I wasn’t the only one wondering, either. During the day each of my siblings sought me out and asked me, even Gertrude… which was a real climb down for her, as she prided herself on knowing (or pretending to know) everything that went on… what the meeting was supposed to be about.
“I don’t know, Gertrude, first thing I knew about it. You don’t know?”
“No. I don’t. And Mother usually tells me everything.”
“Well, I guess we will just have to wait and see.”
“Easy for you to say, you never know what is going on anyway.”
---
It was obvious that Father was extremely nervous. And Father was never nervous.
“I have called a family council for tonight to announce something very important. The actual announcement shouldn’t take long, but there is some explanation that needs to go with it.”
He paused, cleared his throat, and went on, “As you know this has been a very awkward time for all of us. We have been forced to live in ways that Dwarves don’t usually do. It has been particularly hard on your Mother.”
“However, we all realise the importance of what we are doing. Settling this new land is, well, it is something that all of our people have dreamed off for decades, and not just we Dwarves, but all of the races. And He Who Is has obviously been blessing our efforts. Just consider… consider how many new children there have been.”
“So while it has been hard on us, and will continue to be hard on us, with the many changes, we all realize how important it is.”
(A longer pause this time…)
“…and not only for us. Each of the other races has had to go through changes, changes in the ways that they do things. And each of them have played and are playing, important roles in the plan. And our elders have encouraged us to, to, to do what we can to help the plan.”
He paused, and then seemed to take heart,
“I have been very proud of Heinrich, how he has done so well relating with the other races. He seems to spend almost no time home, except when needed for work, such as pulling the wagon. He has been an excellent ambassador for us, with the other races. I have received many compliments on his actions.” (Well, I wasn’t in trouble anyway. What was this whole thing about!?)
“Recently, one of the other races has approached me to discuss another way in which our family can be helpful to the plan. As you know, it has been very difficult for the king to bring over Horsemen. They are awkward to transport, and travel extremely poorly on board ship. So, they are, that is …”
(Another long, awkward, pause. I had never, ever seen Father like this before.)
“About two weeks ago I was approached by Meuric, Meical’s Father. (You all know Meical, Heinrich’s friend.) He had been approached by… by someone else. Realizing our customs, this person asked Meuric to act as his Father in… in a matter of family.”
Now the issue was on the table, and we all cast startled glances at Gertrude, who blushed furiously. But what an odd way to put it! ‘Realizing our customs’? ‘Act as his Father’?
“Gertrude. I am going to ask something very difficult of you, something that will greatly advance the plan.”
“The person who approached me was an Elf, obviously. But he was not representing another Elf. He was representing a Horseman. Indeed a Horseboy, one not yet old enough for a wife. But one with foresight enough to realize how few Horsegirls there were, and to see the advantage of asking one of the other races, one who traveled well, and one whose race had suffered far fewer casualties in the taking of this land… asking them for a betrothal.”
“As you know, betrothal is not practiced among Horsemen. So he too had to make a cultural shift. And, as beautiful as you are to us, no doubt a Horseman would not find you immediately attractive. But this Horseboy has enough courage, and enough vision, to realize that… as you are a very attractive Dwarf girl, you will make a very attractive Horsewife.”
“In violation of our customs, I gave him a provisional approval. I could not fully commit you until I knew your heart. I will not tell you his name, of course. I would not wish you to even know the name of someone whose suite you had rejected. It would be very awkward, and a violation of my duty to protect you. But I could not commit you if you would find the task impossible.”
We all turned and stared at Gertrude. Unlike Elves, we had no privacy within the family, unless the doors were shut. And Father had chosen, no doubt wisely, to do this in family council. Gertrude would be able to draw on our strength to help her agree to Father’s proposal.
For agree she must, and we all knew it. Father may have called it a ‘proposal’ and ‘provisional’, but we all knew that could not be. Dwarves were trained, and well trained, to submit their will to that of those above them. Only if Gertrude saw danger to Father, himself, could she deny this ‘proposal’. And we all knew that the only danger to Father here (and indeed to our whole family) could be her rejection. Father had bravely gone far out on a limb… none of us would saw it off behind him.
And Gertrude didn’t. Four seconds (I counted) and one deep breath later, she replied, “But my Father, tell me the name of my new husband, that we may all rejoice.”
Everyone let out their breath, and turned to Father. He looked at me. "My Son, the ambassador, has found a husband for you."
And I knew, everyone knew. It was Nhomhisosh, my horsebuddy. All this time he had been working on this and never told me. Of course, he couldn’t have told me.
Gertrude understood as well as I did, “Truly my Brother, I thank you. I could never have imagined playing such a role. And I cannot deny being afraid. But your gift to me I will always remember.”
She turned back to my Father, “But my Father, what am I to do now? Am I to continue on with you until he comes for me?”
“No. That would be very awkward. Soon he will be cast from his Father’s herd, perhaps within a year, but certainly before two years. Then he has agreed to become one of the King’s scouts. You will go out with him then. The Horsemen too are changing their ways. Before, it would have been unheard of for a married man to have a ‘job’. But now, they are being encouraged to take vows for a specific job and take a wife at the same time.”
“I have already rented a room for you with a Troll family. You will help that family, who work here keeping the King’s flocks, and you will spend the rest of your time learning Horseman. No doubt you will find many Elves willing to share knowledge with you and help teach you. And then you will need to learn to ride as well.
But, as Nhomhisosh will be coming with us to our city, at least most of the way, so will you. Then you will ride back with him.”
“When you have learned enough Horseman from the Elf to be able to get along in a herd, you can go along as a ‘daughter’ with Nhomhisosh’s herd. As long as you don’t change into Horsewife, the situation should be fine. And even if you should, well, that would cause things to be somewhat premature, but still…”
We all knew what he couldn’t say. Dwarves had very formalized Betrothal and Marriage customs. No doubt the betrothal ceremony would take place tomorrow. Much abbreviated from the norm, but still formal.
However, since she was marrying a Horseman, she would have to accustom herself to the fact that the ‘marriage’ would be more physical than formal. If she changed into Horsewife while in the middle of the plains, Nhomhisosh would have to immediately quit his Father’s herd and ride off with her. A mature female could not stay long in her Father’s herd… and a mature Female that was not an actual daughter would be very, very awkward.
Much better, and easier, that she wait to transform, until Nhomhisosh was kicked out. Then they could ride off together, and she could change in the middle of the prairie.
Thank you for reading Von’s Substack. I would love it if you commented! I love hearing from readers, especially critical comments. I would love to start more letter exchanges, so if there’s a subject you’re interested in, get writing and tag me!
Being ‘restacked’ and mentioned in ‘notes’ is very important for lesser-known stacks so… feel free! I’m semi-retired and write as a ministry (and for fun) so you don’t need to feel guilty you aren’t paying for anything, but if you enjoy my writing (even if you dramatically disagree with it), then restack, please! Or mention me in one of your own posts.
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If you get lost, check out my ‘Table of Contents’ which I try to keep up to date.
Von also writes as ‘Arthur Yeomans’. Under that name he writes children’s, YA, and adult fiction from a Christian perspective. His books are published by Wise Path Books and include the children’s/YA books:
The Bobtails meet the Preacher’s Kid
and
As well as GK Chesterton’s wonderful book, “What’s Wrong with the World”, for which ‘Arthur’ wrote most of the annotations.
Arthur also has a substack, and a website.
Thanks again, God Bless, Soli Deo gloria,
Von