Tavaar - 23rd Edition

Still no comments, so I'll just keep on as I have the past two days. I'm running incredibly late today anyway.

Today's passage is with Tavaar and Sashwa. I believe in subsequent writings Sashwa was NOT part of the illicit play with husbands.

Formatting: Text notes; Text narrative; Blog notes.

Sashwa arrived two days later. It was about the tenth turn. Tavaar was laying on her bed, reading. Since the day she and Wheylin were betrothed she had kept to her room, coming out only at mealtimes. Like Taylich, Sashwa knocked on the door, but entered without waiting for a reply. Tavaar’s eyes widened with joy as her friend rushed to her and gathered her in her arms. They kissed and then Tavaar wept while Sashwa rocked her comfortingly.

“I heard,” said Sashwa. “Almost as soon as I reached the village. I came right away.”

“Who told you?”

Sashwa shook her head. “Most everyone is talking about it. It’s the big news of the moment.”

“What are they saying?”

“Not too much. Apparently, the details aren’t generally known. What people do know is that Wheylin arrived two days ago and you immediately began to court him. That same day, word was sent to Bolar to prepare a mixture of baby drink. You and Wheylin are planning to wed at Mid-Spring.”

“I’m not planning it. Mother is. This is her idea.”

“I know.”

Tavaar gave Sashwa a look. “How do you know? I thought they’re all saying I’m doing this.”

“They are. But they don’t know you like I do, Darling. While they’re all running about trying to figure out how they could have missed your being in love with Wheylin, I found Wheylin and made him tell me exactly what in the King’s Name he did to you. He told me everything.”

“So then you came to me?”

“After punching him in the mouth. The little dung rat. I never thought him capable of anything. If I had, I would never have let him come back alone.”

“What do you mean?”

Sashwa made a face. “He told you about some of what goes on?”

“You mean in the company? Yes.”

“Well, he’s been jealous because he’s been left out. Some have teased him about it. They told him he should try and practice up while we’re on leave. He said he would. I thought he was joking.”

“Why didn’t he pick someone else as a teacher,” moaned Tavaar.

“Well, there was no question who he would go to, Darling. Surely you know that? I wish I had known he was serious.”

“What do you mean, ‘there was no question who he would go to’?”

“Darling, don’t tell me you haven’t noticed?”

“Noticed what?”

Sashwa sighed and shook her head.

“You haven’t noticed, have you? You’ve been so busy pining away these past six years you’ve hardly noticed anything.”

“What is there to notice?”

“Wheylin!”

“Why should I have noticed Wheylin? I noticed him two days ago, and look where that got me.”

“Darling, Wheylin’s in love with you.”

Tavaar went quiet. This was the second time she had been told this by someone she trusted.

“That’s what Bolar said.”

“Well, I don’t know how he knows, but he’s right.”

“So how long have you known?”

“Me? Several years now.”

“Several years! You never said anything to me about it.”

“I thought you knew. And since I knew you weren’t interested in him, I never thought to talk about him.”

“You talked about others I wasn’t interested in. You even convinced me to try a couple of them.”

“Well, they weren’t my brother. When I rack my brain for a likely male, Wheylin hardly comes to mind.”

“I suppose. What am I going to do, Sashwa? I mean, Wheylin’s all right, but I don’t want to marry him. The truth is, I don’t want to marry anyone.”23

Sashwa grimaced. “What do you mean, ‘all right’? You aren’t saying…”

“No, no. Nothing like that. I mean I like him, that’s all. But I don’t want to marry him. I thought I would join the military and then become an Explorer.”

“I’ve been so looking forward to your joining the company, too. Oh, Darling, it is so much fun. I know you’ll love it.”

“Not now,” Tavaar moaned.

“Sashwa looked stricken. “You’re not going to join?”

“Oh, I’m joining, all right. If Wheylin thinks this is his chance to get out, he’s out of his mind.”

“That’s a relief. You had me worried. But why don’t you think it will be any fun?”

“Because I’m going to be married, you chicken brain! That’s going to put an end to things, don’t you think?”

Sashwa recoiled in the face of Tavaar’s outburst, but she didn’t get angry. “Well, you might not have to get married,” she said.

Tavaar was immediately attentive. “How do I manage that? Mother wouldn’t even listen to Father. And your parents are no help. They think it’s a wonderful idea. At least, your mother does.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. She’s much like your mother. But if you can get them to put it off, they may grow less fond of the idea. Especially if you just change.”

“Change what?”

“Everything. Act like you’ve learned your lesson and now understand. In the meantime, I’ll convince Wheylin to change his tune.”

“How will you do that?”

“I’ll beat him with a rock if I have to.”

“It might work. But how do I force a delay? Do I feign illness? Bolar will see through that right away. Maybe I could have a hunting accident. We could go out tomorrow and you could shoot me or something.”24

“Like anyone would believe that was an accident.”

“It wouldn’t matter. I’d still be suffering from a wound.”

“I’d have to hit you pretty close to the heart, Darling. Anything else Bolar would fix in a week or two.”

“What about broken bones? Those can take several weeks to heal.”

Sashwa shook her head. “How are you going to play with broken bones?”

“You said I shouldn’t. If I’m not going to have any fun, I may as well be hurt.”

“But if you can’t play, that will be the excuse for your changed behavior. You have to choose not to play. Besides, I don’t think we need do anything drastic.”

“Then what do you suggest?”

“Tell them you want to wait until your birthday. That way you can finish up your classes. You’ve done so well in temple classes they just might accept that.”

Tavaar made some mental calculations.

“Maybe. That would put it out at least three months. Mid-Summer would be near. That has always been a lucky day for me. If I can make to Mid-Summer, I could join the military and get out of here. I would be in Wheylin’s company, but if I were to officially court him, they just might let it be.”

“You’ll have to court him now to make it believable.”

“I know. But if I agree to court him, they may not make me marry him. Of course, they just may anyway.”

“We just keep needing to come up with new delays. How long do you think we can?”

“Hopefully, until I’m thirty.25 Then I’ll be free to become an Explorer.”

“What about Wheylin?”

“Wheylin?”

“Well, you’re courting him that long, he won’t have a chance to marry anyone else. He’d have to become an Explorer, too. Aside from the fact I don’t think he’d like that at all, he’d be terrible at it.”26

Tavaar considered. “Well, as time goes on and I don’t drop him, others might want to give him a try. I would not object his being courted by another. And if they got along really well, I would simply do the right thing and step aside.”

They sat silent, pleased with their thinking. Unfortunately, the silence allowed them to realize just how desperate their hope was.

“It’ll never work, Sashwa,” groaned Tavaar.

“Well, we have to try something, Darling. And right now, this is the best we got. Of course, if it doesn’t work, that doesn’t mean you still can’t enjoy yourself.”

“With Wheylin?”

“No, not with Wheylin. There are plenty of males who would love to be in your arms.”

“Well, how can they if I’m married to Wheylin?”

Sashwa rolled her eyes. “Use your brain, Darling. Not everyone in the company is single.”

Tavaar was horrified. Wheylin had been right. “Are you saying wives are sharing their husbands?”

“Sometimes. Sometimes they just play with the singles.”

“Sashwa! That’s completely wanton.”

“Not completely. No one is laying with each other, Darling. Well, the wives do with their own husbands. But no one else. I don’t think so anyway. I haven’t. It’s just play. They’ll settle down when they return to village life.”

“What do the husbands do while the wives are having fun? Watch?”

“No. They go on guard duty. That’s usually where Wheylin is anyway.”

Tavaar shook her head. “I can’t believe you’re part of this. Have you been with someone’s husband?”

“It’s just fun. I don’t lay with anyone. You know that. You’re making it out to be worse than it is. But if it truly bothers you, then that’s all the more reason to make our plan work. Now, let’s go over some of the details. You need to be convincing.”27

Tavaar listened as Sashwa gave her view on how they should proceed. She couldn’t help being shocked by her friend’s confession. Either she didn’t know Sashwa as well as she thought, or military life was changing her. Tavaar wondered if she would be changed, too.