laughed pleasantly.
"No," Tamar said. The woman returned to her work with a nod, and Tamar walked on. Carteia was the boatswain's home, of course. It was strange to find a place where he was of more account than she or Daniel....
Pendril, meanwhile, was seated on a low stool before the high priestess of Astarte in her private chamber at the back of the temple. The light filtered in through gauzy curtains of purple and white, seeming to cast stripes of those colors upon the woman's high-boned, high-nostriled face. She was tall and slender. The lines under her huge eyes and the fine wrinkles in her brown skin showed her age—she was forty. She had permitted Pendril to make love to her since his fourteenth birthday.
"I have come about the land," he said.
She raised her hand, the long nails black-lacquered. "The land first?" she asked.
Pendril hesitated. He did not want to make love to her at this moment. Later, yes, but not now while his corner of the Rock filled his thoughts and dominated his desires.
She rose and pulled him slowly to his feet. Her arms went around his neck. Her bare breasts pressed into him. Her tongue began to search his ear, and her breath came quicker.
Two hours later he began to pull on his short, coarse seaman's robe. The high priestess sat before a mirror, reapplying black around her eyes and red to her cheeks. "Who is the girl you brought here?" she asked.
"The wife of the shipowner," he said.
"Is she a passionate lover?"
"I do not know. I have not touched her.... About the land. The goddess does not use it. No one else wants it. I would build a shrine to her and pay for a great feast to all of you priestesses once, twice a year. I would dedicate to the goddess a tithe of whatever I make from the oysters. I would..."
She turned on her stool. Her nipples stood up like little towers, red-tipped. Her flat belly glistened with oil. She laughed up into his face. "You are a man among men, Pendril," she said. "The best lover I have known, and that is among some eight thousand— If we let you have that land, you will marry some plump cow. Instead of performing the divine rites to Astarte with me you will be seeding her fat belly. No!"
"Please permit me to buy the land," he said doggedly. "I will always come to you, as I do now. All our women know that marriage cannot alter the worship of Astarte."
She stood up and pointed her finger at him, the jewels jangling at her neck. "You shall have the land...."
He started toward her. "Queen!"
"Hold! The price is an apple. A golden apple of the Hesperides."
"But where? How?" he asked miserably.
"A naked woman sends you," she mocked. "And only another naked woman can lead you, a third pluck the apple from the tree, and a fourth bring you safe back home to claim your corner of the Rock!" Laughing high and loud, she disappeared through the curtains.
Pendril stood a long time staring at the purple and white stripes. A golden apple of the Hesperides. The islands where the sun goes down to lie with the sea. The sacred trees guarded by the daughters of the Creator. A naked woman sends you. He started violently. And only another naked woman can lead you. Kedesha was the name of Daniel's new galley; a kedesha was a priestess such as this Irauna whom he had known so long. The figurehead of the galley was a kedesha, a naked woman facing the waves with breasts upthrust, arms back, and legs twined around the stem of the ship, which disappeared into her body.
Pendril turned and hurried out of the temple.
Early in the afternoon the host at the inn stewed a fat dog with herbs, olives, onion, and wine; then Tamar rested and waited impatiently for Pendril to return. Toward dusk the people seemed to be wearing finer clothes, and there was an air of expectation to their movements. She heard distant shouts and orders and the tuning of stringed instruments. Men carried great wine vessels to and fro, and women set earthenware pots around the houses and lit the rope
"No," Tamar said. The woman returned to her work with a nod, and Tamar walked on. Carteia was the boatswain's home, of course. It was strange to find a place where he was of more account than she or Daniel....
Pendril, meanwhile, was seated on a low stool before the high priestess of Astarte in her private chamber at the back of the temple. The light filtered in through gauzy curtains of purple and white, seeming to cast stripes of those colors upon the woman's high-boned, high-nostriled face. She was tall and slender. The lines under her huge eyes and the fine wrinkles in her brown skin showed her age—she was forty. She had permitted Pendril to make love to her since his fourteenth birthday.
"I have come about the land," he said.
She raised her hand, the long nails black-lacquered. "The land first?" she asked.
Pendril hesitated. He did not want to make love to her at this moment. Later, yes, but not now while his corner of the Rock filled his thoughts and dominated his desires.
She rose and pulled him slowly to his feet. Her arms went around his neck. Her bare breasts pressed into him. Her tongue began to search his ear, and her breath came quicker.
Two hours later he began to pull on his short, coarse seaman's robe. The high priestess sat before a mirror, reapplying black around her eyes and red to her cheeks. "Who is the girl you brought here?" she asked.
"The wife of the shipowner," he said.
"Is she a passionate lover?"
"I do not know. I have not touched her.... About the land. The goddess does not use it. No one else wants it. I would build a shrine to her and pay for a great feast to all of you priestesses once, twice a year. I would dedicate to the goddess a tithe of whatever I make from the oysters. I would..."
She turned on her stool. Her nipples stood up like little towers, red-tipped. Her flat belly glistened with oil. She laughed up into his face. "You are a man among men, Pendril," she said. "The best lover I have known, and that is among some eight thousand— If we let you have that land, you will marry some plump cow. Instead of performing the divine rites to Astarte with me you will be seeding her fat belly. No!"
"Please permit me to buy the land," he said doggedly. "I will always come to you, as I do now. All our women know that marriage cannot alter the worship of Astarte."
She stood up and pointed her finger at him, the jewels jangling at her neck. "You shall have the land...."
He started toward her. "Queen!"
"Hold! The price is an apple. A golden apple of the Hesperides."
"But where? How?" he asked miserably.
"A naked woman sends you," she mocked. "And only another naked woman can lead you, a third pluck the apple from the tree, and a fourth bring you safe back home to claim your corner of the Rock!" Laughing high and loud, she disappeared through the curtains.
Pendril stood a long time staring at the purple and white stripes. A golden apple of the Hesperides. The islands where the sun goes down to lie with the sea. The sacred trees guarded by the daughters of the Creator. A naked woman sends you. He started violently. And only another naked woman can lead you. Kedesha was the name of Daniel's new galley; a kedesha was a priestess such as this Irauna whom he had known so long. The figurehead of the galley was a kedesha, a naked woman facing the waves with breasts upthrust, arms back, and legs twined around the stem of the ship, which disappeared into her body.
Pendril turned and hurried out of the temple.
Early in the afternoon the host at the inn stewed a fat dog with herbs, olives, onion, and wine; then Tamar rested and waited impatiently for Pendril to return. Toward dusk the people seemed to be wearing finer clothes, and there was an air of expectation to their movements. She heard distant shouts and orders and the tuning of stringed instruments. Men carried great wine vessels to and fro, and women set earthenware pots around the houses and lit the rope
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