“They start doing things they would not have done before,” Kieran continued, “and as time goes on, they do them for less money. What little self-esteem they may have left soon dissipates and, unless they’re fortunate enough to find some man to take them, before long they are no longer attractive enough to keep their jobs and often wind up on the streets. It happens all the time. The young ones see it happen to the older girls, but don’t learn. Who knows, Cricket may be different, but chances are she will only go back to the same thing after we arrive in Altaruk.”
“You don’t seem to have a very high opinion of her,” said Ryana. “And yet, you went home with her last night.”
“I escorted her home,” said Kieran. “And I have no particular opinion of Cricket, one way or the other. I acknowledge that she is young and beautiful and a skilled dancer. Otherwise, I know nothing of her. She claimed to be a virgin, which seems unlikely, but I did not dispute the issue. Neither did I press it. I walked her home, then said good night and took my leave. So you may spare me your disapproving looks. I have done nothing to deserve them.”
“I stand corrected,” said Ryana. “It is just that men often lack respect for women, yet that does not prevent them from enjoying their favors.”
“Just as women often lack respect for men, yet still eagerly accept the contents of their purses,” Kieran replied. “Cricket may indeed be what she claims, and she may have chosen her occupation out of sheer necessity, but mark my words, she will yet cause trouble on this journey.”
“What makes you say that?” Ryana asked.
“Experience, my lady. There isn’t a roustabout or mercenary on this caravan who hasn’t seen her dance. Now she travels with them, with no bouncers to look out for her, and that limp-wristed elven bard she rides with will not be much protection.”
“Is it not part of your duties to keep order among your men?” Ryana said.
“Officially, I have not yet assumed my duties,” Kieran replied with a shrug. “And keeping order on this journey is the caravan captain’s job, not mine. But if it were up to me, I would have left her behind.”
“Would you have left me behind, as well?” Ryana asked.
“No, my lady. An attractive, unescorted woman on a caravan is always trouble,” Kieran said. “You have an escort, and a highly capable one, at that. Aside from which, you are a priestess, commanding respect, and the fighting prowess of villichi are well known. A woman like Cricket, on the other hand, commands little respect, if any, and is unable to protect herself. And her chosen escort is scarcely better than nothing. So… there will be trouble. Now, if you will excuse me, I think I will ride down the line and observe the captain’s disposition of his guard.”
He wheeled his crodlu and urged it to a fast trot, leaving the formation.
“What an infuriating man!” Ryana said.
“I thought you said he was handsome and dashing,” Sorak replied, with a hint of amusement in his voice.
“He is all that,” Ryana conceded grudgingly, “but he is also very irritating.”
“He merely speaks his mind,” said Sorak. “And I cannot say I disagree with anything he said.”
“So you think a woman is merely an encumbrance unless she has a man to protect her?”
“That is not quite what he said,” Sorak replied. “He said that an attractive, unescorted woman on a caravan brings trouble. Roustabouts and mercenaries are a rough lot, and they are not known for their gallantry.”
“So women must be penalized for men’s failure to control their impulses?”
“I admit it is unfair,” said Sorak, “but that is the way of things.”
“Spoken like a true male,” said Ryana with a grimace. “I never thought to hear you of all people speak like that.”
“I do not think that is the way things should be,” Sorak replied, “but regrettably, it is the way they are. Certainly in Cricket’s case. After all, she makes her living by arousing men.”
“Then it’s all her fault, is that it?” Ryana said irritably. “You are beginning to sound like Kieran.
What would the Guardian have said if she could hear you speak like this?”
“I suspect she would have said that Cricket made her own choices. She was born with the gift of beauty, and she chose to exploit it by dancing in a pleasure house.”
“What if she had no other choice?”
“There are always choices,” Sorak said. “They may not be pleasant ones, but they exist. Suppose you had not been born villichi. You are also beautiful, and your family was poor. Knowing how much money you could make at a place such as the Desert Damsel, would you have chosen to work there?”
“No,” Ryana replied at once. “I would dance for you, if I knew how, but that is hardly the same thing.”
“I do not dispute that,” Sorak said. “But what might you have done, instead?”
“I would have found a job that I could do without taking off my clothes for strangers and then I would have searched for some way to improve my lot in life.”
“Even if it only paid a small fraction of what you could make by dancing in a pleasure house?”
“Even so. I would not wish to spend my days with men leering at me and offering me money to gratify their lusts.”
“Then there are other choices,” Sorak said. “Not easy ones, perhaps, and not as profitable, but choices nonetheless. I do not hold men blameless, mind you. If there was no demand for pleasure houses, then they would not exist. But at the
