“Welcome, wetlander.”
“I am Knobil.”
“I know.” She reached a hand for the door and glanced at her guards. “Ah-uhu? Wash him and bring him in when he is ready.” Then she was gone.
I did not know which was Ah-uhu and which Um-oao, but when one said “Strip!” I stripped. The other had leapt from the porch with a force that had shaken the whole building, sprinting away across the compound. Soon he came running back, bearing a huge steaming bucket in each hand.
These human mountains were as large as some herdmen I had known, and they obviously enjoyed favored status in the spinster s retinue. Yet they now proceeded to play body servant to me, sponging me vigorously with hot water and rubbing suds in my hair and beard. One of them even screwed a massive fingertip around inside my ears until I thought my brains would squirt out. They dried me with soft towels and trimmed the nails on my fingers and toes. They rubbed me all over with scented oil. Not a word was spoken until they were finished. Then one of them reached out to open the door and growled, “Go in!”
“But I have no clothes!” I protested weakly.
He stared down at me with both contempt and disbelief.
I went in to meet the spinster.
—3—
THE ROOM WAS LARGE and bright and high-roofed, constructed of massive timbers. A glimpse through the far windows revealed another wide expanse of mud, more of the pot-shaped huts, and part of the incomplete stockade, so I knew this palace must stand in the exact center of the compound. Before me were thick rugs and many gaudy, shiny things scattered around. Yet little of it registered, for my mind was quivering with apprehension at meeting the fearsome spinster. My eyes soon fixed themselves on her.
She was reclining on an expanse of rugs and cushions in the center of the floor, an island of turquoise, vermilion, and bronze. Beside her on a very low table were silver dishes of fruits and breads, bottles and goblets of gold, and plates of brightly colored sweetmeats.
I stopped to stare, and my buttocks received a slap hard enough to make me stagger.
“Go to her!” growled the giant behind me. Unwillingly I began to roll forward in my stiff-kneed gait, aware that he had closed the door and taken up station beside it. The other, I assumed, had stayed outside.
Ayasseshas was wearing only her butterflies and her tattoos. As I approached, she stretched out languorously, reaching for a gold fruit from the table, while the snakes seemed to slither over her smooth brown curves. She bit into the fleshy globe, juice gleaming on her lips, and she looked up at me with a glance of challenge.
I had spent most of my adult life penned like an animal in the ants’ compound, so my own nudity bothered me little. Yet hers did. Many times I had drawn near to a naked woman and always with eagerness, always with every intention of taking from her as much pleasure as my stamina would allow. There was a peculiarly sinister fascination in those ribbons of color on Ayasseshas’s body, and she was a luscious, imposing woman, strong and tempting. She could hardly have been more obviously available. She would be a stimulating partner, inventive in cooperation, tantalizing in opposition, and uncomplaining in subjugation. Yet now I came to a halt at her feet, nonplussed, feeling a revulsion that could have been no greater had she been clad in real serpents.
My reluctance seemed to surprise her as much as it did me. “Sit here, Knobil,” she said, patting a cushion at her side. “We shall get to know each other…intimately.” She sent me a smile that again seemed oddly forced. A skilled seductress should be able to smile better than that.
“What do you require of me, woman?”
She frowned, leaned back, and stared up at me appraisingly.
“You cannot venture a guess? Most of my visitors, when in your situation, are already displaying a certain readiness to satisfy my requirements.”
“Obviously I am not, although I mean no disrespect.”
She sighed. “Well, we can talk. Now sit, or I shall have Um-oao assist you.”
I let myself fall forward onto the pillows, and then I rolled over and sat up. She turned to lean on one elbow, facing me. Her scent was strong and musky, yet even her nearness was inducing no desire in me.
She stroked my thigh with a gentle finger. “You are not quite as pale as Quetti yet, but you are very fair, wetlander.”
“I was raised as a herdman.”
“Indeed? Do herdmen prefer a more subtle approach?”
“To be honest, they wouldn’t know subtlety from rape, nor care. The fault is not yours, lady. You are comely.”
Ayasseshas sighed again. “Then we must be patient. Tell me your story while we wait, herdman.”
She was dangerous, and I was utterly in her power. To anger her further would be great folly, so I obeyed, recounting my history. She watched me carefully as I spoke.
“Poor man! Well, you are safe here.” She sat up also, brazenly cross-legged. “Can I offer you refreshment now?”
The sight of food on the table had already made my mouth water, but I was deeply suspicious. “Thank you, no. Mistress, tell me again what you want of me.”
“Again I say that it is obvious.” For the first time she revealed her teeth. They were large and white, but badly placed, protruding in front, and crooked. I realized that the enigmatic quality of her smile was merely an attempt to conceal this flaw in her beauty.
“You did not give the traders so much silk just for one more bed partner, when you have so many already.”
“But golden hair excites me.” She ran her fingers down my chest. “No salutes yet? I do begin to feel slighted, Knobil.”
I had flinched at her touch. “I have no wish to insult you, lady. My lack of response is not deliberate.”
“But why? Your tastes do not run to Um-oao, surely?”
“Certainly not!”
“Quetti would be a safer choice?”
“Neither of them!”
She laughed, and I discovered that I had just smiled.
“You must have lain with women before?”
I had lain with hundreds, but I merely said, “Yes.”
“Is it fear that troubles you? Are you afraid of me?”
“Perhaps. I do not know what horrors you have in store.”
She frowned. “No horrors! As you guessed, I paid dearly for you, so I will cherish and guard you. Of course I hope that you will choose to remain in my service, but any small tasks you may agree to perform for me will be entirely voluntary. You are certainly in no danger at the moment…unless your callous rejection should rouse my wrath, of course?” She raised a mocking eyebrow and again displayed her dagger teeth.
Ayasseshas was a skilled manipulator of men. She was running through her repertoire, seeking what would work best on me.
“I see that,” I admitted. “I am not a brave man, lady, and I do not mean to defy you. I do not think it is fear.”
She glanced toward the giant by the door. “Is it Um-oao? I promise you that he is not here to chaperone me. Do as you will with me, Knobil. He will interfere only if he thinks I am in danger of serious injury. He has never restrained an overly ardent lover yet, although an enthusiastic snakeman treats a woman much as his constrictor treats its prey.”
An audience would not deter me. “Not he.”
“You love another?”
“I do.” Misi had betrayed me, yet I loved her still.
The spinster pouted. “She is fairer than I?”
Misi was ugly. She was obscenely fat and hairy, and I knew that. Yet had she been in Ayasseshas’s place, I should have clasped her to me in rapture. “No, lady, she is less fair than you.”