Glade and Ivory Ch. 10

Glade arrived later with Chief Cave Lion and his wife. They hovered above her as she lay crumbled up inside the comforting womb of the bedsheets.

"It would not honour our village at all," said the shaman, "to bestow on the Reindeer Herders a wretch like this."

"The Reindeer Herder chief has said he would relish once more her flesh," said the chief. "I can't deny him that. Nor can I dishonour his family and court."

"As I've already said," Glade remarked, "I am more than willing to serve the Reindeer Herder court in the capacity my apprentice does not yet have the training or stamina to do. I'm sure that if my apprentice has the opportunity to rest, she will be better able to serve the Reindeer Herder chief. There is a real risk that she will become nothing but an empty shell and her lack of vigour will be nothing more than a disgrace."

"You are the shaman," said the Chief. "The Reindeer Herders respect you as such and would not think it right to use you as they would your apprentice."

"As you know, my shamanic skills extend to those of the carnal nature," Glade insisted. "The Reindeer Herders will not be disappointed and you shall be known as the chief who made the greatest sacrifice by offering his shaman to the service of their virile pleasure."

"But you're also much older than the apprentice," the Chief reminded her. "You no longer have her lustre of youth."

"In the giving of satisfaction," the shaman said as she smiled knowingly at the Chief's wife, "experience can bring more delight than can the young but naïve. When a man enters the portal of desire, what matters is less its adornment by young and buxom flesh but how well it can sate a man's lust. I insist, my lord. My apprentice needs rest. Perhaps when she's recovered from her exertions she can give better of herself to the Reindeer Herder chief whose body she only this morning craved."

The Chief mused for a moment. He scratched his thick beard and pinched his forehead in his gnarled fingers. "I am reluctant to provide the Reindeer Herder court with a woman who no longer has your apprentice's beauty and youth," he said at last. "But I recognise that your apprentice has much more to learn in the ways of making love and needs to show rather more endurance. There are no other suitable women in the village, but I cannot fail my duty as the Reindeer Herder's host. So, I have no choice but to accept your offer."

"Thank you, my lord," said the shaman who smiled reassuringly at a much relieved Ivory.

"But when the Reindeer Herder chief beckons for your apprentice," Chief Cave Lion continued, "she shall be obliged to answer his call."

Ivory looked up at the Chief. "Thank you. Thank you," she whispered.

A huge weight was suddenly lifted from her. Her weariness overcame her and she quite suddenly gave way to sleep in the thick fur of Glade's arms.