Page 88 of The Gilded Ones

It’s a bright morning in the desert, and we’re riding towards the small range of hills in the distance, the threshold to the N’Oyo Mountains. From there, the primal nesting grounds are a week and a half away. Beside me, Keita sits rigidly on his horse, jaw clenched. The N’Oyo Mountains border Gar Fatu, his home. In fact, his summer house – the very same house where his family was massacred – is in their foothills, which is why he becomes tenser with every step. I wish I could embrace him to make him feel better, but I can’t do so here, where everyone will see. Instead I watch Britta as she grumbles about the weather.

“If it’s not the sun, it’s the sand, all flying everywhere an’ getting all in me delicate bits.”

A smile tugs at the side of my mouth. “Your delicate bits, you say… How ever will you survive?” I tease.

“Not much longer if it goes any deeper,” Britta mutters.

“Oh please,” Adwapa humphs, “you’re not the only girl who has delicate bits.”

“And ye know that from experience, wouldn’t ye?” Britta laughs, her eyebrows waggling.

We all know Adwapa is forever sleeping in Mehrut’s bed. It shocked me at first, the fact that two women would have such inclinations, but affection is affection. If there’s one thing I’ve learned these past few months, it’s that you must treasure it wherever you can find it. I’m just grateful they found each other in the Warthu Bera, rather than a place like Irfut, where they would have been beaten, then forced into servitude as temple maidens for deviancy.

“You three are disgusting,” Acalan sniffs, shaking his head, although there’s a twinkle in his eyes. He’s also become much less rigid since entering the Warthu Bera. Constant brushes with death will do that to a person.

“Not our problem you don’t know about delicate bits,” says Asha, grinning at him.

“That would be because I’m an Oyomo-fearing man,” Acalan sniffs.

“You mean an Oyomo-fearing virgin.” Belcalis laughs, elbowing him.

He blushes. “I’m saving myself for marriage,” he mumbles.

“You hear that, Keita?” It’s Li’s turn to join the conversation, and he turns laughingly to Keita. “Our Acalan is a virgin,” he says, waggling his eyebrows.

Keita shrugs, looking away. “Nothing wrong with being a virgin,” he replies. “I’ve never been with anyone either.”

The conversation stops, and everyone turns to Keita, shocked, except for Britta and me. Being both from small villages, we tend to assume that unmarried people are virgins. It was only after some weeks at the Warthu Bera that I realized city folk like Kweku, or Nibari like Adwapa and Asha, didn’t hold such strict attitudes towards bed matters.

“Never ever?” Asha gasps, seeming bewildered beyond belief.

Keita shrugs, shaking his head.

“How about a kiss?” Kweku gasps. “Surely you’ve kissed.”

Keita shrugs again.

“Why not?” Belcalis asks, seeming thoughtful.

“Never had anyone I wanted to kiss – before, that is.” He looks away, seeming shy.

Belcalis breaks out in a knowing smile. “And now…?” She glances from Keita to me, and I feel my face heat all the way to the roots of my hair.

Keita shifts, uncomfortable. “Now is none of your business,” he mumbles. “And honestly, I’m disappointed in you three.”

“How are we the disappointing ones?” Adwapa sniffs. “You’ve never even felt a girl up before. I have – several times. It’s delightful. Especially now that I get to do so in the privacy of our common bedroom.” She makes a squeezing motion with her fingers, and we all roll our eyes.

“Go on.” She gestures. “Please, do explain to me how we’re the disappointing ones.”

“Because you’re alaki.” Keita sighs. “You of all people know what it’s like to not be the way the world expects you to be. Just because I’m a man—”

“Boy!” Asha coughs under her breath.

Keita rolls his eyes. “Just because I’m male doesn’t mean I want to be chasing every girl in the vicinity. Perhaps I want my first time to mean something. Perhaps I want to be married, to be bonded, before I sleep with someone. I thought you’d all understand that.”

We fall silent again.

Keita is right, of course. Virginity, no virginity – the choice should be a personal one. I could have never even thought such a thing before, growing up in Irfut, but being in the Warthu Bera has changed me. The Infinite Wisdoms no longer hold as much sway over me as it used to.

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