15. More Problems With Blueberries
“…without either, thanks much. What would I want with babies and a husband? They just give you a lot of cooking and cleaning to do. I’d rather dance.”
“Well, you can’t dance without magic,” said Jensi.
“I
hope you’re not as stupid as Mad Maba,” said Tibi. “Someone told me
that she wanted to be a Tavaedi so badly that when they told her she
wasn’t worthy, she--”
“Kemla
told you that,” said Jensi. “What if she did?” Across the room, Hadi
and the other boys were apparently having a similar conversation, and
reached a similar conclusion, for he sud- denly burst out very loudly,
his mouth still half full, “Is that why Zavaedi Abiono is here? Is it
time for the Initiation?”
This overly loud question silenced the room, and Hadi turned bright red.
All
the adults in the room found someplace else to look, except Great Aunt
Sullana who withered Hadi where he sat with a hard stare.
“Not my place to ask,” he mumbled. “My apologies, Zavaedi.”
Zavaedi
Abiono nodded. He glanced again at Dindi, coughed again, and toyed with
his pisha thoughtfully without taking a single bite. A small furry
creature, Puddlepaws, noticed the undefended lunch and lowered himself
into a crouch to sneak up on the pisha.
That kitten loved cheese.
“So,
Zavaedi Abiono,” said Great Aunt Sullana, affecting a tone of innocent
interest that fooled no one, “If an individual were not invited to join
the Tavaedis, the best thing for her to do would be to marry a nice
young man, give him her fields to plow, bear him children, all in all,
settle down to a quiet, responsible life?”
“Er, yes, I suppose.”
“You
have two nephews on the verge of manhood, don’t you? Tamio is too
handsome for the likes of Dindi, but sturdy Yodigo will make a fine
farmer one day.”
“Well...”
“For
mercy’s sake, let the man eat, Sullana,” Uncle Lubo said. “Here,
Zavaedi, would you like some blueberry juice? Dindi made it this
morning.”
“Why, thank you...”
Dindi looked up in horror. But before she could compose a proper warning, Abiono lifted the jug to his mouth.
She
covered her face with her hands, but she could still see the disaster
unfolding on the other side of her fingers as Abiono sipped from the jug
of soap juice. His face scrunched up and his mouth opened into a rictus
of gastronomic distress. He spit out a spray of sudsy liquid.
Great Aunt Sullana cleared her throat to warn him that not even a Zavaedi would be permitted to behave rudely while dining.
“Urghrem,”
Abiono said, manfully wiping his chin. “Quite delicious, I thank you.
Er, Dindi made that, you say?” He glanced at Dindi before he set down
the jug and reached for his pisha, now wrapped in kitten. He
pried Puddlepaws off his food, which prompted the kitten to tackle his
finger. “I thank you so much for the wonderful meal, Dame Sullana. I
fear I must…
***
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Author's Note
Have you ever noticed that most heros / heroines are orphans? It
seems like 99% of them are missing mothers, and about half of those are
missing dads too. What's up with that?
So I decided to give my heroine the full extended family. Mom,
dad, both alive and well, thank you, plus we have aunts, uncles and even
a great-aunt.
That's when I discovered that family really gets in the way of
plot. I began to be a little more sympathetic to all those writers of
fairytales past who decided to make their protaganists family-free.
Another problem turns out to be that if everyone is alive, who can
be the star in the heroine's Tragic Family History? As you can see,
having run out of other options, I was forced to go with a mere
grandmother. My next hero will be an orphan, I tell you, an orphan!
TO BE CONTINUED
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