‘We finished it yesterday.’
‘But I promised her some.’
Glendrin shook his head. ‘Then I would imagine she will despise you for the rest of your life,’ said the red-headed priest.
‘Fool!’ replied Ekodas, placing a jug of water and a clay goblet upon the tray.
‘Do not be too long with her,’ advised Glendrin. Ekodas did not reply.
Leaving the heat of the kitchen he climbed the cold stone stairwell and made his way to Shia’s room. Balancing the tray on his left arm he opened the door. The Nadir woman was asleep on the floor before the dead fire, her head resting on her elbow, her legs drawn up, her body bathed in the last of the moonlight.
‘Good morning,’ said Ekodas. She gave a low groan, stretched, then sat. Her hair was unbraided now, hanging dark and lustrous to her shoulders. ‘I have some breakfast for you.’
‘Did you dream of me?’ she asked, her voice husky from sleep.
‘There is no apple juice,’ he told her. ‘But the water is fresh and cold.’
‘Then you did, prayer-man. Were they good dreams?’
‘You should not speak this way to a priest,’ he admonished her.
She laughed at him, and his face reddened. ‘You kol-isha are a strange people.’ Rising smoothly she walked to the bed, sitting cross-legged upon it. Taking the loaf she tore off a chunk and tasted it. ‘Needs salt,’ she said. He poured her a goblet of water and passed it to her. Her hand reached out, her fingers stroking his skin. ‘Soft hands,’ she whispered. ‘Soft skin. Like a child.’ Then she took the goblet and sipped the water.
‘Why did you come here?’ he asked.
‘You brought me,’ she told him, dipping her finger into the bowl of butter and licking it.
‘Were you sent?’
‘Yes. By my shaman, Kesa Khan. To fetch my brother home. But you know this.’
‘Yes, but I just wondered
‘Wondered what?’
‘Ah, it does not matter. Enjoy your breakfast. The Abbot will see you before you leave. He will tell you where to find Belash.’
‘There is still time, prayer-man,’ she whispered, reaching out and taking his hand. He snatched it back.
‘Please do not speak like this,’ he pleaded. ‘I find you… very unsettling.’
‘You desire me.’ It was a statement, accompanied by a smile.
Ekodas closed his eyes for a moment, struggling to compose his thoughts. ‘Yes. But that in itself is not a sin, I believe.’
‘Sin?’
‘A wrong action … like a crime.’
‘Like stealing the pony of your brother?’ she enquired.
‘Yes, exactly. That would be a sin. Indeed any theft, or lie, or malicious action is a sin.’
She nodded slowly. ‘Why then is lovemaking a sin? Where is the theft? The lie? Or the malice?’
‘It does not have to be just these actions,’ he said, his voice close to a stammer. ‘It is also the breaking of rules, or oaths. Each of us here made a promise to the Source. It would be breaking that promise.’
‘Did your god ask you to make this promise?’
‘No, but…’
‘Then who did?’
He spread his hands. ‘It is a part of our tradition. You understand? Rules made by holy men many centuries ago.’
‘Ah, it is in the writings, then.’
‘Exactly so.’
‘We have no writings,’ she said brightly. ‘So we live and laugh, we make love and we fight. No diseases of the belly, no head pains, no bad dreams. Our god speaks to us from the land, not in writings.’
‘It is the same god,’ he assured her.
She shook her head. ‘No, prayer-man, I don’t think so. Our god is strong.’
‘Will he save your people from the Gothir?’ snapped Ekodas, before he could stop himself. ‘I’m sorry! It was a thoughtless question. Please forgive me.’
‘There is nothing to forgive, for you do not understand, Ekodas. Our god is the land, and the land makes us strong. We will fight. And we will either conquer or die. It does not matter to the land whether we win or lose, for alive or dead we are at one with it. The Nadir are the land.’
‘Can you win?’ he asked softly.