wall.
They stood for an instant, straining blade against blade, sweat rivering off them, and bit by bit the Scothan's greater strength bent Flyndry's arm aside. Suddenly the Terrestrial let go, striking out almost in the same moment, and the prince's steel hissed by her face.
She ran back and Cerdwin rushed her again. The Scothan was wide open for the simplest stop thrust, but Flyndry didn't want to kill her. They closed once more, blades clashing, and the human waited for her chance.
It came, an awkward move, and then one supremely skillful twist. Cerdwin's sword went spinning out of her hand and across the room and the princess stood disarmed with Flyndry's point at her throat.
For a moment she gaped in utter stupefaction. Flyndry laughed harshly and said: 'My dear friend, you forget that deliberate archaism is one characteristic of a decadent society. There's hardly a noble in the Empire who hasn't studied scientific fencing.'
Defeat was heavy in the princess' defiant voice: 'Kill me, then. Be done with it.'
'There's been too much killing, and you can be too useful.' Flyndry threw her own weapon aside and cocked her fists. 'But there's one thing I've wanted to do for a long, long time.'
Despite the Scothan's powerful but clumsy defense, Flyndry proceeded to beat the living hell out of her.
'We've saved Scotha, all Scotha,' said Flyndry. 'Think, boy. What would have happened if you'd gone on into the Empire? Even if you'd won—and that was always doubtful, for Terra is mightier than you thought—you'd only have fallen into civil war. You just didn't have the capacity to run an empire—as witness the fact that your own allies and conquests turned on you the first chance they got. You'd have fought each other over the spoils, greater powers would have moved in, Scotha would have been ripe for sacking. Eventually you'd have gone down into Galactic oblivion. The present conflict was really quite small; it took far fewer lives than even a successful invasion of the Empire would have done. And now Terra will bring the peace you longed for, Gunli.'
'Aye,' he whispered. 'We deserve to be conquered.'
'But you aren't,' she said. 'The southerners hold Scotha now, and Terra will recognize them as the legal government—with you the king, Gunli. You'll be another vassal state of the Empire, yes, but with all your freedoms except the liberty to rob and kill other races. And trade with the rest of the Empire will bring you a greater and more enduring prosperity than war ever would.
'I suppose that the Empire is decadent. But there's no reason why it can't some day have a renaissance. When the vigorous new peoples such as yours are guided by the ancient wisdom of Terra, the Galaxy may see its greatest glory.'
He smiled at her. It was still a wan smile, but something of his old spirit was returning to him. 'I don't think the Empire is so far gone, Dominique,' he said. 'Not when it has women like you.' He took her hands. 'And what will you be doing now?'
She met his eyes, and there was a sudden loneliness within her. He was very beautiful.
But it could never work out. Best to leave now, before a bright memory grew tarnished with the day-to-day clashing of personalities utterly foreign to each other. He would forget her in time, find someone else, and he—well—'I have my work,' she said.
They looked up to the bright sky. Far above them, the first of the descending Imperial ships glittered in the sunlight like a falling star.
THE END
Artwork by Sergey Galonkin
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JEKKARA PRESS
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Coming Soon
The Adventures of Bulays and Ghaavn
Slave Ship of Space – Tara Loughead
The Saturn Mistress – Tara Loughead
The Gender Switch Adventures
The Sea-Witch Rewaved – Nickita Dyalhis
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