The Blood-stained Belt by Brian H Jones Page B

remnants had been
swept out of sight on a flood of returning emotions. I kissed Dana.
Her lips were moist and soft and as they moved against mine, the
lightning began to flicker again along the unguarded ridges of my
body. I pushed her away gently and took a deep breath. Holding her
at arm’s length, I asked, ‘Who wants to meet Sharma?’
    Dana moved away
from me and inclined her head, looking at me appraisingly. She
asked, ‘Do you promise that you won’t tell?’ I nodded. Dana said
insistently, ‘Do you promise by the wrath of Zabrazal?’
    ‘I
promise.’
    ‘By the wrath
of Zabrazal? Say it.’
    ‘All right, if
you insist.’ I pressed both hands to my heart. ‘I promise by the
wrath of Zabrazal that I won't reveal the name of this person. May
Zabrazal damn me forever if I violate this oath.’
    Dana put a
finger across her lips, stretched upward, and whispered,
‘Mecolo.’
    ‘What? Mecolo!
Vaxili's daughter?' Dana nodded. I asked incredulously, ' Vaxili's
daughter wants to meet Sharma?’
    Dana looked
around and said quietly, ‘Yes, Mecolo. That’s right.’
    I whistled and
stood back to consider the situation. Vaxili’s daughter! Whoa! It
was no wonder that Dana wasn’t shouting the news from the rooftops.
I looked at her, in a final check that she wasn’t playing a poor
practical joke on me. Dana just looked back at me with those great
luminous eyes – the eyes that always promised to let you into the
secret that they held, and promised all the more, the more you
looked into them. Yes, she was serious. I asked, ‘How does Mecolo
know Sharma?’
    ‘She doesn’t
know him, silly! If she did, why would she want to meet him?’
    ‘All right,
then, what does she know about him?’
    Dana said, ‘She
saw Sharma in the temple.’
    ‘Oh, she saw
Sharma in the temple and she decided that she wanted to meet him,
just like that?’
    ‘Why not? I saw
you in the temple, didn’t I?’
    The logic was
irrefutable. I said weakly, ‘But the king’s daughter …’
    ‘Oh, it’s
typical of Mecolo – she knows what she wants and she goes straight
for it.’
    I took a step
backwards, giving myself time to think about the matter. The more I
thought, the less I liked the idea. I said, ‘I don’t know. It could
be –‘
    ‘Now, Jina,
don’t get cold feet.’ Dana pressed herself against me, rubbing her
forehead against my chin. ‘Think of what it could mean to you.’ She
moved her body against mine, soft and pliable, her arms clasped
around me. A whole summer month’s worth of lightning flickered and
flashed through me again while the thunder rumbled through my ears
and my temples. I tried to fight the storm down and mumbled
dry-lipped, ‘I don’t know. I just don’t know.’
    Still pressed
against me, Dana said softly, ‘Think what it could mean to you,
Jina.’
    I leaned back
against the wall and put my hands against Dana’s shoulders to put
space between us. I said, ‘I am thinking about it.’
    ‘Well?’
    ‘I’m thinking
that it could mean big trouble.’
    Dana pressed
one of my hands against her cheek. ‘Trouble? How?’
    ‘Damn it, Dana,
she’s the king’s daughter!’
    ‘Well, what of
it?’
    ‘What of it?
Man, this isn’t like something between you and me, or just any –
hey! What’s that for?’ Dana had been nibbling at one of my little
fingers, playing it between her teeth and lips. When I tried to
withdraw my hand, she looked me straight in my eyes and nipped the
tip of the finger. I tugged my hand away, shook it vigorously – it
wasn’t the gentlest of bites -- and said, ‘Hey! Careful!’
    Dana chuckled.
‘Have I got your attention now?’
    ‘You didn’t
ever not have it.’ I was still shaking my hand as the pain
subsided.
    ‘Good. Now
answer me – are you going to be a soldier all your life?’
    ‘I don’t know.
Maybe I will be. Why not? Or maybe I'll go back to Osicedi one day.
Who knows? Anyway, why are you asking?’
    Dana stroked my
chin, passing the tips of