The Bartered Bride by Mary Jo Putney

his odds for succeeding at the game.
    The answer pleased him. He'd survived the climb and the dragon, and the need to clean and repair ship hulls at sea had made him proficient at swimming and diving. He was also a good shot and a better-than-average chess player.
    While he was still unsure what some of the trials were, most should be doable, as the dragon had been. The most worrisome possibilities were fighting the sultan either unarmed or with a kris, which would be risky both physically and politically. With luck, neither of those combat trials would come up. If one did-well, he'd use the one refusal he'd been allotted.
    "Than Elliott."
    Sheng Yu formally handed Gavin the ivory die for his third cast. Gavin rolled the die in his hands, then cast it.
    The top of the dodecahedron was unnervingly blank. Then he realized that symbols were being covered after a task had been selected once. No point in fighting a dragon twice. He picked up the die and threw again.
    Sheng Yu announced, "Dancing the fire."
    It was another category where Suryo hadn't found clear information. Gavin asked, "What does that mean?"
    "It is an ancient tradition of Maduri," Kasan explained. "You must walk across a bed of burning coals."
    Gavin tensed. "You're joking."
    "Not at all. This dance is adat, custom, performed when a boy becomes a man. It's one of the easier Singa Mainam tests, actually. I'd hoped you'd receive a more difficult trial." The sultan gave one of his lazy, dangerous smiles.
    "You've done this yourself?" Gavin asked. "Of course, when I was thirteen." Already slaves were laying a square of wood in front of the pavilion. Unnerved, Gavin withdrew to consult with Suryo and Alexandra. "Suryo, are you familiar with this fire dance?"
    "Not quite like this, but something similar is done in Bali."
    "Don't Indian holy men walk across fire?" Alex added. "An officer who had been in India told me he'd seen that."
    "I've seen it myself," Gavin admitted. "But I suspect there's a trick of some sort. A pathway that is less hot, maybe." He stared at the blazing wood, his skin crawling.
    "There is no trick," Suryo said. "Or rather, it is not a fraud. The dancer is in a-I think the word is
    'trance.' Prayer and exaltation take the mind elsewhere, and the fire is crossed with no harm." Gavin took a deep, unsteady breath. "At sea there is no greater danger than fire."
    "Have you been caught in a shipboard fire?" Alex asked quietly. He nodded, unable to speak. Early in his seafaring career a blaze had started in the cabin of a chief mate notorious for his drunkenness. Even after eighteen years, Gavin remembered the stench of burning human flesh. Three men, including the captain, had died, two others had been seriously injured.
    Gavin was a very young second mate, but as the only surviving officer, command of the ship fell to him. After organizing a successful fight to put out the fire, he'd nursed the damaged ship back to Salem with his skeleton crew. Ironically, the incident had been good for his career-the next time he shipped out he was a chief mate-but he'd never overcome an almost paralyzing fear of fire. Alex unobtrusively took his hand, pulling him out of the past. He squeezed her fingers hard, grateful for her perception.
    Flames were beginning to die down in the arena, and attendants raked the coals into an even surface that glowed menacingly even in the tropical sun. Thinking that it should be possible to cross the embers so quickly that no harm would be done, Gavin bent to roll up his trouser legs. He wore a loosely belted tunic and trousers that the sultan had sent to his rooms the evening before, and the finely woven blue and silver cotton might burn if it came too close to the coals.
    "The fire is ready," Sheng Yu announced. "Remove your boots, Captain." Gavin froze. "I'm supposed to do this barefoot?"
    The Maduris in the pavilion looked surprised. "Of course," the sultan replied. "That is the custom."
    "No!" Gavin shuddered as he remembered the