The males returned in good spirits, laughing with one another as they stamped the snow from their foot coverings, and hung their body furs upon the wall. All was now prepared for the journey, it seemed, which would begin with the first, faint touches of the new light, and both males appeared anxious to begin. Ceralt carried rolled up leather which he placed beside him upon his lenga pelt, and did not return his attention to it till we had fed. Again I had been knelt before him to feed, and when he had seen the last of the grilled meat and vegetables within me, he put his board and pot aside.
“Telion and I have brought you a gift,” said he with a grin, reaching for the rolled up leather. “Remove your garment, and we shall see how well it becomes you.”
I knew not what he was about and cared little for his humor, yet there was naught I might do save obey. When my copper belt and leather garment lay upon the floor, he unrolled the leather and produced a breech, body covering and leg coverings such as those he wore. The garments seemed odd to me, and he chuckled as he held them out.
“Go on, take them,” he urged, his eyes measuring my body. “They should be a passable fit, and better than the other wenches will find. They are not as long of leg as you, and few of my riders fail to top them by less than four hands. The poor wenches are sure to be dismayed, yet one cannot ride a lanthay in a skirt.”
“At least, not the sort of skirt your village women wear,” Telion put in as I took the breech from Ceralt’s hand. “The skirting of Jalav’s wenches seemed no hindrance at all.”
“They would also be no hindrance to freezing solid,” Ceralt added with a laugh. “No matter how attractive the style, it becomes highly impractical outside of their own lands.” His eyes followed my motions as I first donned breech and body leather, then slipped into the leg coverings, which were secured to the breech at either side of my body at the hips. The leg coverings were somewhat long, yet otherwise fit well, and with all in place, it was easily seen that the fur body covering worn without the dwelling would fall to a place upon my thigh below the junction of breech and leg covering. In such a way would the chill winds be kept from my flesh, while avoiding the confinement of my previous garment. The new leather pleased me, and I smiled a bit realizing that freedom was beginning to return to me. Mida had spoken, and her warrior would soon find release.
“Do not grow too fond of such trappings,” Ceralt’s voice came, and I looked down to see that his eyes were upon me, a hardness in them even though his face wore an easy smile. “When we return from this journey, you will return to the garments of a woman, for that is what you are. A woman. Clear the plates and prepare my furs, for the new fey brings an early beginning.”
I stood no more than a moment before turning to do his bidding, yet it must surely have been with Mida’s aid that I controlled my fury. Stiffly, I took the boards and pots to the hearth, yet my mind knew naught of what my hands did. You are a woman, he had said, no more than a lowly female, he had meant, and the thought drove my rage so high that I trembled in an effort to contain it. Aye, Jalav was female enough, yet was she also a warrior of Mida, a war leader of the Hosta. Ceralt knew well enough of the former, yet come the fey my chains were struck away, then, then! he would learn well of the latter! Never had I raised weapon to Ceralt, and much had I believed that I would find myself unable to do so, yet the passing feyd made the thought of such a doing more and more pleasant.
I did as I had been bidden to do, and fumed all the while, and at last all was seen to and my anger somewhat cooled. When I returned from drawing the leather through the door, Telion already lay within his furs, as did Ceralt. I had earlier heard my use being offered once more to Telion, yet the male had refused, saying he had greater need of what sleep he might find, so I was therefore gestured to Ceralt’s furs. My mind felt great reluctance when I knelt beside him, yet my body quivered when he drew me close and put his lips upon mine. Such insanity it was, this desire of my body and hate of my mind, the pulling and tugging of each emotion threatening to tear me asunder with its violence. I shivered and fought the conflict within me till I was weak with the effort; then Ceralt’s hands stilled the conflict with almost no effort at all. I was his once more, body and mind, and I wept within at the ease with which he claimed me. When his use was done, and I lay in his arms, I prayed to Mida to set matters right, although as I lay against that broad chest and hard male body, I knew not how it might be done.
12
A journey is begun—and a secret is learned
The fey had not yet truly begun when we left Ceralt’s dwelling. A deep cold rode the air heavily, but the lack of wind left the cold bearable. Some few light clouds floated upon the still-dark sky, and white breath-streams flew from our noses and mouths as we crunched along upon the mounded snow. So lightly and so gently had the snow fallen, yet it had in some manner hardened upon the ground so that one might walk upon it, yet this hardness was not to be found everywhere. As I moved slowly and carefully between Telion and Ceralt, my hands covered by leather and fur in a device termed “gloves,” my fur-clad right foot suddenly penetrated the snow mound to mid-calf depth. Had Ceralt not quickly grasped my arm to steady me, I would surely have sprawled upon the hard, treacherous snow, unknowing victim to its snares. I retrieved my foot and steadied my stance, and we continued across the nearly empty village toward the lanthay enclosure, yet I no longer looked about me at the skies and dwellings. My gaze was solely for where I put my feet, and I no longer found innocence in the whiteness of the snow.
The lanthay enclosure was as well tenanted as the rest of the village was empty, for two hands of males and a like number of females awaited us amid lanthay which were either heavily laden or bridled in preparation to be ridden. Ceralt greeted the males cheerfully then looked about himself, seemingly seeking one who was not there. I knew not who he might be seeking till further crunching sounds came, and all turned to observe the arrival of Lialt, accompanied by a saddened Tarla. Lialt paused a length from the enclosure to give Tarla his lips, then left her to stand alone as he came up to us.
“I am now prepared to depart,” he announced as he entered the enclosure. “Why do you all stand about here as though there is time to be wasted?”
Upon hearing this, the males laughed aloud, and Ceralt shook his head with a grin. “We await the arrival of one who has grown too fond of his furs,” he informed Lialt and folded his arms. “Should our Pathfinder have become too old and infirm to arrive at an appointed time, perhaps it would be best if he were left behind us.”
“All bow to the will of the High Rider,” Lialt intoned solemnly, his light eyes in no way embarrassed, “yet without the Pathfinder, the High Rider may well find himself riding in circles. Should this be his wish, who am I to oppose him?”
Lialt’s deference was betrayed by the gleam of amusement he showed, and Ceralt laughed aloud and clapped his shoulder.
“The Serene Oneness protect me from those who will not oppose me,” he chuckled. “Take yourself to your lanthay, brother, and let us be on our way before the mid-fey meal is upon us.”
Lialt returned the grin and the shoulder clap, and all within the enclosure then sought mounts, a doing which proved most interesting. The males, I knew, were well acquainted with the white-furred lanthay, yet the females proved to be much in awe of them. Clad in the leathers of males, they stood about staring nervously at the enormous mounts, obviously filled with little desire for taking seat upon any of them. The males each caught up the rein of a lanthay and gestured their females to them, and then began a battle consisting of calming the lanthay, calming the female, quieting the lanthay to be mounted, and raising the females to their backs. One or two males accomplished this easily, yet most found the need to call down the wrath of Sigurr upon the heads of lanthay and female alike. Males cursed, lanthay squealed and reared, females howled and backed, and I laughed as I had not laughed in many a fey. The males, in imagined superiority, had kept their females from a knowledge of riding, and now reaped what they had sown. Warriors were not well thought of by village males, yet warriors would not have feared the nearness of the beasts.