‘You asked questions of me – may I ask one of you?’
‘I’ll answer if I can.’
‘Bauchle Meyne – if he hadn’t behaved so stupidly, he could have killed me. But
he taunted me till I recovered myself. He made himself vulnerable to me. His
friend knew I had a knife, but he attacked me unarmed. I’ve been trying to
understand what happened, but it makes no sense.’
Lythande drew a deep breath. ‘Westerly,’ she said, ‘I wish you had never come to
Sanctuary. You escaped for the same reason that I first chose to appear as I now
must remain.’
‘I still don’t understand.’
‘They never expected you to fight. To struggle a little, perhaps, just enough to
excite them. They expected you to acquiesce to their wishes whether it was to
beat you, to rape you, or to kill you. Women in Sanctuary are not trained to
fight. They are taught that their only power lies in their ability to please, in
bed and in flattery. Some few excel. Most survive.’
‘And the rest?’
“The rest are killed for their insolence. Or-‘ She smiled bitterly and gestured
to herself. ‘Some few … find their talents are stronger in other areas.’
‘But why do you put up with it?’
‘That is the way it is. Westerly. Some would say that is the way it must be
that it is ordained.’
‘It isn’t that way in Kaimas.’ Just speaking the name of her home made her want
to return. ‘Who ordains it?’
‘Why, my dear,’ Lythande said sardonically, ‘the gods.’
‘Then you should rid yourselves of gods.’
Lythande arched one eyebrow. ‘You should, perhaps, keep such ideas to yourself
in Sanctuary. The gods’ priests are powerful.’ She drew her hand up the side of