Vessia
"Do you have it?" Vio asked the moment Vessia stepped back into his tent.
"I do not."
"Fa! Then we'll have to try again tomorrow." He scowled. Even when angry, his face had something special about it. She found it strange that she liked looking at him. She didn't usually stare at people, but it was hard to look away from Vio.
"I should explain," she said. The tent smelled of smoke and musk. It felt oddly safe inside.
"I made the switch. But before your warriors brought me here, I hid the bowl."
"Impossible."
She spread her arms.
"Take off your clothes!" he ordered.
That was strange. The Old Man and Old Woman who raised her had taught her never to undress in front of others—especially not in front of a man.
"I know the bowl is hidden under your clothes," he said. "If you don't take them off, I'll strip you myself. Or, just give it to me now!"
Vessia calmly pulled off her shoulder blanket, unwrapped her breast band, untied her legwals, and let everything fall to the floor.
Vio sucked in a sharp breath.
Old Woman had told her she should feel something called shame when she stood naked before a man. But she didn't. Still, her skin tingled in a strange way as he stared at her.
He suddenly turned away. "Put your clothes back on!"
His voice trembled with anger. She didn't understand why. He had been the one to ask her to undress. Still, she quietly dressed again.
"She will notice the switch," Vessia said.
"I doubt it. She doesn't know what the Looking Bowl really does."
"She does," Vessia said. "She uses it every day. I saw her reflection. I think she saw it too."
"Are you dressed?"
"Yes."
He turned around again, slowly. It was like he feared looking at her body.
"I don't understand why Nangi would want to look at her own reflection," he said. "She always says she is ugly. She even brags about it when she's angry."
Vessia remembered Nangi's beauty, but said nothing. She wasn't sure if the mirror showed the truth or a lie.
He gave her a sharp look. "What game are you playing? You stole the bowl, but you don't have it now. If Nangi really understands the bowl, and sees it is missing tomorrow, we'll be in trouble. Why take that risk?"
"I'll tell you where it is," Vessia said, "but only if you promise me something."
"I already said I'd free your friend—in time—if you gave me the bowl."
"I want more. I want to be there when you use it."
"Why?"
"I want to know what it does. I knew you wouldn't tell me if I asked. So now you have to let me watch."
Vio laughed. He stepped to the tent door and whispered something to the guards outside.
Then he came back inside and grabbed her arm. "You shouldn't play tricks with me. I could find the bowl many ways. I could tie you to the tall pole in this tent. I could strip you again and whip you until you screamed. I could hurt your friends, one by one. Or I could just cut your throat and search the whole camp. But you amuse me. So I'll let you watch."
"Then I'll tell you where it is."
"No need."
One of his warriors walked in, carrying the bowl. He wiped it with a wet cloth, placed it on the ground, bowed, and left.
"Did you think I've never hidden something in a piss pit before?" Vio smirked. "I'm not new to these games."
She flushed with anger. So her hiding place had been too easy. "I should have known the Skull Stomper would beat me at skullduggery."
"You should have. And now, I'll teach you what happens when you toy with me."
Vio bent down and kissed her.