recognize her. Gone was the beautiful face, the well toned body and beautiful long hair. Tess, was confronted by a harridan her blond hair broken and showing signs of patches being pulled out. She wore no makeup and her eyes were as red as fires. “Who sent you here? How did you get Nicholas to bring you? Why did you attack your own brother?” Lonnie screamed.
Lonnie could scream all she wanted. Tess was not psychologically able to tell her anything. The blocks were very strong. Tess, by this time, would have willingly told her anything to gain release from the torture. The small spark that was Tess had begun to climb back in the place it had hidden when she blew up the Air Force base. As they prepared to replace her chains, Tess could only feel dirty and pained. That was when half the garrison wall was blown up. Tess wasn’t the only one who knew how to blow things up. That was when Tess slipped out and began to run down the road. Tess was dressed only in the panties and shirt Vilondra had insisted she wear. The shoes had long since disappeared. The gravel, the heat and the pain she had been subjected to for so many days, drove all thoughts other than escape out of her mind.
--------------------------
Tess sat up. It was dark and she could see that the paladin was reading and taking notes. “Lonnie was so jealous that she didn’t want to even think of me naked in front of Kivar. She made me put on the black panties and shirt. They never were mine. I have no idea of what happened to their owner. It was the shoes, which I used to attack Kivar. I was before him naked except for the robe Lonnie made me wear. I drove the heel of one of the sandals deep into his brain. That was the plan all along.” Then, Tess looked down at her hands. “I don’t think I killed him. I probably only wounded him severely.”
The paladin jumped up and quickly called whom ever he was continually talking to on his phone. “She didn’t kill him, she only wounded him. I imagine it will slow him down considerably. She placed the heel of her high-heel shoe in his brain. I imagine he has gone back home. Attack now and I think you will only have a shell of a force to remove. This should keep him away for a while. Yes, I still want to retire. No, I don’t know what she wants to do, yet. I only insist that she is cared for.”
It was as if a huge weight had been removed from Tess. The paladin saying he planned to retire, she had only a little time left to convince him that she wanted to remain with him, if possible.
It was surprising with all of this excitment that they both soon fell asleep. Yes, they fell asleep in each other’s arms.
The paladin indicated that it would be several days before they were both cleared to continue their separate journeys. “Separate journeys,” that wasn’t what Tess wanted now. She thought and thought how she could tell the paladin without completely debasing herself. Could she fall on the floor and beg for him not to leave her? Could she swear undying love and plead how she needed him? Tess was sure that the paladin was an honorable man. She could probably force him to eternally care for her. She had forced Kyle, she had forced Max and finally, she had forced Alex to do her bidding. Those all turned out badly for everyone. Tess didn’t want to be the creature, who brought doom to those around her any more. Tess now, wanted to be the one, someone else pleaded to, for her eternal company.
How could she show the paladin she was ready to do anything he asked as long as he took her with him? Tess and the paladin slept in the same bed while waiting for whom ever was running this pageant. They had sex every night and Tess was sure that the paladin wasn’t faking his interest in her person. Tess just didn’t know how to tell the paladin how much she now, loved him.
“Yeah, she beaned him a good one. We all knew that killing an Antaarian prince wasn’t going to be that easy. By the time he convalesces we should push his forces back to one of the dead moons of Antar. Have you thought how to handle her?” the distant voice stated to the paladin.
“No, I wish she would want to stay with me. She is younger than me and she could probably return to society and find lovers her own age,” the paladin answered.
“Yes, she is younger than you, but she has been killed and reborn more than any soul should suffer. She doesn’t need new things in her life. Jacob, you might at least ask if she would like to walk with you the rest of your journey,” the voice stated. “Jacob, you both need to find peace.”
That was the first time any client had ever used his first name. They were considering that he no longer was a paladin for hire.
Epilog
The man was on the far side of middle-aged. The girl could have been his daughter, but the way they looked at each other showed that she wasn’t. She was way too young for him until you looked deep into her eyes. Those eyes had felt pain beyond description. Then, the way she held on to him became understood. She had suffered pain and he had guided her through it. Tess hoped that some day she could face Max and Liz and, in some way, convince them that she genuinely felt remorse. No longer did she try to hide behind Nasado. Yes, he was evil, but she was still responsible for what he led her to do. Tess felt that she could never face Isabel, clone of Vilandra, on Earth and explain how she felt about Alex. That was something that she must carry to her grave. Her grave, that ending of her journey that no one would dig up and force her to live again. Humans, at least some of them, believed that there would be judgments that would be paid at the end of life. But, no matter, she wanted to live her life out with Jacob and not be recalled to fight any more of this universe’s wars. Michael the soldier and the feisty Maria should be avoided also. Tess thought that there was probably more to Maria than she had ever seen. Remembering that the Maria she had seen was all claws and fangs over the death of Alex. When Michael said that she betrayed them all and she should die, he wasn’t thinking of the never ending cloning and rebirth. There was no way Tess could face him either.
Tess only wanted to face the paladin who protected her and who she now, knew as Jacob. She shuddered at those memories of Hell. She also remembered that those who retained the memory of Hell also retained the beliefs of redemption. Redemption to the universe not for all the individuals in it. Tess hoped that as with the time after he found her half naked walking along the road, Jacob would still walk with her to the end.
Good teachers are born that way, not made. No! Good human beings, are born that way. Some of them become teachers.
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-
Of course, life is not fair. You shouldn't expect it to be fair, but you should expect it to be ironic.
JKR 1981-2001
History is made of wars, recovering from wars and preparing for the next war.
JJR 1975-