The Sighs of the Priestess Ch. 05

This was one of the things that he loved to do if the fighter allowed it. This was the reason that Lugalbanda had spent his own gold a while back to buy the horse a thick, studded leather breastplate. The only threat to him were bowmen and pike men, but there were none of those here facing him. It was what they both wanted now, so the fighter let his horse have his way.

The commander screamed as the pain from his crushed legs and hip reached his brain. He found himself trapped under his dying mount and heard women's laughter amid the screams and the proud whinny of the stallion as he reared once again to bring his great hooves down onto the stricken beast with a heavy snort of damp air. Turning his head, the injured commander saw the long red hair of an Amorite warrior as Anat's sword came whistling in to sever his head through his open mouth.

It was over not long after. Several of the guards tried to flee, but the dead riders ran them down quickly. The women fighters rode slowly where they could, picking their way through the carnage, dispatching any who still lived but were badly injured, horses and men alike, and rounding up any horses which stood around.

It took a few minutes as everyone's adrenaline levels sank back to normal, but a small commotion arose not far off the road. The soldier nudged his horse and sidled over to find two young men – boys really, not more than days older than eighteen, he guessed – standing back to back waving their daggers in as threatening a manner as hopefully possible at the ring of Martu fighters laughing and cat-calling to them in light taunts. It went on for a little while until one of the younger fighters made her choice.

"Come you here, boy!" she yelled, as she slid off her horse to swagger toward the two. She slapped one youth on the flanks with her sword, "Not you, you dirty thing, I mean the sweet fair-haired one here."

She took a good long look at him and laughed, "Look at those soft and thoughtful eyes!"

She tilted her beautiful head slightly as she called out to her leader with a smile.

"Anat!" she cried out, "Oh Anat, I begin to see your wisdom in choosing Dagon as you have. I would give a lot here to see these pretty blue eyes looking up at me over my own fur in the morning."

She strutted a little closer and pulled her cuirass open, exposing one breast and many of her tattoos. The blonde's eyes nearly left his head as his gaze began at her face, ran to the breast and slid lower, taking in the markings which led down her hard belly. He could almost make out the edge of the flaming red bush just hidden by the leather.

Suddenly he found himself face down in the dust as the women howled in laughter. His cheek burned from her gloved slap. He shook his head and glared up at her.

"Come on, Sweetness," she cooed, "It will take more than a slap to tame you, surely. Come on and get up, my love. Come and taste what I have for you."

The others laughed and his ears flared red in his shame as he slowly pushed himself up. She let him pick up his dagger before she began again.

The fighter leaned forward as she taunted him in a loud whisper that was meant to be heard. To everyone who heard it, it might have dripped her desire had she not been taunting him. "Look, my beautiful fair-haired baby. See what you might suckle on tonight."

The youth wasn't stupid, and only stood as ready as he could be. He had a sinking feeling that this was where he would die.

She pouted a little, "You will have to try to play at the least, my darling, or I will have to kill you, and that is something that I would hate myself for. It would be such a waste."

His eyes flashed at her and she grinned, "Oh, do you see, girls? See the blue eyes that I want to lose myself in." She stepped closer and he batted her sword away feebly.

Her face grew a little sad for a moment. "Come. Try at least. If you manage to stick me with that thing," she pointed at his dagger and laughed, "I might just let you stick me with what is there between your legs. At the least, I could reward your bravery with my lips on it until you spend in my mouth. What say you? Hurry now, I already want to taste your sweet seed, my love, but you must try here or I will have to end this."

Lugalbanda looked at Nisi-ini-su and Anat. Anat was howling, and the priestess tried to hide her grin behind her hand. On the other side of the circle, another fighter was encouraging the other youth in a similar manner. He knew what was going on here with regard to the blonde one. He wondered if anyone else knew it.

To his credit, the blonde lasted longer; his companion was knocked cold in another second.

Alone now, the youth lunged, but his red-haired tormentor easily side-stepped, slipping in close to hiss in quiet pain. He turned his head in surprise, not believing that he'd managed to nick her. A part of him recoiled slightly from the thought that he might have hurt someone so beautiful without knowing quite how. Part of him was in heaven because she was close to him here. He was young enough to still be idealistic in spite of the danger to him. He felt the warmth of her firm breast against his chest and he wanted the time to enjoy only that feeling, but he knew that she had no desire for him, other than to make fun of him. She was likely vicious and cruel, he thought, but she was heaven walking to him without a doubt.

He froze involuntarily as he felt her gloved hand wrap itself around part of his scrotum and his quickly hardening penis. The fighter was hard up against the youth and made sure that none could see as she quickly hefted it once and smiled to herself so that he could just see that she was pleased, and then her demeanor changed abruptly.

"You misbegotten bastard son of ... whatever you are," she cursed loudly as she held him fast. "The stars shine on you somehow. You cut me!"

The other fighters yelled and cheered as she grabbed him by the hair and kissed him savagely for a long moment. His dagger fell from his limp fingers along with his desire to kill her. He felt his lips being pried apart and then her tongue was all over his mouth for a moment. When she pulled her head back, the women howled again at the dazed look on his face... just one instant before her elbow cracked into his temple and laid him out flat on his face again.

The fighter roared in rage at the sky as the others laughed and joked about her getting slow out of age or desire.

"Shut up, all of you," she yelled, "or you can test your ideas and die on my blade. The little turd cut me, it is true, but I claim him!"

She scowled evilly at the others around her, "I'll get my anger out, have no fear."

The boy raised his head groggily and looked up.

She smiled down at him tenderly and dropped to one knee to punch him in the face. This time, he was out cold.

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He awoke in an uncomfortable position, slung over her horse, and in front of her too. He heard the last words of a quiet conversation. When he looked up, he saw the large leader of the fighters nod at him once and ride ahead. It took him a few minutes to figure things out. He felt no saddle and his loincloth was gone, but he did feel her hand on his ass as she caressed it idly. She noticed that he was awake.

"Hello again, my beauty," she smiled and reached down for his face. After frowning as she examined him for a moment, she nodded to herself. "I was afraid that I had ruined you."

He made no answer for the moment, but he thought a few things over.

"I didn't cut you," he snarled after a time, "why did you pretend that I did, ... so that you could hit me?"

She chuckled and slid her fingers a little lower until she could squeeze his scrotum a little. It made him suck in his breath, and in spite of himself, he moved his thighs apart a little.

"Ah," she smiled, "I have found a way to help you keep your thoughts from wandering."

She looked down at him, "Listen beautiful fool, you are right. I cut myself just a little with the edge of your blade. It was the only way to do this without hurting you. I did it so that I could either claim you, or let another claim you instead. I did not think that you would want that, and so you are mine."

She noticed that his manhood had begun to swell, and so she moved it for him a little so that it might not be too uncomfortable to him. He watched her lick her fingers and then he felt her tease him by rubbing a finger into the end of his foreskin for a minute.

She leaned down, "Are you still listening? You are far more Martu by your looks than you are Sumerian, unless I am wrong. Say something if you can in the speech."

"I am not Martu," he said, "I come from the northlands far away, but I have Sumerian learning."

"I mean no jest here," she said, "but it is clear that you are no fighter, though I see that it lies inside you, I think. Why are you here?"

He wanted to tell the hopeful lie that he'd tried to use before, but thought better of it and just answered her. "My village was overrun, and I was taken to be sold as a slave. One traded me to another, and some taught me lessons. It was to add to my worth. I was always moving, and came here to be offered to the king, but he did not want me, saying that I looked like a Martu. He had me sent with the guard, hoping that I would be killed and it would save him the embarrassment of refusing the gift. I have been traveling for most of my life."

She chuckled and whispered back as loudly as she dared, "You look close enough to us that you might be one who was lost among the Sumerians as a child. I have already told it this way to our Ba'al. I have promised to make you a fighter if you will join us and he would allow it like that. I will replace what they taught with my lessons and my love. I need to tell you things, Sweetness. Are you prepared to listen?"

He nodded and she smiled.

"You are not lost in the hands of savages, no matter what the Sumerians tell of us. You are here because I found myself smitten. But how to say what I wanted then with the others around? It was a shameful way to do it from your side of it, but I tried to save your life. And I do not lie. If you can behave and use your head, you might really have me tonight. I already know that I want you."

She chuckled quietly as he felt her fingertip nudge the tip of him in tiny circles. "So you should play along. The first thing that you might wish to do is thank me. I did this knowing that one of you would have to go back to the city. I did not want it to be you. Looking as you do, you would surely die. Now does this make sense, beauty?"

"Thank you," he whispered, "but what happened to the other one? The one who was with me?"

"Who was he to you?" she asked.

"He worked for the slaver. When the guard looked to be losing, he cut my bonds and begged me to help keep him alive. What happened to him?"

"Nothing," she shrugged, "He was left there where he fell. When he awakens, he will find his dagger and a horse staked near to him. It would be a mistake, but he will likely ride back to the palace to tell what happened. Sumerian generals do not like to hear bad news. Your friend will likely be dead soon. It cannot be helped. The generals must learn to feel fear again. They will need to know what happened. That is why they will get no word of it unless they talk to your friend, but the results speak clearly. Two hundred dead out on the road" she smiled, "and ten days ago, the same ones that you saw this night took the city of Uruk."

She shrugged again, "It is our way. He may tell of how you were gone when he awoke and some fool will likely tell him that Martu eat their conquests. We do not discourage the talk," she smiled, "but it is not true."

She licked her finger again and tried to give him the same pleasant thrill just inside his foreskin. It made her smile to see him harden more.

"Do you like me a little better now?" she smiled sweetly, and chuckled when he nodded.

"Then this a much better way to begin between us, my lovely friend," she smiled.

"We are on the road of the dead and we go to a hidden place. If you had the chance of it, would you like to kill Sumerians like Enmerkar?"

From as far away as she sat there on her horse she could see the gaze clearly.

"Then if all goes well, you will have a better place to live and be trained to fight once I put the meat and the muscle on you. We seek fighters, and I see this in you easily."

She grinned, "It will be hard, friend, but look here if you can."

The blonde turned his head a little more so that he could see as much of her as he could as she smiled.

"I know that I look fine to you, and I saw one that I wanted in an instant. So? Let us share what we can and I will help you as I may if you would have it. We can hug each other and whisper often between us as we both learn. I will tell of the ways of the Martu and then you must tell me the ways of your people. I get one to share some of my life with and you get a woman-friend who already thinks that you are a wonder. I am a fighter, but I am also a woman - and in the span of a heartbeat, I knew what we might have once I saw how you looked at me. You thought that you would die there, but even so, I saw that you wanted to know me for who I am." She chuckled as she went back to stroking his cheeks.

"In the way of my heart," she smiled, "if I am not wrong, then it counts for so much with me - even if the way of our meeting was a little ... peculiar."

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Timna and her smith soon found themselves with many well-wishers as they studied what was provided for them to learn. It was against his nature at first, but Adad learned how to fight as well, after it was explained to him that he'd need to know in order to tell if his weapons were of any worth to fighters, and that he might one day need to protect the one who loved him so.

The young fighter and her prize lived a deep love together as often as her duties placed them together. He did indeed learn and excel at what she taught him and he preferred to fight with a shortened and sharpened iron pike as a sword. She learned that his name was the word for 'wolf' among his kind, and once she'd taught him her way of fighting, it seemed to do him justice. "You now approach my speed, my love," she grinned at him one day, "but you also have one thing that I do not have. You have the power to cleave a man in two with one blow." She slapped his chest affectionately, "Something like this is worth much in a fight for it takes the will from many only to see it done."

One of the first things that he'd asked of her was her name. She shrugged, "There is not much thought to it," she laughed, "for it is only our word for a certain animal." She looked at herself and shrugged, "I am sure that you might guess."

"Then I give you the same one in another tongue if you would have it," he said, and she liked it enough to keep it as he suggested, since he'd smiled at her hair and gave her the word among his people that meant 'fox'. Everyone liked it and so it was what she became. They were often sent to pass news to the more nomadic groups of the Martu and it wasn't long before Martu mothers began to tell tales of the Fox and the Wolf to their children.

After the cautious explanation of what had happened, King Enmerkar requested meetings in unlikely and remote locations with Lugalbanda during the next year, as they exchanged ideas and thoughts. Khamazi was ruled by a king and he was no stranger to war, having once conquered and ruled over Uruk himself.

The present bit of unpleasant diplomatic chatter related mostly to King Hadanish expecting to find Uruk held by the council in his place, but instead returning to find Uruk in the hands of Enmerkar.

The proper tones of outrage and threat were noted by each set of ambassadors.

Wild claims were made by one king and the other about who slept with Ianna every night.

All the while, Lugalbanda and Nisi-isi-su cared nothing for any of this. He was pre-positioning his forces while she sent their spies out to learn of Khamazi.

They learned much that was useful, but in one area, they came up almost dry, though they tried repeatedly to learn what could be known.

Khamazi had one notable occupant who went by the name of Urgirinuna. It was very difficult to find out anything about him, and the priestess wanted to find out all that she could, particularly where this one individual stood on the subject of the city's conquest...

Since he lived there at least some of the year and ...

Since he was a rather powerful and famous sorcerer.