“Have you never been taught the impertinence of such inspection?” he demanded, wide fists upon slim hips. “At first I had thought you looked upon me in curiosity, never having seen a man naked before you, yet do I now perceive a difference. Much does it seem as though you stare with practiced eye, though that would not be likely. In future, you will turn your head when I disrobe, as a proper wench should.”
Quite disturbed did Lialt seem, and quickly did he place himself within the pelts, yet I felt considerable confusion.
“For what reason must I turn my head?” I asked, moving to my left side to see him more easily. “Lialt does not possess a body of ugliness, therefore it is unclear to me why I may not look upon it.”
Such a strange expression grew upon the face of Lialt that surely did I feel concern for his health. Full flushed his face became to underscore the unnamable expression, and wide-eyed did he stare upon me.
“In the name of the Serene Oneness, am I fated to ever have the wench put such questions to me?” he demanded of the air about us. “Perhaps it would be best to put the matter thusly,” said he to me in a manner most precise, his light eyes seriously upon me. “Would it please you to stand bare before me when I have not so much as smiled upon you, not to speak of drawn you from the circle?”
Again was my confusion increased, yet had I learned time and again that confusion was ever the preferred circumstance of males, and a warrior did well overlooking strange utterances. Therefore I sought not to give meaning to the meaningless, but gave answer to what I might.
“It is the purpose of a male to be pleasing in the eyes of a warrior,” I explained as precisely as had he, moving some small bit in the furs to ease the wounds. “Should a male please a warrior, for what reason would she object to his also finding pleasure in the sight of her? It is only when the male is displeasing that she might object. Do you feel yourself displeasing to me, Lialt?”
Naught save a deep groan greeted my words, for Lialt had put his head down upon his furs, his arms afold upon his face, his body unmoving. Then came mumbling sounds, as though Lialt spoke to the arms upon his face, yet naught intelligible came to me. Abruptly, then, he removed arms from face and turned to reach for the flame within the metal. Again a single breath pitched us to full darkness, and only then did Lialt speak so that I might hear him.
“Wench, I shall say no more than one further thing upon the matter,” came his angered voice, “and then there shall be silence! It is the place of the female to be pleasing to the male, not the other way about! You shall obey my wishes as I put them to you, and I shall have no further questions of the sort you have already attempted! In time shall you learn all which was never taught you earlier, and now we will sleep!”
There came the soft sound of Lialt’s movement within his furs, but no further words. In annoyance, I moved within my own furs, for Lialt’s words did not sit well with me. No call had there been for him to speak so, yet what reasons do males require for what they do? All warriors know well the lack of reason behind the actions of males, and as Lialt wished no further questions, so would he also receive no further explanations. Upon such a decision did I seek my own sleep within the darkness, and despite all, had little difficulty in finding it.
Upon the following day, with the light at its highest, the conveyance halted a short time, and then Lialt brought to me a bit of nilno, cut small and awash in broth. Both did I feed upon with great pleasure, and no notice did Lialt take to the fact that I spoke no word to him. When I had finished with the nilno, the journey once more resumed, halting again at darkness. A larger portion of boiled nilno and various vegetables, principally soft, white fellin tubers and green gemild, was this time presented me, and much strength began to flow from the provender to my body. Still was I weak as a lenga cub, yet was I able to know that my wounds were on the mend. Ceralt made no further appearances; Lialt seemed pleased that I spoke not, and so did it go, for two further feyd. No more than twice did Lialt look upon the wounds beneath the cloth, and each time he grunted in satisfaction, saying no word, yet seeming pleased. Jalav attempted no denial of such treatment, for Jalav had not the strength to hold sword in hand, yet such would not continue forever. When Jalav was well, Lialt would speak words of apology upon his knees, a point of sharpened metal resting upon his throat. So had I seen it, and so would it be.
With the light of the fourth fey came an awakening to a feeling of renewed ability. Much did I feel that Mida had once again smiled upon me, for greatly lessened was the pain in both limbs and body. The conveyance once more creaked upon its way, and easily did the solitude tempt me to try my new-found strength. Slowly, for otherwise would be foolishness, I raised myself to sitting upon the lenga pelt, and though some effort was necessary, the position was at last mine. Some dizziness visited me, and also was the ice-tinged air a discomfort, yet I sat where I had formerly lain, the pain increased nowhere save within my legs and thighs. Gingerly, I touched the cloth upon my right leg, debating the wisdom of removing it and the rest so that the wounds might be bared to the sight of Mida, allowing her to better promote their healing, yet did I see that such a course of action would be unnecessary. Well did Mida know of my wounds, for how else had I thus far healed? Far better to leave the cloth as it was a time, and see first to other things.
Too chill was the air to move about bare as I was, therefore did I wrap myself within the top lenga pelt before I began to make my way to the gap in the cloth at the far end of the conveyance. Somewhat littered with dirt and leaves was the wooden floor of the conveyance, yet I pulled myself through it, one finger-length each time, sweat forming upon my forehead and between my breasts from the effort. The distance had not at first seemed far, little more than half the entire six pace length of the conveyance, yet when I halted to rest and judge my progress, no closer than two paces was I to the opening. Resolutely I lowered my head once more, and resumed my crawl.
Many long, painful reckid later, I lay at last beneath the opening in the cloth. My breath came in gasps, shaking my now aching body with its violence, my arms and legs flaming with angry pain which turned them leaden, yet had my goal now been reached. My back, too, throbbed somewhat, yet not as badly as it once had, and such gave me great encouragement. I know not how long I lay unmoving beneath the opening, setting my attention upon the creaking movement about me. Only do I know that quite some time passed before I was able to force my cheek from the dirty, vibrating wood. One hand holding the lenga pelt about me, I used the other to pull myself to my knees by the raised wooden side of the conveyance, and at last was I able to see what was about me.
Through deeply forested and untenanted lands we moved, the gray-blue skies bright above tall shedding trees. Of red and gold and orange were the leaves of those trees, those that yet hung upon branches, yet vastly more lay upon the ground beside bushes of bare branches, cold fire in the chill of a land with warmth gone away. Beside and behind the conveyance, at some small distance, rode more than four hands of males, clad as Lialt and Ceralt had been, in leathers and belts of shining metal. Little notice did I take of the males themselves, for their mounts quickly grasped my attention. Warriors rode scaled and clawed gandod, city males rode long-maned and hoofed kand, yet these males, called Belsayah riders by Lialt, rode great beasts whose like I had never before seen. Fully half again as large as kand and gandod were the beasts, of a white so pure that nearly did one’s eyes burn to look upon them, and long was the fur upon them, thick and silky and magnificent. No leather seats such as those used by city males were upon them, these Belsayah males making do with single, broad straps about the beasts’ bellies and backs, and also there were no reins. A single length of thin leather, looped about the beast’s nose and thereupon leading back to the rider’s hand, sufficed as control. Highly spirited did the mounts appear, yet their riders controlled them with small difficulty.