Chapter 27. Theory

Akane let the smooth white silk slip through her fingers. The small clothes she was holding brought back many memories. They had been a present from the King, given to her on the day she was taken in his harem. Akane, like most warriors, never bothered with small clothes. That was a habit of highborn ladies and though she in fact was one through her father's lineage, she found them a nuisance like her mother had. She didn't even know how the undergarments made their way onto the Marauder with her. She surely hadn't packed them.

Her King had loved seeing his women in small clothes, so Akane wore them to please him. She had been so honoured when he took an interest, took her out of the fleet and into his harem, but the thrill of being a concubine inside the Palace wore off after mere days. She wasn't allowed to train or spar or leave the palace or do anything that had to do with her life before she became the property of the King. Her days inside the harem were so dull and uneventful that she soon became utterly wretched.

She did love spending time with her King though. Those had been the only moments where she had felt alive anymore. When the jovial King Vegeta lavished his attention on someone, he did it to the fullest. He loved telling stories and he loved listening to hers in turn. He loved his wine as well and they held piss ups singing bawdy songs, smoking pipe and playing tavern games. Yes, the King had known how to make merry like no one she had met before or after him.

The carnal had been satisfying as well, though what had she really known about that at the time, being as unexperienced as she was back then. She did engage in sex before the King, but it had just been the quick and dirty kind, the kind soldiers had in between their duties, nothing much more than knee tremblers and quickies in the off chance you found yourself alone with a good-looking comrade that had an itch as well.

Akane had liked being cherished by her King. He had been a very tender lover, generous and hearty. Nothing like his driven son. Sure, Vegeta was generous in his own way, ever aiming to repay the pleasure she gave him, yet he was always catering to his own needs first. That was what made her enjoy being with him so much. He wasn't a tender lover either, though he could be gentle if he chose to give time to it. He was just very dominant, very fierce, an alpha in his truest form. And it matched with her preferences perfectly. Being as achieved a warrior as she was, she had rarely chanced upon a bedmate that could hold his own against her, that could actually make her submit.

His father might have been the King of making merry, Akane had a much better time with the sober Prince. They shared the same interests and rather than forcing her to become someone she was not, he actually took pride in her warrior aspirations. It was just so plain that they were a match made in hell. If only he could see that too.

Akane threw the small clothes in the back of the drawer. She was never wearing those again.

"What are you doing?" Turles asked.

He was officially on Royal Guard duty, but in reality he lay on his bunk bed whacked out after having his end away with some female soldier that served in his platoon. He would have been standing guard outside their sleeping chamber if Akane hadn't treatened to rip off his balls if he didn't come in to keep her company. She didn't want him to guard her. She didn't need him to guard her. Turles had only agreed to leave his post for a short while, saying that she needed to follow their Prince's orders and that she put him in a impossible position as he couldn't obeye them both when their commands conflicted. He was right. Even so, she had forced him to come inside.

"Looking through my old stuff." Akane continued to rifle through the drawers in which she had hastily dumped all her belongings the previous day and took her time to look at all of them now. It was good to have back all her old stuff. The various battle suits, old busted armours and boots and gloves. She halted at a single crimson coloured armoured glove and quickly rummaged through the heap of clothing to find the rest of that particular battle suit. It was the one her mother had ordered made for her before she went off to serve in the Fleet and it had been her favourite off duty gear.

Akane soon found the second glove and the matching crimson boots with the steel buckles, but the battle suit was not there. She threw everything back inside the drawer and rose from the floor. In her haste to move out she must have overlooked the rest of the suit and left it in her old bed chamber.

"I'll be right back. You can resume your duty after I return." Akane said to Turles so that he wouldn't follow her out.

"Yes, Captain."

Akane left the room and quietly returned salutes to the soldiers she came across in the hallway. It was morning and the Marauders inhabitants were starting to find their way to the mess hall for the first of their two meals a day. Akane halted in front of the door to her old bed chamber, wavering when she sensed Ruirdo's presence inside. She didn't fancy having to face the Ardian now, or ever again for that matter. Not since Vegeta had shown an interest in her.

Akane snarled at her own faint-heartedness and decisively pushed open the door.

Ruirdo was lying on Akane's bed with her arms folded behind her head. Her slender, long legged body was naked and the smooth dark bronze of her skin almost seemed to glisten in the muted light of a single lamp at the head of the bed. The Ardian's muscles were very defined at her abdomen and chest especially, her breasts pert and topped with very erect nipples that were almost black. The fur on her mound was black as well, same as her exeptionally long, slick tail. She was like a hymn to the carnal. Akane was stirred on some instinctive level at the sight of her while she wasn't even attracted to women.

Akane halted at the foot of the bed and took in Ruirdo's beautiful face, cursing her internally. How could she possibly compete with that? Akane did not lack selfesteem. She knew she wasn't unattractive herself even with her scars. She had just never given much about it. What did she care how she was perveived by the opposite sex. There was no reward in it, nothing to gain. Yet now, now that she was vying for the attention of the Prince that was supposed to complete her, she suddenly did care. She cared a lot. And she would lose to Ruirdo in this aspect without a doubt. She might as well throw in the towel now. There was nothing good-natured about their rivalry anymore either. This game had become dead serious.

Akane comforted herself with the knowledge that Vegeta still hadn't made his move. He hadn't been with anyone but her yet. It was foolish to kid herself like this, really. She had chanced to live through a mere two days.

"Alright, Akane." Ruirdo greeted as she sat up supply. Her long fingered hands moved to smoothen her short slick black hair back. "What can I do for you?"

"Don't bother getting up. I just came to collect the last of my things." Akane answered as she threw the door shut behind her aggressively.

Ruirdo's full lips curved into a provoking smile. "I haven't thanked you for your chamber yet. It fits my needs perfectly. I do hope you are comfortable in the Platoon Ardian's chambers."

"I am perfect. Happier than a boar in shite." Akane snarled.

The Ardian gave a pleasant, soft and tinkling laugh. "I envy your ability to adjust. I couldn't possibly be comfortable sharing a bunk bed with one of my subordinates."

Akane clutched her hands to her green shirt at the waist and surreptitiously dug her nails deep into the fabric, her shoulders tightening in anger. She took a breath to calm herself, released the shirt and smoothened it back down her sides.

"There are worse things than sleeping in a bunk bed."

The competitiveness seemed to leave Ruirdo and she took Akane in more thoroughly, her big brown eyes lingering at the scar on her temple. "What happened to you when you were with Cold?"

"Nothing I wish to share." Akane snarled as she turned to roam through the dresser looking for the rest of her clothing. "Have you seen my red battle suit?"

"It's at the foot of the bed." Ruirdo motioned loosely. "I tried it on but it doesn't fit me. That thing is clearly made for a girl, not a real woman like myself."

Akane bared her teeth in a viscious sneer. "You might be tall, Ruirdo, but I can send your lanky arse back to hell with one good kick. And with those square manly hips you look nothing like a woman." There wasn't anything remotely manly about Ruirdo, even if her hips were rather narrow, but Akane had to say something to match the woman's insults. She smirked proudly then. "Unlike me. I was made to bear strong whelps."

Ruirdo laughed softly again as she slid from the bed with that lean body. She reached Akane with a couple of graceful steps. Akane bent down to pick up her battle suit from the floor, her shirt riding up as she did.

"You take too much pride in those hips of yours. I could eat you up in one bite. But I guess your short stature has its own allure. I can see how some men might be attracted to it. What is this?"

Akane straightened up and remained completely motionless when the tall woman reached out to ease up the hem of her top and revealed the fingerprints on her back. The Ardian then looked at the thumb prints at either side of her navel. With Akane's instincts reacting to the Ardian earlier, She hadn't expected to feel nothing when the other woman touched her. All she could think about was that she needed it to be Vegeta putting his hands on her. He was who she wanted.

"It is the Prince's mark." Akane answered passingly, though she couldn't stop herself from smirking arrogantly. Even with everything that was going on, she still took pride in baring his marks.

Ruirdo touched the marks on the sides of Akane's lower back and positioned her fingertips exactly onto the imprints, thereby ending up holding Akane by the waist. "Nothing subtle about his methods, is there? I bet he was fucking you when he did this."

"As you well know I am not at liberty to discuss these things. I am also not allowed to receive this kind of attention from anyone but our Prince. Not that I mind, you appeal to me in no way." Akane refuted.

Ruirdo chuckled and let go of Akane's waist, her fingers now moving to touch the mark beneath Akane's left eye. "Concubine for a second time. Royalty sure takes a liking in you. I have thought about this a while. My opinion is that men like that need a woman who they can literally look down on. Real women such as myself would be way too imposing to stand aside them. I am taller than the Prince is, as I was taller than our late King. Much taller in fact. The Prince would simply disappear to the background if he stood next to me. With an insignificant little woman like yourself at his side he will seem much more impressive than he actually is."

Akane seized the taller woman's hand when her fingers slowly slid down her neck and in between her breasts. "I think you want to stop now."

"Why?" Ruirdo asked seductively. "Because it is against his wishes? You always said you grovel for no one."

"I like my head on my shoulders." Akane threw her a deriding smile. "For someone raised to the status of an elite you are sadly unobservant of the rules of court. But then again, who can blame you? For all your vainglory the South has never left your blood. I wasn't aware you found me to your likes."

Ruirdo's smirk was, if possible, even more deriding than her own. "You're not. I like my bed mates tall like myself, fair sex or no. And you are one to slag me off about my tribesblood. You're crude and vulgar as any of the Southern people. If the South is still in one of us, it is surely you and you were raised a little lady in some castle far away. I spent my childhood actually living with my tribe."

"I was not raised a bleeding lady." Akane snarled put out. "If I am not to your likes, then why is your hand up my fucking shirt?"

"I need to know if I still have it." Ruirdo answered with a quick look on their twined hands in between Akane's breasts. "See the Prince has been here last night and though I don't often feel drawn to men who are shorter than myself, I find him very exciting and it's not just because he is our Prince. He has something wild about him. Seeing those marks on you strengthens my belief that he can be very violent. I simply love a violent bedmate. The problem however, is that he took no interest in me."

Akane looked at her sceptically, positive that the Ardian was playing some cruel joke on her. She even went so far as to think that Vegeta was in on it as well and that the both of them would be having a good laugh about taking the piss out of Akane later.

"Believe me, I was as surprised as you are. It's true. Fact is that he came here looking for you and that finding me naked in this room did not impress him at all. He turned down my offer to keep him company in your stead and no matter what I tried, I wasn't able to change his mind for him. And I tried very hard."

Akane found no falsity in the other woman's words. Ruirdo seemed to be telling the truth and that confused her as much as it pleased her. What about Vegeta saying Ruirdo would have to wait her turn? That surely meant he had a mind to get his leg over with her. What was that arsehole up to? If he had no interest in Ruirdo then why would he say such a thing? Suddenly Akane understood exactly how he must have felt with her. Hadn't she done the exact same thing to him? Torture him with the knowledge that she had been with her men, suggest to have an interest in Kakarot? He was paying her back for that now. She was certain of it.

"Why are you telling me this?"

Ruirdo frowned at her. "What? You think I should feel ashamed about being turned down? I think it says more about him than it does about me. I have never been turned down in my life. There must be something very wrong with him."

"Hence that ridiculous royalty and little women theory." Akane guessed.

Ruirdo nodded resolutely. "There is nothing ridiculous about it, my little pranged up friend. What if it's not that though? What if it's me? Maybe I have lost my touch. That is why my hand is up your shirt. I am testing my abilities."

"They're not working on me either." Akane jeered at her rival. "I guess you really are off your game, Ruirdo."

Ruirdo held her stare silently for a long time. Finally she backed away and clacked her tongue in her usual manner. "Well, the suns blind me."

Akane waited for the Ardian to elaborate. When nothing came she snorted and marched out of the chamber.

"Akane." Ruirdo called after her.

Akane ground her teeth and turned in the doorway, hissing: "What?"

"I think our game will very soon be settled definitively." Ruirdo said with a broad smile.

Akane narrowed her eyes at her. "Is that a threat?"

Ruirdo turned away with another hearty laugh. "It is a promise."