Page 18 of Something Human

“Did he have much support, though, the whatyoucall, the chief priest?”

Rus nodded. “I think most of the kahar would have sided with him, some of the skar, too—nobody cares what the sakar think, but in truth they never favour war, it is not their business.”

“Huh. I didn’t realize the Luth were divided like that.” He was about to say more, but he realized he was getting distracted by talk of politics from the more important topic of Rus’s life. He said, “I’m sorry if I’ve made things more difficult for you than they needed to be. I mean, with anything I’ve done here … And if you want me to sleep on the floor, you don’t even need to explain, I’d be happy to just … ”

“I am very used to controlling myself, Adares. We often share beds at home, because of the cold—and there are so many jokes, and they are not funny if you really … ” He made a vague but eloquent gesture.

“It sounds wretched.”

“But you—you have been very honest with me. You like women—you made that clear, very politely. I didn’t think … that you would be like me, but … ” He was looking embarrassed again, but this time as if he was about to laugh at himself. “I think I must have thought that Phemians just … make love to anyone at all, whenever they like.”

“That’s not far from the truth.”

“Ah, is it not?”

“No, I mean … I’m a pretty average Phemian man, and I got interested in girls when I was quite young, but I messed around with some of my school friends, too, and with one of the household slaves. He was willing,” Adares added quickly, “as much as you can be sure of that with a slave—at least I felt sure of it at the time. And I had a lover when I was a teenager—a man, I mean. He went on to an impressive career in politics, but as a lover, honestly, he wasn’t that great. Since then I’ve only been with women, but not, you know, purposely. Just the way it’s happened, I guess. On the whole, I prefer women, but … ” He realized he was giving a summary of his sexual experience to a consecrated virgin. “This isn’t really helpful, is it?”

“I may make you sleep on the floor after all, out of pure spite.” Then, after a moment, as if he couldn’t resist asking: “How many women?”

“I don’t know, I haven’t kept a tally!”

“So many you can’t remember?”

“No, I’m sure I could give you a rough estimate if I … if I took time to think about it.”

“Bah. Do not trouble yourself, Phemian.”

Adares was still snickering about that as he got up to wash their muddy clothes. He hung them by the fountain to dry. Returning inside, he fetched out the biscuits and honey again, and they ate, and then spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping on the clean sheets of the bed, side by side as before.

He was woken, in the dim, purplish evening, by a crash. It had been caused by Rus dropping the wine jug when he tried to get out of bed and get himself a drink without waking Adares. Rus was miserably annoyed with himself and tried to apologize for everything: waking Adares, not waking Adares sooner, spilling the wine, causing his wound to bleed again.

“All right, all right,” said Adares, kneeling beside him on the floor and making shushing gestures. “You’re sorry. I get it. Calm down.”

Rus gave a little snort of laughter, and Adares thought how good it was when you could make someone feel better so easily.

The sun had gone down completely by the time Rus lay quietly on the bed again, his leg rebandaged, wearing Adares’s newly washed black tunic, which looked strange on him. There was no more wine; Adares had searched the temple complex, by the light of his lamp, and returned with this discouraging news.

“If I were in Tios now, I would be thanking the priests for being so thorough and bringing everything with them. But here I am wishing they had been just a bit more careless. Dreadfully ironic.”

It was worse than ironic; it was worrying. He did not want to trouble Rus further by mentioning it now, but the priests had taken away more than just their wine. By luck, the two of them had stumbled onto the one place that the priests had forgotten to clear out before they left. Once the figs and the oat biscuits were finished, there would be nothing in the whole temple complex to eat.

He sat down on the edge of the bed by Rus, who looked as though he badly needed more wine and wanted to say he was sorry yet again. Rus levered himself up, with considerable effort, in order to move over and give Adares more room on the bed. Adares slipped in next to him and rearranged the covers. Rus moved restlessly, turning to lie on his stomach, trying to find a comfortable position. Adares reached out a hand and stroked his back. He felt Rus tense, and then slowly, probably with an effort of will, relax into the simple offer of comfort.

“Want me to tell you a story?”

Rus laughed softly into the pillow. “Is it a true story about one of your countless women?”

“Of course not,” said Adares, and immediately thought of an anecdote involving the man who had been his lover when he was sixteen. “It’s a story my nurse used to tell me when I was little.”

“That sounds good,” said Rus, relaxing further.

“Well, it begins on an island, in my part of the world, where the sea is full of islands. And this island was ruled by a king, and this king also held dominion over many of the neighbouring islands, and a bit of the mainland as well, and every year he would exact a great tribute from the peoples that he ruled … ”

CHAPTER VI

“YES! GO IN! Come on … No! Blast! Missed again.”

“They don’t roll straight, because of the handles.”