The Luck of a Virgin

Jenks laid on a big enough late lunch for two Temmins, and the one Temmin ate it all. "And now it's nearly time for tea," he said. "Bring up a pot and some cakes while I track down Ellika. She owes me intelligence."

He knocked at Ellika's door, but her quiet maid Iddie said that she wasn't about. He poked his nose in on his mother but Lady Donnis said she was asleep. Neither Sedra nor Camma knew where she was, either. She's not likely to be outside, thought Temmin, though it was nice enough out that perhaps she might have taken a turn in the garden.

And that's where he found her, daintily gathering flowers in the cutting garden. She wore a dress in tiny pink and white stripes with a closely fitted bodice that would have dipped just a bit too low for the Queen's approval had Ellika not draped a lace fichu around her shoulders, while atop her pile of blond hair balanced a wide straw hat covered in silk roses, tied under her chin with trailing pink ribbons. Trotting after her in nervous adoration was Fen, holding the trug basket in which she was depositing her carefully considered cuttings.

"Temmy! Hello, little brother, how d'you do? Isn't it lovely and springlike? You'd hardly know Neya's Day hasn't even passed yet!"

Temmin reached under the avalanche of roses and kissed each cheek. "I've come to fetch you up to tea in my study. You've been naughty, Elly, and haven't come to talk to me about Miss Obby."

"Oh, I'm always naughty," she answered airily, winking at Fen. The poor footman turned crimson under his freckles and kept his eyes firmly on the trug.

"Somehow I can believe that," said Temmin, offering his sister his arm. She laid her shears in the trug and sent Fen into the Keep with instructions to take the flowers up to Iddie. Temmin watched him go, catching him looking back guiltily at Ellika before hurrying into the mudroom. "You really shouldn't torment the footmen."

"Oh nonsense," she said as they entered the great house from the terrrace. "They like to look at me and I like to be looked at, and there's an end to it. Fen's attached to Arta in any event, or so I hear from Iddie. Don't they make a sweet pair? I'm hoping he declares for her soon so we can throw a little wedding party for them. Servants' weddings can be so diverting and sweet! And then perhaps we'll have little ones with curly red hair come of it, how charming! I shall insist on taking one as a page."

Arta and Fen? Why should that irk him? "You really shouldn't talk about the children of servants as if they were puppies, either," he said disapprovingly as they climbed the stairs to their rooms.

"You really shouldn't scold me if you want to hear about Allis," she answered smugly.

"True!" He ushered her into his study and tucked her into a chair in the window, where Jenks had set the tea. "Do take off that hat, I feel as if I'm talking to a centerpiece."

"Oh! I forgot I had it on! Now. Allis Obby." Ellika put her hands on the table and leaned across. "You, my darling little brother, are in luck! You are lucky to have me as your sister because I chose the Lovers' Temple as my spirit home just six months ago, and my patronage means I've gotten very close to the Embodiments. And you are doubly lucky because the one thing Allis loves as much as dancing is riding. I am positive that were you to ask her out for a ride she would say yes! Especially if you invited her into the King's Woods. Now, tell me that you love me and pass me one of those butter cakes before you eat them all."

Well, now there was a piece of luck, he thought, as Ellika chattered on about something. A ride in the King's Woods, that ought to impress any horse-loving subject, even a beautiful girl who happened to be the current Embodiment of a Goddess. Perhaps he could contrive a picnic lunch to be set up along the way--was that too much? He would have to consult Jenks on the religious ramifications--oh dear, Ellika was asking him a question. "What?"

She looked at him sternly over the top of her teacup. "I said, have you thought about the religious ramifications of all this, Temmy? Really, if you're going to have me to tea, I should think you could pay attention to what's being said for once."

"Well, actually, yes, I was just thinking about whether there were any. I wish now I'd paid more attention at observances, but the Lovers weren't exactly popular with Mama, you know. If she were the Embodiment of Venna, I'd probably know what to do."

"If she were the Embodiment of Venna, you wouldn't be able to get near her, dolt. I, on the other hand, would be welcomed into her lap with open arms."

"You, Elly, would be welcomed into the lap of Farr Himself."

She giggled. "Not if His Embodiment at the Warrior's Temple is anything to go by! He doesn't even flirt with me!" She turned serious. "You have to tread carefully, Temmin. The rules for someone in your situation are fairly complex."

He nodded. "Well, being royalty, I know there are protocols--"

"No, silly, you're a virgin! That makes it much more difficult than being a prince!"

Temmin blushed furiously. "And how would you know I'm a virgin?"

"Oh, please. I know everything that goes on in this family. When you lose your virginity, I'll know before you do."

"I rather hope not," he muttered into his teacup. "What does my alleged virginity have to do with anything?"

"Losing your virginity to the Embodiment of Neya has deep religious significance. Few are allowed the privilege, it changes the whole tenor of your pursuit. Otherwise, all you'd have to do is flirt with her until she decided if she liked you or not."

"Who said anything about my losing my virginity?!" This conversation was taking a very uncomfortable turn, thought Temmin, and he ate half a marzipan shaped like a strawberry before he remembered he hated marzipan.

"Well, for Amma's sake, Temmy, what were you planning on doing?" Ellika shook her head and popped a sugar cube in her mouth. "Besides, if you have the chance, why not? It's good luck, and it would bring the kingdom good luck. And I know she likes you. She and Issak did a great deal of talking and looking your way at the ball the other night, though quite honestly I couldn't tell which of them was more interested. Which did you like better?"

Temmin pushed back from the table. "I'm really not going to have this conversation with my sister," he said firmly.

She got up from the table with a grin and retrieved her hat. "Funny," she said blithely, "I thought that's why you invited me to tea!" She kissed the top of his head and swept out of the room.

That night Temmin had a very hard time going to sleep; he kept turning over bits of the day in his mind. If he pursued Allis Obby there was a good chance--a very good chance, let's face it, he thought, he was the Heir--that she would accept his suit, but then rather than an old-fashioned romp he'd be roped into some religious observance. A lucky religious observance, yes, and as religious observances went, losing one's virginity had to rank right up there among the most fun. But he wasn't at all sure he wanted his sexual inauguration turned into a state occasion. Now that he'd confided in Ellika and Jenks, he had a feeling it was almost inevitable. He could just hear Ellika chattering on about what on earth does one wear to one's brother's deflowering, she'd simply have to get a new dress made.

And then there was Mama. Queen Ansella was a good, religious woman, and she would never object to such a thing. In fact, she would encourage him. But she had never held the Lovers' Temple in high esteem; her spirit home was the Sister's Temple. It was widely believed that if she hadn't married she would have entered the Sister's Temple as a priestess, and might yet if she were ever widowed. The Queen had always subtly pushed her children toward the Solitary Ones rather than the Lovers, the Parents or the Dark Ones, and indeed, Sedra had taken the Wise One's Temple as her spirit home. Ellika's choice of the Lovers must have disappointed her. If he did this and took Alllis as his first lover, would that commit him to the Lovers' Temple? Being a future cavalry officer, he'd always expected to declare for the Warrior's Temple--still not one of the Wise Ones, but not one of the Lovers, either.

Ugh. Religion. "My spirit home is a stable," he thought. Why couldn't he just lie about it and tell Allis he was experienced? Because you don't lie to the gods, he answered himself, even if you don't entirely believe in them. And he knew that the first time he kissed Allis it would become clear that he had no idea what he was doing.

Then it dawned on him. To preserve his dignity, he'd just have to lose his virginity before he began pursuing Allis. In the morning, he'd get to work on that in earnest. Satisfied, he turned on his side and fell fast asleep.