Shigmur paused. "Never mind," he said mischievously.
The twins couldn't coax anything more out of him. He invited them to the party that his family, in cooperation with Omi, Peyri, and their children, had prepared.
Elenya was stuffed. She lay on the ground behind her tent, staring at the blood of the darkening western sky. Alemar and other nearby revellers were out of sight. She was feeling good. The food and wine had been superb. Many of the tribe had complimented her on her completion of thepulstrall, and she could tell the comments had been sincere. Even the weather had been blessed. She felt warm and secure. One hand wandered to her crotch and smoothed the wrinkles in the cloth. She murmured, and continued to stroke lightly with the two middle fingers.
"Good evening."
She sat up abruptly. The shadow standing nearby held out a skin of wine.
"What do you want?" she asked sharply.
"I've been throughout the camp to congratulate each of the new men," Lonal said cordially. "I saved you for last."
"Thank you, war-leader."
"I would have thought you'd be too drunk now to have so much frost in your mouth," he said, the white of his smile brightening the dusk.
"I'm sorry," she said. "I was enjoying being alone."
"It looked that way."
"Blasphemer." Her cheeks were burning.
"Your grasp of our language has certainly improved." Lonal laughed. "How does one swear in yours? My tutors never taught me."
She pursed her lips, bound not to speak. He waited patiently. Eventually she relented.
"You can't swear in the High Speech. It was the formal language used in the schools and at the royal courts of the Calinin Empire. You'd have to use one of the vulgar forms, and those are unique to each region."
He nodded and sat down beside her, offering her the wineskin. She took a deep draft. "What would the greatest insult be in your country?"
"To call someone a northerner."
"Why?" He was sitting so close she could catch his scent, even over the feast odors on her lips.
"Cilendrodel is at the far north of civilization. Only savages live in the forests and wastelands beyond. I suppose we're sensitive about our provinciality. Barbarian is a big slur as well – anything that implies one is not part of cultured society."
"I see. Well, northerner, it is good to be able to profane one another."
"Yes, it's very manly," Elenya said.
He sighed. "I am trying to be friendly."
"I'm not," she answered.
He frowned. "I wonder how good you would be at a manly sport."
"Oh? Which one?"
"I might challenge you to a wrist-wrestling contest."
Wine exaggerated her guffaw.
"Are you a coward?" Lonal suggested.
She lay down on her stomach and put out her left arm, her strongest. He scuttled into position and locked his palm around hers.
"On the count of three," he said, and began counting.
She pulled immediately. She almost had him down before he tensed. Suddenly his arm felt like iron. He held it there for several moments, while she continued to try to force him down the last few inches. At his leisure, he applied more force and simply laid her arm down.
"I hope a scorpion crawls into your bedroll tonight," she said.
He didn't let her up. The grip was so tight she had to scoot forward in order to relieve the pain. They were now so close their breaths mingled. "You're goading me like a child. What is it you want?"
She angled herself so that the front of her robe hung open, granting Lonal an enticing view of her cleavage. When his glance shifted, she leaned quickly forward…
…and kissed him.
Lonal's eyes went wide. He sat back, widening the distance between them, watching her carefully. "Why did you do that?" he demanded.
"I wanted to."
"Are you trying to seduce me? I thought you didn't like me."
"I don't."
"Then why?"
"I wanted to see what your reaction would be." She helped herself to the wineskin. "I wondered if you'd still be able to think of me as a man with my legs wrapped around you."
He took the wine away from her. "Perhaps you've had too much of this."
"Perhaps not enough."
He shook his head. "You're too good a fighter to waste as a breeding ewe."
She leaned toward him. He shifted away.
"I think you're tempted," she said. "Am I right?"
He hesitated.
"You're too honest," She smiled. "You want to say no, but you know it wouldn't be true. Why not do what you feel?"
"Men don't love other men," he said firmly.
"I don't believe that."
"There may be those who do, but they are brought to punishment if their habits are made public. A war-leader cannot be so daring. He must be a paragon, or lose the loyalty of his people."
"I am an invented man, and everyone knows it."
"But they obey the edict."
"Especially you," she said hotly.
"The law is a powerful force among my people. I would be stupid not to use it as best I can."
She grabbed the wineskin back from him and turned away. "Leave me alone," she murmured.
He waited several moments, then climbed to his feet and did as she asked.
The celebration lasted for two days, then life resumed its normal routine in the T'lil camp. The new men strutted about enough to get used to their new status, then their seniors began to reteach them humility. Families who had gathered from far ranges for the occasion returned to their herds, leaving a few of their young men. Fumlok told the twins that the latter were preparing to patrol the trade routes. There had been trouble with some of the caravans this season, though he would not specify what kind. They were told to make themselves ready as well.
Urthey waxed, showed its red-and-orange face, withered to a crescent, and entered the constellation of the Tent. That night, Elenya preceded Alemar to bed. He lingered in the common section, caught up in contemplation. On the whole, life among the T'lil had improved. Their newly instated adulthood had eliminated much of the distrust they had been subject to. They were officially T'lil. Their skills could now be looked on as community assets, and therefore the tribe was more prepared to accept and compliment them. And the ceaseless lessons were behind them.
He could hear activity on the other side of the purdah. The wives had been carrying themselves more proudly in the past few days. The improvement in the status of the twins evidently reflected upon the women.
Eventually Alemar retired to his niche, though he was not sleepy. He could hear soft snores through the cloth that separated his and Elenya's sections. He had only just lain down when the curtain to the common area parted.
Omi stood in the opening, holding a lamp in front of her naked body.
His heart skipped a beat. She knelt down just inside the entrance and waited. The flickering light danced across her body. She was not beautiful. The stretch marks on her abdomen told the story of the children she had borne. Yet Alemar was not repulsed. He saw something alluring in her shyness. She smelled female.
"What is it?" he murmured.
Her breathing contained a hint of panic. "It is the Night of the Wife. The proper interval has passed since thepulstrall ended."
"I don't know what that means."
"You are a man now. A wife must serve her husband."
"Oh."
When he failed to say more, Omi bit her lip. "You do not desire me? I am ugly?"
"No, no. It's just unexpected." Alemar almost didn't get the words out. His mouth had turned to cotton.
"I can go away," she said. "It is not demanded of you."
"Do you want to go away?"
"I…I want to serve my husband."
Alemar took a deep breath. He stared at the matting, mind in turmoil, trying to ignore Omi's presence. He stayed that way for a long time.
When he glanced up, Omi was trembling. Tears welled on her eyelashes as she turned to go.