CHAPTER 14
A Few Ideas
Tyton
“Why don’t you look happy?”
My sister was staring at me after she had just pulled me into her room to show me Devina’s last letter.
“Happy? Why would I be happy about you putting Devina in danger? What part don’t you understand? It’s one thing for her to sneak in and out in the middle of the night, but you’re suggesting that she go with us to the biggest event in the Northlands, where thousands of people will see her.”
“But I’m so proud to have a Motlander friend. No one else does.”
“This isn’t about you!” My tone got hard and Wilma pouted a little.
“It kindaissince it’smywedding.”
Closing my eyes, I rubbed my forehead. “Sometimes you can be the most selfish person in the world.”
“I want Devina to come and I’ve already come up with a good way to disguise her as a boy. No one will know she’s female. I promise!”
“Fine!” Holding up my hands, I drew in a deep breath. “But my condition is that we tell Mom and Dad. We’ll need their help if we’re going to pull this off.”
“Done!” Wilma reached out her hand to seal the deal and as soon as I took it, she grinned. “That was easy since I planned to tell Mom and Dad anyway.”
I swung my hand toward her door with an expression saying,Be my guest. Following her to the kitchen, I muttered, “I hope you find a husband who likes to hear the wordsI want, because you say it a lot. Do you know that?”
Wilma turned her head and stuck her tongue out.
“Oh, that’s very mature. Are you sure Devina wasn’t right when she said that you’re more girl than woman?”
“Argh, that’s offensive.”
I shook my head when Wilma ran ahead. I had always found it a major fail in our system that brides were so young. It took time for us men to save up enough money to take part in a tournament and even if by some miracle a young man could raise the money, it still required years of fight training to stand a chance. It was rare to see a contestant under twenty-five and it wasn’t uncommon for the bride to end up marrying someone twice her age.
Most men didn’t consider it a problem because they had no experience with women, but I had three sisters and had seen first-hand how much they changed between the age of fifteen and twenty. Wilma might think she was all woman, but I wished she had been given another five years to mature and find herself before she married. Not only for her, but for her future husband as well.
When I got into the kitchen, Wilma was already explaining about her plan to our parents.
“Is it true?” our father asked me. “Was this Devina really here?”
“Yes, she was here.”
“Why didn’t you tell us?”
“We’re telling you now, aren’t we?” Wilma pointed out.
“A Motlander.” My mother blinked her eyes in confusion.
“Yes. A woman who lives on the other side of the border.” I said it slow to help my parents catch up.
“She’s my friend and she wants to come to my wedding.”
My mother opened her arms to Wilma. “Oh, how exciting. This will make your wedding even more special.”
“That’s what I told Tyton, but you know how negative he is.”
“You keep confusing the word negative with the word realistic. There’s a difference.”
