A Place To Bloom

New At This

Ta'o commanded the center of the stone circle at the back of the castle grounds. He was surrounded by conscripts; the log-benches were all filled up, and several more men stood behind them.

"Now," he instructed them. "Bullshit, is xayufipiga."

They repeated in unison. "Ha-yoo-fee-pee-ga."

He clarified. "It's actually sour penis, but that's how we say bullshit."

Some of the men moved aside for a woman to step through. She was the sekɪwa who'd fought the goatherd on this same circle the other night, the same one who'd thrown her laundry at me when I first came through here. She was short and muscular like all the others, dressed in a beige silk loincloth with gold embroidery draped over her arse. Her white hair was pulled taut into a single, thick braid that hung all the way down her back.

She looked around the men, flitting her eyes from one to another before settling on a man sitting in the front row. Haron. The same man who'd cursed me out at the shit pit earlier.

"You." She pointed. "tave teɣose damʌðe damʌ?"

All the men looked at Ta'o. He grinned. The sekɪwa faced Ta'o as well, cocking her head in Haron's direction.

"Um..." Ta'o rubbed his chin. "So... she's asking if you're afraid to 'man a woman.' That means..."

"I know what that means." Haron stood with a smug grin. He'd dressed in a cotton loincloth like the one I wore. Across his muscular chest were four lines of scar from a bear paw, and on his right shoulder was a brand in the shape of Cougar with His jaws open in a roar. "And no, I'm not afraid."

He took her hand, and as they walked off together he glanced in my direction. "And I'll take my sweet time with it, too."

The rest of the recruits looked flabbergasted at one another. Ta'o glanced at me briefly and turned back to his students. "We'll continue tomorrow."

As the rest of the men dispersed, I approached him. "Cultural orientation?"

The swelling where Dax clobbered him had gone down since morning. He flashed that winning smile at me. "Yeah, bro!"

"What did I miss?"

Ta'o chuckled lightly. His white hair fell to the small of his back. "Nothing Miyani hasn't already taught you."

"Speaking of which..."

"Nope!" he held up one hand to block my words. "I promised her I wouldn't say anything. She wants to be the one to talk to you."

"I see. Well in that case, I have another favor to ask of you."

"Anything."

"I have to go give Commander Gaedi a briefing."

"So give her one."

"I've never done this before; I don't know what to say to her."

"Oh," he grinned wide and slapped his hand on my shoulder. "She's cool, bro, nothing to be nervous about. Loves to be on top, though."

It took a second for his words to register. "I don't know how useful that is."

Ta'o laughed. "How's this? You're my captain, how about I give you a briefing, and let's see how it goes?"

"Alright."

"Wait here." He walked off.

I stood in the middle of the stone circle. To my left by the stacked mud huts, two women bathed each other, inspecting one another's feet. Behind me, children—mostly mixed with Herali fathers—chased each other by the laundry. An old woman yelled at them, and they ran off. A cluster of men loitered on one of the log benches, and above them, the waning sunlight cast a shadow from the crenelations on the ramparts above onto the opposite wall, like giant, square shadow teeth devouring the light. It was still warm and muggy, but bearable.