She said, “Master Joshua, what you say is the way it is. Both the past and the future. My mother was as you say. I am as you say. If you say it, I will go with one of these men as you say. Even if he does not love me, I will love him and serve him. But how can a woman, an untouchable, be in a house or have a home? And to be in a man’s bed?”
I smiled and said, “If you accept these men, you will see. And since I’m the son-in-law of both of them, you will be my mothers. I have sworn that I will abolish the school of women that misjudged you, and I will make every little sister happy and blessed by a fine man. Did the merchant tell you how I took three of the Nogud when he was here?”
One said, “He did. He said that you had registered a pretty mate as well and that those like us worked on your farm.”
I said, “He was wrong. I’m going to trust you with my secrets. Don’t betray me. The Merchant doesn’t know it, but the pretty mate who registered with me was the very one who had come to me in the tunic and hood that same day. The next day, the other two went into the woods with me and now all three are in my bed every night, and often during the day.”
The one on my left asked, “But master, we are defective, how can you be pleased with those like us?”
I laughed and said, “My friends and I say that if our bedmates do not have a dozen of the little death before we ourselves have our pleasure than we are doing something wrong, not our women. The more often, and the more exuberantly our women climax, the happier we are. And, I don’t want to be too intimate with women who I hope to call Mother before the day is over, but we also agree that the lack of a beard between a woman’s legs make her even more beautiful. You would not have to worry about pleasing a husband if you are like what we know the others like you are when you are in bed.”
One of them said, “My mother told me these things, and so I should believe it, but there was no hope of these things for us.”
I said, “But you have found the Golden Road and today can be the beginning of a new life. If you want it.”
The one on my left said, “I do want it” and she started to sob. She cried, “I do. I cannot believe it, but I want it and I will let it happen to me if it will. I don’t know what I must do, so tell me.”
I said, “You don’t need to do anything but to tell me that you will try it and see if it suits you. I will call my friends and they will come to meet you, and if you go with them it will be good. If you love them and go to their beds, then I think that it will be even better. But I swear that you never need to go back to the Merchant of Women ever again, no matter what you decide, unless you tell me that it’s what you would prefer. In that case, you are free to go and I will escort you to him myself.”
The one on my right shouted, “I will do it. I will. I trust you and I will go where you say and if you tell me that the man is good, I will love him and his real women as well.”
I said, “You are real women, and we know it. I will call my friends. You have both said that you want this. I think one for Paul’s house and one for Aaron’s. Aaron has but one mate and she is like you. Paul has one like you, and three others who are wonderful, and they all love the one as much as any woman can be. As their women, you will handle food and clothing and everything else that women do. They will teach you. You are not untouchable, you will know it when you are touched by your husbands as a woman should be. Paul is a clothier and has recently purchased the cobbler’s shop and if one of you goes with him, you will learn to work leather and make shoes. Aaron is a stone carver and if one of you goes with him, you will work in his house with the wife he has now. If you both want it, I will arrange for you to stay together with one or the other of them. If you become their bedmate or not will be your choice, they will never force you.”
One said, “I feel strange in my body as we talk like this and I think that I would be in bed and happy as soon as I am invited.”
The other nodded and said, “And so do I.”
I said, “You will be happy, I’m sure of it. Do you have a thought about which of these men you would be happy with, or will you meet them first? It might be easiest if I am able to tell them the plan, decided beforehand.”
The one on the right said, “Sister, I will be happy either way, but to stay at home and serve with my husband’s woman, one of our other sisters at home would be my dream.”
The one on my left smiled and said, “And for me, to make shoes and wash feet and learn a trade and go home at night to my man and his big bed with many women would be beyond my dreams!”
I said, “Oh, that does make it easy. Stop here and I will arrange it. Wait for me and tell each other what happiness you will find today. Wait here and I will be right back.”
I stepped a little way away where I could talk without them hearing and said, “Lark, are you there? I need you to help me.”
Lark and Viola both had the ear-pieces that allowed us to communicate over long distances now.
I heard Lark respond, “Yes, I’m here. What have you found?”
I said, “I found two of the older sisters, one for Paul and one for Aaron. The situation seems perfect. I want you to talk to Paul for me. Is he at home and available?”
Lark said, “Let me go and see.” A minute later, she said, “Paul is here.”
I said, “Good, relay this message and tell me what he says. Tell him that I have found two older sisters. One wants very much to make shoes and be in a big bed with other women and a fine man. The other wants to be with Aaron and stay at home. Ask him if he is ready to do it.”
Lark said, “He says that he will be where you tell us, as soon as he can. He seems to be excited about it.”
I said, “Good. Tell him to go to Aaron and tell him the situation. Have the two of them go to the Tanda cove and then to take the Tanda walk out to where I will be waiting for them. Go with them and show them the way and you can tell me when you are getting close. When they come to me at the road, they will take the women to the cove and do the baptism. Aaron will use the Tanda cove and Paul will take his woman all the way to the farm and be with her at the cove there. You and I will have our own time together. Perhaps I will have the nymphs come take you and I to Havenrest and you can see it with me and we will visit Raven and Clarice and you will meet Ellie and Wendy. Tell them to hurry. I’ll see you as soon as you can get here.”
Lark said, “We’ll come as soon as we can. I’ll have them bring new dresses and I’ll tell Aaron how to do the baptism. How wonderful this is!”
Chapter 2 Meeting Paul and Aaron
I returned to the two women and smiled. Their hoods were off of their faces, and I could see that much of them at least. They were both about the same size and build, one with brown hair and the other a darker blond color.
I said, “My fathers are on the way, and one of my women, one of your younger sisters, is with them. It may take them an hour to reach us, but perhaps not. Will you sit here at the side of the road with me and talk while we wait for them?”
I sat down and the two sat beside me.
After a minute of silence, the brown haired one, the one who would go with Aaron if all went according to plan, said, “I feel lighter.”
I smiled and said, “That’s a start. Does it feel good to you?”
She said, “It does. I feel that I am relaxing, possibly growing younger.”
I said, “That’s wonderful. I’m sure that by this afternoon, your lives will be much better. I am so glad that Antonio thought to send you to me. You are the first to come to my Golden Triangle on your own. I hope that there will be more.”
The blond said, “We may be among the last as well. We are rare now. There were more in past days, but not now.”
I asked, “How many more? How many young ones and how many more mature like yourselves?”
The brown haired one said, “If you have taken three of them already, then there is one more from our generation and two from the next. The one our age has been very sad for many years. If any shoul
d find a blessing, it is her.”
I said, “And, if she comes to your new home, will you welcome her into your house and treat her with loving kindness?”
She looked at me and said, “To my house? What do you mean?”
I said, “If she comes, she will have a home with one of the men of the Golden Triangle. I am younger and would love a mate your age, but it’s for my fathers to decide. The one named Paul, who makes clothes and shoes has four, and now with this beautiful one beside me, five. The other man, Aaron, who carves and works stone, has only one, but now two; a stunning woman of grace and poise who will join him in an hour, and the mother of his daughter who he has loved for many years. They are good people. Don’t worry for his daughter, she comes of age in a week, but she will not be sent to the school for women. She will come straight to my house and we are in love already. But Aaron, and Beatrice, his only mate until now, have longed for one or two more to share happiness with, but because of the shame that they felt, no other was ever considered. They are both excited at the possibility that as their daughter leaves, that you will join their house. But, if this last one from your generation comes to us, where will we send her? To your house or another?”
She answered quickly, “To my master’s house if he will have her! I said that she is sad, but I did not mean that she is unpleasant or difficult. She is a joy to be with, but we have spent nights in each other’s arms, trying to comfort one another over the long years of our travels.”
I said, “So, you will welcome her? She will come to us. If she doesn’t, I will go and hunt for her until I find her and bring her home. Did you know that’s what I do? That I’m a treasure hunter by trade? What better treasure can I seek than the happiness of others?”
The blond said, “They call you a wizard.”
I laughed and said, “They do. It’s because I do surprising things that others don’t.”
She said, “Like transform the Nogud into women who find happiness?”
I said, “Exactly. That, and the fact that I own the haunted woods and tame unicorns.”
The brown haired one said, “When I was in Riverhood, they claimed that a witch lived in those woods.”
I said, “Not a witch, but she is an enchantress. I was with her at my home in Havenrest the night before last. She loves me very much and I love her. You can imagine how lonely she was, before I went to find her. Witches don’t have many visitors nor do they have many friends. She is beautiful, and related to the Nogud in a special way. Do you know that the Nogud are all daughters of Nogud? You could say that my own grandmother was Nogud as well.”
She said, “That is why you have a heart to help us.”
I said, “Perhaps it helps, but I had a heart to help you before I found out the truth about it. Ask me more questions, and then I may ask some of you. What can I tell you to make your hearts fly?”
The blond asked tentatively, “What will happen? When your friends come?”
I said, “Ah, well, first they will greet you and tell you their names and probably try to reassure you. They will want you to be at ease. Then, if you’re still willing, they will take you into these woods. A little way in, there’s a little cove by the river. Aaron will go there with the one of you. Paul has a little cove at his farm, and he’ll take the other of you there with him. At the cove, it will be in private, and they will offer you the chance to take off your tunics and they will throw them into the river and give you a new fine dress. If you will have them, they will perform a special baptism, if you are ready for it.
Here wait…instead, let me tell what it was like for my mates Raven and Lark. When they came to me, there were the two of them. We left the village just like we have today. I don’t know what I said to them, but both of them decided that they loved me very quickly. We held hands so that they would know that they were not untouchable.
The only reason that I haven’t taken your hands in mine is because it would be appropriate for the first man to touch you to be the one that you will love.
As Raven and Lark and I walked into the woods, and I gave them new names, I was walking a step in front, because the path was narrow, and at a point where we paused, I turned around and they were both naked, having taken off their tunics, wanting to know for certain if I thought that they were hideous and unattractive as they’d been told. I swear that they were not. They were very beautiful, and I hate to tell you, but since you will be my mothers, I’ll be frank with you, I found myself quite attracted to them, both emotionally and physically. I was glad to find out that they found me attractive as well. When we reached the cove, we were eager to prove that being touched by each other was going to be very pleasant, and we went through the special baptism.
For this ritual, I took each of them into the water and washed them very thoroughly and very intimately, touching every part of their bodies, including parts never touched in tenderness. The ritual is to wash away every feeling of shame and pain and past lives, if possible. At the end, the woman goes under the water and exhales all of her breath in a symbol of death to her old life. The Nogud is drowned in the river and swims to the sea, and a new woman is born and rises from the water. When she rises, she is out of breath, and the man breathes his own life into her lungs in a kiss of life.
When we had finished our ritual, we made love in the grass as our first experience and I’m happy to say that they each experienced their happiness many times. Later, when it was time, we walked naked together in the sunshine until we came to the farm where we were to stay with Paul and his women and then the girls put on the white dresses and I introduced them as my mates.”
The two women were breathing a bit heavier, responding to my story and the possibility of what might be in store for them.
The blond asked impatiently, “How much longer?”
I smiled and pointed down the road, back toward the village and said, “Look, there they are,” and I stood up and helped both of the women to their feet.
Paul, Aaron, and Lark were hurrying toward us. They were about a hundred feet away. I had expected them to come through the woods, but evidently they decided to come by the road. The three of us stood and waited as they approached. The two women instinctively started to pull their hoods back over their heads, but I stopped them.
I said, “No, you will never wear the hoods again. Leave them off.”
When Paul and the others reached us, I gathered Lark into a hug and kissed her deeply. Turning to the women, I said, “This is Paul, who makes clothes and this is Aaron, the finest stone carver I know.”
The two took steps to stand in front of their chosen heroes, the blond in front of Paul, and the other in front of Aaron.
The blond said quickly, “Master, I am yours if you will have me and I will do whatever you say!”
Paul smiled and said, “My dear, I will try to make you as happy as the other women of my house. I’m not difficult to please. You’ll see. Um, I don’t know exactly what to say or do for you. I brought a new dress for you and I, um, I have a name for you if you’re ready, but if not, we’ll wait and you can tell me when you think that it’s right for you, and I swear that I won’t hurry you too much. I am eager for you to be loved, and to love you, because I have sworn to myself and to Joshua that I would help every little sister who comes to us, and I’m very excited to have you with me. Oh for goodness sake, will you let me hug you?”
The woman’s eyes were wide at Paul’s enthusiastic declarations and she didn’t pull back as Paul rushed to take her in his arms. She cried quietly, greatly taken aback by the suddenness of her meeting with Paul. When he bent to kiss her, she gave herself to it. For a few seconds, the kiss became increasingly passionate for both of them and I could see that their bodies strained to push themselves together.
Before Paul had finished his kiss, for neither of them showed any signs of breaking it, I interrupted and said, “Paul, go into the woods. The path leads to a small cove, but don’t stay there. Discard the tunic there if it se
ems right, but then hurry on to the cove at your farm. But wait for a moment while I talk to Aaron.”
Aaron had his arm around the shoulder of the brown-haired girl and I hadn’t heard any of the words between them. They were both smiling though.
I said, “Aaron and Paul, Lark and I will go first. We will hurry. Give us about five minutes, and then Paul, you follow. Aaron, give Paul about ten minutes, and then you follow him. Paul will go to his farm, so the little cove at the end of this path will be all yours for the day. Did Lark explain everything to you? Do either of you have any questions for me or for Lark?”
Aaron said, “She explained it very well and in detail.”
I said, “Good. I think that we should send Aaron and this beautiful woman for a walk farther up the road and then you can begin to talk in private. Go about ten minutes up the road and then turn around and come back. When you return, Paul and this yellow-haired sister will be gone. But finally, if the two ladies will stay with Lark and I for a moment while Paul and Aaron stand a little way away, I’d like to speak to them for a few seconds alone.”
Paul and Aaron stepped about ten feet away and I said, “Are you wanting to go forward with this, now that you’ve seen them?”
The blond said, “I’m his already. He mated with me when we kissed.”
The other said earnestly, “I failed the exam!”
Lark started to try to comfort her, but the blond spoke up first, saying, “No, didn’t you hear? These men like how we are. We honor them with our pleasure in them. How stupid we were to think what we did in the past. He hopes that I will shudder at his touch, and believe me I did. As I climaxed at his kiss, I knew that he was aware of it, and it drove him to kiss me even more deeply, not to pull away in revulsion the way that we were told. And as his passion increased, so did mine. I had a second, and I felt his body pressing against my belly as if he would take me to his bed very soon. Sister, we were deceived.”
The other cried, “How? How can this be? How can it be OK?”
The Wounded Page 2
