The crowd did not immediately break up, but it did move aside to form a path to the gate. While his men retrieved their horses, Guroth took the bridle of the Golden Steed and led it and Blade toward the gate.
As they passed into the narrow main street of the village, Blade saw a slim dark-haired figure peering intently at him from a shadowy passage between two houses. He pointed her out and asked Guroth, «Who is that girl? She was not among the other people, was she?»
«She would not be, oh Pendarnoth,» said one of the villagers. «She has Rojag blood, thanks to her mother's whorish habits. She is-«
«You lie, you fat pig,» the girl screamed. «My mother was a better woman than your wife or daughters will ever be. What happened to her was not her fault. And even if it was, what about me?»
The villager growled angrily, then snapped, «Get out of here, you whore's daughter! You profane the sight of the Pendarnoth.»
«Whore's daughter?» the girl screamed. She snatched up a large dry turd from the alley and flung it at the villager. Her aim was good. He let out a bellow of rage and jerked out a knife. He would have leaped to slash at the girl if Blade had not brought down a hand and grabbed the back of his collar.
«There will be no brawling in Lio this day, my friend. And no killing of girls in my sight ever. I have fought Rojag warriors, but I have no quarrel with their women and children. Remember that, and put the knife away before I come down from the Golden Steed and break your arm.» He twisted the collar tight until the man's face went purple and his eyes bulged. «Do you understand?» The man nodded, and Blade let him go. Then he looked at the girl and said, «Approach me. What is your name?»
«Curana, if it pleases the Pendarnoth.» The girl stepped into the light. Seen more clearly, she was definitely attractive. Although her brown skin was dirty and her blueblack hair tangled like a thicket, there was a gracefully curved body under the black robe she wore. The bare feet were slim, and long-toed. The eyes-Blade suddenly realized that he was staring at the girl more intently than he had intended. Mutterings were rising from the villagers behind him. Guroth was looking down at the ground.
Blade realized that this was not the time to do a thorough job on the prejudices of the people of Lio. He reached down and let Curana hold his hand for a moment, then raised it in farewell. «Go in peace, Curana. And let none do her harm in my sight or hearing, people of Lio.» He nodded to Guroth, who raised his head and led the Golden Steed on into the village.
Although the villagers were packed like sardines into their houses, they would have emptied half the houses in the village for the Pendarnoth and his escort if asked. As it was, Blade asked only for one house for his escort and another for himself. The villagers obliged, not only providing Blade with a house to himself, but cleaning every nook and cranny of its one room. He suspected he was still sharing it with a horde of bugs, but he wasn't inclined to worry about that. Nor was he inclined to complain about the half-raw meat and the more than half-burned bread they gave him for dinner. In this village there could be little food to spare. There was enough to fill his stomach, and after that he was able to curl up in the smelly sheepskins and drift off to sleep.
He was awakened by a faint scratching in the room. It was no louder a sound than a mouse might have made, but it was too regular for any animal. Instantly awake, he silently drew his knife from beneath the sheepskin and stiffened, waiting. The scratching went on. It seemed to be moving in a circle around him, from right to left. He risked moving his head slightly, enough to be able to look off to one side.
The room was almost totally black, for it had no windows and the door was closed. But a tiny bit of light crept through a hole in the roof over the hearthstone. As his eyes adjusted to the darkness, Blade could see in that faint light a human figure crouching almost within arm's reach. It was small but shapeless, and its back was turned to him. An inch at a time, Blade slid toward it.
Blade was almost within reach of the figure when it suddenly rose to a standing position. Blade froze, waiting to see if it would turn around, poising himself to move fast. The figure's shoulders heaved, and it began to turn.
Blade moved also. A mighty thrust of his powerful arms sent him rolling toward the figure, while at the same time his legs kicked out, hurling the sheepskins away from him. He crashed into the figure like a log rolling down a hillside, knocking it to the ground. Before it could move or do more than gasp faintly, he was kneeling above it. Both its hands were clasped tightly in his own left hand, while his right hand held the knife at its throat. The wrists he was holding felt slim and delicate.
Then he started as he recognized the face looking up at him out of a black hood. It was the girl Curana. Her eyes were wide, but he could see neither surprise nor fear in them. In fact, her lips were curled in a faint smile. Her voice was low and calm as she spoke.
«Pendarnoth, I have come to you, for it is said that you have the strength of ten men in all things.»
Blade found it hard to keep from laughing out loud. Instead of an assassin, the lurking figure was only the local pariah curious about the alleged superhuman sexual prowess of the Pendarnoth. He released her hands and sat up. He tried to make his voice severe.
«Why did you come sneaking around here like a thief, Curana? That was not a wise thing to do around a warrior. There are some who would have stabbed first…» He showed her the knife-«… and asked questions of the corpse. And how did you get past the guard Guroth placed outside the door of this hut?»
«Is that what you call that man who was sprawled on the ground outside the door? He was asleep and snoring so that one could hear him three streets off. A child could have made its way past him. And I am no child. I am a woman.» She reached down for the hem of her robe and with a swift motion, drew it over her head and threw it on the floor. «I am a woman,» she repeated.
Blade hardly needed her to tell him that. His own eyes told him the same thing. The slimness he had suspected was there, but there were firm conical breasts and well-fleshed hips he had not suspected. And he was responding to them. Unmistakably, undeniably, he was responding. And Curana was noticing this response. The faint smile on her face was now a grin.
«You are not ten times as big as a man,» she said gleefully. «Does that mean anything?»
«It means nothing that you need worry about,» said Blade. He could not help finding both the situation and Curana amusing. He wondered if indeed there would be many women curious to see if the Pendarnoth's prowess was as the stories predicted. He hoped there would not be too many. If there were, he would find it hard to retain the prowess of one man, let alone ten.
But that was nothing to worry about now. He had been sleeping naked. There were no clothes to strip off before he reached out and put his hands on Curana's shoulders. The tips of his long fingers almost met across the back of her neck, under her hair. She had somehow managed to clean and comb it. It felt silky and straight in his fingers, no longer tangled and stiff with dirt.
Her eyes closed and her mouth opened as she felt his touch. He felt her body stiffen slightly, and a thought struck him. Was this girl possibly a virgin? It seemed improbable, or was it? The girl was a pariah in Lio. What man of the village would have her? So she had come to the Pendarnoth? He would soon find out.