The blow landed on his shoulder, and he staggered back with a yelp. The holy ones shouted for the warders, Chaji grabbed at Walla, and Tohon strode into the breach with angry words that sat Chaji down on the bench as though he’d been shoved. Everyone quieted. A pair of broad-shouldered warders, easily spotted in orange sashes, showed up from the outer court.

Walla examined Tohon and, then, Chaji with his petulant expression but obedient seat on the bench. She made a sign with her left hand, and the warders stepped back to lounge watchfully by the gate.

“Maybe we get tired of explaining ourselves to grasping, rude, horny outlanders,” she said to Kesh. Her stare made him self-conscious in a way both irritating and provocative.

“When you come to the temple, you are offering yourself at the altar of the goddess,” Kesh said to the Qin. “The hierodules and kalos choose you if they are willing to, ah, worship with you.” He brushed a hand over his curly hair, aware that he was blushing. Not that any of it was at all shameful, only that Walla was bullying him. He wondered if she hated Bai, and if this was payback for an old rivalry.

“They choose us?” Tohon tugged at his ear, obviously wondering if he’d heard wrong. Of all the Qin soldiers, this middle-aged man was the only one Kesh respected. He ruled his cadre firmly but without cruelty; he conversed pleasantly with Zubaidit, treating her like a comrade. The worst Keshad could say of him was that he seemed genuinely to like that cursed reeve, Joss.

“The hierodule or kalos makes the offer. You can refuse it, if you wish, and hope to receive another offer. Which may come, or may not. Men walk through the gate of gold and women through the gate of silver, to the gardens, where the acolytes of the Merciless One wait. Then it’s up to you to accept or refuse what is offered.”

“What of these four here?” asked Tohon, indicating the four hierodules and ignoring the young man.

“These five acolytes,” said Kesh, “all reside beyond the gate of gold, which admits men to the inner precincts. They came here to the Heart Garden because you’re out-landers, and they wanted to see if you could behave according to the temple rules. Not all outlanders can.”

“I can behave!” said one of the young soldiers, Jagi, with a grin, and Walla looked right at him, seeing something in his smile that interested her.

The one called Pil looked sidelong at the kalos, then away quickly before anyone could notice, but the kalos marked the look and yet hung back.

Tohon was still stroking the nub of his ear. “Huh. What else are we to know?”

“You’ll all need baths.” Walla bent her gaze on Jagi, whose grin widened. “But you won’t mind that. Whew! You all do smell. How often do you wash those heavy garments?”

“Take a bath?” cried Chaji. “In water?”