Half a dozen men stood up to catch Rokhana's short skirt when she tore it off. For a moment it looked as if they would fight for it, then they all drew back. They must have known that a brawl would end the striptease before it reached its climax. They would sit on an anthill or fight Tribesmen bare-handed before they would do that. Not when Rokhana was now parading in the halter and shorts so short they hardly covered more than a G-string …. Blade had to remind himself to breathe.

He wouldn't have believed that the music could get louder, but it did. So did the stamping and clapping. Several more couples were now in secluded corners. There was no doubt about what some of them were doing. Blade's eyes lingered on one couple just long enough to miss the moment when Rokhana's halter top came off. From the wolfpack howl all around him, he still knew what to expect when he looked back at the woman.

Her breasts would have been too large for any woman smaller or less broad-shouldered. On her they were just right. Their large nipples were now fully erect. She writhed in place, so that each breast seemed to move independently. Meanwhile her hand crept tantalizingly down one smooth flank to the front of her shorts. The cheering began to fade, because everyone was now too dry-throated.

One button at the front of the shorts. Two. Three. Rokhana flowed down onto the floor until she was lying on her back. Now she writhed as if she felt a lover already deep inside her. Suddenly she threw her legs and pelvis clear of the floor. At the same time she snatched the shorts down to her knees. As if she had springs in her legs, she bounced to her feet, kicked high and sent the shorts flying. Everyone was too paralyzed to move, as she stood stark naked in the middle of the room. The musicians stopped playing. Blade had never heard such a complete silence in a room with so many people in it.

Blade raised his head, and Rokhana's wide blue eyes met his. A little shudder went through her, starting at the ankles and working up. It made her breasts sway. Then she was walking toward him, suddenly almost awkward, feeling her way as if she were walking over stony ground. The proud lust-goddess was gone, and in her place a woman who desperately wanted the hero of the hour but was afraid of being rejected.

She came up to Blade and leaned over him until her nipples were at the level of his eyes. She smiled. He smiled back. She laid a hand on his shoulder. He reached up and patted her on one hip.

Then the Tribal girl in Blade's lap turned around and punched Rokhana hard in the stomach.

The blow caught Rokhana off-balance. She let out a whuff and staggered backward. She would have gone down if she hadn't stumbled over someone's outstretched foot and landed in his lap. The soldier laughed and threw an arm around her waist. She cursed, twisted around, and slapped his face. Before he could reach for her again, she was on her feet, striding back toward Blade and the Tribal girl. She no longer looked in the least vulnerable. Instead she looked ready for murder.

The Tribal girl slid off Blade's lap and got ready to defend herself. She looked frightened half out of her wits at her own boldness, but determined to die rather than beg for the mercy Rokhana probably wouldn't show. In fact, it was the girl who launched herself at the other woman.

They grappled, too much in deadly earnest to waste time screaming or pulling hair. The girl tried to punch Rokhana in the stomach again. Rokhana aimed a punch at the girl's breast. It connected. She gasped at the pain but closed with her opponent, trying to grapple again. That would take away some of the advantage Rokhana's longer reach gave her.

Rokhana danced out of range and kicked at the girl's groin. The girl rode the blow and gripped Rokhana's ankle, but Rokhana twisted free before the girl could throw her. As she did, she missed her footing and went down. Before she could get up, the girl was on top of her. Her sturdy legs clamped around Rokhana's waist and her hands felt for the blonde woman's throat. An animal roar went up as the girl started to squeeze. Blade looked at the tavern keeper, hoping to see him ready to interfere. Instead the man was staring at the fight with glazed eyes, licking his lips as the girl's fingers tightened.

Rokhana kicked and clawed at the girl. Her nails shredded the girl's blouse and left bloody streaks down her bare back, but didn't break her grip. Then Rokhana's desperately searching eyes fell on a heavy metal beer pitcher lying on the floor just within reach. She grabbed it and smashed it across the girl's forehead. The girl gave a little whimper but held on. Rokhana's lips were beginning to turn blue.

Then she somehow found the strength to swing the pitcher again. It crashed against the girl's temple. This time her grip broke, and she toppled sideways. She sprawled on the floor, bare to the waist and nearly as exposed below, while Rokhana gasped for air.

Then the blonde was on her feet again, swaying, stumbling, ignoring the hands which darted out to pinch and feel her sweating flesh. She stood over the half-conscious Tribal girl and kicked her in the stomach. The crowd roared. Rokhana kicked again, harder.

Blade stood up. Whatever the Tribal girl might deserve, he wasn't going to sit quietly by and let her be murdered. Still less was he going to cheer it on. He moved out onto the floor so fast he was behind Rokhana before anyone noticed. She'd just kicked again when he threw both arms around her and pulled her back out of reach of the girl.

For a moment Rokhana struggled, until Blade found himself gripping her breasts. Then she stopped struggling and turned to face him. He almost recoiled from the look in her eyes. She was so near the edge of madness with anger and arousal that she'd be quite happy if he took her here, now, on the floor in front of everybody. The howl from all around them told Blade other men saw the same thing.

Instead he put one arm under her thighs and another under the small of her back and lifted her. Ignoring the girl and the shouts, he carried her to the stairway door. He kicked the door shut behind them, then carried Rokhana up the stairs to the nearest unoccupied room with a bed.

The bed was narrow and rickety and the room smelled of stale beer and unwashed bodies, but it didn't matter. Neither of them could have waited long enough to find anything better.

In the darkness Blade felt Rokhana stretch and press herself against him. Even now, she felt incredibly good.

He cupped a breast and stroked her hair with the other hand. She didn't respond as she had before. After a moment he said, «You're thinking about the Tribal girl.»

He heard a little gasp. «Are you a truth-seeing wizard, like the Sky Master Blade?»

«No. But if I'd just been nearly strangled by someone, I might be thinking about them, too.»

«I was. At first I thought I would see that she was tried. That would mean death, for her.»

«She's a free woman.»

«Her blood is of the Tribes. The Law can be bent for such. And I know how to bend judges, if it is needed.» She put her hand on Blade in the appropriate place.

«Don't try to bend that, or you'll have my hands on your neck.»

«I'll gladly have your hands on me anywhere.»

«Prove it.»

She did, and so thoroughly it was quite a while before they were talking again. «You say you thought you would have the girl tried?» asked Blade. «What now?»

«If her skull isn't cracked and her guts bleeding, it won't be because I didn't try. She'll lose her job and not find it easy to get another in Kaldak. If she has to go back to the farms, that will be enough vengeance for me.»

«You're being rather easy on someone who tried to kill you.»

«She won't get a second chance, believe me, For now, I do as the Sky Master Blade and his consort the Blessed Kareena taught us. She sought peace with the Doimari, even after what she suffered at their hands. It was not her fault that they would not see reason.»