Jaran

Yuri grinned. 'How like Ilya you sound, Sister. He said exactly the same thing, and in much the same voice. Do you know, when you didn't come in that first night, we all assumed that the two of you had-'

'Don't be a fool, Yuri. Bakhtiian was injured.'

'I rather liked the idea myself.'

'Then you can learn to dislike it.' She stepped sharply away from him, but the loose gravel, damp from rain, slipped away from under her feet. She slid down, one leg out, and had to throw an arm back to catch herself. Poised ungracefully on all fours, almost like some crustacean, she lowered herself to sit on the ground. Her frown dissolved and she laughed. 'Gods, I've been in a bad temper these past few days. Listen, Yuri. If you tell anyone else, I'll skin you alive.'

'I won't!' He collapsed backward to sit beside her.

'We had to share the blankets and the cloak.'

'Oh,' said Yuri wisely, 'you slept together for warmth.

That probably did save you. I suppose, with his knee like that, you couldn't have-'

'Yuri!'

'I'm just teasing.'

'Then stop teasing.'

'Why? Was it that uncomfortable?'

'It was too damned comfortable!' She glanced around, suddenly conscious of the cool quiet of the afternoon and the heated loudness of her voice. There was a pause, as if to let her words dissipate into the calm.

'Do you know what I think?' said Yuri finally.

'I won't.'

'Your words say you do not want him, but everything else, your face and your tone and the way you put your words together, says that you do.'

'No.'

'You lay with Fedya.'

'Fedya never demanded anything. We shared-what we wanted to share, nothing more than that. More like friends than like lovers.'

'Why can't you do that with Ilya?'

'Yuri, do you really suppose that it would be that easy with Ilya?'

He regarded her thoughtfully. 'I don't know, Tess. It depends on what Ilya wants.'

And what if Ilya decided that he wanted Jeds? But she could not say it aloud for fear of hurting Yuri's feelings. 'It depends on what / want, and I don't want him. Don't look at me like that. Yes, I'll admit I find him attractive. I'll even admit he annoys me frequently, which I suppose is a bad sign. But all other things aside-I'm leaving.'

He laid a hand on her arm. 'I'd forgotten.'

She scooped up a handful of pebbles and let them dribble in ones and twos through her fingers. They landed on the other stones in a shower of snaps. 'I have to return to Jeds.'

'Do you want to?'

She stared at the ground. A single, fine strand of her hair was wound among the pebbles like a snake. 'I have a duty to my brother. He must be worrying about me. He doesn't know where I am. I have to go back. Oh, let's talk about something else.'

'We were talking about you and Ilya before.'

'Were we? You see, I've already forgotten. Yuri, Fedya loved his wife, and yet I always felt that it was somehow shameful that he did. Don't jaran believe in love?'

'Fedya never gave up his grief, Tess. There is a difference. Of course jaran love. Niko and his wife are as devoted as the rain and the grass. Mikhal loves Sonia.'

'What about Sonia?'

'Frankly, I think the attachment is stronger on his side. Oh, she's fond enough of him, and happy, but when she was younger, before Mikhal marked her, I think she lost her heart to a rider from another tribe.'

'Why didn't he marry her?'

'I heard that two years later he went off with the arenabekh. Some men dislike women that much. Some men love only other men. Some-I don't know why the others go. I'd never willingly give up the chance to marry.''

'Why, Yuri, do you have anyone in mind?' To her surprise, he blushed. 'You do! Who is it?'

With terribly casual nonchalance, he palmed a rock and flipped it up into the brush above them. The buzz of an unseen insect stopped, resuming a moment later. 'Well. Maybe. Perhaps I'll mark Konstantina Sakhalin.'

'Konstantina Sakhalin! I didn't know you'd fallen in love with her. And in such a short time.'

'In love with her? I like her well enough-' He flushed again and could not disguise a satisfied smile. 'But, Tess, surely you understand that it would be a good connection for our tribes. Not that I'm so valuable of myself, not like Sevyan and Pavel.'

'Why do you call them valuable? I thought they were important because they're married to Kira and Stassia. They don't ride in jahar.'

'Tess!' Yuri blinked, looking astounded. 'How can you say so? They're smiths, and very fine ones, too, for being-well, Sevyan's only forty, and Pavel's about Ilya's age. Mama was overjoyed when Mother Raevsky told her that Sevyan Lensky was interested in Kira. And it was sheer luck that his brother had also taken to the craft and that he and Stassi-' He chuckled. 'I was only six but I still remember how Mama and Mother Raevsky and the Elders of both tribes haggled for ten days over the wedding portions. Uncle Yakhov was wild when Mother Raevsky demanded the prize ram from the herds and half the female lambs from the next season. And the rest, which I can't recall now. But, of course, he saw that Sevyan and Pavel were worth it, when we only had old Vadim Gorelik for smithing, and he never better than a middling smith anyway. And then it helped him in the end, because when Mikhal fell in love with Sonia-oh, years later, of course-Mama simply looked the other way when Misha went to mark her, though he'd nothing really special to bring to the etsana's tent. No craft, and though he's got a good hand for the lute, he wasn't gifted by the gods for music like Fedya was. And he's not a remarkably handsome man either.''

'But he's very good-natured.'

'Yes.'

'But then, Yuri, I don't mean to sound-'

He laughed. 'Why should Mother Sakhalin agree to me? Because I'm Bakhtiian's cousin. And my mother is etsana. Konstantina will be etsana someday, and I know exactly what is to be expected of an etsana's husband.'

'Wouldn't Ilya be the best choice to marry an etsana?'

'Ilya?' He chuckled. 'Ilya is exactly the last man any etsana would want to marry. She doesn't want a husband who will put himself forward, or who will quarrel with whichever cousin or nephew is dyan of her tribe's jahar. So you see, I am perfect.' He preened a little, to make his point.

Tess laughed and draped an arm around his shoulders. 'I always knew you were perfect, Yuri. But then who will Bakhtiian marry, if not an etsana's daughter?'

'I thought you said you weren't interested in him.'

'I'm curious, damn you.'

'Tess, Tess, no need to be snappish. How should I know, anyway? Why do you want to know?''

'Well, for one thing, he can't have children unless he's married, can he? He might have gotten a child on some woman but he wouldn't be considered its father.'

'Yes, I remember in Jeds I was surprised how great a fuss those barbarians made over which man got which child on which woman. I only ever had one father, Tess.'

' 'What if an unmarried girl gets pregnant, or if a child's mother dies?''

Yuri regarded her quizzically. 'A child always stays with its mother, or with her kin if its mother dies. And, of course, you know about the herb girls use so they don't get pregnant. Only married women have children.'

'Well, then, what about Vladimir? Didn't his mother have any kin to take him in?'

Yuri shook his head. 'His parents were priests.'

'They're dead?'

'No, given in service to the gods. Those few jaran who take the white robe break all ties with the tribes. A