"I don't know anybody who brought a natural philosophy book out here."

"The fellow as teaches the class on it has a book on types of demons."

"It did seem unlikely, but asking is the way to know."  And to the second, "One could practice his class for Nethys, as well as for not dying, I expect we shouldn't do nearly as well copying the book without the teacher."

"Anyhow, if we're meant to know things, I want to know if it has sex scenes," says the squadmate who asked in the first place. "That's something we could know and don't."

Khalida digs the book out of her bag and passes it over to him.  "Would you like to read?"

Paula's father died of recklessly sleeping in his own bed in his own home,

Chapter Two shifts the scene to the forest and introduces a dashing lone adventurer, questing after the great beast that rampaged through his village when he was but a child.  Just as he thinks he's picked up its track on the banks of the river, however, he hears the cries of a girl with a sack of kittens, being swept downstream towards perilous rapids!  Unhesitating, he strips off his jacket and dives in to rescue her, scooping her up just inches short of the jagged rocks and bearing her to the shore in his lean yet muscular arms.

Khalida is actually struggling rather more than she expected with vernacular Chelish in its written form:  the alphabet is the same as the Taldane she learned but pronunciation has shifted quite a bit, and she doesn't know half of the adjectives, particularly the ones describing the swordsman's clinging garment situation.  She's putting a brave face on it but as usual her Bluff couldn't beat their Sense Motive even on a good day, and it's obvious she's burning with embarrassment about it, even more than over the subject matter.  She passes the book off to the next reader as soon as she's soldiered through enough to do so with some dignity. 

After the girl has finished drowning her kittens properly, the man delivers her back to her family and sidesteps several obvious offers on their part to make it have been worth his while, but does sit down to dinner with them and in his departure is spotted by someone who's just been retained by the ascendant Countess.

(And now they are out of time.)

The mess hall is getting abruptly more crowded- oh right it's almost channel time.  Khalida reclaims the book at the end of the scene and stands up.  "I thank you all for attempting with me.  I'll bring the book again tomorrow evening if I am in the fort, else I'll put the next day on the sign.  Does anyone wish to discuss before I channel?"  She's mostly not blushing. 

"I can't wait to see what Paula does to that overripe adventurer," volunteers the squadmate who wanted to know if there were sex scenes. "With an intro like that it's going to be brutal."