Chagrined, she heard her tone turn surly. “Have you people never heard of public announcements? A single statement from you would clarify what I am.”

“Is this what you would like me to do?”

She started to say, “Of course,” but his reasonableness gave her pause. And then it occurred to her that he still didn’t believe anything she’d told him about herself, that all she was as far as he was concerned was a challenge loser, and that was what he was being magnanimous in offering to announce, even after he’d told her how challenge losers were scorned and treated worse than captives.

“You really are a jerk sometimes, warrior,” she spat out before looking stonily ahead.

“Because I tease you? Announcements are made only for concerns of war, raids, or the safety of the town. They are never made for the sake of clarifying the status of a woman.”

“Because we’re so farden unimportant?”

“Because a woman’s status is of concern to no one but her protector and his household.”

“That’s not exactly true in my case, but I’m not going to belabor the point. Let me ask you this instead. What if one of these warriors you’re parading me before likes what he sees and wants to offer me double occupancy?”

“Double what?”

“The equivalent of a man and woman sharing their life together. The Sha-Ka’ari didn’t have a name for it because all their women are slaves, but you must call it something when two people join up for exclusive sex-sharing.”

That got a laugh from him, which she didn’t appreciate. “Yes, we have such unions. But you are bound as a captive would be, and captives are rarely offered such union.”

She had a feeling this was the reason he broke only the one rule for her. He didn’t want to be bothered by offers for her that would require the explanation of her true status.

“So I don’t keep harping on this, why don’t you give me the whole of it for once? Sorting out these subtle little differences between your women is driving me nuts, especially the difference between claimed and captive, which only seems to be the matter of a farden rope about the wrists.”

“A woman claimed is one who had no protector. Is she offered for, she becomes a free woman with all rights returned to her. A captive is one who is taken from her protector; thus is her stay to be considered only temporary.”

“Why?”

“This should be obvious, woman. If she is desirable enough to be taken captive, it is almost a certainty her true protector will seek her return, either by theft or by purchase. Thus would a warrior think long and hard before offering for a woman who is likely to be stolen from him, whom he must then steal back again if he still wants her, and such can go on indefinitely, year after year.”

“You mean you mighty warriors would rather play tug-of-war with the poor woman than settle the matter with swords?”

“Women are not fought over, kerima. ”

“Oh, excuse me. I keep forgetting how unimportant we are.”

“Warriors have enough reasons to fight without adding-”

“Forget it, Challen,” she interrupted coldly, though she wasn’t certain why his words upset her. “Explanations aren’t going to improve on that statement. Even we Kystrani, who think nothing of sharing sex with a different partner every day, still occasionally fight over a woman, or a man, for that matter. Not to the death. That would go against the laws of Life Appreciation. But we get the matter settled. So I commend you for having conquered such a basic emotion as jealousy. Few other cultures can say the same.”

If she hoped he would tell her she had somehow misunderstood, she was doomed to disappointment. He said nothing more, so she didn’t either, brooding instead on this unusual revelation. From what she had observed so far, it could well be that barbarians lacked many of the more frustrating emotions suffered by the humanoid species, such as anger, jealousy, disappointment, exasperation. And if that were so, then mightn’t they also lack some of the nicer ones-such as love? Did they have living down to the animal instinct of survival, procreation, and nothing more? But they did possess humor, a purely human emotion. She clung to that thought.

Chapter Nineteen

Tedra’s mood perked up a bit when they made a turn and there at the end of the new street was the white castle. It was set behind high walls of the same white stone, with a wide arched gateway spanning the street and presently open to the public. It was an opportunity she couldn’t pass up, for who knew when she’d find another?

“Why don’t we stop by and pay our respects to your shodan before you take me to your home, Challen? I’d really like to meet him.”

“Why?”

The question was a mere formality, since they both knew he already knew the answer. So she didn’t feel she had to spell it out, just offer reassurance.

“I promise I won’t mention a word about my origins, trade deals, or mutual benefits. I just want to meet him.”

“Is your promise as good as your sworn word?”

“Good enough,” she replied indignantly, annoyed to have her integrity again questioned. “I’ll even swear to be a model of Kan-is-Tran womanhood, obedient to the letter.”

“For that alone I would grant your request.”

“Very funny,” she retorted.

He must have thought so, for he was chuckling as they passed under the arched gateway. Tedra ignored him, her interest caught by the goings-on inside the wide walled-in yard that circled the castle, and her first close-up glimpse of the castle itself. It really was a spread-out conglomeration of uniqueness, with different-shaped rooms or buildings sitting one on top of another, with square or round towers separating or flanking them, or simply open spaces between that could be roof decks or upper courts. The castle climbed, almost in pyramid fashion, with the tallest, conical-roofed tower at the center.

There was a long rectangular building at the front of the castle that faced the gate, with a flat, crenelated roof that could be considered battlements. Six wide steps stretched across the whole front of this building so they could be climbed from any point, but they led only to a single set of double doors made of, if she wasn’t mistaken, Toreno steel.

Likely there were other ways of getting inside such a large structure, but Tedra didn’t see them right off. The doors were closed. Two warriors stood at attention on either side of them, and this was where Challen rode to. But other people who had come through the gate, either on hataari or driving vehicles pulled by large beasts of burden and laden with foodstuffs or goods, were all heading around toward the back of the castle.

There was a stable in the front yard, with a large fenced and partially shaded area beside it that contained a dozen or so unburdened hataari feeding from big troughs. Tedra actually recognized a few, or thought she did-Tamiron’s animal, for one. But she was almost surprised into not mentioning it by her first sight of a small man coming quickly across the yard to them. He wasn’t really small, just not warrior material by any means. Nor did he wear leather like a warrior, but a thin white material in both pants and shirt that looked cool and comfortable, but was otherwise unremarkable.

This could be no other than a Darash male of the servant class Challen had mentioned, and one who apparently worked in the stable, for it was the hataar he was after. He didn’t speak, but he didn’t behave in a cowed or servile manner either. Challen got a nod and a smile from him. Tedra didn’t even get a curious glance, bare legs and feet or not.

She found that unusual enough to ask Challen, “He’s not interested in women?”

“In Darash women, yes,” the warrior replied easily. “All others are forbidden him.”