The Hard Way (Box Set) Read Free Page B

I was out of line. This has been our fight for years, for as long as I can remember. I let my anger get in the way of my judgment. Neither you nor anyone else will make a difference in this battle. I fear it will be eternal.”
    “Thank you, Glow,” I answered, trying desperately to think of something more to say. But what can you say to people who have known war, poverty, hunger, and desperation all their lives? I feared that if this war ever ended, the people would lapse into decline for lack of knowledge of anything else but war. “I appreciate the clothing and the apology.”
    “We had best make haste.” He nodded in my direction, then turned to exit the tent.
    Glow was a gorgeous man, as dark as Luster was pale and light. His onyx skin seemed to show off each muscle to perfection. His hair was straight and long, the black mass hanging below his waist, and he moved silently like the shadows. But it was his eyes, the pearlized white eyes with the even paler pupils that made Glow stand out. He was Luster’s right hand and the resistance would be lost without him.
    But he was so pessimistic!
    “Well, make haste, woman!” Luster laughed as he turned his purple eyes, happy once again, in my direction.
    “But go where? We always spend our day in the tent, here. Next to the ancient rowan and the crystal clear stream.” I closed my eyes and listened for a moment, hearing the roar of the waterfall that fed the stream that I hailed near in my dreams.
    “Yes, but now I will have to take you with me.”
    “Where?” I wanted to know! In all the time I had been journeying through the mirror to these foreign lands, I had always found myself in the company of Luster and his people, here. I had been nowhere else. I knew of no other places. And what if I could not make it back here before the enchantment ended?
    I shuddered, recalling the blank void of cold nothingness that separated these two places, my world and his.
    “We go to the Citadel,” he said. He held up the garment that Glow had chosen.
    It was very feminine, in a homespun kind of way. It was a long gown, in a light tan color that I knew would complement my complexion and my eyes. But I had never worn anything like it. My tunics were mass-produced by the government. Everyone wore the same shapeless thing, though the men’s tunics were a bit longer. But still, uniformity was kept. This was completely new to me.
    “Get dressed,” he urged as he plopped the thing over my head.
    It felt almost rough to the touch, but so light and… and feminine. I could almost picture myself running through the trees and picking flowers, something I had been only able to do here.
    Shrugging and struggling to hide my delight, I slipped the garment on and stood, easing it down my bare legs.
    But then I felt something else easing wet down my inner thigh. I blushed and looked up at him.
    “What?”
    “I need to use the… river,” I stammered, taking baby steps to the exit.
    Laughing and understanding my predicament, Luster nodded. He called for Glow to help take down and pack the tent.
    “Five minutes,” I heard him say as I gingerly made my way to the bushes that grew along the bank. “And then, to the Citadel.”
    I let a smile break free as I reached the river and stripped off my new garment. After all these years, Lust was taking me to his home.

Chapter Four
     
    I smiled as I tromped through the tall green grasses, delighting at the feel of their dampness beneath my bare feet. I looked up, toward the heavens. Sunlight filtered down between the tall branches of stately trees. The air had never smelled so sweet, felt so fresh, been so important to me. I stifled a giggle, fighting the urge to race ahead, touching everything that I could, gathering nature to my chest, burying my face in the splendor that no one from my world had ever experienced.
    “Slow down!” laughed Luster, who followed in my wake. “It is not as if you know the way.”
    “But I am free, Lust! Free