Chapter 13

“Do you think he took a liking to you?” Fern teased. “How do I tell?”

The other girl laughed. “Oh, I will have to teach you so much about the desires of a woman! Watch a man’s eyes, especially at times when they should be busy elsewhere. Does he look to the parts of your body that men’s hands long to touch? Does he say things that he would not say to other women?”

“I was not paying attention. I think he looked at the food more than he looked at me.”

Fern seemed a little disappointed as she crumbled a handful of dry herbs into the bowl of water. “Well, perhaps we will be lucky. Maybe when the summer nights are hot he will take an eye to one of us for an evening.”

“Khelt said that no other male would lay claim to me.”

“Not as a mate, no, but pleasure can be shared freely. Even he would not deny you that during times of celebration.”

“Perhaps I should ask him, in case it happens.” The twinge in Netya’s belly tugged harder.

She was unsure of how