The Broken Blade (Dark Sun: Chronicles of Athas 3)

“So you think a woman is merely an encumbrance unless she has a man to protect her?”

“That is not quite what he said,” Sorak replied. “He said that an attractive, unescorted woman on a caravan brings trouble. Roustabouts and mercenaries are a rough lot, and they are not known for their gallantry.”

“So women must be penalized for men’s failure to control their impulses?”

“I admit it is unfair,” said Sorak, “but that is the way of things.”

“Spoken like a true male,” said Ryana with a grimace. “I never thought to hear you of all people speak like that.”

“I do not think that is the way things should be,” Sorak replied, “but regrettably, it is the way they are. Certainly in Cricket’s case. After all, she makes her living by arousing men.”

“Then it’s all her fault, is that it?” Ryana said irritably. “You are beginning to sound like Kieran.

What would the Guardian have said if she could hear you speak like this?”

“I suspect she would have said that Cricket made her own choices. She was born with the gift of beauty, and she chose to exploit it by dancing in a pleasure house.”

“What if she had no other choice?”

“There are always choices,” Sorak said. “They may not be pleasant ones, but they exist. Suppose you had not been born villichi. You are also beautiful, and your family was poor. Knowing how much money you could make at a place such as the Desert Damsel, would you have chosen to work there?”

“No,” Ryana replied at once. “I would dance for you, if I knew how, but that is hardly the same thing.”

“I do not dispute that,” Sorak said. “But what might you have done, instead?”

“I would have found a job that I could do without taking off my clothes for strangers and then I would have searched for some way to improve my lot in life.”

“Even if it only paid a small fraction of what you could make by dancing in a pleasure house?”

“Even so. I would not wish to spend my days with men leering at me and offering me money to gratify their lusts.”

“Then there are other choices,” Sorak said. “Not easy ones, perhaps, and not as profitable, but choices nonetheless. I do not hold men blameless, mind you. If there was no demand for pleasure houses, then they would not exist. But at the same time, so long as there are women willing to work in such places, the attitude men have toward them will not change.”

“You mean as long as there are women who need money, it is all right for men to exploit them?”

“I never said that,” Sorak replied. “It seems to me that both men and women are exploited in such places. The women exploit the baser instincts of the men, and the men exploit the beauty of the women. But in the long run, I think the women get the worst of it.”

“I wish I’d never gone to that place,” said Ryana. “I was curious to see it, but the more I think about it, the more angry I become.”

Sorak nodded. “For a short time, before you joined me after you left the convent, I worked in a gaming house in Tyr. The Crystal Spider, you remember?”

“In the elven quarter?”

Sorak nodded. “I was hired to keep watch for cheats and cardsharps, but gaming was not their only trade. There were girls like Cricket there, as well. People went there for a good time, but there was a feeling of desperation in the air, and hunger.” He shook his head. “A lot of money changed hands in the Crystal Spider, but I don’t think it ever made anybody happy.”

They made good time the first day, without any misadventures, stopping at midday for a rest break and a meal, then continuing on until they were halfway to the oasis called Grak’s Pool. The oasis was at the midpoint of their journey from South Ledopolus to Altaruk, a distance of about one hundred miles, though the caravan had already traveled an equal distance to South Ledopolus from Balic.

The plan was for the caravan to stop at Grak’s Pool for one day, to allow the passengers and their mounts to rest, relieve the cargo kanks of their burden for a while, and take on more water. But Grak’s Pool was still another day’s journey away, and they camped that night within sight of the banks of the estuary, which the trade route followed all the way to Altaruk.

They stopped about two hours before sunset to J allow light to pitch the tents, post the watch, and light the fires before darkness fell, and as the roustabouts pursued their tasks, Kieran asked Sorak what he thought of the caravan captain’s disposition of the camp.

“He has placed us with the estuary at our rear,” said Sorak, “which I would not do with troops, but it strikes me that for a caravan, it could have advantages.”

“How so?” asked Kieran.

“Is this a test?” asked Sorak.

“Merely an informal one,” replied Kieran with amusement. “I am curious to hear your opinion.”