Publica Section 2 Part 5

Part 5

The cloth fluttered onto the bench as Lavendi threw it across the room. She crawled atop of Salene and cupped her head in her hands. The girl whispered something in her sweet voice readying herself. Lavendi kissed her strongly, thrusting her tongue into Salene’s mouth. She heard a faint but muffled squeal that only made her push harder.

With hasty hands, Lavendi undressed the girl throwing her clothes away carelessly. Lavendi was too preoccupied with the moment to consider anything else. The girl’s soft skin, ample breasts and pretty face enthralled her. Lust overwhelmed Lavendi’s senses and she took the girl into her arms. Barely a moment had passed before Lavendi realized another had walked into the room.

The section of the ship was assured to be empty by the captain but the promise was obviously broken. Lavendi cursed herself for forgetting the locks on the doors, knowing that any aboard the trade vessel could have entered upon this sight. Strangely, the figure did not speak. Instead, he chose to stand in the darkness as a silent silhouette.

Lavendi was to speak but held her tongue. Even through the dark lighting, and the heavy clothing on the man, she could see he held a gun. There was a simple rail pistol gripped tightly within his grasp, able to tear her in half with a single round. She stared at the man as she listened to Salene begin to cry.

Suddenly, two fully armoured soldiers burst into the room, wielding powerful accelerator lances. In a blinding moment of fear, she watched as the man raised his pistol before taking an accelerated round in the chest. The small piece of metal caved in his chest, splashing blood against the wall and killing him instantly. Without any armour to protect his bare human body, the weapon had decimated his entire form in a single blast.

“Are you alright, citizen?” one of the soldiers asked. Lavendi could see he did not approach because she was undressed.

“Yes,” she replied, noticing the serpents that adorned their armour. She ignored their pretty faces and thought on their allegiances. Lavendi helped Salene don her shirt before walking over the dead man. The man carried a weapon common to anyone with the wealth to purchase one.

“Fortunate that were here before the pirate harmed you,” the same soldier replied. “We are men from Valisus. It is most opportune we were armed at the moment.”

With a careful tone but playful face, she replied to the soldiers. “How long did you wait until you approached us?” she asked, walking up to the talking soldier. She placed her hands on his arm and smiled.

“We were waiting to confirm you were Lavendi, husband of the republic hero Hasitus,” he replied. “This incident brought us to action sooner than expected.”

She pushed herself close to the man and spoke more softly. “What has Valisus come to ask me?”

The man bent his head low to whisper into her ear. “You have little knowledge in the method of subtle travel,” he paused a second to view her reaction before continuing in a louder voice. “Valisus asks you not to interfere with him. He is conducting delicate matters of state with the humble but respectable barbarian nation of Practica.”

“Ah, so the Publica has decided to form a new treaty with Practica?” she asked, giving her best face for ignorance of state matters. “It would be appreciable for more friends in this war.”

“The Publica senatus has yet to confirm such a treaty will be formed but Valisus understood the need before the people will in the future. He had convinced the Imperator to allow him to travel to the barbarians to speak of terms before official negotiations,” he said. “I will have to leave you now.”

“Wait,” Lavendi said, pulling on his arm. “I do yet know your name.”

She kissed his cheek then, rendering him speechless a moment. “I,” he stammered, breaking his stone military face. “I am Julanus, a hastati infantryman in the Black Snake Serpen Legion.”

They left the room, but she did not know if she had become unprotected or less endangered. Still, she was not alone with Salene. Others had entered to remove the body and investigate the incident.

Lavendi took her comfort girl in her quarters, locking the door and hoping that little action was enough protection. She took a brisk walk to the command deck, finding the captain attempting to stay awake in his chair. As she approached, his face brightened and sat upright to give a more regal look. Clothing may have spoken of a trading vessel captain but his posture was of a king. He tried hard to impress her, hoping that Lavendi would divert some of her kindness from Salene to him.

“Captain,” she whispered into his ear.

He gave his best to look unaffected by her proximity but his voice was laced with effort. “My good Lavendi, I was so shocked and displease by the recent turn of events. I should tell you that I immediately checked upon your goods to ensure any of his co-conspirators did not steal them.”

“Why thank you, Antonius,” she replied. Lavendi sat along a railing beside the man’s chair to look more at ease. “I am so ill at ease these days. My husband is away at war, and I worry each moment that he may be caught by the Terra-born barbarians. Now, there was this attack upon my life.”

“Yes, pirates are so numerous these days, and the barbarians are at our very gate but we are still alive,” he said, touching her chin with his finger. He brought her face up a little and she rewarded him with a small pouting smile for the gesture. “I was so relieved to hear that Serpen soldiers travelling aboard my vessel had happened upon you in such a ready manner. I would hate for you to be lost. It has been a long trading relationship between us.”

Antonius carried the lust in his eyes but never his body. Still, Lavendi could sense it permeating through the small distance between them. She was always careful to be playful but within public locations. Lavendi detested the thought of sharing a bed with the man. “What news has there been in the Publica of late?” she said, changing the topic.

“The Imperator has been directly policy outside the senatus,” Antonius replied with a troubled voice. “Lately, he has been raising taxes in areas I think the Serpens would find most troubling. A levy was placed against us, the simple trading vessel captains to pay for more troops to send into the war. Other taxes were planned in the market and shops. Merchants across the republic frown at the mere mention of them.”

Lavendi nodded, realizing how strange it for Julanus to have said Valisus worked with the Imperator. Perhaps rumours of his imperialist views were truer than she had dared believe. “This does not sound like a task of the Imperator.”

“I find it a great hardship as it is to ship goods from Porta to the frontier worlds. Few merchants wish to trade their wares to a region so close to the battlefield. As brave and mighty as our military is, we citizens still fear the barbarians pillaging our worlds. Another tax levied against trade vessels only further punishes me for this task,” Antonius said.

“Perhaps the senatus needs to act within the interests of the people and give pause to these policies,” she replied.

“It would seem that many senators act only in the interest of the Imperator, or I should state that they act within the interest of house Lupus,” he stated flatly.

“Do you know the senator Valisus?” she asked thoughtfully playing the naïve child.

Antonius nodded his head, “He is a calculating man who wins his seat in the Hall with strategy not love. Still, I have not known him to endanger the wealth of merchants. I fear he may be the most sly and dangerous within the senatus.”

He brought an arm around her and brought her closer. Lavendi gasped in surprise but stalled her hands from pushing away from the old man. Antonius thrust his wrinkled hand into his pocket and pulled forth a small signet. It was a symbol for a wolf, a work of art with origins centuries old.

“I had found this within a hidden pocket of the pirate’s legging,” he whispered quietly, bringing his mouth disturbingly close to her lips. “What pirate clan carries this?”

“I don’t know,” she lied. It was a Lupus signet that few had seen. She had only chanced upon it when she bedded a Lupus centurion entrusted with matters secret to the public.