her body, for her own clothing had vanished, to be replaced by nothing, for she had never been in this place and had no vestment here.
The shame of it made her breathless for a moment. True, Ivan was her husband; but since he did not love her and would never come to her as husband now, she felt no stirring of anticipation to soften the shock of being exposed before a man. A woman's nakedness was a precious thing, to be protected until it was given as a gift to her husband. Or, in this case, to her people, for was it not for their sake that she had done all these things? Made a vow to this stranger, and crossed this bridge, and now exposed herself to any eye?
Ivan laughed.
In that moment she hated him, that he would laugh at her.
"Oh, you're angry?" he said.
She did not like the taunting tone of his voice, and turned her back on him.
"I wasn't laughing at you," said Ivan, "I was laughing at fate. The - " He searched for a word. " - malice of fate."
No, she was not going to hide from him, as if she had cause for shame. She turned to face him, though she could not stop herself from covering her breasts with her arms. "I'm naked and you're laughing," she said.
"I'm not laughing now," he said. "But it's childish of you to be angry at me. You laughed at my nakedness."
"I did not," she said. Though the moment she said it, she could not remember if she had or not. But why shouldn't she? "You're a man. Men are naked whenever they want."
"Not in my world," said Ivan. "In my world, it's women who are more often naked. But I'm sorry that I laughed."
He began unfastening his shirt. What, did he think she'd feel better if he joined her in nakedness? Or did he think this was a good moment to consummate their marriage vows?
Neither. He shrugged the shirt off his shoulders, pulled the sleeves over his wrists, and then offered the thing to her.
"And what would I do with this?"
"Wear it," he said.
Was he insane? Had he learned nothing? "I'm a Christian woman," she said. "What you suggest is too wicked to imagine."
He rolled his eyes, as if she were an annoying child. "In your world, you were right, and I was wrong to wear women's clothing. It was better to be naked."
"Then why are you offering me this?"
"Because this isn't your world. And here, it's no sin for a woman to wear men's clothing. In fact, it's done all the time, and it means nothing. Christian women do it and no one thinks ill of them. A woman puts on her husband's shirt and we think it's charming. That it shows love and intimacy between them."
She was horrified to think that Christianity had come to such a pass. "And does the husband put on his wife's dress?"
He looked embarrassed. "Well, actually, no. I mean, some do, but we think of that as... strange."
"The world may be insane, but I am not," she said. She turned her back on him again. "Wherever we're going, let's go. The day is late, and I'll be cold if I spend the night in the forest."
"Katerina," he said. His tone of voice was one she hadn't heard from him before. Angry. No, masterful.
"What?" she said.
"Look at me," he said.
She turned to face him, letting her own anger show. "What is this? Are you claiming the right of a husband? Or do you forget that even as your wife, I'm the princess of Taina?"
"I'm forgetting nothing. I'm claiming nothing." But his tone did not become meek again. "You're the one forgetting something. This is not your world. There is no Taina here, and no princesses. Only a naked woman and a man with clothing on. And in this world, people will suspect only two possible explanations. One is that he has raped her. The other is that she's a whore."
The insult was unbearable. Without even thinking, she slapped him.
"Oh, good," he said, not even seeming to register the sting of the slap, though his cheek turned red. "So you've decided to make them think I've raped you. What will happen, of course, is that I'll be taken to... I'll be taken away and punished. And since you don't speak the language here, and can't prove who you are, and if they do understand you you'll have these wild stories about