It was the custom, Kurt resolved to himself, and nerved himself to face the chill air and the cold stone floor, when he had planned a far warmer and more pleasant morning.
He joined Mim in the bath and she washed his back for him, making clouds of comfortable steam with the warm water, laughing and not at all caring that the water soaked her dressing gown.
She was content with him.
At times the warmth in her eyes or the lingering touch of her fingers said she was more than content.
The hardest thing that faced them was to go down the stairs into the rhmei, at which Mim actually trembled. Kurt took her arm and would have brought her down with his support, but the idea shocked her. She shook free of him and walked like a proper nemet lady, independently behind him down the stairs.
The guests and family met them at the foot of the steps and brought them into the rhmei with much laughter and with ribald jokes that Kurt would not have believed possible from the modest nemet. He was almost angry, but when Mim laughed he knew that it was proper, and forgave them.
After the round of greetings, Aimu came and served the morning tea, hot and sweet, and the elders sat in chairs while the younger people, Kurt and Mim included, and Hef, who was chart, sat on rugs on the floor and drank their tea and listened to the elders talk. Kta played one haunting song for them on the aos, without words, but just for listening and for being still.
Mim would be honored in the house and exempt from duties for the next few days, after which time she would again take her share with Ptas and Aimu; she sat now and accepted the attentions and the compliments and the good wishes. Mim, who had never expected to be more than a minor concubine to the lord of Elas, accepted with private vows and scant legitimacy-now she was the center of everything.
It was her hour.
Kurt begrudged her none of it, even the nemet humor. He looked down at her and saw her face alight with pride and happiness-and love, which she would have given with lesser vows had he insisted. He smiled back and pressed her hand, which the. others kindly did not elect to make joke of at that moment.
X
Ten days passed before the outside world intruded again into the house of Elas.
It came in the person of Bel t’Osanef u Han, who arrived, escorted by Mim, in the garden at the rear of the house;, there Kta was instructing Kurt in the art of the ypan, the narrow curved longsword that was the Indras’ favorite weapon and chief sport.
Kurt saw Bel come into the garden and turned his blade and held it in both hands to signal halt. Kta checked himself in mid-strike and turned his head to see the reason of the pause. Then with the elaborate ritual that governed the friendly use of these edged weapons, Kta touched his left hand to his sword and bowed, which Kurt returned, The nemet believed such ritual was necessary to maintain balance of soul between friends who contended hi sport, and distrusted the blades* In the houses of the Families resided the ypai-sulim, the Great Weapons which had been dedicated in awful ceremony to the house Guardians and bathed in blood. These were never drawn unless a man had determined to kill or to die, and could not be sheathed again until they had taken a life. Even these light foils must be handled carefully, lest the ever-watchful house spirits mistake someone’s intent and cause blood to be drawn.
Once it had been death to the Sufaki to touch these lesser weapons, or even to look at the ypai-sulim where they hung at rest, so that fencing was an art the Sufaki had never employed. They were skilled with the spear and the bow, distance weapons.
Bel waited at a respectful distance until the weapons were safely sheathed and laid aside, and then came forward and bowed.
“My lords,” said Mim, “shall I bring tea?”