Kushiel's Chosen

the tales of that legacy. "Was it her shame when she lay down in the stews of Bhodistan that Elua might survive?"
    "No," I murmured. "But Severio, I am not Naamah, only her Servant. I need to think."
    "No? Think on this, then." Taking me in his arms, he drew me against him; I could feel the heat of his body and his rigid phallus straining against his velvet hose, pressed against my belly. My knees grew weak. "If you will not have me for a patron," he said softly, his breath brushing my hair, "accept me for a suitor. There are ways to accomplish anything. With your guile, your beauty and your title, and my father's money and position, we could rule La Serenissima together one day, you and I."
    I have never aspired to power beyond a role as the foremost courtesan in the City of Elua; I do not think, if Joscelin and I had not been estranged, that I would have considered Severio Stregazza's offer for an instant. On D'Angeline soil, I could have handled it with grace. But 'tis a dangerous thing to be courted in a strange city, and I was isolated and lonely on this wild-goose chase even my closest companions thought a folly. Yes, for a few scant seconds, I entertained the notion of conjoining my life to his.
    And spending a lifetime playing supplicant to his Tiberian magistrate.
    No, I thought; if Kushiel has marked me, surely it is for some greater purpose than this.
    "My lord," I said lightly, extricating myself from his grasp with a subtle, flirtatious twist that every adept of the Night Court practices to flawless perfection, "you will fair dazzle me with speed! As to Naamah's Service, I have given my answer. For the other..." I touched his cheek with my fingertips and smiled, "... if you would court me, why then, 'tis romance, and a different game altogether! You will not win the hand of the Comtesse de Montrève by the same means that you gain the services of Phèdre nó Delaunay. I have heard that Serenissiman men are among the most romantic in the world. I would hope that means somewhat more than grappling in the marketplace."
    Severio groaned aloud, accompanied by the sound of bells. It took a full moment to realize that the two were unrelated.
    I had not seen, until then, that the priestesses of Asherat were offering a daily libation of wine unto the waters of the lagoon beneath the vast statue of the goddess at the end of the Square. Now I saw them making their way back, six of them forming two neat lines, flanked at each corner by a beardless male figure carrying a barbed silver spear and ringing a bell. Later I learned that these were eunuchs, who had voluntarily unmanned themselves to serve the goddess.
    The priestesses themselves wore robes of blue silk, overlaid with silver net. Unlike the rest of the women I'd seen in La Serenissma, they did not wear tall wooden pattens on their feet, but went unshod, bare ankles encircled by silver chains from which tiny bells jingled, bare feet treading the marble pavement. Also unlike other women, the priestesses wore their hair loose and flowing; but over their faces, they wore veils.
    And such veils! Gauze silk, I have seen aplenty; I have worn it in my guise as Mara, and I have worn it too in the Service of Naamah, where the Pasha and the Hareem Girl is a common fantasy for male patrons. These veils were not gauze, but the finest silver mesh, glittering in the sun and strung with clear beads of glass that caught the light and flashed. It was, in all truth, a lovely conceit, and would it not have been blasphemous, I've no doubt that it would have been taken up as a fashion in Terre d'Ange long ago.
    Such were the priestesses of Asherat-of-the-Sea, whom every good Serenissiman worshipped. In Terre d'Ange, we do not; yet she is an aspect of Mother Earth herself, in whose womb Blessed Elua was begotten, and thus we honor her customs. Following Severio's unthinking lead, I touched my fingers to brow and heart, then bowed my head as the priestesses' entourage passed. From the corner of my eye, I could see that Joscelin and Ti-Philippe had followed suit; indeed, so had everyone within my vision, even the Jebean merchant.
    My field of vision did not include the Yeshuite. Unfortunately, one of the Immortali's did.
    "Heya!" His voice rose in a shout before the crowd had scarce closed behind Asherat's procession. "What are you staring at? Turn your eyes away, damn you!"
    I glanced up to see several of the Immortali surrounding an innocuous-looking man in commoner's garb, a