“Are you trying to find some further means of shocking me, Moirin?” he asked uncertainly.
“No.”
He exhaled hard. “Every time I think I’ve begun to understand, there seems some further goal on the horizon. And I will say again, this is one I will not pursue. Not with a woman, and most assuredly not with a man.”
“It’s not a requirement, sweet boy.” I toyed with my spoon. “There are D’Angelines who find pleasure in acts even I would shun; and there are D’Angelines who find the deepest abiding joy in remaining faithful to their chosen loves. So long as Blessed Elua’s precept is obeyed and the sacred tenet of consensuality is honored, Naamah’s blessing is on all of them.” I took a bite of stew, and swallowed. “I would have you be mindful of it as you seek to bring new understanding to your faith, that’s all.”
Aleksei was silent a moment. “I will try.”
“Some of it shocked me, too,” I added. “At least at first.”
He looked relieved. “I confess myself glad to hear it.”
“I can teach you some of Naamah’s arts if you wish,” I offered. “Only the parts I think you will like.”
His expression turned confused. “But you already have.”
I hid a smile. “Ah, no. That was love-making as a simple act of benediction. There are a hundred different kinds of kisses and caresses one can use to coax and please a lover, and that is only the beginning.”
Aleksei paused, then nodded. “I would like that, if you are willing. I think…” He smiled wryly. “I think perhaps one day my bride will be very glad I said yes.”
I couldn’t help but think of my lady Jehanne teaching me at Cereus House, naming and demonstrating until I had to beg her to stop; and Jehanne months later, giving me one of her sparkling looks in the enchanted bower she’d had made for me. Oh, I’ve got you well on your way to possessing an adept’s skills, Moirin.
Gods, it hurt to think of her being gone. I wondered what she would make of the uses to which I’d put the arts she had taught me.
I thought she would approve; mayhap even laugh with delight. She was Naamah’s child through and through. And ever since I had first laid eyes on Jehanne, Naamah’s face had come to resemble hers in my thoughts.
“I was taught by the foremost courtesan in Terre d’Ange, Aleksei,” I said to him. “Trust me, your bride will be glad of it.”
FORTY-THREE
Several days of pure indolence followed.
In truth, we had little else to do in Udinsk while we waited for the Patriarch to turn his attention away from the south. We listened to gossip in the marketplace, hoping in vain to hear rumors of his movements. Aleksei returned to the smith who had bought my chains and purchased a cooking-pot and a small belt knife for me. We found a sail-maker and commissioned a tent of tough canvas that was done in a day’s time.
Beyond that, our time was our own.
And Aleksei proved an apt pupil.
Betimes I was hard put not to laugh, as determined and earnest as he was. He was Naamah’s child, aye; but he was a scholar by nature and training alike, and he applied a scholar’s discipline to learning Naamah’s arts.
“Tracing the nautilus,” he breathed in my ear, echoing the latest term I had taught him. The tip of his tongue described a dwindling spiral and probed my inner canal rather too insistently. “Moirin, stop giggling!”
“It tickles!”
His blue eyes were wide and sincere. “Isn’t it supposed to?”
“Not exactly, no.” I showed him again, beginning with a line of soft kisses along his jaw, nipping gently on his earlobe, sucking it into my mouth. “Softly,” I whispered into his ear. “Slowly. Delicately; oh so delicately.” I traced circles with my tongue, darting and flickering it until Aleksei shuddered and groaned. I pulled back. “Listen, and pay attention to your lover’s response. After all, that is the most important thing. Let her body’s response tell you what pleases her.”
Letting out a growl, Aleksei pinned me to the bed. “I know what pleases you!”
“Some things, aye.” I wound my arms around his neck, kissing his lips. “Not all, sweet boy. Not even close. And you do not know what pleases this wife you have not yet met, who will no doubt be far less licentious than I. So I suggest you heed my advice.”
By and large, he did.
And by and large, Aleksei blossomed under my tutelage. The sense of grace that Naamah’s blessing had bestowed lingered over us. He remained comfortable in his skin. He walked differently, even stood differently. He held his head higher, no longer ducking it modestly under the slightest scrutiny, blushing less.
His taut, hunched shoulders straightened and squared. The movement of his long, rangy limbs acquired a loose grace. He ate heartily, loved freely. He began to laugh more easily and readily, even at himself.
It was beautiful to see.
I thought often of Aleksei’s mother, Valentina, in those days, wishing she could see her son as I did. It was what she had wanted for him-her caged bird set free, free to stretch his wings and fly, finding his true element. I liked teaching him, but I liked best those times when lessons were over, and Aleksei gave himself over to sheer passion, rocking between my thighs and thrusting deep inside me, whispering blasphemous prayers into the crook of my neck.
But by the fourth day, I was restless, too long confined indoors.
“Let’s go for a ride,” I suggested.
He paused. “Why?”
I shrugged. “Why not? It will be good to acquaint ourselves with our mounts-and to make certain that dealer hasn’t sold them out from under us,” I added. “I don’t trust that fellow.”
That swayed him-that and the picnic lunch that Polina kindly offered to pack for us. Having discovered his appetite, Aleksei was constantly hungry, and I was pleased that he wasn’t yet inclined to resume the discipline of fasting.
I took my Tatar bow with me, or at least, I had Aleksei bring it. I had in mind to practice with it. Taking note of it, Polina suggested that we might find grouse or pheasant in the meadows upriver, and that game-birds would be a welcome addition to supper. The thought of shooting for the pot made me homesick, missing my own mother, but it brought good memories, too.
For a mercy, our sturdy little horses were awaiting us safely in the dealer’s stable. We rode out of town, past the Tatar encampment, and set out upriver in search of the meadows Polina had mentioned.
I was in good spirits. All had gone well in Udinsk, and in two days’ time, we would take our leave.
And at last I would be travelling in the direction of Bao and the missing half of my diadh-anam. I’d managed to keep myself from constant worry, but it would be a relief to be moving toward him.
We found the meadows, filled with bright yellow flowers blossoming beneath the blue sky. I asked Aleksei what they were called, but he didn’t know. After we tethered our mounts and spread a blanket for our picnic, I let myself stroke the blossoms, taking in their quick, joyous thoughts.
This, too, reminded me of home. I couldn’t resist coaxing one unopened bud to blossom, breathing softly over it.
Aleksei watched wide-eyed as the bright yellow petals opened to the sun. “More magic?”
“Aye.” I smiled. “A small gift, nothing more. If there’s some greater purpose in it, it’s not yet been revealed to me.”
He shook his head. “You’re full of surprises.”
We ate the lunch of sausages, cheese, and brown bread that Polina had packed for us, and afterward, I introduced Aleksei to the pleasure of making love outdoors, with nothing but earth and sky around us.
“Now I truly do feel like Edom and Yeva in the Garden,” he whispered to me. “I only wish-”
I stopped his mouth with a kiss. “I know. But I cannot stay here.”
“I know,” Aleksei said softly, brushing the hair back from my face. “But I do wish it, Moirin.”