Clockwork Goddess (The Lesbia Chronicles) by Loki Renard Read Free Book Online

from Ayla, as if she feared being in her presence. "You cannot speak like that."
     
    "Oh I can," Ayla said, folding her arms over her chest and standing quite still. She carried herself with a demeanor of perfect certainty, ignoring Aeron's impulse to flee. "All beings have their weaknesses," she said. "Even Ariadne."
     
    "Mutiny!"
     
    A fresh voice rose from the ether of nothingness, startling Aeron into an aggressive posture.
     
    Ayla lifted her eyes to the heavens as if asking for strength. "I see you have discovered how to make an invisibility potion work, Lizling."
     
    "Do not call me that. It is not my name!"
     
    "Lizelda? Lizward? Lizington? Lizben?"
     
    "Stop it! Stop it at once!" The air between Aeron and Ayla was full of annoyance. "I have discovered your plan and I will inform Ariadne of it!"
     
    "No!" The short cry preceded Aeron hurling herself at what seemed to be thin air, but which was most certainly Liz. The two women went to the ground, Aeron straddling the invisible spy.
     
    "Enough, Aeron." Ayla gave the command calmly. "That one is no threat."
     
    "I am the threatiest threat you will ever discover."
     
    Ayla crouched down, whispered a few words and Liz appeared suddenly. She was caught face-down between Aeron's thighs, pinned to the ground quite effectively. Her face was covered in dust and her clothing was twice as ragged as it had been when they last met. She was an unholy mess, her braids bedraggled, scratches across the bridge of her nose and cheeks as if she had been running through bushes.
     
    "Tell me something," Ayla said, still crouched there before her captive. "Have you ever actually met Ariadne?"
     
    Liz frowned. "Well of course I have."
     
    "What does Ariadne look like?"
     
    "She is... uh... she is beautiful."
     
    Ayla shook her head slowly. "You have never been in Ariadne's presence, have you? Admit it."
     
    "Not yet," Liz spat dust. "But I will be, once I earn it. Once I tell her what you are planning."
     
    "How do you intend to tell her what I am planning when you do not know where she is or how to find her?"
     
    "That is my problem, not yours... OWWW!"
     
    Liz squealed loudly, and for good reason. Aeron had leaned down and bitten her swiftly on the back of her neck. It was not a particularly vicious bite, she released as soon as she had done it, but it was no doubt painful none the less.
     
    "Aeron, please," Ayla said mildly. "I know this one just cries out for punishment, but we must pace ourselves."
     
    "Ow, that hurt." There was a plaintive note to Liz's complaint, which made sense for Aeron had broken the skin in a couple places and left an unpleasant looking red ring in the pale skin of her neck.
     
    "It will need to be cleaned. Let her up."
     
    Aeron rose to her feet, keeping a close eye on Liz as Ayla ushered her little party back to Kira's tent where her bag of many tricks was waiting. So was Kira. The commanding warrior was pacing the tent back and forth, a thunderous expression on her face which grew darker still when Aeron made her appearance.
     
    "Sit down, Liz," Ayla ordered. "I have something to clean that wound."
     
    "I cannot sit," Liz complained. "Because someone beat me."
     
    "You can sit and you will," Ayla said. "You have the choice of this bed or a hard stool."
     
    Grumbling, Liz lowered her bottom gingerly onto Kira's bed. She winced as she put her weight fully down. "There is not a part of me that does not sting," she said morosely. "But I will suffer for Ariadne as much as she calls for me to suffer."
     
    "I hope you are a glutton for suffering then," Kira said. "Ariadne knows how to cause great suffering. It is her stock and trade."
     
    "You too are an ingrate!" Liz's ire sparked. "There is not a single true believer here."
     
    "We know Ariadne," Aeron said, her voice gravelly. "You imagine her. Who is the true believer?"
     
    "I am," Liz insisted. "Because I believe through faith. You only have knowledge. It is a poor