“D’you want me to take my clothes off?”
“No—great Mithros. Turn around whilst I get clothed.”
She obeyed, arguing, “That’s silly. I’ve seen you naked before.”
George hunted for his breeches. “This is different. All right—turn about Why d’you need a woman?”
Her eyes were pleading. “Don’t ask. Please “
The thief made a face. “Come on, then.” He hustled her down his back stair and into the street “I know just the lady—she was a priestess in the Temple of the Mother here in the City before she married, got trained there. She’s my own mother. She wouldn’t talk if you pried her jaws apart” He spotted Moonlight waiting patiently. “You’re little enough—the mare will carry us both.” He swung himself into the saddle behind Alanna. “We’re ridin’ for the Street of the Willows.”
Alanna nodded and urged her horse forward. George’s warmth at her back was oddly comforting.
“What’s wrong?” he asked again.
“If I knew, I wouldn’t be so damned scared,” she snapped.
“That’s true—I’ve never seen you overset,” he said thoughtfully. “We’ve got to talk, you and I.” They turned down a small street lined with walled houses. George dismounted and unlocked a gate marked with the healer’s sign—a wooden cup—circled once in red and once in brown. “What are you called, then?”
She hesitated. “If I tell, you might forget and let it slip out later.”
“Not me, youngling.” He motioned for Alanna to ride into the courtyard and then closed the gate. “I let nothing slip.”
She dismounted. Moonlight butted her affectionately. “It’s Alanna,” she whispered.
George’s mother came to the door of the house. She was a tall woman, with her son’s twinkling hazel eyes and an air of command. Only a single streak of white in her chestnut hair revealed her to be a little more than middle-aged.
“A patient for you, Mother” the thief announced. “I’ll be stabling the mare.”
Mistress Cooper showed Alanna into a small, neat room. Healing plants of all kinds hung from the rafters, giving the room a fragrant smell. A small wooden table covered with a clean sheet sat in the room’s center.
“Sit there,” Mistress Cooper ordered. “Now. What’s the problem?”
Alanna explained quickly that she was a female, not a male, and that she was a page in the palace. Mistress Cooper raised her eyebrows, but said nothing. Alanna drew a breath and added, “I—I’m bleeding.”
“Bleeding?” was the calm response. “Where?”
Red with embarrassment, Alanna pointed. George’s mother began to smile. “Has it happened before?” Alanna shook her head. “Did you injure yourself there? No? When did it start—this morning? No pain?”
Too ashamed to speak, Alanna either shook her head or nodded, depending on the question. There were others so personal she wanted to hide when she thought about them. Her embarrassment only tripled when Mistress Cooper began to laugh.
“You poor child,” she chuckled. “Did no one ever tell you of a woman’s monthly cycle? The fertility cycle?”
Alanna stared. Maude had mentioned something, once—
“That’s what this is? It’s normal?”
The woman nodded. “It happens to us all. We can’t bear children until it begins.”
“How long do I have to put up with this?” Alanna gritted.
“Until you are too old to bear children. It’s as normal as the full moon is, and it happens just as often. You may as well get used to it.”
“No!” Alanna cried, jumping to her feet. “I won’t let it!”
Again Mistress Cooper raised her eyebrows. “You’re a female, child, no matter what clothing you wear. You must become accustomed to that.”
“Why?” Alanna demanded. “I have the Gift. I’ll change it! I’ll—”
“Nonsense!” the woman snapped. “You cannot use your Gift to change what the gods have willed for you, and you would be foolish to try! The gods willed you to be female and small and redheaded, and obviously silly as well—”
“I am not silly!” Alanna wailed. “I just—” She rubbed the back of her hand against burning eyes. She knew Mistress Cooper was right. She had tried to use her Gift once to make herself grow, and her head had ached for days.
“Well, then, perhaps not silly.” A comforting hand was laid on Alanna’s shoulder. “Listen to me. Your place in life you can always change, whether you have the Gift or not. But you cannot change what the gods have made you. The sooner you accept that, the happier you will be.” She led Alanna into the kitchen and put a tea kettle on the fire. “You’re not used to your body doing things you haven’t asked of it, are you?”
Alanna made a face. “It’s bad enough my