Elara looked back at the city. Lights were flickering. Alarm bells beginning to ring. Somewhere, Master Kellus was smiling. Somewhere, the Order of the Fold was scrambling to rewrite scripture.
Guards stopped her. Two men in full plate armor, visors down. They saw her tunic. They saw her bare legs beneath. One of them laughed. “Lost, little font? Women’s quarters are west.”
Elara blinked. “That’s heresy.”
“Then arrest me,” she said, and walked past.
She hesitated. “Exposed. Small. …Cold.” cmnf fantasy
Men, by contrast, were wrapped head to toe in elaborate costumes: wool, velvet, chainmail, or stiff linen, depending on their station. To show a man’s bare ankle was a crime of indecent exposure. To see a woman’s collarbone was merely Tuesday.
“You unbound the knot,” the dryad whispered. “One woman, alone, unclothed, without a man’s gaze to twist it. The Tithe was a lie. The naked body is not a conduit for male magic. It is a key to the world’s own heart.” Elara looked back at the city
“That’s physics,” he replied softly. He gestured to a chair. “Sit. I will keep my robe on, but I will also keep my hands where you can see them. Now: what do you feel when you are naked before a clothed man?”