She smiled at him before she spoke, and her teeth were strong and even. “I haven’t seen you before. Where’ve you been?”
Suddenly Macurdy felt stupid. He couldn’t tell the truth, it seemed to him, yet anything else would sound lame. “Visiting a couple shamans,” he said.
“Shamans? On Six-Day evening?”
“When else?”
She cocked a critical eye at him. “My name is Melody.”
Melody. With a sword and knife, fully clothed at an orgy. “Mine’s Macurdy,”
“Macurdy? Never heard of a name like that. And you’ve got an accent. Where are you from?”
“I came here from Wolf Springs. Before that—I came from a far place.”
“Sit down,” she said, and motioned to a long bench built along the south wall. They went to it, and sat side by side. “Wolf Springs sends more than their share of Heroes,” she said. “My dad’s from Wolf Springs, and got my mother pregnant with me. She was a spear maiden too. Now tell me about this far place.”
Without examining the wisdom of it, Macurdy began to talk on the premise that truth is usually safer than lies. “You’ve heard of the wizard gate there?”
She frowned. “Sure. What about it?”
“I came through it.”
“Are you lying to me?”
“Nope. I came through a year ago. Got made a slave, and then the shaman’s apprentice, till he found out I didn’t have a healing touch. So he had me put in the militia. Now I’m here.”
“A slave in the Heroes! I never heard of such a thing. You must be something, to have gotten sent here.”
While they’d talked, a grinning Jeremid had come over with a slave girl, one of his hands kneading a breast. “He’s a Hero, all right. We got a big jaguar up a tree today, and he climbed up and chased it down! It’s true! Better grab him, Melody. He’s going to be one of the all-time best!” He led his partner to his sleeping pad then, where she began undressing him. From nearby came the urgent, passionate grunts of some Hero’s orgasm.
“This place gets me horny,” Melody said, and getting up, sat astride Macurdy’s lap, her face in his. “Let’s you and I get acquainted. Where’s your bed sack?”
“Uh, Melody, I’m married.”
“Married!? They don’t send married men here.”
“Married on the other side. Through the gate.”
Both her eyebrows raised. “On the other side doesn’t count,” she said. “The gate is one way. Guys have tried to go through it, but no one’s made it except Sisters. Like swimming against a strong current, and the closer they got, the stronger it got.” She put her arms around Macurdy’s neck and kissed him, soft and moist, lingering. “The other side’s lost to you, Macurdy,” she murmured. “While I’m here, and I like you. I want to try you out. Who knows? Maybe I’ll marry you.”
He reminded himself to breathe. This woman was a lot more enticing, compelling, than the big blond. “I promised her to take no other woman as long as we both shall live.”
She stared. “Even when she’s somewhere else? Why would you promise such a thing?”
“It’s part of the marriage agreement.”
Melody frowned. “Crazy! Do the men there actually live up to it?”
“Most of them.”
She kissed him again. “Think about it,” she said. “Think about us naked on your bed.” She got graphic then, describing sound, sight, and feel. Taking a long quavering breath, he put a hand on her shoulder. “Please,” he said. “You’re making this hard for me.”
She laughed. “That’s how we want it. The harder, the better.”
“I’m not the one for you. Really. I’d like to be, but my wife is on this side too.” It occurred to him that he might be saying too much, but he went on. “She got stolen and brought through. That’s why I came through. And I love her more than my life. If I ever have a chance, I’ll find her.”
Melody stood up frowning. “Macurdy, you’re a strange one, no doubt about it.” She backed away a step. “I’ll ask you again sometime. I don’t give up easily.” She turned then and walked away, his eyes following her to the door. When she reached it, she stopped and looked back, as if to see if he’d changed his mind and followed her. Instead he waved, once. She turned away again and disappeared.