[Fic] Dream Planet, Chapter 1 /? (Vorkosigan Saga, IvanxBy, future NC-17) Title: Dream Planet Author: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=1)
berylia Fandom: Vorkosigan Saga Disclaimer: I have nothing, everything belongs to the talented Lois McMaster Bujold has a wonderful imagination but should Ivan really make / By barrel.
Rating: PG-13 currently
Summary: The handsome and dashing Vorpatril captain was exiled by order of His Majesty on a lost planet. Fortunately for him he found a familiar face and unbearable. Action, mystery, words with double-meaning, love ... Welcome to Planet Dream. Bla-bla
Author: My Christmas fic that the basis should be a one-shot from me to me ... Yeah it's gone to be long and tortuous and full of angst ... cool!
Chapter 1
Ivan sighed leaving Polydeukes finished buttoning his jacket for him. It was ridiculous he was not dressed ... since he was old enough to do it alone! Course was good except for all the ladies who were amused to get dressed in the morning, leaving them down skillfully scented handkerchief in the folds of his clothes for him to spend the day by wearing their smell. But the man in his fifties with its dignified gray hair who ordered him to sit for him putting on his boots was anything but a beautiful woman in Vor Alluring babydoll. He could be ready ten minutes ago if he could dress himself, but no, he should leave Polykeudes do its job without which it would still upset after his lunch and have a taste of ashes because it would Hesione also took the fly after the insult to her husband.
If he had been told two months before it would find itself suddenly at the head of a household of five people on a planet even more lost than Barrayar he gently laughs and reportedly proposed to his partner to drink less. His entire life he never had a home, it was good for General Fanfreluches his mother or someone important like Miles, but he! He had lived all his adult life wonderfully alone and it would be so anxious that it continues like that!
But it was not counting on Mrs. Vorsorio and especially her husband escaped from a straight time of the tragedy of insulation. He had just a few minutes for its cozy and tidy universe collapses like a house of cards. On the other hand how could he know that the husband of this incendiary brown eyes so bright frappadingue was a keen drama of honor and crazy to the point of challenge to a duel? Dono was laughing like crazy ... Until he asks her to be his second. It was really do. It was his honor and he had marched there could never have survived Ivan Vorpatril was not afraid of a little down Vor Southern Hemisphere who spent more time with his books that with his wife!
few hours later he received his transfer with immediate effect, it was less than sixty minutes to get his stuff and get to the spaceport. He knew of course that he had these orders ... Actually no, her mother and Miles competed for precedence in his mind but to admit everything he was happy that it stops there. Allegiance passed before the Emperor's personal honor and so it was respectable for him to obey his sovereign and flee across the galaxy. Of course that meant he had to stay at least a year stuck on this planet lost but hey, what a year against a duel that could go terribly wrong ...
was another year where the gap between him and the unmarried women would increase Vor ... No, it was better that he does not think about that. Go tonight he went to an orgy! A more formal orgy! This planet was definitely better than Beta Colony and Orb. After all what were the chances that the Ambassador ordered him to join him on the Orb when he went there simply to a party in honor of God Sleep, on which the invitation was the most serious but everyone knew what that implied. And he was duly informed, and any woman who accepted his advances was considered free from its usual obligations by God and could not be held responsible for his actions ... That was a real legal mess but hey, it would overall record, it meant that could quietly find a nice mycéane without worrying about creating an interplanetary diplomatic incident which would jeopardize the good relations between Barrayar and Mycea.
- If you could stand up my lord.
Polydeukes critically inspected his work and Ivan took the opportunity to take a look in the mirror. His dress uniform he fell perfectly well despite the gargantuan meals qu'Hesione insisted he swallows, grumbling that it was much too thin and needed a wife to make him gain weight.
- Perfect said he, extending his hand to take the whip that Polydeukes proffered.
He descended the staircase and Chrysanthos Polykeudes eldest son opened the door. Desdemona his horse was waiting patiently in the damp early evening while Photios the youngest son kept his loin. In a fluid movement and graceful Ivan got into the saddle.
- I do not know if I'd return, take the evening and night.
And just squeezing the sides of the animal he did pass the portico of the courtyard and enter the newly paved street and sidewalks provided. He was just out for two minutes and already he felt the sweat and moisture to bind her clothes stick to his body. It would never happen to the climate of this planet. How could he be so hot and humid all year? Finally it justified the light clothing of women and especially their custom of always being topless that had failed to make him have several accidents during his first days on the ground mycéan.
While Desdemona made its way through the crowd on foot or by sleigh in a sedan chair he let his thoughts wander to the distant Barrayar and all those he had left there. His mother sent him regular reports every week and no vessel had the courage to defy her mother by jumping behind the two wormholes which separated him from the terrible Motherland. Milord Cousin Auditor had sent messages of perfect flatness to brag about the joys of fatherhood and pass the hello to the family and make fun of his exile and promised to come and see what he hastened respond with a categorical ban that Miles would not challenge for once not because the kids kept him on Barrayar most definitely an Imperial order.
So it was strangely alone ... And it depressed him a little. He liked his subordinates and his boss was exceptionally nice but the faces familiar and incredibly unbearable family failed him ...
Or maybe he just needs to be pleasantly distracted. He had not had a good time since the arrival on his doorstep by François Vorsorio with his white glove. That's why tonight everything was going to happen perfectly. He would find one of these mycéanes with long hair black as ink and deep green eyes and slip him a few words in Greek to make her blush with surprise then to speak French and bring to a more private place where they could converse in peace without the language barrier.
A perfect evening.
***
Miles would have had the hiccups from laughing. Of course it was totally his fault again if his life was turning it as he wanted. He was on a lost planet in the bottom left corner of the universe, seen only ten years following the opening of a wormhole near Komarr and now that his first night outside the embassy Barrayar at its first Orgy mycéane which was praised by whispering around the merits of galaxies he found himself trying to hide behind a pitifully marble columns of the Great Hall of Csonnos praying for them did not notice. He was not conceited, he knew a good ten years had passed but he also knew they had not forgotten, just as he had not forgotten their faces (as time had spared, was it genetic or due to treatment?). Or even their names and Lady Arvin Benello ... Ivan would have preferred to encounter a troop of lords Ghem armed and ready to shoot.
- Still trying to escape a cuckolded husband?
- Oh, shut up or they go By Us hear!
- An embittered ex-union? So fast?
Ivan turned to pass on his nerves Vorrutyer unbearable and finally to realize something.
- What are you doing here?
An amused smile and a perfectly arched eyebrow brown were his only reply.
- Oh no, not my mother? suggested he horrified.
- Despite all my desire to rub shoulders with someone as qualified as Lady Alys alas I'm just there for work.
The tan de By, that it is almost with nonchalance aggressively mycéane traditional dress: a white cloth bordered with a blue belt with an extravagant headdress bristling with feathers and some jewelry were enough to make him understand that Vorrutyer Mycea was on for a while. And if he forced himself to remember it happened to have been delightfully free from its presence in recent times and even a conversation where Dono complained that the debt to Byward his tailor's have sent in search of a job outside world . And of course it was necessary that it be the planet where he had been exiled ... Dame Fortune seemed to have taken a dislike or have a very bad sense of humor.
- Ah, I think they come to us.
Ivan seemed terrified of a deer suddenly faced with a tank, but he tried to hide his fear behind a smile shining whiteness.
- Lord Vorpatril! But what a coincidence!
They were as beautiful as his memories, their perfect features inherited senior inhumanly beautiful, accentuated by their supernatural grace the outfits they wore lighter fluid and mixing modes and cetagandane mycéane. Ivan should have been in love, drooling in front of them as the happiest of dogs, but he felt as immune, whenever he saw them again he felt cramps in his jaw and fingers and the agony of the endless night. There was no question that again! He just wanted an easy story and a warm body and soft to snuggle against which he fell asleep. Why should everything be so difficult when his desires were so simple?
- Ladies. Let me introduce you to my compatriot, Byerly Vorrutyer. By, the Ladies and Arvin Benello Ghem.
Go bite the bait and throw yourself on By, is already half naked and everybody cares for his reputation and even if he is a cad with you at least it will give me the opportunity to flee ...
cetagandanes But the ladies did not see it that way.
- Enchanted. That's good, Benello Dame and I've been very cowardly abandoned by our parents and we felt so alone. Arvin
Dame defeated its very long eyelashes and Ivan felt a shiver of terror to seize it.
- This is your first time at the Great Temple, Lord Vorpatril? asked Lady Benello a voice slightly hoarse.
They were going to devour it and then would be good for nothing and they let him go and he never would return to Barrayar in a coffin and his epitaph would be ridiculous and Miles howl with laughter before getting still mourning the death of his favorite pack animal ...
- I'm sorry ladies but Ivan with me and I promised to show him the four mysteries myself.
By her arm around the waist and his hand fell flat on its side, pushing against his shirtless and hot, but Ivan was too shocked to even think about protesting.
- Is not it Ivan?
The voice was incredibly low, almost a whisper and he felt something stir in his stomach when he turned his head and his eyes fell into those of a black if he lost penetrating By some sense of reality. This explained why he allowed himself to kiss her. And why he responded to the language that came caressing her lips and the small murmur of appreciation which sounded in his throat ... The surprise indeed. Apart Dono he had never kissed someone of great finally to its size, and it was ... weird. And surprising.
- If you'll excuse us, ladies. By
And took them away from cetagandanes who were furious at this very moment preparing a new invasion of Barrayar.
- Not that I do not feel flattered that I made you lose your head with a kiss, but I think that would be thanks to circumstance.
Ivan blinked ... And the reality reasserted itself.
- Appreciation? Now they will think I am ... Finally we are ... I love women!
Ivan felt agitated and wanted to wipe their lips on his sleeve in disgust but at the same time he wanted to lick her lips and kissed him ... He a man! Worse, Byerly Vorrutyer! This ridiculous man who took pleasure in annoying and tease and now was going to humiliate him in public because he had left the kiss ...
A finger rested on his lips closer and By his face close to hers.
Less-fort where all this is for nothing and it will return more furious yet to shred you with their bare hands with their long white fingers.
A shiver ran again the body of Ivan and he did not know if he was provoked by the idea of returning Ladies Ghem or proximity totally abject By course.
He recoiled, but kept his voice low.
- First, why is it that you have not fallen under their spell? asked, annoyed that he has resisted By their trap.
- I prefer my partner ... more land, less perfect. Perfection is so boring.
And he said it as if it were obvious as if it had been perfect, had held her and found her much less interesting than what people say. Ivan and strangely thought. If there were many people who can draw perfect were people like his unbearable cousin Miles or By, people who reject without thinking one second that people like Ivan ran back since birth.
- Ah, the puppet show resumed. By
turned away from him that allowed him a rather extraordinary view of his posterior only hidden by the transparent white cloth that passed here for a garment. Ivan looked away and felt very embarrassed. He had, unintentionally of course to watch the buttocks of another man ... He could have died of shame.
- By Ah, you're in luck.
A man in his fifties dressed, the gods be praised, fashionable Barrayar advanced towards them with all the force of an intergalactic cruiser towing another in its wake.
- Mr. Kuzma. By
made a hello exaggeration that put his post even more stressed and Ivan hastened to step aside for is no longer in his line of sight.
- Varlaam, my secretary, Byerly Vorrutyer. By, Mr. Ozivric.
- Delighted, "replied By reaching out equally at home with her feathered headdress and loincloth that he had been in proper attire. By
straightened.
- Gentlemen let me introduce Lord Ivan Vorpatril. Ivan, Mr. Oziric and my employer and friend Mr. Kuzma.
Mr. Kuzma smiled very satisfied by reaching out to Ivan.
- Delighted, Vorpatril Lord, I do not think you have seen before?
- Yes, I got it recently.
- Oh I am sure that By will guide you to the right people. He has a talent for everything that is social.
Ivan did not like the way this man was using the nickname Vorrutyer. Who was he? In view of his clothes he was rich enough but he had never heard his name Vorbarr Sultana. Just a retailer, therefore, not yet rich enough to play in the big league but took pleasure in making work a son of Vor for him and showed to all those who surrounded the familiarity with which he treated ... so that he could not even get the right to come knocking on her door if they had been at home ...
- How do you find Mycea Lord Vorpatril?
- Very hot.
And wet, but it was not the kind of jokes he wanted to do with these people.
- Yes, it is a bit difficult to get used to temperature, but I find this planet particularly welcoming and pleasant.
Ivan watched the look of old Oziric get lost on the topless women of the congregation. Friendly ... yes probably from his point of view.
- I'm sorry but I think that the Ambassador name. Have a good evening, "he said before leaving with a no hurry.
He made a dozen steps when he noticed he had brought with him Byerly. Byerly which he had taken his hand ... In his ... Byerly who looked very amused with a smile.
- What? I did not want the vultures come to dispute my carcass!
And he took the hand of the ByWard keep moving forward.
***
By was very amused. In truth, it was not as pleased since ... since he left Barrayar actually. Mycea was a lovely planet if we liked the chips and nature but it was also a crazy boredom. It was very clear with him and prevented him from making waves. He had been relegated is the time to defuse things a bit at home, until people forget what happened to so and Richar By had or had not had anything to do with it. And it was already over six long months he was bored farm.
Who would have thought it would have been sufficient for the appearance of Lord oh he is stupid for Vorpatril Ivan suddenly finds his life colors. Between the crossover game with cetagandanes and the fact that Ivan did not seem to let go of his hand even though it put him terribly uncomfortable it was enough to occupy at least the entire evening.
- Your Excellency.
- Hello Lord Vorpatril. Ah, Mr. Vorrutyer.
- Your Excellence.
Ivan had finally managed to drop his hand he could make a proper hello.
- You have not yet made the acquaintance of my wife if I remember correctly.
- Madame, "he said, laying his hand to his lips with the ease of a lifetime.
As befitted the wife of an ambassador Barrayar her breasts were covered by gauze modest despite the holding of color in fashion mycéane she wore.
- Mr. Vorrutyer.
- Vorpatril So, what do you think of your first party of God Sleep? He saw Ivan
take a little look around the wife of the ambassador.
- It's not really what I imagined, Your Excellency.
Mikhail DFrench laughed with a force that made them turn some heads.
- You really do not read the memo on these holidays, is not it?
- No! he exclaimed, outraged. I read it! Several times even!
Except that he obviously had learned nothing. And now he sulked Ivan struggled very hard not to get noticed.
- Do not worry Ivan, I'll explain, "he said with a smile that was stifling a giggle at the lady ambassador but that this poor innocent man did not understand.
- Is this is not Lord Denis? The brother of Count Vorlatur?
He glanced in the direction.
- because it's him.
Count on the son of Lady Alys always know who was who even as a lost planet Mycea.
- What is he doing here? And with Vincent Vorturen?
- Oh the old Vor Mycea love the most backward. Much more likely than Sergyar! Horses, lots of servants at very very affordable and abjectly servile Moreover, they all have at least a second home here. It makes them feel to be back in the days of isolation. Finally of course with the ease of having to civilization just a wormhole there for them when they got tired of playing the feudal lords. Some have already spawned a small army of bastards with local women. Rather strong for old mummies.
Madam DFrench hid her face behind her fan but giggled anyway.
- Vorrutyer Really sir you are a godsend, I had not laughed so much since we arrived on Mycea. I get on Tuesday evening, please come, your presence will brighten my living room.
- Madam, I'd love to obey your orders, he said, bowing so low that its feathers were nearly brushing against her breast, which, being the perfect gentleman he was, they did not.
- I must confess that I find your lovely dress. I just wish that my husband does not want to bow to local custom.
- Thanks.
He turned on itself to let the lady appreciate the beauty and simplicity of his costume. He saw the disgusted grimace of Ivan and the slightly perplexed by Ambassador but paid no attention too used to those looks likely.
- It's too hot to dress like Barrayar. Look at this poor Ivan, did he not die of hot air under all those clothes.
All eyes turned to Ivan, which seemed indeed to be too hot.
- Not quite frankly, how many layers of fabric are you wearing? No, do not answer, I'll find out by myself before the end of the night.
Madam DFrench chuckled, Mr. DFrench gasped with surprise and if eyes could kill Ivan he is already dead. Vorpatril Lord opened the mouth.
- Oh oh! It seems I go about to be challenged to a duel. I agree but only if I receive an assignment to serve the emperor in the next thirty minutes.
Ivan did not know if he wanted to be angry or felled by a stroke By then continued.
- Oh, yes, we might be a bit far from the Holy Motherland rumors travel fast. Finally, do not worry I think your terrible opponent was struck by one of its stacks of books falling over him and he is more capable of chasing you.
Ivan's mouth closed gradually.
- Unless of course that Lady Alys not sent her husband to ensure that it would do more mischief worthy of a bygone era. In fact, I understand that congratulations were in use, all my best wishes to Lady Alys
... And now, the wrath of Ivan was buried under a hundred feelings that jostled each other in his brain while the captain murmured a thank you wave. And he completely missed the middle of the stream of words there was only one thing was true and one he would never believe. Because it was not a kiss barely exchanged to get rid of harpies cetagandanes that would change the fact that Ivan was resolute and desperate for a ladies' man. A stupid man who would soon have a little piece of something wanting to drop in his net, but a ladies man anyway.
But until that is done place the rope around his neck by a young virgin Vor voluntary and determined he was determined to continue to play a little with him. Finally, until the end of the evening. Then he would resume his life desperately boring.
***
Ivan bored. The party was very boring. It was exactly the same thing all the festivals he had endured in his life, old fellows puffed up with importance of talking amongst themselves, all have some beautiful women with or that he avoided like the plague because of a heavy liability, a herd of gossipy old and a few other young men like him lost in the crowd trying to make the most of this evening. It was now considering to drown his sorrows in alcohol, he even accepted the vile liquor that Miles liked so much. The filthy rat who had dared to propagate lie that these evenings in the temple of God Sleep orgies were deserved gutted. Slowly. By a delicate area and central and sensitive in a man. The only difference with a party where her mother might drag him was that most women were topless, which spent the first week, ceased to be as attractive. At least if Gregor had the good sense to marry a myceane half of women would disclose Vorbarra currently their breasts instead of wearing these baggy pants he found very disturbing when transitioning to more games intimate.
- Ah, the ceremony will start.
Proof that bored, it was not even unhappy about the presence of By his side. He even surprised several times to laugh at his pikes. And it was more than once mesmerized by how indecent whose draped his white loincloth fell on his kidneys. Of course he'd much rather go out in space without oxygen or combination rather than admit it.
By
He therefore allowed to take her arm and carried in its wake. The dandy replied to the greetings which were launched but continued its momentum. By him presented countless people and had not failed once to praise his boss and his company as if it was a pretty parrot placed at the entrance of a store. It was probably a snob but it put him uncomfortable to see a Vor even as unworthy By kowtow to carpet dealers ...
They arrived near the altar at the forefront of the crowd guest who had massed there, obviously waiting for something.
Something did happen, and Ivan could not prevent his eyes become round and his mouth opened involuntarily in a very regressive movement. A nudge in the ribs turned his gaze to By.
- No need to look like that, they are totally false. Dr. Lefeure has amassed a fortune by opening a clinic here and digging up the archives of the breast implant technique, all the important women in Mycea and those who want to become spent are on the table and I know for a fact that c is much less pleasant to the touch than it seems.
- But they are huge! By
looked up to heaven, sighing and Ivan had the impression that as his mother he would suddenly say: "Men ..." before shaking his head, which was highly disturbing.
-Ivan, my dear and eternal youth, we are not here just for you to t'extasier as a youngster on the breasts grav High Priestess. I would draw your attention to the very long and very sharp knife she carries in that time and that temper perhaps your enthusiasm.
But they are huge, "he wanted to repeat, clearly obsessed with these bottles that stood straight as shells. He made an effort, however, and focused on golden knife reflecting light. A large white bull was brought in heavy step on the platform where stood the priestess dressed in purple.
Ivan suddenly had a shiver of fear, pursuing his mind some vague memories of videos on ancient myths ...
- By the bull is for ...
No, Ivan, you idiot, the bull is there to be sacrificed to God. Whatever their mythology contains more than its share of strange unions with animals including several bovids I think the Great Hall of Csonnos is not the place to do this kind of thing, especially before an audience of all visitors galactic good thinking. This approach had
By reading his thoughts would have been disturbing if he had not lived all her life with Miles, who spent his time telling him what he thought even before he opens his mouth .
- Of course the holocaust of animals suggests that time may not be so remote it was probably not a bull and was sacrificed for the communion of the meeting.
Ivan looked like any assistance the high priestess make a long speech in the language mycéane, a Greek dialect that was difficult to understand, before plunging the knife into the jugular of the animal that does not even flinch.
- The bull is drugged to the bone. It is a bad omen if struggling or screaming, it means that God refuses the offering made to him.
was leaking red blood was collected by a priestess in white in a large bowl of gold. The blood spurted on her breasts and on her dress and Ivan looked away, there was something deeply disturbing, especially since a certain part of her anatomy seemed interested by the spectacle of red drops sliding on his skin naked. When the bowl was full of young priestess was replaced by another and a man, also dressed in red came. He uttered a short prayer before plunging a golden chalice in the basin of blood. He put the cup to his lips and drank the cup before going to his neighbor.
Slightly panicked, Ivan saw cuts make their way into the meeting.
- All participants receive communion with the blood of the animal's blood became God. You do not escape.
He had a mad desire to strangle By, preferably now and immediately. The object of his hatred brought his mouth to his ear and whispered.
- The blood is mixed with a psychotropic drug, I advise you not to take a sip or else you will not benefit much from the evening.
hatred was replaced by surprise and a thrill but it did not have time to deepen is what happened already cut the hands of By which brought it to his lips and drank before him pass. He swallowed and took her. His lips rested in the same place that he and gathering all his courage he swallowed a mouthful.
The blood was thick and unpleasant, leaving a metallic aftertaste in her mouth but the taste true was masked by countless spices that had been mixed. A strange red rose on her cheeks, as if he had swallowed a glass bottoms up alcohol potato craft.
- Now that the party really begins.
He turned to By.
- Vorpatril Lord, let me be your guide and show you the four mysteries of the Great Temple of Csonnos. The
Vorrutyer bowed well, anything there was more formal and everything that Ivan was able to answer was:
- Huh? By
was one of those unbearable mysterious smile enraged because Ivan By not mysterious, it was an unbearable asshole, that's what it was, and he tried to confuse Ivan more than it already was.
- Now that everyone has communed God can pass from one body to another and therefore any act which is done from this point is more due to the conscious will of the individual but that of God. That is why the spiral of dreams is finally available.
- Huh? Ivan repeated the risk of wearying By.
Which looked up to heaven.
- Come along with me, if I leave you alone in this state you'll get eaten alive. But I thought I told you to drink little ...
By
seized once again with his hand and led him behind.
His hand was warm.
And the march began to clear the fog that had taken possession of his skull. The curtains behind the altar had been learned and luxuriously decorated with a large arch-shaped pattern of black eyes opened on a spiral staircase. Two priestesses stood at the entrance and gave to those who passed the ark a red mask covering only the top face. Ivan also noticed two large braziers placed next to the priestesses. He wondered why they were on when he was already so hot on this planet.
He accepted the mask and succeeds, after several unsuccessful attempts to put it. By went his hand before taking the ark.
- It would be better for you than you do not loose me.
- Why the mask? By
smiled, baring his teeth white and sharp.
- Because we are all vessels of God and therefore limited in its control. And because people in dreams are never that they really are.
The marble staircase was sinking into the earth, descending ever more and Ivan began to feel his head spinning. Plus they came down more it was cold and he suddenly realized the benefit of braziers. Finally stopped on the stairs another ark. It was dotted with pink clouds rolling along the curve. They crossed a rectangular room on the floor snaked a strange mosaic.
-Maze, he remarked By. It symbolizes the difficulty of interpreting the true thoughts of God and find the path. Ivan would
could not care more than what he told Byerly, he heard the other side of the room, behind the curtain of cloud patterns to laughter and giggles other women of the most evocative who put his libido into turmoil. By
dropped his hand and walked on the threshold of a new ark, his left hand lifted the heavy curtain watered and turned towards him.
- Dreamer password, follow me and venture out into the first mystery.
Ivan did not understand his speech but accepted the hand he held out and allowed himself to shoot through multiple curtains and fabrics of different thickness that hung over her body and caressed as climbers attempt to detain him. By hand but pulled forward and when he looked up he saw no expression on his face masked and impassive. Then his attention refocuses on her body caressed him as colorful fabrics. It seemed as many minutes went by, lost in this jungle of draperies, wondering if it was better not remove his uniform for him also feel the caress of silk, linen, velvet on her bare skin ... He unbuttoned the first button when the last curtain fell behind him.
It was hard to believe they were in the basement. He had obviously heard of Beta Colony and its mounds, of entire cities built underground but where artificial lighting was perfectly similar to the sun. But he had not thought it possible Mycea. He had the impression that emerged from the earth, to be in a sunny garden in the Champs Elysees of the Ancients. Lush vegetation invaded the area and colorful flowers, small or large as his finger as his head spread their petals wherever he laid his eyes. The ceiling of the cave was so high and so cleverly painted that could have been mistaken for the real sky.
He turned his head to see By the look, a smile. It should look like a descendant of the Redneck Dendari for the first time and arriving directly to the Imperial Palace in Vorbarr Sulttana. By but made no comment murders, he was content to take back the hand and lead again in its wake. The grass beneath their feet was a perfect green and seemed so sweet that he was tempted to stop time he withdrew his shoes, but the idea went as quickly as it came. Men and women were lying on the grass, talking quietly, some flirting a little, the perfect light softly illuminated baits women dressed in myceane few priestesses spent in the field with refreshments and snacks. Somewhere the birds singing. If he closed his eyes he might have thought back at home, Vorkosigan Surleau a summer afternoon, ready to lie on the grass, exhausted after a morning spent helping Miles to hunt dahu item. Elena was with them, its light scent fills the air, Miles grumbled that there were plenty of other things to do and he was not tired. Somewhere below, the sergeant watched Bothar upon them a severe eye ... He took the hand of Elena, she was not anything too callous to be that of a woman and too large to be that of Miles.
He opened his eyes and looked at the By Hand, large, calloused but soft and delicate at the same time. Reality resumed his rights and he felt tears running under his mask. Never more so it does not stretch on the banks of the lake with Miles and Elena. Even if they returned now all three would be nothing like before. By
turned his back and he suddenly asked himself what he had seen, he had been crying too. Stupid question. By and By was was Vor By, He did not cry. There was Ivan raised by a half-Betancourt who found himself at times in tears and forced to repeat the words of Cordelia: "Tears are the breath of heart and no one can deny his heart "to survive her shame. By
resumed walking without looking at him and he let himself take. They went to a small white kiosk or was it an altar? A statue of a sleeping nymph was there, his white marble, protected from light by the roof of the pavilion. From there they joined a yellow stone path that wound through the grass. They followed up the entrance to a cave. The cave led to a new spiral staircase descending into the depths of the earth. Still holding the hand of his guide he descended.
His head turned and the stairs would not stop. When finally they arrived
after he found himself once more in a rectangular room with strange labyrinth of tiles on the floor. The ark that once was covered with stars and all the blue curtains declined in all its nuances.
- Dreamer password, follow me and enters in the second mystery. By
had once more stopped on the threshold, waiting to get his attention and to pronounce his words cryptic. And Ivan followed him without a word, without hesitation.
they passed the first curtain air became heavy and light low in the mid-dark drapes that ran under his skin and he felt a multitude of scents rising from the tissues that caressed him. They advanced, they were lost, he unbuttoned his jacket, he lost his breath and tried to call By, but they were suddenly out of the maze of silk.
The night sparkled with noise and smells. The sky studded with stars and accented by a thin crescent moon cast its shadow upon them kindly. The vegetation was more open here, forming small pens or amount of shady concert sweet pleasure. His eyes adapted themselves to the darkness and he followed the path clear sinking at the heart of hilly garden.
A light breeze carried along with sweet fragrance in the air warm and moist and Ivan felt the smell of lilies he had so often likened to Donna. He still remembered the time she had invited him to follow her into the gardens of the Imperial Residence in the middle of a party, his eyes sparkled when she had brought in this little alcove behind the former almost fake waterfall and she had to lie on the grass to ride it like that, in the middle of a reception, then had Inti Dry Eye everywhere. It was the first time he was out, the first time in this position, the first time she had shouted his name enjoyment.
Her eyes went up on the arm made perfectly white in the moonlight until quite late torso and buttocks that were emerging in the crisp sheets. The black hair that curled slightly on the white neck, he could almost believe it was her. He wanted to stop, put his face against the white shoulder, close her other arm around her waist and closed his eyes trying to kiss her.
By then stopped, he placed his hand on his ax and pressed himself against his chest before he too hug and move on. Ivan missed a few steps, but managed to move again. By The skin was warm against his white shirt and the smell of her body was not that of Donna, he felt something verbena or lemon and above anything else, a sort of musky animal smell that rose to the head.
- Oh, Lord Vorpatril!
was of course the ladies and Arvin Benello who stood before him in their simplest device. He had forgotten how beautiful they were, their skin shining with perfect sweet will in the silvery light, their long hair as cascades of silk on their bodies. They always wore their masks, but no one could be confused with any other woman in the audience. They both came forward, waving like snakes. By body is pressed more against him and a new whiff of her perfume reached him.
- Will you join us? Their voices
were soft music in the night like a sharp cry and a low groan. Part of him wanted to join them. But another preferred not to leave the trail and move his fingers on the bare skin of By which was both hard and soft and incredibly warm. He went down to where the belt of the loincloth married her hips and played with the flesh that was there, trembling with the caress of silk and mixed skin.
- Sorry ladies. He felt
By bending and imitated him, then they resumed their journey, and the eyes of Ivan gorgèrent sight of stars while his hand continued to caress the skin slowly hot. By walking fast. He was breathing fast too, his chest heaving beneath his hand. He turned his head towards him and discovered with surprise that he did not need to bend down to talk to him, they were virtually the same size. Strange, he had always thought that By was smaller than him. And more frail. So why was it suddenly to his size and he had all these muscles that blossomed on his chest and shoulders and arms? He let matters and contented himself with blowing gently in the ear of any By slowing the pace, trying to calm a skittish horse's terrible General Piotr. And
By calmed down, walking more slowly and Ivan left his head on the shoulder muscle. His eyes gave up the stars and contemplating the landscape, his eyes passing over several other couples and groups who indulged in the sweetness of the night. He was surprised to not be more excited. Finally his body felt physically all the right signals and answered them, besides those who had designed these pants for the service deserve to be hanged or starved, he had no room to breathe, let alone ... Anyway, all was physically in place. It was just that his mind does not follow, he felt strangely detached from his own body, like a distant observer. He looked no longer stop two beautiful brunettes naked and kissing, he even let his eyes for a moment to ask a couple of men engaged in full intercourse and felt nothing, not even he knew that the repulsion it should smell like any heterosexual man naturally formed ...
The trail led them to a new cave. Torches on the wall lit up another staircase, and they went down. The air became increasingly hot and always By hand in hers began to be slippery but it did not let her escape. They descended. Again and again they went down. When
arrièrent mosaics in the room to the air was heavy and hot. The arch was decorated with yellow spirals in which hiding black eyes. Uttered by the curtain.
- Dreamer password, follow me and discovers the third mystery.
And Ivan took his hand, the next in the saffron-colored curtains, feeling the warm air at every step, removing the buttons of his shirt, a strange odor passed between the rustle of the curtains. They walked and felt the sweat slipping on his skin, his shirt soaked. He wanted to wipe his brow, perhaps By asking to stop for a moment because the head began to spin.
They were out. More plants, over night, over the yellow trail. They were in a basement or large stalagmites and stalactites formed the backdrop and the air was saturated with sulfur, smoke came out strange and at times the ground around them was yellow, the walls to the tip of the teeth the cave. Dragged by without giving him time to think over. It was still excessive heat and his head kept him running. He thought he saw a man talking to a wall but they went so fast that could not be sure.
- Whatever happens, especially do not look back.
By continuing to guide him. Where is what he had heard this phrase, the order not to return? It seemed that the light around them darkened. There was no other sound than the sound of their footsteps and breathing increasingly difficult. He did not dream the light was disappearing, soon it would be alone in the dark. He tried to calm his fear and he felt his ears were playing tricks. Pressure, there was a change in pressure. The beating of her heart reverberated on the walls room closed. He was alone. Alone and with the certainty that soon the floodgates were open and he was dying, drowned, crushed by tons of water, alone and far from home and ...
-Ivan! By
pulled toward him violently, he had almost dislocated shoulder! He does not look either, simply to advance even faster. He concentrated his attention on the white cloth in front of him and followed his pace, avoiding rethink enclosed areas where blacks and the fury of water while waiting for a second devastating.
It seemed that they walked for hours in the devastated landscape. His only reference point was the hand in his and By his white loincloth before him as he struggled against the strange images that passed like comets behind his eyes, the voice that pronounces words weird and the taste of apple his lips. The cave stretched to infinity, the successor to the volutes volutes, cones stone to stone cones.
And they left. Like that, suddenly, without even having seen the change happen, their footsteps echoing on the tiles tiled suddenly, a blast of cold air making her shiver shirtless air suddenly so clear and pure his eyes were burning. The staircase was waiting, still, and they sank back into the stone casing.
He shivered, it seemed he had lost his shirt somewhere along the way, the air was icy, licking every drop of sweat on his body, ruffling the hair on his arms. Only his hand was warm, kept in one of Byerly, enclosed in a cocoon of warmth. The staircase was like all the others, dark, damp, cold, infinite. He felt the fatigue accumulated over his shoulders, why could not they stop and rest a while, he was weary. But the
By INVOLVED down again and again, a perpetual motion, a jailer, a guide impassive. He tried to speak, to attract his attention but Vorrutyer seemed light years ahead of him was as if his voice does not reach it. Or maybe he had not spoken, these words had they left his mouth to resonate on the stone walls, ricocheting through the end of hell under their feet?
Questions spiral in his head, twisting like a snake biting its tail, his eyes filled with stars that glistened with mica on the stone walls as distant galaxies, created its breath geysers of steam, the ground beneath his feet moving like a huge bear awakening from its winter sleep.
Suddenly they were down. At the end of the stairs. And he knew it was over, they had reached the depths. The maze was painted this time on the ground, on walls, the ceiling, were repeated across the convolutions of the black line. On the Black Ark features of the labyrinth were both white and interspersed with blue eyes. A water curtain closed the room, preventing them from seeing the last step.
- Dreamer password, follow me and am facing the ultimate mystery. By was
under the curtain, his body covered with drops of water, its almost transparent cloth pressed against his body and he extended his hand, his face hidden and always inscrutable.
For the last time he took Ivan's hand and followed him under the veils of water, his shoes dipped in water, he felt his socks become soaked but he paid no more attention, as always by in through the various stunts, sometimes hot, sometimes cold, just a few drops like a mist or a deluge upon it.
An underground lake and waiting for the other side. Huge, dark, but delightfully warm. Amid a small island that was built a small temple faced them. From a distance he saw some people in the water. By
led them on what appeared to be immersed in a path author ankles leading to the temple. They entered the water and bare feet of Ivan tasted the caress of fine sand and the warm water. Down the road at times and loincloth By then floated on the water behind a majestic mermaid. The water was delicious. The ideal temperature. He wanted to immerse themselves and let the darkness descending upon him, it felt so good. And then there were the drums echoing softly in her ears like a beating heart.
They arrived on the island. The statue of Venus with the original God's eye drawn on his stomach was in the center of the small altar. Another path led from the submerged across the lake. He dropped the hand By and entered the water. He plunged his head in water and beat noise became clearer, vibrating in his ears, accompanied by singing soft and melodic female vocals. He thought he recognized a lullaby her mother sang when he was little.
Cold slapped him hard. By him out of the water and thrown on the sand of the island. He stood over him without a word, hand outstretched. But Ivan did not take that hand, he wanted back in the water, he wanted to hear new songs submarines. He gazed long hand. Anyway he must have whatever is his decision so he seized it and help of the force to recover By standing.
By The hand was icy. He put his own hand on the bare-chested and tan. Iced too.
- Come with me, water is hot, he heard himself proposing. By
began to tremble. Ivan's hand moved, leaving an imprint of all the colors on the skin By. He looked fascinated become red paint at the stud By then blue again as she passed on her abdomen.
- Ivan stops.
's voice trembled By too. He climbed back up the look of the unbearable face Vorrutyer. But he was a stranger in front of him. His face hidden by the red mask, her eyes skipped through the dark room, his expression of sphinxes. Yet he trembled. Her lips were red. And wet.
He was thirsty. By the lips were wet. It was logical he licks them. The water was salty and sweet at the same time against his tongue. A lion roars.
It was repulsed. By shaking but still kept him at arm's length.
- Ivan Enough! Damn, you're addicted to the gills!
He put his fingers on the wrist and drew arabesques green back to the arm. By shouted.
- By all the gods Vorpatril Ivan! If you do not rebuke I will inform Lady Alys.
Ivan released him, the world lost its color. By stopped shaking and held out his hand again with all the assurance of the military he was not.
- Come on, we're almost done.
They took the road, By always walking in front of him, squeezing his hand hard on his own as if afraid to lose. He tried not to watch the water, so warm, so sweet ... He concentrated on the kilt de By, white spot in the dark blue around them. Apparently there were several layers because then the fabric that covered the legs of the clown Vorbarr Sultana became completely transparent, his post was still hidden by her white veil ... It was strange to think he was being consider the buttocks Vorrutyer Byerly.
They had crossed the lake. A huge white arch lay before them on wide straight staircase filled with light. The walls on both sides of the stairs were filled with animals, plants, characters dancing under the sun, moon, stars, rain. All about fifty steps on the stairs stopped to open a round platform with a fountain of clear water. Plants and flowers grew there. Whenever By stopping to drink and forced to do so.
Gradually he began to regain his senses. He noticed that most his clothes were gone. Except his pants, thank God. His hand was still in one of which fortunately By the campaign had begun to dry. And he had the distinct impression of having done or said things he had to blush ...
Finally, when he began to feel uncomfortable and think very hard to remove his hand from that of agent provocateur They returned to the surface. The sun rose in all its glory orange behind him taking his sister's huge green moon that followed him everywhere. The birds were singing and they were at the entrance to the temple or novices swept reverentially steps. By
dropped his hand and took off his mask dropping to the ground. Then he called one of the novices in the Greek dialect spoken in Mycea. Ivan barely recognized with the word horse. When he turned toward him the sun was behind him, obscuring his features, making blink Ivan.
- It was a pleasure Ivan.
He held out a hand again, but this time he did that shake briefly.
- It was ... interesting. By
laughed as dry as a bark. A
litter carried by towers of human muscles and adorned with curtains arrived. Byerly took place there, lying on side.
Oh, Ivan?
Desdmona Ivan turned away from him had been brought.
- Thanks for tonight. I hope it lives up to your expectations. Me anyway I'm exhausted.
And without another word, a smile on his lips lascivious, By her up the litter and walked away, leaving Ivan blush and swearing in the morning sun, praying that none of the novices of the Temple has heard or is in the mood to spread gossip. The lazy sun
not followed the carrier and litter but soon lost their trail in the streets already dusty city. Sighing, Ivan recalled Desdemona to order and went to find peace and quiet away from her bed and especially strange mazes Byerly Vorrutyer and innuendo.
To follow in Dream Planet
"Come on Ivan, is an exile suffering from homesickness can not visit a compatriot in friendship?
- By I repeat the question, what are you doing here?
- you still doubt my sincerity, even after that night? "
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30morts to resume the load. 
