I’d better not talk much. Among themselves, at least, they don’t use the euphemisms thought polite for women!
She noticed, too, that a roughly printed sign hung on the outside of the latrine the women had preempted, warning the men away. The trained anthropologist made another assumption at the back of her mind: They expect me to know how to read. And some of them, at least, can write. That, too, was a faint shock.
“Here, come and eat.” Sherna ladled hot soup into Magda’s own cup; divided one of the roast birds with a knife and handed her a share. Like the others, Magda sat on her unrolled blankets to eat. She told herself not to be nervous; she had eaten in Darkovan company often enough before this.
The Amazon Jaelle had pointed out as Gwennis- Magda thought she must be about thirty, a slender pretty woman in a blue linen under tunic asked, “May we know the nature of your mission, Margali, if it is not secret?”
Magda had begun to suspect that among strange bands of Amazons this kind of polite interrogation was customary. In any case, after accepting the invitation to share their fire and meal, she could not retreat into churlish silence. I was a damn fool. I should have camped in the woods. But outside the walls of the shelter she could still hear the howling of the storm, giving her the lie.
“It is not secret, no; but it is a family matter of my patroness.”
Rayna, a tall, slender woman with hair so curly that it frizzled all about her head like a small halo in the firelight, said, “And no doubt you will be proud to name her for us?”
Lady Rohana foresaw this. Bless her; I’d never have dared to name her without her permission. “It is my privilege to serve the Lady Rohana Ardais on a mission to Sain Scarp.”
Camilla, who was sitting next to Jaelle on her rolled-out blankets, pursed her lips and glanced quickly at the rough-looking men, now sitting around their fire and talking loudly as they gobbled food from a big kettle.
Magda thought, Can those men be bandits? Is it possible they are from Sain Scarp? The thought set her to prickling with her “hunch” again; she did not hear Jaelle speaking to her and had to ask her to repeat what she had said.
“I said: the Lady Rohana, is she still so very lame from that fall she took from her horse? Poor old woman, and so soon after losing her husband, too; “what a tragedy!”
After an incredulous moment, Magda realized what was happening. Nothing to do but brazen it out boldly. She set down her plate with a good display of offended pride.
“You have had later news than mine, or you are testing me, sister.” She spoke the customary address with heavy irony. “When last I saw the Lady Rohana ‘she was hearty and strong, and to call her old would have been grave insult; I do not think she is twenty years older than I. As for her husband”-she rummaged quickly in her mind for his name-“I have not been privileged to meet dom Gabriel, but she spoke of him as alive and well. Or is there another Lady Rohana in the Ardais Domain whom I have not been privileged to know and serve?”
Jaelle’s lovely face looked troubled now, and contrite. She said, “You must not be angry with me, Margali; the Lady Rohana is my kinswoman, and the only one of my kin who has been kind to the family disgrace. As you can guess, her honor is dear to me, and I would not hear her name bandied about without her leave. I beg you, give me pardon.”
Magda said stiffly, “You had better see the safe-conduct I carry.”
“Oh, please”-Jaelle looked very young now- “don’t trouble yourself. Sherna, pour her some wine. Drink with us, Margali. Don’t be angry!”
Magda accepted the wine, sweat breaking out on her palms; she wiped them furtively on her tunic. Just my luck. But I managed that one. What else are they going to throw at me? She sipped the wine, nibbling at some sweets and the nuts Rayna was passing around; they had been pickled in something tart and highly spiced, and she noticed that Jaelle, who had refused Magda’s confectionery, ate the spiced nuts with relish.