«So I see,» said Blade. He saw a good deal more than he was willing to admit to Wyala. As he had suspected, he was in a dimension of women. Or at least one ruled by women, where the only civilized males were the breeding males in the House of Fertility in the city. He frowned. Communication with anybody in this dimension was going to be difficult, he suspected. The Senar were below the level of savages and would have the savage's belief that the stranger was an enemy. The women of the city-the worshipers of Mother Kina-were a good deal more civilized. But they would be almost as likely as the Senar to shoot first and ask questions afterwards. Their religion would require it, at least if the stranger was a man. There were times, Blade realized, when a woman companion might be more useful than another man. He made a mental note to mention the point when and if he returned to Home Dimension.

But for the moment he was alone in the woman-ruled dimension of Brega, and he would have to make his way through it as best he could. He had done it well enough sixteen times before. Barring extraordinary ill luck, he could see no reason for not doing so a seventeenth time. And, he reflected wearily, an eighteenth, and nineteenth, and so on and on until his luck ran out or they finally found someone else to go-man, woman, child, chimpanzee, or whatever!

He looked at Wyala. «I should like to travel to the city and speak with those who follow the Law of Mother Kina. Although men rule in my own country, we respect the gods of others.» Blade smiled in grim amusement at his own remark. At this rate, he should have enough practice at pandering to local prejudices to run for Parliament when he retired!

Wyala's mouth dropped open. «Men rule? How can that be? The Law of Mother Kina is that it cannot be so. It cannot. Men are filled with the killing madness that brought on the disaster to end the old days of Brega. The disaster purged them from the world, and Mother Kina now rules.»

«Nonetheless, it is otherwise in my homeland,» said Blade. «Perhaps your men were different. But in my homeland the men have no madness in them, at least no more than the women. The disaster has not yet come, and both men and women would laugh at the Law of Mother Kina.»

«No,» said Wyala again. «No, no, no.» The last word was almost a scream. «Women-at the mercy of men-men thinking, speaking reasoned words-no,» she whimpered.

«Yes,» said Blade quietly. «It is so. And what is this nonsense about women 'at the mercy of men'? Why do you think they cannot both be thinking beings together? And even if men have women at their mercy — well, what of it? I had all eight of your band at my mercy last night. I could have snapped the necks and cut the throats of every last one of you and left you for the worms and the ants to strip to bare bones. And I could have used any or all of you for my pleasure, until I had had enough. But I did none of those things.

«And after I took you away I could have mistreated you even more easily. But I did not. All I did was tie you so that you could not escape or try to kill me. I saw that you were a fighting woman, and might do these things.»

Slowly, Wyala nodded. «Perhaps I believe you. But I do not know if the women of the city will believe you. If you go to the city, you will be killed before you even see its walls. I do not care how good a warrior you are. And»- she swallowed- «they will kill me also if I come with you.»

«Perhaps all you say is true,» said Blade sharply. «But what else are we supposed to do? Certainly we cannot go to the Senar. They would probably kill me just as fast as the women of the city would. They would certainly kill you, and do others things as well, since I could not protect you from hundreds of the Senar.»

«I know,» said Wyala miserably. «But-to take a wild man who is not a wild man-to the city itself-they would not believe that such a thing as you are exists. They would think that you were one of the Senar in disguise, trying to get into the city so that you could run wild and kill and rape. And they would not listen to me long enough to save us. They wouldn't, they wouldn't, they wouldn't!» She was crying now, in frustration and despair at not being able to make Blade believe her.

There was no point in continuing the argument tonight. Blade sighed and moved over to sit beside Wyala, putting an arm around her heaving shoulders. At first the unaccustomed touch of a man's heavily muscled body made her start and stiffen. But after a minute or two she realized that there was no danger in Blade's touch. Her own arm went around his waist, and her head slipped down onto his shoulder. After a few minutes more, she was snuggling up against him as naturally as any girl of Home Dimension.

Wyala was warm and comfortable against Blade, but darkness had fallen now and it was getting chilly. He began to think of suggesting that they wrap themselves up in their cloaks and get some sleep. There would be another long day's travel tomorrow, wherever they decided to go.

Then Blade became aware that Wyala's free hand was reaching out to him. He had stripped off his tunic before dinner, and now her small fingers were fumbling their way over his bare skin. He could feel them twining the hair on his chest and pressing against the hard muscles of his stomach. They were not very expert fingers, but they were warm and gentle in their movements. Unmistakably, Blade began to feel the beginnings of arousal.

He did not move or speak. He was not at all sure Wyala knew what she was doing or where it might lead. He wanted to be sure. So he waited, and felt the fingers creep down across his stomach, and still lower. She made no effort to unlace the front of his trousers. But when she felt a swelling bulge under her fingers, she seemed to recognize it for what it was. Her fingers did not move away. Instead, they stayed and stroked and played. Blade began to find it harder and harder to stay motionless. His breathing began to quicken.

His arousal increased further, and now it was impossible to doubt that Wyala knew what she was doing and was doing it on purpose. Why didn't really matter-and Blade didn't really care.

Now his own arms went around Wyala from behind, cupping both her breasts. Even under the heavy fabric of her tunic their firm, full curves were exciting. His fingers tugged at the lacings of her tunic until its front gaped partway open, then slipped inside to play on her bare skin. Now she was aware of his hands moving on her, but said nothing. She twisted her body to give his hands more freedom to move and gave a little gasp as one finger curled around a nipple. The nipple promptly sprang to life, swelling up into a hard little nubbin that pressed against Blade's fingers. He cupped both breasts in his hands and heard her gasp more loudly. If Wyala was not an excited woman now, Blade had never seen one in his life.

Her fingers had stopped their work on his trousers as he began his on her breasts. But Wyala's excitement kept Blade's alive. He finished undoing the laces of her tunic and slipped it off her shoulders. She helped him get it the rest of the way off, then turned toward him, bare to the waist. Seen close up, Wyala's breasts were indeed full, a woman's breasts rather than a girl's, but a young woman. There was no sag or slump in the magnificent curves. The large, dark nipples stood up proud and high. Wyala arched her back to thrust her breasts almost into Blade's face, and he lowered his lips to brush her skin. He felt warmth and smelled good health in that skin.

As Blade's lips moved up and down Wyala's body, her hands went back to work on his trousers. Excitement rose in him again. It rose higher as Wyala undid the lacing of the trousers and unbuckled the belt. Her hands plunged down into Blade's groin as though she was plunging them into a basket of fruit. They still weren't very skilled hands, but what they lacked in skill they made up for in vigor.