It happened that upon a certain Homedayin the Spring of the 109th year of the reignof the Empress Zerika IV, a certain lady ofthe House of the Lyorn was drinking aloneat the Lonegarden Inn, where the Ballad ofthe Horseman's Duel was composed. Thislady, who went by the name Celani, wasdressed simply enough in breeches ofbrown, a blouse of pale red that was cutlow enough to hint at the form of her high,well-shaped breasts, and a light woolencloak the color of her breeches.

As she sat, she glanced, from time to time,at the door.

Nearly at the exact moment of the firsthour after noon, a young gentleman of theHouse of the Dzur came through the door.He was a tall and well-built gentleman,all in black, with the square jaw thatindicates strength of will, the broadshoulders that signify honesty, and, ascould be clearly seen beneath his hose, thestrong thigh muscles that speak of sexualprowess.

He spotted Celani almost at once. By thetime he had reached her table, she hadalready risen to her feet; she bowed tohim, a salute he returned in kind.

"My lord Tullis," she said.

"My lady Celani."

"Would you care for wine, my lord?"

He frowned. "Well, if truth be known--"

"Yes?" she said. "If truth be known?"

"That is to say, if you wish me to behonest--"

"Oh, you must believe that I rate honestyamong the highest of virtues."

"Ah, so then, you would wish me to sharemy actual feelings on the subject ofwine?"

"My lord, I beg you to observe that I havebeen wishing for nothing else for an hour."

"Then, in fact, I am sufficiently anxious tobegin the, uh..."

"The--?"

"Proceedings, that I begrudge even thelength of time it would take to drink aglass of wine."

"My lord is aware of the importance ofpatience, and the way that anticipation canincrease pleasure?"

"Oh, I do not say I am not. Only--"

"Yes?"

"Well, you asked."

"That is true, I did," said Celani, struck bythe extreme justice of this observation.

"And so?"

"Very well, then, my lord; let us proceedupstairs, where the room is prepared."

This plan was no sooner suggested thanacted upon.

The room to which Celani had referredwas far in the back of the upper floor ofthe Lonegarden. It was a somewhatisolated room, dominated by large bedcrafted of oak and furnished with satinsheets, silk pillows, and velvet blankets,the whole done in a sort of pale yellow,

matching the curtains that covered thewindows, and that were disturbed by thesoft breeze just then blowing. The roomwas lit by four decorative lamps, onehanging from each corner of the room.

Celani closed the door behind them, andturned to Tullis. "Well, now we are--"

These words, however, were all she hadthe chance to speak before Tullis, havingclosed the distance between them in asingle step, wrapped his arms around herand brought his mouth to hers.

This kiss—-we will simplify it by callingit a kiss, although, in fact, it involvedseveral different gestures of mutualaffection, esteem, and desire: to wit, the

joining of lips, mouths and tongues whichis summarized in what is normally calleda kiss, and to which we have just referredin that exact term; hugging, that is, thewrapping of arms about each other; and, insome measure, fondling, that is, while thefour arms were occupied in an embraceindicating no small degree of passion, atthe same time, the four hands joined tothese four arms involved themselves inpatting, rubbing, squeezing, and caressing(as best they could through the interveningclothing) those portions of the anatomymost appealing to lovers and mostaccessible from their current position—-this kiss, we say, was of such passion,tenderness, and duration that the historiandespairs of attempting to capture it in asingle sentence.

Celani, we are forced to add, althoughstartled by the suddenness with whichTullis began the embrace, gave noindication that she was displeased by it.On the contrary, she showed every sign ofreturning passion for passion, desire fordesire, and embrace for embrace.

When, at length, the kiss ended, Celani,who was somewhat breathless, said, "Mylord!"

"Well?"

"I--"

"Is my lady displeased in some way?"

"Not displeased. Only--"

"Yes?"

"Have you noticed our clothing?"

"I have noticed that we are still wearingit."

"Exactly," she said. "I, myself, havenoticed the same thing, and it seemed soimportant, that I wanted to be certain youwere aware of it too."

"Oh, I am, I assure you."

"And then--?"

"Why, my lady Celani, I nearly think weshould divest ourselves of it, and that--"

"Yes? And that?"

"As quickly as we can contrive to do so.Come, what do you think of this plan?"

"I give you my word, my lord, it is thevery plan that I would have proposed, if--"

"Yes, if?"

"If you had not proposed it first."

"Then we are in agreement?"

"Entirely!"

"Then let us set about putting our plan intoaction, without the loss of another instant."

"My lord, you speak with the wisdom ofan Athyra sage."

This plan was attempted to be put intopractice, yet, in the event had littlesuccess. This is because the first step,which was the removal of Celani's blouse,was only partially accomplished beforeher shoulders were bared; and at this time,Tullis, with a moan of pleasure, foundhimself positively unable to keep himselffrom covering the shoulders to which wehave just had the honor to allude, with softkisses and gentle caresses, to which Cellisresponded with a gasp, and a sudden, iftemporary, loss of interest in continuingthe disrobing operation, instead givingherself over completely to the sensationsof the moment—-which sensations, be itunderstood, were entirely pleasurable,and not unexciting.

"Oh," she said.

"You perceive," said Tullis betweenkisses, speaking, in fact, into hershoulders and neck as his lips moved overthem, "I am unable to keep my hands off ofyou."

"And not only your hands," said Celani,from whose voice one could deduce shewas feeling slightly faint. "But your lips aswell."

"Ah, you had noticed that?"

"Nearly."

"You do not object?"

"Oh, not in the least, only--"

"Yes?"

"At this rate, well, you will never manageto remove the blouse, which, youperceive, will interfere with furthercaresses."

"Ah, you are right, my adorable charmer.And yet, was it not you who made theobservation about patience andanticipation?"

"That is true, I did make that observation,"agreed Celani, whose face was becomingquite flushed. "Only--"

"Yes?"

"I had not considered that it would applyto me."

"And now that you have considered it?"

"Well, I concede there is a certain justicein what you do me the honor to tell me."

"I am glad you do."

"And yet--"

"And yet?"

"With the way your lips are pressingthemselves upon my shoulders, and myneck, and now my back—ah! Ah! Well, Iam anxious to have more of my skinexposed to your caresses!"

"So then, you wish me to--"

"To continue disrobing me, my lord. I

assure you, if you do, you will have myundying gratitude."

"Well then, here. You see, the blouse hascome over your head."

"Oh, it has."

"It is now on the floor."

"It is! It is!"

"And so, from the waist up--"

"Yes, from the waist up?"

"You are wearing only a thin chemise,which not only gives me a delightful viewof those perfectly formed mounds which Ihad noticed the very first instant I saw

you--"

"Yes, not only that?"

"But also provides me yet more places toput my lips-—which lips, I give you myword, want nothing more than tothemselves explore that which my eyeshave just devoured as they were a mealset before me, prepared by Mister Valabarhimself."

"Oh, but my lord, your hands!"

"Ah, yes, it is true. My hands—-intemperate things that they are—-havequite outpaced my lips in seeking out thecharms that both desire."

"Oh, you fill me with such feelings, my

lord!"

"And myself, I assure you. But here, yousee, my hands are able to insinuatethemselves under your chemise, while mylips—-there--there--you see, eagerly visitfrom above."

"Oh, yes, that is exactly what ishappening!"

"Only now, my hands, moving up in a mostintemperate manner--"

"Yes? Yes?"

"Have actually removed your chemise.And so--"

"And so, nothing now lies between my

lips, and those perfectly formed breasts,and, especially--"

"Yes, especially?"

"These, here at their tips, a place, I'massured, of special sensitivity."

"Oh, and you are right! You are right! Seehow they are rising in response?"

"I can hardly fail to see, madam, that theyare displaying all of the gratitude to mylips and that my own manhood—-you feelthere, against your leg? Is feeling towardyour person."

"Why, I do feel that, my lord. And I assureyou, it gives me as much pleasure to be theinstrument of such arousal, as do your

tongue, and lips, and teeth, and fingerswhich are so skillfully causing a similararousal at those two points where theyplay so merrily."

At this point, it is our duty to answer thequestion that has, no doubt, entered thereader's mind: to wit, why it is we havetaken upon ourselves the duty to describe,and in such the detail, the actions of thesetwo personages at this time when, by theusual courtesy, they ought to be permittedthe respect of privacy for the sharing oftheir most intimate moments.

This question can be answered in twowords. Some of our brother historians (inparticular, it would seem, those who aremen, thus the "brother" is especially

appropriate) seem to have so littleunderstanding of the characteristics of thearoused woman, that we are forced towonder if they have, in fact, ever beennear one. In particular, we have, to ourembarrassment, too often readdescriptions of the act of love in whichone lover (usually a man, like the historianin question) is shown to be payingdevoted attention to that tip of a woman'sbreast that is so often of interest to partiesdisplaying mutual affection, which tip isthen described as responding as if it wereset into the flesh with a spring, which isthen, by fingers or tongue, suddenlyreleased. Indeed, all too often our brotherhistorians even use a word to describe theaction which is usually onomatopoeiclyassociated with the sound of a spring

being released.

It is for this reason we have taken it uponourselves to show that, no matter howgreat the passion, a description of theawakening of this particular part of awoman's anatomy not only does notrequire such inaccurate and, in truth,foolish explanations; but is far betterserved by frank, simple, and precisediscussion of the way this part of the bodyresponds in an actual human being. Weassure our brother historians that, shouldthey take a lesson from this, their readerswill not but thank them.

Of course, even though we have nowaccomplished our goal, we will not be socruel to our reader as to leave unfinished

the matter under discussion—-that is tosay, in case the reader is curious abouthow matters proceeded beyond the pointwe have reached, we feel obligated by ourduty as historian to satisfy that curiosity—-whether it be scholarly or prurient, itis not for us to pass judgment.

That being clearly established, let usreturn to Celani and Tullis, who, weassure the reader, have not been idleduring our brief but necessary digression.Indeed, during this time, Celani-—whomthe reader may have begun to suspect ofplaying a more passive than active part inthe engagement—-has gripped the bottomof Tullis's tunic and, as he raised his arms,has pulled it over his head and tossed itaside if it were of no more value than the

leaf of a chublik tree upon the arrival ofwinter; and, indeed, to the two of them atthis time it had no more value than this,because just as the tree discards its leaf inthe expectation of preparing a new bud inthe spring, so the baring of Tullis's upperbody, thus matching Celani's, prepared fora certain sort of contact between the twonewly freed torsos that could not butengender new excitement that we cannotrefrain from comparing to the excitementof the turn of the season, as new growthsprouts all around and the whole worldseems more vibrant and alive.

"Oh, oh," said Tullis. "To feel you thuspressing against me--"

"Yes, my lord?"

"It is exquisite."

"I am glad that it is. For my part--"

"Yes, my lady?"

"I find that your hands on my back, inparticular, your fingers resting on thatplace where my spine curves just abovemy waist, is giving me thrill I cannotdescribe."

"It pleases me as well, only--"

"Yes?"

"It would please me even more if, as wetouched in this way--"

"Yes, as we touched."

"We would also take this moment to kissagain."

"Oh, yes, let us do so, and without aninstant's hesitation."

This decided, they at once joined theirmouths together as if each weredetermined to draw all the breath from theother, their sighs mingling as their passionrose to yet new heights.

As the kiss continued, Tullis found himselfunable to keep his hand from strayingdownward, and, when arriving at theplace where Celani's form swelledoutward behind and below the waist, hegripped it, and thus pulled her moreclosely into himself.

"Oh!" she cried. "Impetuous Dzur! Whatare you doing?"

"Do you wish me to stop, my sweetLyorn?"

"Stop? On the contrary, I wish you tocontinue!"

"Then I shall obey your wishes as if youwore the signet of my prince."

"You are the soul of complaisance. Oh,but what are you doing now?"

"My lady, I am removing your breeches."

"And yet--"

"Well?"

"Before you commit this rash act--"

"Yes?"

"Ought we not to consider that I amwearing boots?"

"Oh, I had not considered thiscircumstance."

"And so?"

"If you will permit me to kneel beforeyou--"

"Yes, if I will permit you to kneel?"

"Then you may rest a hand upon myshoulder for balance, while I--"

"Yes, while you?"

"While I endeavor to carefully removethat which covers your feet, and at thesame time exposing to my excited viewyour trim and elegant ankles."

"How, you pretend my ankles are trim andelegant?"

"Having observed them on the firstoccasion of our meeting, when you woredifferent dress, I can speak on the subjectwith great confidence."

"You are, then, an expert in ladiesankles?"

"I do not deny that have some knowledgeof them."

"Then I fully accept the compliment youdo me the honor to express."

"And you are right to do so."

As this conversation was taking place,Tullis, who gave every indication ofeagerness, had done just as he said; that isto say, he had removed Celani's boots, andtaken the opportunity to admire her ankles.More than this, however, finding himselfon his knees, and thus with his mouth atthe exact height of Celani's navel, he wasunable to restrain his desire to fold hisarms around her waist and press his mouthinto this especially sensitive place.

"Ah, my lord!" she cried. "I nearly think Ifeel your tongue!"

"That is likely," said Tullis.

"Oh, and those are my breeches around myankles!"

"Yes, and to this I can only say--"

"Yes, you can only say?"

"That, unless you indicate that I shouldstop--"

"Yes, unless I so indicate?"

"Your bloomers are about to followthem."

"Oh! Oh!"

"Do you wish me to refrain, my adored

one?"

"No! No! Go on! Ah, you have done so, Iam naked!"

"And delightfully so."

"But, what are you doing? Your lips, theyare—oh! Oh! There! There! Yes, you mustnot stop! Only--"

"Yes, sweet one?"

"My legs."

"Such splendid legs they are! What ofthem?"

"They are becoming weak, so that I feel Iwill fall over."

"Ah, that would never do. Here, let us turnaround. There, the bed is behind you."

"Oh, I collapse. Yes, yes. You are makingme mad! See how I writhe? Will you notcome to me?"

"You, then, wish to consummate thisdiscussion?"

"I more than wish to! I must!"

"So much the better, for I swear to you--"

"Yes?"

"If I do not have you this instant, I shalldie upon the spot."

"Then save yourself, my good Dzur! By all

means save yourself! Here, you see I amhelping you remove your boots, and nowyour tights. Ah, what is this before me?"

"Why, madam, I am convinced you knowwhat it is. But—oh, what are you doing?You wish me to drive me out of mysenses? Yes, yes, that is it, you wish me tobecome a madman. Ah! Such feelings! Myblood is boiling! I must explode!"

"Here, come to me now!"

"Then, you wish me to enter you fully?"

"Oh, as to that--"

"Yes?"

"I wish it with my whole being."

"Then I am about to do so."

"What? This very instant?"

"If that is your desire."

"Cracks and shards! It is an hour since Idesired anything else!"

"Here then."

"Oh! This is what I have wished for."

"And I, too!"

"I am glad of that, for I should be sad to bealone in this feeling."

"Oh, you are not, my beautiful Lyorn. Youfeel how I push into you?"

"Yes, yes! There, now I have locked aboutyou those ankles you did the honor tocompliment."

"Such a perfect place for them. But come,I must kiss you now."

"Oh, yes. Your lips, your mouth."

"Ah, that is it!"

"I will explode!"

"Oh! Oh yes, explode, my sweet Celani,and if you do--"

"Yes, if I do?"

"I give you my word, your climax willengender my own!"

"How, are you certain?"

"There can be no doubt."

"Then let it be done! Ah! There, I flood, Ioverflow!"

"Oh! I dissolve into rapture, I merge withyou."

"Yes, yes my beloved Dzur, we are one!"

"How I love you, my sweet Lyorn! Ah,you see how I continue even as we bursttogether?"

"Yes, yes, my fearless man! Ah, suchbliss, such pleasure."

"And now--"

"Yes, now?"

"Now, my lady, I am spent!"

"Oh, but not forever?"

"No, but for some few minutes."

"And, after that?"

"Why, after that, if you are willing--"

"Yes,if I am willing?"

"Why, we will begin all over again!"

"My lord--"

"My lady?"

"I ask nothing better."