Once, when we"d sent throw rugs and a small table flying, Jacoba murmured afterward, her head against my chest, that whoever owned the boat would have to have it most thoroughly cleaned, since every room now smelled of nothing but musk and s.e.m.e.n. "Or, perhaps he"ll leave it as it is, and try to find for his next client some rich old fool with a young wife who wishes some aphrodisiacal a.s.sistance."
I said I was delighted to be doing such an altruistic service, but that her knee was digging into my side, and could she move a little?
"I could," she said. "Tell me how. Should we consider whether my heels would fit comfortably behind your neck?"
I said I thought that could be a marvelous experiment, and the world swam away yet again.
"I think I need a vacation from our vacation," I murmured as we left our carriage and reentered the palace.
"Weakling," Jacoba said. "I"ve been looking forward to getting back, and having a few hours to show these foolish Ureyans a sabayon isnot a custard." Her superior had not survived the journey from Sayana, and so Jacoba had been promoted to his place.
Resident-General Tenedos found me in my rooms, where I was contemplating a nap. I"d found that the Tauler had not arrived, although it was expected momentarily.
"My sorcery says you are most miraculously healed," he congratulated me.
"You appear most jovial, sir," I said. "I am, I am. I have had some response to the small missives I sent to Nicias that suggest the Rule of Ten may not commit its usual vacillations after our testimony, although I frankly believe cowardice will always out."
"What happens if it does?" I asked. "I"d hate to think my men and the others died in vain."
"Damastes, don"t ever think that The battlefield is always changing. If it is not fought here, well then, it shall be mounted on another day, in another place.
"History cannot be turned back on itself, which the Rule of Ten do not know as yet.
"My day is drawing very near. Which is why I wished to speak to you. I"ve considered how we should appear once we reach Nicias, and think it would be best if we appear most wonderful and exotic.
"To that end, I sought our hillman Yonge, who is making a most disgusting satyr of himself in the wh.o.r.ehouses of this city. I think the harlots were glad to see his back.
"He was delighted at the thought of accompanying us on our journey, especially when I told him he was to be a.s.signed directly to you. He"s quite determined to copy your style of leading, for which I wish him nothing but luck."
Tenedos"s light tone vanished. "Til also be taking four of the poor foot soldiers with us. Perhaps when the Rule of Ten see these men who"ve given an arm, a leg, or an eye they might be less likely to pa.s.s the matter off with an empty threat"
Tenedos took a deep breath, visibly forcing a change of mood.
"I"ve also written a letter to your domina, and he agreed that certain of the soldiers in Cheetah Troop could be detached to join us.
"I"ll welcome your suggestions. Remember, we wish men who"ll be very colorful, sending the starkness of the Frontiers deep into the hearts of these city men. And wasn"t that a well-turned phrase?"
I thought.
"Lance Karjan ... the one who was your bodyguard in the pa.s.s. I"d also be very pleased to have Troop Guide Bikaner," I said, "but I doubt if the domina will give him up. Besides, he"ll be busy rebuilding Cheetah Troop up from fresh recruits.
"The archer, Curti, although I"d take him more for his talents than appearance. If I"m allowed one other, that gaur who walks on two legs, Svalbard.
"Maybe if we can"t get the Rule to listen, we can turn him loose with a bludgeon and let him provide his own brand of logical convincement."
"Careful, Legate," Tenedos warned. "You"re spending too much time around me. You"re starting to sound positively treasonous."
I grinned. "One question, sir. Who are you taking to provide this, umm, color you seem to think is vital?"
"Why I"m surprised," Tenedos said. "First, a sorcerer worth his potions needs no outside bulls.h.i.t to baffle.
"Secondly, Damastes, what do you thinkyou are?"
A day later theTauler churned its way to the docks in Urey. It was decked with bunting from stem to stern, and a band played gaily on its foredeck.
Its officers and crew were uniformed, and the ship shone as if it had just been launched.
There were barely seventy of us to make the journey, less than a quarter of the usual complement of pa.s.sengers. The*Taulerwas to be ours exclusively, and we were told again and again that anything we wished would be provided for, nothing could be too great for the heroes of the Border States. I tried to lead Lucan and Rabbit aboard myself, and I thought the hostler would die of shame. I tried to give him a coin, and he was even more shocked.
Two stewards led me to my cabin, which was on the top deck of the paddle wheeler, its large portholes looking directly over the ship"s bows. There were three rooms, a bedchamber, a sitting room, and an enormous bathchamber. There were four attendants whose sole duty was keeping me happy. I wondered what the suite cost in normal circ.u.mstances and shook my head. I would most likely have to loot an entire province to afford it.
The Seer Tenedos had his cabin across the pa.s.sageway. Its door stood open, and I noted three young women making themselves easy within. The first was one of the women who"d shared his bed in Sayana, the others were maidens he"d met in Renan. One I"d been introduced to as the daughter of one of that city"s elders. The cityhad given its all to make us happy.
As for me, I had Jacoba, and wanted nothing more. She bounced twice, experimentally, on the springs of the large bed.
"I wonder what my mother would say if she could see me now," she said.
"Perhaps... shameless doxy?"
"Not likely, since she was kept by one of our district"s counselors, and she told me she was never quite sure who my father was, other than he was certainly not that old lecher.
"She"d most likely be proud of me," Jacoba went on, "and tell me to not waste a single second of this time."
She unstrapped her sandals, kicked them off, and leaned back on the bed, bringing one knee up and letting it fall to the side and sliding her dress up over her bare, brown thighs.
"Come here, Damastes," she murmured. "I always listened to my mother"s advice."
Sometimes we had our meals sent to the cabin, sometimes we went to the dining room, so Jacoba could evaluate the wares of her compet.i.tors and, she added, "steal any ideas worth the thieving." I used the excuse of letting my wound heal, although, thanks mostly to Tenedos"s magic, my leg was nearly completely mended.
Seer Tenedos also held to his cabin for most of the journey, and when he did appear his three women danced close attendance on him. I was amused-they behaved like pheasant hens doting on their c.o.c.k at the start of mating season.
I did encounter him alone late one night.
He was leaning on the top deck"s railing, staring back at our wake. I could tell he had been drinking, although his speech was unslurred.
We talked of this and that, then, without preamble, he said, "Are you ready to go back?" "Back where?"
"Into Kait. But not as a legate, and not at the head of a single troop of cavalry."
I looked at him curiously. Perhaps part of me never wanted to see that country again, not its sere peaks, not its dry deserts, and above all not its treacherous, deadly people. But I knew that was where my duty lay, and most likely the rest of my career would be spun out in the Border States. "Of course, sir."
Tenedos nodded once, as if that was the answer he"d expected, and walked off, without saying good night.
I stared after him. Suddenly I had questions that I"d not be able to ask him on the morrow when he was sober, and I"d missed my chance now.
How would he be able to decide what rank I might gain, let alone what commands I might have?
I wondered then, and have wondered many times since, if being a seer does allow a slight glimpse into the future. Or was Tenedos merely speaking from his own soaring ambition?
fi"I don"t think I can come anymore," Jacoba whispered.
"Iknow I can"t."
"Where"d the pillow go?"
"It"s right over... no. It got kicked to the floor. With the blankets. Here."
I kissed her soft wetness once more, then turned end for end and lay beside her. She put her head on my shoulder. I stroked her back sleepily.
"What happens," I said, after a time, "when we reach Nicias?"
Jacoba moved away, and rolled onto her stomach.
"You mean with us?"
"Yes."
Jacoba took a deep breath. "Don"t misunderstand me, Damastes, but "us" stops when we get to the city."
I was suddenly completely awake, feeling the world shudder around me, although to be honest I"d wondered how our affair would continue. Having little money, I wouldn"t be able to afford to find her apartments during my stay in Nicias. When I returned to the Lancers, there"d be no place for her, and I doubted she"d want to leave the capital for a staid, sleepy garrison town. Even if I wished to wed, which I certainly did not at this time, legates are not permitted to marry save under the most extraordinary circ.u.mstances. And I could hardly expect her to find living quarters on Rotten Row as a poverty-stricken officer"s mistress.
"Can I ask why?"
"There"s not anyone else," she said. "There hasn"t been since before I took the job with Tenedos. And it"s not that I don"t... care about you. Maybe I even love you, although I"m not sure what the word means, really."
"Then where"s the problem?"
"The problem is Seer Tenedos," she said. "Let me tell you something about myself. I"m not very adventurous."
"Ofcourse you aren"t," I said. "That"s why you took a nice, safe job making sweets for a magician in the Border States."
"There was a bad time in my life then. Something... some-
*body that meant a lot to me turned out to be different than I thought. And I"d been cooking in the same d.a.m.ned place for almost three years, working for a pig who"d never teach me his secrets and ordered me around like I was his bonded slave.
"I heard about the position and applied for it. I guess I thought there"d be something glamorous, going to a faraway land, living in a mansion, and making the daintiest of morsels for n.o.blemen and diplomats.
Instead..." She laughed ruefully. "No. This has been enough adventure for the rest of my life.
"Let me tell you what my dream is, Damastes. I want, someday, to own my own restaurant. Not a big one, and not in the center of a city. Somewhere on the outskirts, near some rich estates.
"I"ll have customers who don"t mind paying for the best, but whose palates aren"t sophisticated enough to tell when the meringue"s a little scorched.
"As for a man, I"d want someone who"s steady. Loyal. Good enough in bed. A nice man who won"t get tired of me, or mind if I get a little fat.
"Children, maybe three or four.
"A nice quiet life, where the biggest dramas are whether the oysters are delivered on time, or if the melon has gone bad, or stopping little Fredrik from pushing his sister into the water barrel.
"Is that the life you want, Damastes?"
I was silent.
"Of course not," she went on. "I canfeel greatness. Laish Tenedos will be a great man, greater than he is today. Whether he accomplishes all his dreams ... I don"t know. I"m not sure thereare any limits to what he wants.
"As for you, well, I can see you tall, dignified, perhaps a bit of gray at your temples. A general of cavalry, respected by his country. Perhaps a count, with great estates and a beautiful lady waiting for you at one of your mansions.
"Perhaps you would go for a ride one day, with your staff, and stop by a humble inn for your midday meal.
"I wonder if we would recognize each other?"
"That makes me feel very sad," I said quietly.
"Why should it? We are as Umar made us, we strive to fulfill what Irisu wishes us to become, and we fight as best we can against Saionji as she destroys us. Then, at the end, we welcome her embrace, return to the Wheel, and she grants us rebirth.
"What can be sad about that?"
The right words took a while to form.
"It"s sad," I said finally, "because I want to think we"re more than small helpless beings on a treadmill."
"Of course you do," she said. "And that"s why you"ll be a general, and I"ll be an innkeeper.
"But enough of that. We"ve still almost a week before we reach Nicias." She yawned. "Do me a favor.
Get the oil from that stand, and rub it into my back before we go to sleep. My skin"s terribly dry."
I obeyed, poured some of the oil, which smelled of orange blossoms, onto my hand, and slowly, gently, began rubbing it across her shoulder blades and then lower and lower still.
After a time she said, "You have a very loose idea of just where my back is." Her breath caught sharply. "That iscertainly not my back."
"Do you want me to stop?"
"No. Oh no. Put another finger in me. No. Back there. Yes. Deeper. Oh G.o.ds. Oh, Jaen."
She moaned. I rubbed oil on my c.o.c.k, rose to my knees, slipped the pillow from under her head, rolled it into a cylinder and slipped it just under her pelvis. I moved between her thighs, as she opened them. I caressed her s.e.x with the head of my c.o.c.k from its beginnings to where it ended, once, twice, three times, then slipped it between her b.u.t.tocks and touched her tight rosebud.