"Calligraphy?"
"A very beautiful form of handwriting."
"Ah, and what else?"
Leila smiled to herself. "One of my favoritepastimes is to write poetry."
"Really! Then we share a common interest. I, too,compose poetry."
Thoroughly astonished, Leila twisted slightly andlooked up at him. The warmth in his startling blue eyes made her heart jump. "Youdo?"
"Knights do know how to read and write, my lady,though perhaps they have little time for it," Guy explained, smilingwryly. "I have been working on a book of poems for years. Many knightscompose verses, especially those inspired from youth by heroic legends of thepast. My education was more extensive than most, by my own choice. My passionfor studying used to irritateRanulfto no end, buthe allowed it because I excelled on the training field."
Leila's curiosity was fired by these revelations.
She could hardly believe it! She would never havethought this barbarian would have a scholarly bone in his massive body, nor thesheer love of creative expression that poetry demanded. She actually feltchagrin at the blind prejudice she had nurtured. How strange that she hadn'tguessed from his innate intelligence that there was much more to him than brutestrength. So much more.
"What subjects did you study?" she asked,flushing as he stared into her eyes.
"Mathematics, astronomy, Latin."
"I've studied some Latin. Friar Thomas at ourchurch in the Christian quarter of Damascus taught me."
Friar Thomas, Guy thought. The man who had helped themfleethe city. Maybe Leila had already guessed the friar'sconnection with their escape, but he wasn't about to mention it to her now.Such information would only disrupt this enjoyable exchange. There were otherquestions he wanted to ask her, but he feared they, too, might anger her. Yethis curiosity could not be contained, nor the jealousy that had been gnawing athim since the nighthe hadfirst kissed her.
"Who taught you the sensual arts, Leila?" Hisgaze fell to her lips, so red and moist, and his jealousy became acute. Theimage of a dark-haired, dark-eyed man caressing and kissing her body was morethan he could bear. "How did you learn to kiss as you do? Surely you had aman as your teacher?"
Her eyes widened, and she gasped softly, turning backto the river as if he had insulted her. "Harems are not brothels, Lord deWarenne. No man is allowed inside save for the master ofthe house."
Guy stiffened. By God, was she saying that her adoptedfather had—
"Majidataught me."
"Majida?"
"My mother's odalisque."
"You mean the slave woman I saw in Lady Eve'sapartments?"
"Yes," came her small answer, and Guyregretted again his thoughtlessness, knowing he had dredged up painfulmemories. He was surprised when she continued at all.
"BeforeMajidawas soldinto my father's house, she was a concubine in a harem in Constantinople. WhenI came of age after my first flux, she became my teacher, educating me in theways of men and women. First we would study a book together,thenshe would demonstrate the technique upon a eunuch slave." She shruggedalmost imperceptibly. "Then I would try."
"A eunuch?" Guy asked incredulously. "Butit was my understanding that they couldn't . . ."Hestopped, not wanting to be crude.
"There are varying degrees of surgical proceduresthat are used upon these slaves," Leila said delicately without looking athim. "This particular eunuch still had his—"
"Enough!" Guy cut in, made extremelyuncomfortable at the thought. "So while you andMajidapracticed upon this eunuch, he just lay there?"
"Yes."
"Poor bastard."
"Not at all. He was well rewarded for hisservices."
Guy was astounded. Leila's voice was so matter-of-fact,as if this was the most commonplace occurrence, which of course it was, to her.
To him, this revelation could not have been moreextraordinary, or more arousing. His body was on fire just thinking about whatshe must know. He was tempted to ask her exactly what techniques she hadlearned when she pointed excitedly to the shore.
