They continued their labors, largely on faith that the seeds had to be alive, perhaps magically preserved in the altar, and next morning as Aspect squatted at the green patch—the first one—she spied a tiny shoot. She was so excited she splashed urine on her foot. “It's growing!” she called.
In a moment the others were there. “Better clean it off before it forms a sixth toe,” Nonce said, observing her wet foot.
“The plant,” Aspect said, though she knew it was teasing. “There!” She pointed to it.
Indeed, it was true. Soon Ennui found one in a red patch, and Nonce a yellow one. They were breaking ground all over.
“We should celebrate with wine,” Aspect said. “If we had wine."
That dampened the mood for a moment, reminding them how isolated they were. They missed the comforts of the palace and Triumph City.
“But now we are on our way,” Ennui said. “We are accomplishing our mission."
“We'll celebrate with water,” Aspect decided.
“I'm so full of water I squish when I walk,” Nonce protested. But she joined them in the pretense that water was wine.
The following day all the patches had shoots growing, and the first ones were thicker and taller. Aspect was no farmer, but she was sure this was very fast growth. They were in Chroma zonelets, to be sure, but even so, they were fast. So the seeds must be special. It made the chore of constant watering seem worthwhile.
On the third day Crow returned. This time he brought six gray leather buckets and three yokes, and showed them how these were worn over the shoulders so as to suspend a bucket on either side. They would be able to carry twice as much water with half the effort. They were thrilled, and Nonce flung her arms around him and kissed him all over his face. Then she led him into the cave. It was her turn.
“I'm getting to like that man,” Ennui remarked as they returned to their watering with what they had. They would not be able to use the yokes and buckets until Nonce was through with him, but they practiced with the empty ones, getting the feel of the yokes. This was a much better solution than they had anticipated.
Then Nonce poked her head out of the cave. “Come in!” she called. “There's more."
There was indeed. Crow had brought them some wine. Not a lot, because of the weight, but enough to let them have one merry celebration. They had it immediately, insisting that he sip with them.
Nonce nudged Aspect. “He asked me a question one of you can better answer. Talk to him.” She made a cute forbidding frown. “But no sex; he's mine today."
Ennui was busy filling buckets from the spring, so Aspect took Crow outside. “Question?"
“My wife—she can't do it, but she wants to know how."
“But surely she knows sex,” Aspect said, surprised.
“Affirmation,” he agreed, turning a darker gray. “But if—when—she's better—she knows the three of you have—you're so good at it! She knows she was never like that. I love her, and never said—but she took one look at me and knew."
“Women do,” Aspect said, smiling.
“I don't know what to tell her."
“Crow, On and I are older than we look. We have had experience. No has had experience too; she had a special position where beauty and ability count. And we—we have had magic enhancement, sexually as well as physically. So we have advantages over normal women. We do not mean to spoil you for your wife.” Yet they might inadvertently have done so. It had not occurred to any of them that their newfound sexuality could have a negative side.
“I can tell her that,” he said dubiously.
Was there a way to fix it? “It's not just physical,” she said. “It's an expression of love. It starts with you; you must show her that you love her."
“I do!"
“Not once a month,” she said. “Not once a day. Not just during sex. Constantly. Build your relationship."
“Confusion."
He was a typical man. He meant well, but he wasn't given to romantic expression. This might require considerable instruction. “First things first,” she said. “We should be able to keep up with our gardening better, thanks to the equipment you brought. Next time On will return with you to try to heal your wife. Thereafter, if necessary, I will go with you to talk with her. Perhaps we can accomplish something."
“Gratitude!"
Ennui emerged with her filled buckets. She hooked them to the yoke and walked toward the farther patches. Aspect and Crow went inside, and they filled her buckets. Then she gave him a Chroma crystal and left with Ennui, leaving him with Nonce for another session.
The yoke worked well. It was shaped to conform to her shoulders, so that when she walked erect the filled buckets seemed much lighter than they were. She walked to other patches, and carefully poured water.
By the time she and Ennui finished, Nonce and Crow emerged. She would see him off while Aspect and Ennui refilled their buckets from the spring.
“Wife problem?” Ennui inquired.
“We may have been too good to him; his wife is concerned."
“Dismay! I never thought of that."
“I told him that after you healed his wife, I would go talk to her. Perhaps that will be enough."
“Hope."
They took time filling the buckets, so that Nonce would have whatever time she needed. Aspect could see the shape of their future routine. But the wife would have to be reassured. What could she say to her?
Nonce returned. “Answer,” she said, though they hadn't asked. She knew they were curious. “It was only a kiss. I think he feels guilty doing so much with us, while his wife is ill."
Guilt. That could be it. “We may have been too free with him,” Aspect said. “We are sexually charged. We can't blame his wife for her concern."
“But how else can we reward him?” Nonce asked. “We need those supplies."
“I will talk with her."
The plants grew vigorously. All the seeds they had planted had sprouted, and each plant was the color of its Chroma zone. Because they were close to the vents, the changeable winds did not deprive them. They were definitely successful little gardens.
A six legged desert panther cruised by, one of the deadly predators. Aspect saw it first, when her dragon seed buzzed, and was alarmed. She was alone in the vicinity at the moment, and had no weapon. But when the creature sniffed too close to a garden patch, she advanced on it, hefting a stone. It faced her and crouched, snarling.
She hurled the stone. It flew straight and fast, striking the big cat on the shoulder. Surprised, it shied away. She was surprised too; she had never had any kind of throwing arm. Credit one more to the ikon.
She picked up another stone. The panther oriented on her, not quite sure enough of itself to attack. She threw, and the stone smacked into its nose.
That decided the issue. The panther bounded away. Only then did Aspect relax, shaking. How could she have done such a thing? She was a soft royal woman, a city girl, completely untrained in combat. She should have fled screaming helplessly. Yet that had never occurred to her; instead she had braved the panther like an Amazon and driven it off.
True, she suspected it could not hurt her, because of the ikon. Still, she hadn't thought of that aspect either. She had simply done what she had to do. No single woman ever stood up to such a predator, yet she had not only done so, she had been the aggressor. She had attacked it, and driven it off.
Now the others arrived. “Amazement!” Nonce said. “You tackled a panther!"
“Barehanded,” Ennui said.
“Negation. I threw stones at it."
“Spooked it?” Nonce asked.
“No, actually I hit it. I didn't know I could throw that hard or accurately."
“The ikon,” Ennui said.
“They make us immune from attack,” Nonce said. “They must also make us able to attack.” She picked up a stone and throw it at the standing tower of a long-dead tree. She hit it.
Ennui tried it, and also hit the tree.
“There seems to be no end to their powers."
“That concerns me,” Aspect said. “They are changing us, remaking us. Where will it end? Are we truly ourselves?” She had been silent about this before, but now it came out.
“Similar concern,” Ennui said. “I didn't want to cause alarm."
“Ditto,” Nonce said.
So they had all thought of it, and been silent. “We must assume that the ikons are beneficial, or at least neutral,” Aspect said, now arguing the other case. “Otherwise we must fear the Glamors are bad."
The others nodded. They couldn't afford to believe that this was the case.
Next time Crow came, with regular supplies and more wine, Ennui returned with him. They were efficient enough to handle the watering with two, thanks to the yokes and buckets. Other plants were sprouting along with the flax, and these seemed to have a protective effect, holding the water close. They had decided not to weed them out; Ennui's ikon related to plants, and they were plants. Mosses also formed, making small colored carpets on the ground; those too were left, for the sake of Aspect's ikon. Increasingly they were thinking like Glamors.
“This is not the adventure I anticipated,” Nonce confided. “But I think I like it."
“Agreement."
They had to work harder, with Ennui absent, but were capable. Worse than the work was a gap in the fabric of their association. The three of them had come together almost randomly, but now they were a team, and it felt like a three legged stool with one leg missing.
On the third day Crow and Ennui returned. “She did it!” he exclaimed exuberantly. “She healed my wife! She's well now."
Aspect realized that he had never referred to his wife by name. That might be part of the problem.
In due course Crow returned to the village, and this time Aspect went with him. She discovered to her surprise that she remembered the route perfectly, in every detail. Her memory had never been that good before; it had to be another gift of the ikon. When they passed the place where Ennui had taken him for a spot liaison, thus saving them from the attack of thorn tree, she saw him glance that way.
“Show me,” she said.
They went behind the rock, and she kissed him and drew him close. Things proceeded according to the script, and soon he was spurting into her. “Oh, Lady!"
Now all she had to do was discover what she had that his wife lacked. If the wife were not pretty, it would be a problem. Character, competence, and dependability were important, but generally went for nothing without appearance. When a man chose a women for her pleasant nature, it was actually the pleasant nature of a pretty person, not of a plain one. Ennui's life had been transformed not by the intelligence, endurance, and other ikon-sponsored gifts, but by the wonder it had made of her face and body. Aspect herself had become supremely appealing to men not because of her qualities of character, but because she had recovered the physical splendor of her youth. She was without illusions on this score. Crow's wife would have no ikon to transform her.
“It's so good to have her healthy again,” Crow said as they resumed travel. “But she feels it isn't enough. She thinks you can help her."
“I hope I can,” Aspect said sincerely.
The trip back was faster than the trip out had been, because he had become well familiar with the trail and its dangers, and because he had discovered that he did not need to slow his pace for these women. Nevertheless, it was late afternoon when they reached the village.
The wife met them at her door. She was hardly plain; her body was well assembled, bordering on generous, and her face was cute. “Introduction,” she said. “I am Blackbird, Crow's wife."
“I am Speck, traveler."
“You saved Sympathy and Mender!"
“We did what we could."
Crow gave Blackbird the Red Chroma crystal he had received this time. She filed it in a drawer, knowing its nature and value. The house was neat and well kept; no problem there.
Blackbird served a nice evening meal. Here too she was plainly competent. Their incidental dialogue was pleasant; Blackbird was neither smart nor stupid, but pleasant in the middle range. Her manners matched those of her husband: adequate for village life, crude by city standards. Why did this woman feel she was inadequate?
“I'll go check with the men,” Crow said as they finished. “Parting.” He was gone.
Blackbird wasted no time. “Crow says the girl is good, but the women are wonderful. He can't get enough of you. What is your secret?"
There had to be something. “He likes sex, as all men do. Surely he likes it with you."
“Not as much as he likes it with you. Oh, he loves me; it's not that. But somehow you compel him. He says he can do it several times a day with you."
“And not with you?"
“Well, for a time, not at all with me. But your friend On—she put her hands on me, and I felt the poison leaving. She made me well, and I'll always be grateful. Then I could do it with Crow again. But he really wanted it with On; I could tell. And with you. So it was just once with me. On wouldn't do it with him in my house, but would when traveling. No fault. But he wanted her throughout."
Aspect considered telling part of the truth, and the dragon seed did not buzz. “The three of us are on a special mission, and we carry amulets that aid us in this. On's amulet helped heal you. But they also make us healthy and sexy; it's a pleasant side effect. When one of us gets close to a man, it makes us eager for sex with him—and of course he wants it with us. It's magic."
Blackbird considered that. “I wish I could find such an amulet. But it's not just that. He thinks about you when you are not close. He speaks your names in his sleep."
Ouch! “My dear, I am sorry! We never intended to interfere with your marriage. To us it's just no fault, and payment for his silence about our mission."
“Negation. You're not interfering. Sex was never that much, even before my illness. You three are good at it, and he loves it. I just wish it could be like that with me."
She had to find an answer. “If there is any way I can help you, I'll do it. But this is not something to be healed by a laying on of hands."
“I wonder. Maybe we should try it."
Aspect couldn't say that the ikon of mosses could heal a problem not caused by mosses. She would simply have to demonstrate that it didn't work. She reached out and put her two hands on Blackbird's arms, willing whatever healing was there.
The woman's eyes widened. Her breathing quickened. Her mouth opened. “Ooooh!"
Aspect felt it returning. It was sexual passion the woman was feeling, the other legacy of the ikon. She removed her hands.
“What was that?” Blackbird asked breathlessly. “I never felt the like."
“It was the effect of the amulet: desire.” But this was curious: how could the woman not recognize it?
“If Crow were here right now, I'd—I don't know what, but I'd try. No wonder he longs for you."
“I can't give you the amulet.” Indeed, staying too long in the Chroma zone could cause Gale a problem, since the ikon needed to be in a nonChroma zone for full effect. She hadn't thought of that before. But if Gale did not draw on her Glamor powers too much, it should be all right. Meanwhile, there was something to clarify. “You haven't felt such desire before?"
“Never. It's weird and wonderful."
“Then perhaps we have an avenue. All men and most women feel sexual passion, when the circumstances are right. It is unusual if you have not."
“Confusion."
“Tolerance, if you will. I have rather personal information I wish to know."
Blackbird shrugged. “Tolerance,” she agreed.
“Show me how you have sex with Crow."
“Simple. He says he wants it, we get on the bed, he does it. Then if it is night, he goes to sleep."
“Show me,” Aspect repeated. “Pretend I am him."
Blackbird led the way to their bed. She removed her dress and lay down on it, spreading her legs.
Her face assumed a passive expression.
“This may be the problem,” Aspect said. “You are not participating."
“He plumbs me in an instant!"
“I know. But this is only a fraction of what sex can be."
“What more is there?"
“Seduction. Passion. Mutuality."
“Confusion."
“Pretend you are Crow—or any man. I will be the woman."
“I am not like Mender or Sympathy."
“Neither am I. Pretend."
Blackbird got up and dressed. Then Aspect sat on the bed. “You are looking handsome today,” she said, leaning forward so that her blouse hung loose, showing her breasts. She smiled and crossed her legs so that her thighs showed.
“If Crow saw that, he'd want it right away."
“Precisely. You have the equipment; you have but to show it in the right manner. And when he asks you, you must kiss him and act as if this is what you have wanted all along. When you are on the bed, hug him close, wrap your legs around him, and keep kissing him. Tell him how much you like his manliness. Encourage him to do it again, as soon as he can."
“Again!"
“He will be slower the second time. Give him your breasts to stroke. Massage his back. Act as if your desire is greater than his. And perhaps by the time he can do it again, you will climax with him."
“Climax?"
“Women can do it too, just not as readily as men. Make it a drama, a play, with your bed the stage. With practice it can become real. Then he will speak your name in his sleep."
“Far fetched."
“Men are easy to fool in this manner. They want to believe that you share their passion, and you can share it if you want to."
“I can get that feeling?"
“You may. No guarantee it will work. But it might. Then you will be like us."
Blackbird nodded. “I will make the effort."
Ennui had used a bunk in the corner of the main room. Aspect was happy to have it. They sat and chatted.