Friends (2013) - Adams, Robert

This time nothing of the laughter touched Lisah, who was scarcely even aware of it. She was, instead, wrestling with a problem there could be but one solution to, considering her nature and the manner in which she had been raised. Her brothers had been correct about the awkwardness of the thing and her father was certain to be disappointed, but happily not forever. When the laughter was done, she smiled all about her.

“Should that be so, 1 find it a great relief that the High Lord is Undying,” she announced to those who listened politely to her words. “He will then find little difficulty in awaiting issue which will not appear till my return. I regret the necessity, my lords, yet must 1 plead previous commitments.”

Little of a visual nature could at first be seen on the faces about her, a phenomenon certainly caused, unbeknownst to the girl, by stunned shock. All eight were men of the world, and as such knew the way of the wagging of that world; to have been attacked with weapons there at the reception would not have caused a fraction of similar agitation. Lisah, who had known no more than her father’s court all her life, smiled even more broadly with relief at how well they accepted the disappointment, understanding nothing of the sudden, extremely amused look Sir Bryahn attempted to swallow. The prairiecat Wind Whisper also chuckled inside her mind, as though she and the man had exchanged certain thoughts, and then Count Sahm’s arm tightened about his daughter.

“Lisah, child, clearly you have somehow misunderstood the situation,” he began, searching, in accordance with his kindly nature and the love he felt for his only daughter, for a manner in which to explain the truth without giving hurt. “Sir Bryahn seeks a wife now, not some time in the future, and as I have already given my permission for the union, there can be no previous commitments. The matter has already been settled.”

‘‘But, Father, I have given my word based on your word,” the girl protested, feeling the deepening upset in all four of her brothers, who yet stood silent rather than support her when she was so clearly in the right. ‘‘Was I not told that my life was mine to do with as 1 pleased, and have not all of my brothers been permitted to ride forth to sharpen their battle skills in actual combat? Just recently I have arranged to do the same, and will ride with the Crimson Cat Company now being formed. Was there not a proposed marriage for Dharrehn when his company was first formed, and did he not decline due to previous commitments? I do no more than the same.”

A great many looks were then exchanged between the eight men, some clearly wishing that the High Lord Milo had not expressed such keen interest in the matter. Although unused to protests of that sort from women raised to the knowledge that they would one day wed at their fathers’ direction, they remained men of honor who could well appreciate the girl’s arguments. Duke Hwill of Dunkahn, most often short-tempered with ‘‘flighty, mouth-flapping females,” knew at once that this girl was not the same, that the giving of her word was looked upon as a Sword Oath, and became even more determined that such a prize would not be lost to his son.

“You misunderstand, girl, in believing your brothers were ‘permitted’ to ride forth to sharpen their battle skills,” he said with less gruffness than his usual manner, drawing Lisah’s light blue gaze. “Male children are required to do so among the Dunkahns, and I doubt not that the same holds true for Cambehl sons. Daughters, however, are another matter entirely, for one man may get many heirs on two or three wives, but one woman may have no more than one birth at a time, no matter the number of husbands. Battle was made for men, girl, and we would none of us wish to see you lost to it.”

“Your outlook is more than understandable, child,” Count Sahm added at once, grateful to Duke Hwill for the assistance of his words. “With the blood of Clan Maiden warriors so thick in your veins, scarcely could you see the matter elsewise. You must, however, make the effort to recall that my word to you was not as you stated it. You were told that in the absence of acceptable suitors your life was yours to direct, a qualification which no longer obtains. Do you contend that the thing was not put to you in such a way?”

Lisah stared silently up at her father, helpless to deny the statement, for it was certainly true. That she had failed to place significance on the qualification was certainly not the fault of her sire, yet was it inarguably his fault that such a qualification had been added to begin with. In a few brief moments she had grown to feel that all those about her attacked at once with weapons she was totally unfamiliar with, but her training and basic nature disallowed surrender, or falling without a final effort.

“And the fact that 1 have already committed myself, just as Dharrehn had?” she said, unaware of the sadness in her father at the stiffness of her tone and bearing. “There was another qualification, perhaps, allowing his word to be honored the while mine need not be?”

Again there was an exchange of glances, nearly to the point of embarrassment, yet her father refused to allow himself to avoid her gaze.

“Lisah, child, the qualification had no need to be spoken of aloud,” he said, this time sparing her no more than he would have one of his sons. “Dharrehn is a man, the while you are not.”

The words struck her more harshly than a bucket of ice water for predawn wakening, a clear-cut statement of prejudice she had never before encountered. The arms masters who had trained her had never demanded less from her because of her sex, and she had never understood that this had been done because her life was precious to them. To demand less would have been to give less, and to their minds her due was all they were capable of giving. Lisah, the girl trained up with men and by men and now a woman, found comprehension completely beyond her.

“1 see,” she said, even more stiffly than before, meeting the eyes of none about her, the lie spoken automatically and without conscious thought. “I regret that I must now ask to be excused, my lords. An—illness has settled upon me of a sudden, and 1 fear I would be no fit company for guests who do my father honor with their presence.”

None attempted to halt the girl as she turned and made her unheeding way through the balance of the guests, some of whom had been near enough to hear what had transpired, but most sighed for her distress. Komees Sahm of the Cambehl line, a man who had inspired songs with the ferocity of his battle skills while still a very young man, sighed more deeply than the others, causing Duke Hwill to step to his side and clap him gently on the shoulder in commiseration.

“She will not long be so filled with upset, my friend,” he assured the man, who surely felt that he had somehow betrayed one of his own blood. “I now see the wisdom in the manner in which my own girls were raised, and you must recall that your duty lies in seeing her well wed, not well battle-companied. She is more than bright, and will soon come to understand that you wish only the best for her.”

“And 1 will see that she receives not one whit less,” said Bryahn of Dunkahn, stepping forward to stand beside his sire. “1 had not hoped to find a wife 1 both desired and respected, and now that I have 1 will certainly see that she has no regrets over our union. Wind Whisper has assured me that 1 am unlikely to find better to bear my kittens, and I would be a fool to disregard such sound advice.”