Under A Velvet Cloak Read Free

safety.”
    “My comfort? My safety?”
    He shook his head, nevertheless pleased with her again. “Use your Seeing. You are or soon will be sexually desirable. You must anticipate a man’s approach in time to escape it, lest you be caught victim of molestation.”
    Kerena used her Seeing, and was amazed by the graphic accuracy of the warning. What he said was absolutely true. She was in potential danger from any man, except Morely himself. He desired her but would not force her. Not that he would need to.
    Still, she slept alone, on his velvet cloak. Her nervousness about the night diminished but did not entirely fade. She wished he would join her there, and not merely for that reason. She was thoroughly smitten with him.
    Morely also taught her the value of logical thought. “Most people believe in magic, but they are too credulous. Real magic is hard to come by, and it accomplishes little that could not as readily be accomplished by ordinary means. You must learn the techniques of extrapolation and interpolation, then how to go beyond their boundaries through inspiration and intuition. Form a solid basis of logic and sense, then build on that as necessary. You must always be rational at the root. Fool the others if that is necessary; never fool yourself.”
    “I love your mind. You know so much.” Kerena was not trying to flatter him; she was speaking her thought as it occurred, a liability she would have to learn to control.
    “You are able to understand. That is a significant part of what makes you worthwhile to train.”
    “And you will love my body, soon.”
    Stop that, girl!
But Jolie was already becoming fond of her innocent directness.
    “Soon,” he agreed. “It is not too early for you to learn the ways of flirtation. They will work only partially now, but when your body arrives, they will be extremely effective.”
    “Teach me!”
    He nodded. “When you walk, move your hips, so.” He demonstrated.
    She laughed. “That’s ludicrous!”
    “To be sure, on a man.” He fetched the blanket and draped it around him. “Picture me as a woman.” He moved his hips again. Masked and exaggerated by the draping, they suddenly exuded sexuality.
    Kerena appreciated the effect. She imitated the walk, thinking of her sister, who did it whenever in the presence of a man, even one she didn’t want.
    Morely nodded. “Practice it when alone, but avoid it when in public.”
    “Avoid it?”
    “It is already effective. I don’t want you attracting men until you are ready to handle them.”
    “But no one ever notices me.”
    “Past tense, girl. No one noticed you when your sister was near. But we will encounter groups of men. They will notice you as the only person of the female persuasion, and some are more than ready to relate to a girl your age. Be a child, for now.”
    Oh. “Only when with you,” she agreed, walking in a circle, moving her hips
so.
    “I spoke of two years,” he said sharply. “Do not make me think of one year.”
    Oh, again. Her Seeing and his Seeing saw their future, and already it seemed much like the present. It tempted her, as a challenge. She pondered, and decided to see if she could make him think of less than a year. He would know what she was doing, but might not object. Why wait unduly for the inevitable?
    Faulty logic, girl. Death is also inevitable.
But Jolie read the determination in the girl: she wanted to impress Morely, and fancied this was a way.
    Yet there was a reservation. It was sex she would use to capture his fancy. She wasn’t sure she knew how to
do
it. Oh, she knew the motions, but what about the essence? Suppose she stiffened involuntarily, turning him off? She wanted very much not to have an initial failure.
    Ask him, girl,
Jolie thought, amused.
    “Morely, when-when the time comes-how can I be sure to please you?”
    He laughed. “Be assured you will please me, just by being you.”
    “But because of my inexperience-”
    “Inexperience is a virtue, in a