‘Why no, of course not. I am a priestess, married to the moon and the service of the spirits. My purity is my strength.’
‘So you’ve never been with a man?’
Sapallu flinched as if she were shocked by the suggestion. ‘No. If I was to be sullied I would be punished, a crime of terrible severity. I would be punished with death. And so would the man.’
That pulled Teya up short. She wanted to broach the subject of Mateo, but suddenly it seemed dangerous. Would they consider her to have been sullied by him? Death seemed a fair overreaction for just fooling around with your boyfriend. So she remained silent.
When her whole body had been scrubbed and rinsed, she stepped out of the stone bath and was given wool cloth to dry off. Her skin felt fresh and tingly, and her muscles were relaxed. She h
