Invite Nils to his home.

"Ho Selim," young Nils called. "Do you know which way Thor went?"

Selim rubbed his chin. Down the wharf, he saw Thor disappear around a corner with his shipmates. "Long gone, my friend," he said. "Come along with me! My house is not far, and my women will be eager for company. They will be happy to meet you and make you welcome, the more since the old salts haven't spoilt your good manners yet."

Nils looked doubtful. "Thor said he'd..."

"At least come as far as my house," Selim said. "I need a hand carrying a few things back. If you must go then, I will deliver you into Thor's arms with a handful of silver, and you can seek your fun. But most likely you'll be staggering back on board sick drunk with a swollen jaw."

Selim led the young sailor up away from the docks, away from the noise and bustle to an older part of town where flowering vines climbed the cracked walls and street vendors waved and made finger-signs to them without speaking a word.

Selim called to a half-grown boy. "Amal, you are looking tall! You have grown a span since I saw you last." He jingled some coins. "Take a message to my house, tell them I am just off ship and am coming home with a visitor, a fine young sailor. Have them ready a bath. But first I am off to Carpet Square."

Amal nodded, took the coins, and scampered down the street.

Nils and Selim crossed under an archway and into a market square where each seller's space was marked out by an unrolled carpet, tightly packed together until the ground was covered. Selim removed his shoes and signed to Nils to do as he did. Selim washed his feet in a shallow basin that flowed with a thin sheet of water, then Nils followed suit.

"Here we gather our feast," Selim said.

Selim bargained, sometimes silently, sometimes in low tones too quick for Nils to follow, and loaded the young man up with delicacies. First an empty basket, then fruit, wine, bread, sweets, and packets wrapped up with broad green leaves or twisted up in straw. And lastly, heaps of fresh flowers.

When Nils was well laden, Selim led him to the edge of the carpeted square, where they redonned their shoes and set back out into the city.

Amal was waiting at the archway. He bowed to Selim. "Sir, your lady Bess shouted with joy to hear of your coming. She says all shall be ready. Your lady Faraway was there and she looked pleased."

"Was Rania there?" Selim asked.

Amal said, "Sir, I do not know, I did not see her."

"No matter," he said.

Amal glanced at Nils, and back to Selim, raising his eyebrows. "Sir, one more thing." He tilted his chin up and held his hands beside his mouth.

Selim smiled and bent his ear beside Amal to hear his confidential news. His eyebrows lifted and his lips curled in a smirk. He stood straight. "Thank you, Amal," he said. He handed the boy another coin. "Give your mother at least half."

"Sir, of course, sir!" Amal protested.

"Be off with you, now," Selim said. Amal took to his heels. Selim led on, carrying his own bag as Nils carried the heaavy basket.

Selim took Nils down a lane beside an old stone wall. An orange tree overhung the wall and had dropped fruit. Selim examined the wind-falls and picked a few for Nils's basket. He turned the corner and entered a wooden gate. Inside was a garden courtyard, overgrown with rose bushes, fragrant herbs, fig and lime trees.

Selim looked up to see Faraway's long dark hair sweeping back into the window. The sturdy house door scraped open to reveal a stout brown-skinned woman dressed in red and orange, with her hair tied in a bright kerchief and gold rings in her ears. Her big arms were bare, and her mouth was open with a broad smile. Her face shone with joy, at the same time it showed the trouble written onto it -- a cheek with a deep whip-scar and a broken nose.

"Selim!" she called.

"Bess!" he called back in his ship's voice.

She ran up to meet him and caught him in her big arms, squeezing him to her bosom.

Nils watched the two of them grapple lovingly, and he was not sure who was stronger, the sinewy steersman or his lady Bess. A motion at the doorway caught his eye, and he looked at the woman standing there. Taller than Bess, taller even than himself or Selim, a dark-eyed woman in a long, loose gown stood in the doorway facing the side but with her head partly turned to look at him. Her long dark hair partly hid her face, but Nils could see her large dark eyes and long straight nose. Her hands were flat on the doorframe, and also long, as were her bare feet. She struck him as an unearthly beauty, beautiful but unsettling to look upon.

Selim cleared his throat. "Nils, this is my lady Bess, and in the door is my lady Faraway," he said. "Bess, Faraway, this is my shipmate Nils, on his first voyage and too good-hearted to have lost his good manners."

Nils touched his forelock and bowed. "Mistress Bess, Mistress Faraway, I am happy to meet you. Your garden is beautiful."

"Ah, it has run all a-riot," Bess said. "But we love it none the less."

Faraway smiled.

"Will you accept our hospitality, Nils?" Selim asked. "Or are you set on taverns and tattoos?"

Nils blinked at Faraway, then looked to Selim. "I'll stay," he said. "Thank you, sir."

"Ah, there is no sir here," Selim said. "You are my guest, and I am your host, and we shall be Selim and Nils. Come, let us have bread and salt."

Selim led Nils into the house, cool with shade, and shared bread and salt after the ancient custom. Nils left his kit bag in the small corner room that was to be his, and the two ladies bundled off into the bath which was waiting for him, with a few giggles and mock shrieks when they noticed he was a little modest.

Selim helped Bess and Faraway in the kitchen, preparing their feast. "What do you think of the young man, eh?" he asked.

"A fine young fellow," Bess said, "But all too soon he will turn out like his shipmates."

Faraway turned back from the window and looked at Selim. She raised her eyebrows and hummed. "Nice boy," she said, and smiled. "Fine prick."

"I am hoping to rescue the young man from having his first time lost to the tender mercies of Jenny O'Docks and her sisters," Selim said. "I was thinking that you might especially enjoy welcoming him into manhood."

Faraway smiled and lowered her eyelids partway.

Bess laughed, a rich deep sound. "Which one of us?" she asked.