Page 106 of A Curse of Hope and Shadows: Part I
“Is it?”
“Of course!”
It seemed bitterly unfair, but he supposed it was. She likely didn’t get the same enjoyment from watching him as he got from watching her. He turned his back, trying not to look too put out.
“Why isn’t it proper for men and women who aren’t married or family to share a bed together?” he asked.
Adeline stalled behind him. “Um…”
“Is that how children are made?” He knew there was probably more to it than sharing a bed space—hopefully—but he’d long suspected it had something to do with it. None of the books he’d found in the library had shed any light on the procedure.
“Ha!” said Adeline, and then her smile dropped when he didn’t laugh with her. “Wait, you’re serious?”
“No one has ever properly explained it to me. I understand that they grow inside their mothers and the way out seems to be somewhat an unpleasant task but the rest of the details are…” He heard a strange sniffing sound from behind him. “Are you laughing at me?”
“No, no, not at all, I just… Oh my.”
“Don’t tease me! There’s never been anyone to ask, or anyone that would give me a straight answer—”
“All right! All right, I’ll explain it, but don’tevertell anyone where you learnt this from, promise.”
“I promise.”
Adeline said it all in such a rush, using some words he’d never heard before, that she was forced to use a few interesting hand gestures to explain the process, her cheeks growing redder by the second. He was surprised a former midwife’s apprentice could get so embarrassed about the process. Perhaps it had been rude to ask, but he’d been wanting an answer for years now and didn’t know who else he could turn to.
“So, that’s it?” he asked, when she finally paused.
“That’s it.”
“It sounds… odd.”
Adeline buried her face behind the end of the braid she’d yet to pin up. He tried not to think about how much he’d enjoyed seeing it down last night, tried not to think about how he wanted to see other parts of her now, too. “I am reliably informed it is quite pleasurable if you do it correctly.”
“Correctly?”
“I may be missing a few details myself on that point.”
“So you’ve never…”
“Heavens, no. Not worth the risk.”
“Does italwaysmake a child?”
“Ha. No. Most of the time people do it purely for fun. And there are ways to prevent conception should you wish to avoid it, but they are not always reliable.”
“Have you ever wanted to?”
Adeline could not meet his gaze. “I’ve been curious,” she said.
A bell rang, loudly and urgently. Adeline frowned, and Dimitri stepped automatically towards the door.
“Don’t you go out there!” she hissed.
“Oh, right.”
“Sneak out the back stairs and get back to your room before anyone realises you’re missing.”
“But—”
