by M. M. Perry
“I curse you, Luteria,” Viola said bitterly under her breath as she watched Cass strip off the last of her garments.
Viola crossed her legs as Cass stepped into the water. It seemed to Viola that it took forever for the tall woman to submerge herself completely, finally allowing Viola to tear her eyes away. Cass sighed contentedly as she broke the surface. She swayed, eyes closed, enjoying the warmth for a few moments before pushing out for deeper water.
“Are you sure you won’t come in? Even Inez seems to be enjoying it,” Cass said, drifting lazily on her back near the large arrowhead shelf.
Viola resisted the urge to strip down and join Cass. She shook her head stiffly and felt the blush slowly creeping up her neck.
“What’s a matter, girl? You shy or something?” Inez prodded.
Viola couldn’t believe she hadn’t thought of that. She nodded, giving in and allowing the blush she’d been fighting to fill her face, hoping they would both think she was embarrassed about being naked in front of anyone.
“How odd,” Inez said, “for a young woman your age. Well, you should get used to it now, when there are friendly types about. One night soon enough, you’ll be minding your own business back in the village, and your elder will come to you saying they’ve a virgin who needs to share your bed. It would be better to get over your bashfulness now, rather than still be encumbered by it then. A body is nothing to be ashamed of. And from what I can tell, girlie, those tights you lot wear don’t leave much need for guessing, you’ve made out pretty well. You’ve got all the right bits, in the right amounts, and,” here the old woman gestured to her own sagging chest, “still in the right places.” She let out a barking laugh.
“Oh leave her be,” Cass said kindly, “It’s okay, Viola, you can bathe on your own later. I’ll make sure the men, and Inez, are far away.”
Viola smiled weakly.
“Thank you. I would appreciate it,” she said.
Cass was content to float in the water for a while longer, humming happily to herself. She reluctantly righted herself when she heard the shouts from the other side of the rock wall.
“Aren’t you womenfolk done yet?” Callan called over, “I’m getting hungry, and the oafish one won’t let us eat until you’re…”
Callan gave out a cry of surprised pain and Cass laughed.
“I’ll bet the oafish one cuffed the loutish one,” Inez said grinning.
“I’ll bet he did,” Cass said wading back up onto the shore. “We’d better get over there before there’s a fight. Callan’s queen may take a dim view of us returning her a black and blue husband.”
The light had faded almost completely, making it difficult to see very far. Cass stepped out of the water and moved over to where her clothes were, shivering a little. She hoped Gunnarr was already starting a fire, berating herself for not gathering wood and starting one herself before getting into the pool. As she grabbed her clothes, she noticed Viola staring at her, almost in a daze. Viola didn’t even notice that Cass was trying to make eye contact with her. Cass looked down at her body then back up at Viola and the realization hit her.
“Oh,” Cass said softly.
At the sound, Viola’s eyes finally met Cass’. Cass smiled at her, but Viola jerked her head away, embarrassed she had been caught looking.
“I’m sorry,” Cass said, casually pulling on her undergarments, “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
“Me… uncomfortable?” Viola stalled as she looked around for Inez. The old woman was making her way around the water to the men’s side of the pool.
“I’m worried about making you uncomfortable,” Viola said when she was sure Inez was out of earshot, “what with me leering at you so lustily. I’m sorry, I should have said something earlier.”
Cass chuckled.
“And when would you have done that? When I asked you if you liked the ladies more than the men?” Cass asked sitting next to Viola. “It wasn’t really my business to ask. And the topic doesn’t just come up in everyday conversation. So don’t worry about it. Besides, I don’t really mind,” Cass said patting Viola on the arm.
Viola turned to look at Cass, hope in her eyes, “You mean you… but Gunnarr…”
“Oh. No, I’m sorry if I misled you, Viola. I mean to say it doesn’t bother me that you looked. I’ve been a warrior for a long time. They don’t really make bashful warriors. And to answer your question, I prefer the company of men,” Cass said gently.
Viola turned away, her heart sinking.
“That’s what I thought,” she said miserably.
“Hey,” Cass said, tenderness to her voice, “if it was otherwise, then you’d be just my type,” Cass said sincerely.
“You don’t need to console me with falsehoods,” Viola frowned. “Gunnarr is obviously not an effeminate red-head.”
“No,” Cass said smiling, “That he isn’t. And it’s true that I found his body appealing. I was initially attracted to him because I thought he’d be fun to have a tumble in the hay with. But once I got to know him, I decided to wait on that, mostly because I’ve found I care about what he thinks of me… but that’s beside the point. I think, if you got to know him like I have, you’d find out that you both have a lot in common.”
“Us?” Viola asked dubiously.
“You’ve both taken great risks to escape a life prearranged for you by your family, in the face of all your customs and culture. That’s a thing that takes no small measure of courage.”
“Running away?” Viola asked innocently. She wondered if she’d gotten drunk enough last night that she had let something slip and didn’t recall it.
“I know I don’t look like the most perceptive type,” Cass replied, “but it turns out looks can be deceiving. It was plain to me that night in your village. I could see it in your eyes. You wanted out. I wasn’t quite sure why. But then, tonight, it all became clear. It isn’t motherhood that bothers you, it’s wifehood. You don’t want to be married to a man. My guess is, you plan to disappear in Chulpe and never go back. It’s a good plan. Chulpe is a huge city. Your people aren’t likely to find you there if you don’t want to be found,” Cass said.
“You think so?” Viola asked, her face breaking into a small smile.
“I do. Now, I suggest you have a chat with Nat,” Cass said standing.
“What?” Viola said confused.
“He has a thing for you. I suggest you let him down easily, before he gets up the courage to make any more moves on you,” Cass said.
“I… I didn’t know,” Viola said, shocked.
“Ah, well, you know, if you aren’t looking for it, you can really miss quite a few of those important cues,” Cass said.
The two women grinned at each other.
They sat around the fire, relaxed and at ease after their baths and a meal. Callan’s tent was pitched, but instead of retreating into it early as soon as they’d finished eating, as was his habit, he’d stayed out with them at the fire. Despite his initial misgivings about the people he hired, he found he actually enjoyed their company, at least a little. In any case, he felt it was better than sitting in his tent alone imagining the next horror they would face.
“A couple more days of brisk riding and we’ll be in Chulpe, right?” Nat asked.
Nat had cheered quickly after his private chat with Viola. It turned out that, although he would have preferred things differently, he was actually okay with her letdown. The boy had actually tried to cheer her up.
“I can handle that reason far better than if you had said it was because I was boring, or ugly, or not manly enough,” Nat had said when Viola had told him. “Turns out the opposite was the case. I can handle too manly,” he had said, grinning at her.
Now Viola found herself smiling as she looked at Nat across the fire. He had been so sweet with her, deflecting her rejection while trying to lift her mood. She was sure that someday, he’d find a good woman who’d return his affection.
“Yes, we sh
ould be,” Cass said sipping on some water.
“Chulpe,” Callan muttered under his breath.
“You don’t like Chulpe?” Cass asked.
“I don’t like their king,” Callan said.
“This isn’t going to be a problem is it? Because we’ll need the king’s permission to go through Coterman’s Pass,” Cass said.
“I don’t think so,” Callan said looking into the fire. “Officially our countries are on peaceful terms with each other, and have been for generations. We’re even involved in some mutually beneficial trade agreements. But he and I… we don’t see eye to eye. He thinks he’s charming. I disagree.”
“Out of curiosity, who do you think is charming,” Inez asked.
Callan answered without hesitation.
“My wife.”
“Hmm,” Inez said in reply. She watched the king over the smoldering fire as the group fell into a drowsy silence. Callan had been hoping for Nat to ask for a story since they finished their dinner, but the young lad seemed pre-occupied with something.
The one night I want to hear a story, the bloke decides to stay quiet, Callan thought to himself.
“Alright, if the boy won’t ask then I will. I’ve gotten used to hearing your stories. We don’t hear many stories about the gods at court, since most of the nobles think that’s for the rabble. But I’m beginning to think otherwise. Let’s here the story of a god. Anyone?” Callan’s request sounded more like an order.
To his surprise, it was Viola who spoke up.
“I’ve been thinking a lot about the Clear Men lately, since Cass told me about her last visit to my village. I used to think they were crazy, but I don’t know about that anymore,” Viola said.
“The Clear Men. Those fanatically chaste fellows, right? No, you’re right. They are crazy. You won’t change my mind about that,” Callan said.
“At least they don’t proselytize like the followers of Morte. They mostly stick to themselves,” Cass said.
“Doesn’t matter. Men who choose not to have sex, when they are perfectly capable of doing so? Definitely crazy,” Callan responded. “In any case, I thought we were going to hear a story about a god.”
“We are,” Viola said curtly, “if you would show a little patience. I’ll tell you about Porl, the god of the Clear Men. He’s the god of purity and strength. They are celibate because their god is. Porl is the son of Utena, the goddess of chastity.”
“Ha,” Callan said laughing, “Not very chaste then, is she?”
“No,” Viola said, “But she was for a long time, and would have been forever, but for Freesus. Freesus, the goddess of vengeance, well she thought Utena was arrogant, prideful about her purity. And Freesus wasn’t entirely wrong. Utena often derided the other gods for giving in to their emotions, for not controlling their desires, especially those that chose to rut with mortals. Freesus thought Utena needed to be knocked down a peg, so she conspired with Luteria, the goddess of love, to make Utena fall into temptation. Luteria charmed Kepsos, the god of stone, to fall in love with Utena. Stories differ about whether or not Luteria needed to charm Utena. Some say that Kepsos was so eloquent in professing his love for Utena that she simply gave in to her own emotions. Others say Luteria charmed Utena as well.
“Whichever is true, the outcome was the same. Utena spent a passionate night with Kepsos. Most tales say that when Kepsos woke the next morning Luteria’s charm had worn off, and he stormed out of Utena’s presence, angry for having been tricked and manipulated. He did not love Utena. Other stories say it was Utena who left, horrified by what she had been coerced into doing. But most people chalk that version up to followers of Porl. Some even claim that he manifested himself before his followers to give them that version of the story to spread, to cast his mother in a better light.
“The story I find rings truest is this. Utena woke the next morning to find her bed cold and empty. She thought she had lain with a man who loved her only to find that she, like many women, had been tricked by the man’s false protestations of love. When she gave birth to Porl, she felt the need to punish him. He was, after all, the result of lies and deceit. So she taught him the virtues of chastity, and stressed in him the importance of teaching this virtue to men. She taught him they were the weaker of the sexes, so pathetic that they traded in lies for the favors of women, who she said were naturally more strong willed, able to rule their libido and emotions, holding out for love rather than giving in to lust.
“Porl took his mother’s ideology to heart, and when he grew older he cultivated his own followers. He found that convincing men to live a life of chastity was difficult. So in order to bring them around to his philosophy, he promised them that if they lived their life in chastity, he would bless them with divine strength. But, if they ever gave in to lust, he would strip them of their powers,” Viola said, “and turn his gaze from them forever.”
Callan leaned back on his elbows, thinking.
“Sooo, they aren’t crazy because they get,” Callan said the next words mockingly, “divine strength? Isn’t that what we have warriors for? Couldn’t they just, well, train to be warriors? Without the chastity?”
“Some do it so they might become warriors,” Gunnarr said. “Not all who wish to be warriors are born with the strength to do it. I know a few Clear Men in the order. You wouldn’t know they were Porl worshippers just by looking at them. They are normal by any other standards. I don’t know if it is the passion of their convictions, or the handiwork of their god, but Porl worshippers are a tough lot. I wouldn’t want to brawl with any of them.”
“And,” added Viola, “unlike many other gods’ followers, they choose this life on their own, as adults. There are no children born to a Porl worshipper. Think of all the people out there who just accept the gods and customs they are born to unquestioningly. Girls in my village born with the power of enchanting are forced to go out and use their magic because we are told it is the way things are done. And we accept it because we are young. Then, when we have fully matured and have lost the power, we just accept the fact that we are to get married to the first available bachelor and start popping out babies because that’s just the way things are. We don’t get to choose our lives, they are chosen for us. Just allowing that to happen… I think that’s a lot crazier than soberly, clear-headedly choosing a philosophy to live your life by, even if it means being chaste. And it’s not the most insane idea I’ve ever heard.”
“I suppose,” Callan said.
He was finally beginning to feel sleep take him as he added, “But you have to admit that sex… is really, really nice, too.”
Viola watched as everyone around the fire nodded in agreement, some more enthusiastically than others. She sighed and crawled into her bedroll.
“Good night, everyone,” she said rolling over, trying to think chaste thoughts that didn’t involve a dripping Cass climbing out of a pond.
Chapter 10
The following day the group made their way back to the Jollia river and continued to follow it upstream. Eventually the Jollia merged with the Okala River on the other side of the Forest of No Return to form the mighty Tam River. Beyond where the two joined a patchwork of sandy islands stretched out towards the plains to the north of the forest.
“That sand bar is how all those spiders survive,” she pointed the natural land bridge out to the group, shouting to be heard over the sound of the rushing water.
The waters of both the Jollia and Okala were fast and dangerous where they joined, and they pushed noisily around the boulders that thrust up out of their waters. The rushing rapids tore around the little sandy bridge in thick, frothy eddies. The water churned so violently that large trees could be seen floating past, careening wildly off the boulders as the rivers tossed them about as if they were twigs.
“From the south,” Cass shouted, “this is the only place the migrating animals can cross to get at grazing lands north of here. So they’re forced to navigate the forest.”
; “You’d think,” Callan said shouting back, “that any animals stupid enough to continue going through the forest would be extinct by now. There must be thousands of spiders in there!”
“Yes, but there are hundreds of thousands of animals that migrate back and forth through the forest each year. Maybe more. The spiders picking off a few thousand each year as the various herds pass through hardly makes a dent. Each spider only takes one or two during each migration. They don’t move much, so some of the larger animals that come through, a single one could last them for months. By then, another migration will come through,” Cass shouted, “or an unwitting traveler of two.”
As they kept moving up the Tam it widened out and its waters began to calm. Whenever they stopped to drink and water their horses, Nat would immediately set to practicing his swordplay, much to Callan’s annoyance. Every time the young man started dancing and swiping about, Callan cringed, expecting the lad to lop off one of his ears by accident. Gunnarr had already managed to teach Nat a few basic forms as they travelled up the river, talking him through the stances and demonstrating the strikes as best he could while they were both mounted. Whenever they stopped, he’d then work through the forms with Nat in earnest, until the boy had it down well enough to practice on his own.
Once they’d travelled far enough upriver, far past the last of the rapids, they began to see large barges loaded with people out on the water. On each, a group of four men could be seen seated at the back of the barge, pedaling steadily at cranks that spun the huge paddle wheels that moved the barges. Even as far out from shore as the barges were, the party members could see it was hard work. The men pushing the pedals were grim faced, sweaty, and grimy. Their faces strained with every turn as their massive legs, acquired over a lifetime of ferrying people on the river, pumped in an uninterrupted, steady rhythm.