Naamah's Curse - Jacqueline Carey [122]
I smiled sweetly at him. “Which is to the good, since it was a piece of Naamah’s business that does not concern you.”
Aleksei shook his head. “That’s an aspect of D’Angeline culture I cannot embrace. It is unnatural, and a point on which the scriptures are very clear.”
“Oh, aye.” I dipped a piece of brown bread into my stew. “I recall. A man shall not lie with another man as with a woman, or he shall be put to death. I expect that was written by a man who was used badly in his youth. But that is why there must always be consent on both sides of a union. You understand that is a sacred tenet in Terre d’Ange?”
“Yes, but—”
“But what?” I ate my bread. “No doubt sodomy is a vile and painful experience if it is forced. That does not make the act sinful in and of itself, nor does it mean it cannot be pleasant if done willingly and properly… Aleksei, your mouth is agape.”
“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