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something so grim?”
    “Because I choose not to think of it anymore.  This is no time for sadness—it’s timefor you to learn the secrets you want to know  so very  badly. And don’t deny it—I know you’re  curious,  Maven.  I’ve  seen  it  in  your  eyes. So push away your worries and let meenlighten  you.”
    Maven took  a deep breath and attempted to  do as Lavonia instructed. It was hard to rekindle her interest in the ways of marriage without suffering the dread of who she’d be married   to , but she tried. She looked Lavonia squarely in the eye.
    “Tell me something, Lavonia. How is it for the rest of society? How do   they   marry?”  It was embarrassing to admit she didn’t know, but life for a royal girl was too sheltered—she knew little about how others lived.
    “Well, only for the  royal—and sometimes the wealthy—is a  girl’s virginity such a
    sacred thing. The lower classes have no need of a bride price.”
    “Go on.”

    19

    Lacey Alexander

    “And in the lower classes some marry, but many do not,” Lavonia said. “Although  those who   do   generally live long,  happy lives  together—those who find real love make  it last.”
    “And the rest?”
    Lavonia chuckled. “We just do as we feel and enjoy it.”
    Maven pursed her lips, trying to  piece together the little bits of life she’d witnessed outside the  fortress walls. “And those who marry have  children, but those who do not
    have none?  How does that work?”

    “Very carefully,” Lavonia said in a teasing tone, then grew more serious.  “Occasionally, an unmarried woman   will   have a child,  and that child is generally raised with help  from the father, but more often,  the child ends up feeling as if  he’s been  reared by the entire village or community where he lives. All of which is to  say, such children are usually accidents, but not ill-treated because of it.”
    Maven barely knew how to decipher Lavonia’s explanation. “Um, accidents?” She  couldn’t help feeling her own ignorance.
    “Well, we’re  getting ahead of ourselves here, but…women can take  steps to prevent  children from being born. There are special salves—I’ve used them myself, since I was a  young girl.  However, you need not concern yourselves with that  aspect of things, dear girl, for you are to be a married woman,  with no need to prevent children.”
    Maven let out a long sigh, almost sorry she’d begun the line of  questioning. She hadn’t even  yet thought about the prospect of having   children   with Dane! Suppressing a  shiver, she decided it was best to  keep a stiff upper lip and move on.
    “How do we begin?”
    “Ah, now that’s the strong Maven I know  and love,” Lavonia said, lounging back on Maven’s bed a bit more. “First, sweet Maven, I will teach you about your body.”
    The very suggestion made the region between  her legs tighten, and she bit her lip.  “Go on. Teach me.”
    Lavonia laughed. “Suddenly impatient, are  we? Very well, then.” Without warning she placed her hand between her thighs, cupping herself through her thin leather dress.  “This is called your pussy.”
    “Pussy,” Maven repeated, trying out the word. “Why is  it called that?”
    Lavonia let out a  tired sigh.  “Why is anything  called  anything? Who can say? Ibelieve it’s an archaic term from the Before Times.” She warmed to her subject  then.  “We live very different lives than those who went before us, but I feel confident one thing hasn’t  changed. Sex.”
    Sex.   A word Maven had heard whispered about the fortress, and spoken louder in the village —until, of course, the speaker realized a royal daughter was listening. “Andwhat is sex?”
    Her maid laughed, almost sympathetically, then shook her head. “Poor me. I
    suppose I hadn’t realized just how difficult this job would be.”

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    Rituals of Passion

    “Sex,” Maven