Free Fifth Quarter by Tanya Huff

a woman."
     
    "Yeah? Not for the first time."
     
    "It's not the same thing." But this protest carried the feel of a reluctant grin and his next words proved that she'd managed to distract him. "Mind you, I've always wondered. Vree, if I'm stuck in here for a while, do you think you could…"
     
    Her face grew hot. "No."
     
    "Just once?"
     
    "Bannon!"
     
    "Am I interrupting something?"
     
    Embarrassment gave her only one response.
     
    Gyhard stared at the throwing dagger buried to the hilt in the door frame by his head, then he turned to stare at the young woman scowling at him. Although his heart raced and the highly conditioned body he now wore trembled with the need to react, he kept his tone mild. "I suppose I should have knocked?"
     
    Vree fought to bring her blushing under control, which only made it worse. "What do you want?" she snarled.
     
    "I thought, now that you've rested, that you might like to visit the bathhouse." He held out one of the flowing house robes he, as Aralt, had provided for guests. "I didn't want to mention this earlier, but you're filthy."
     
     
     
    Soaped, scrubbed, rinsed, and feeling almost relaxed, Vree leaned back in the soaking pool until the warm water lapped at the point of her chin. "I could get used to this."
     
    "They feel strange."
     
    "What do?"
     
    "Breasts. They sort of float. Or they would float if they were bigger."
     
    "Up yours." The water level rose as Gyhard lowered himself into the pool and she shifted position. "Aralt did all right by himself."
     
    "There were certain perks involved in being district governor," he admitted, stretching his arms out along the submerged tile ledge. "Probably why I stayed with it for so long."
     
    Vree circled a finger above the water, indicating not only the soaking pool but more-or-less the entire bathhouse; the lush curtains of hanging plants, the mosaics, the clusters of scented candles. "I'm amazed you wanted to give this up."
     
    He shrugged, the motion sending ripples out from his shoulders. "I was old. While I'd allowed it to happen, I found I didn't care for it much. The older you are, the closer you are to a death that can't be avoided."
     
    "He's about three feet from his death right now."
     
    "As soon as we get a chance, Bannon. I promise."
     
    From under half-lowered lids, Gyhard watched the minute changes in his companion's expression and wondered how she managed to so closely coexist with another life. Still, I suppose all those years in barracks and field camps are as good a training for lack of individuality as you can get . He'd barely touched young Bannon's memories during the transfer as, at the time, he'd had no desire to know the man he was displacing. Now, he wished he'd been just a little more thorough, if only to have gained more information on the sister. Considering her trade, there was a sense of vulnerability about her that he found astounding.
     
    "So…" She jerked as he broke the silence. "How is your brother?"
     
    "How am I? I'll show that carrion eater how I am the moment he drops his guard, the slaughtering son-of-a-sow, the…"
     
    "He's angry." Vree interrupted the internal tirade. "And he wants his body back."
     
    Gyhard flexed his ankle and gloried in the response of young muscle. "Well, tell him from me that it's a superb body and I'm not surprised he wants it back."
     
    "Tell him yourself. He can hear you."
     
    "He's using your senses?" The concept intrigued Gyhard. "Is he able to exert any physical control?"
     
    Below the surface of the water, Vree unclenched the fist Bannon had made. "No," she lied, sneering slightly. "He's a passenger. That's all."
     
    "I am not!"
     
    "For Jiir's sake, Bannon, remember who we're talking to. The less he knows the better."
     
    "Yeah. I guess you're right."
     
    But she could tell he didn't like it, that he hated the thought of being considered a passive observer. She'd have hated it also had their positions been reversed. Levering herself