He bristled, but I could see that he hid a smile, “Oh no! Blame your grandmother. You take after her!”
The woman patted his arm and said, “You were a rebel. Don’t lay all the blame on me! Her mother came from your loins!”
The hall laughed and the man slumped in his chair, but continued to smile.
The woman took the lead at this point and said, “Aeyli, dear shrine maiden, let us here your petition. Is it true that you have found a mate?”
Aeyli said, proudly, “I have councilwoman.”
The woman asked, “And, you are bound already?”
Aeyli said, “I am.”
The woman said, “And, why do you come now, after the bonding rather than before as customary?” and she smiled warmly at the girl.
Aeyli said, “Because, I was on my duty at the shrine when we met and I couldn’t contain myself in my love! I chose him and he chose me in honor as is proper, but not knowing when I would return, and being away I had no way of knowing if we would die by some beast in the wilderness, so we bonded according to the laws regarding mates who find each other a long way from home.”
The woman asked, “And, you are truly and happily bound? You have found this mate capable of mating?”
Aeyli exclaimed, “Many times!”
The woman said, “Um, oh, um, good for you… um, and your milk? Aeyli, don’t give us too much information.”
Aeyli said, “OK, yes, my body has produced milk and my prince has been fed as is the proof of my bond.”
The woman said, “Now, it has not been 40 days, so we won’t ask those questions of frequency at this time. You will appear before us again in a few weeks. But, let us move on. Tanner, please step forward. Aeyli, please stay before us for now.”
A man and two women stepped forward. One held the bundle of fur that Aeyli and I had brought to the village with us.
The woman said, “Tanner, what do you have to show us?”
The two women took the fur and unfolded it to its full length and laid it on the ground in front of the council members.
A murmur rose from the crowd and the head councilman, apparently Aeyli’s grandfather, held up his hand and frowned and said, “Tanner, what is this?”
The tanner said, “This is the skin of a great white ape, apparently killed very recently and delivered to me by Aeyli today for preparation as a sleeping fur.”
The councilwoman asked, “Aeyli, what is this and what is its story?”
Aeyli smiled very wide and said, “This is the fur of the great white ape that my prince killed as it attacked us in the wilderness. At the roar of the beast, my prince ran toward it and killed it. I skinned the thing and we left the carcass where it lay on the moss.”
The woman said, “Weapon maker, step forward. Tanner, please stay.”
A man stepped forward. I was surprised to see that he carried my sword and Aeyli’s in his hand.
The man said, “Weapon maker, what have you to do with this? What are those in your hand?”
The weapon maker held up my longer sword and said, “This is the stick with which this great ape was killed. I have examined it and the fur and I am convinced of it. This stick was used to strike a blow to the apes head, likely crushing the thing’s skull and killing it, but there was a second strike to the neck of the thing which would have separated the bones of the neck and killed it as well. I can see the marks of the bones as they damaged the skin on the opposite sides from the blows.”
The woman said, “Tanner, do you agree?”
The tanner said, “I do. It seems impossible, but more impossible that it happened any other way.”
The woman said, “Aeyli, tell us this part of the story. You say that a great white ape appeared in the wilderness and roared the scream of its intent to kill you… and that your mate ran ‘toward’ the thing! What next?”
Aeyli said, “At the roar, I knew that we were already as good as dead. I tried to run, thinking to stay ahead of the beast as long as possible and then as it overtook us, to let the thing take me so that my prince would escape alive if possible. He runs much faster than anyone I have ever seen. That is the extent of my love for him… and I love him even more than that. But, at the roar, without a word, he ran ‘toward’ the ape. When he reached it, as the Great White Ape grabbed for him and I imagined to have lost him in death, he ducked beneath its arms, rose behind it, and struck it on the head. The sound of the crack of it would be heard for a hundred yards or more. The ape fell headlong to the ground and didn’t move, but in the instant before it could be determined, my protector leapt across the body and brought the weapon down across the thing’s neck to be certain that it would never threaten his mate again!”
The man said, “Weapon maker, he did this with a stick?”
The weapon maker said, “He did. There is no doubt in my mind.”
The man said, “It is a strange looking stick. What is special about it?”
The weapon maker answered, “The stick has been cut with a very sharp knife. A special knife indeed. Probably one of the old imperial or even royal knives of a great house. It started as a piece of straight wood, but has been shaped to a very fine design that I have never seen before, but hope to learn the use of soon. It is an amazingly elegant thing. Simple in form and deceptive in efficiency.”
The woman said to the man, “Not quite so simple a mating as you had imagined, my love?”
He grumbled, “You could have warned me! You are as bad as she is!”
He then said, “Who has chosen this woman? Come stand before us!”
I stood up and moved to stand beside Aeyli and the man dismissed the tanner and the weapon maker who left the fur and the swords on the floor just in front of us.
The councilman straightened in his chair and took a breath and removed the frown from his face and said to me, “Welcome to the village of Tranna. Forgive my grumbling, I don’t like surprises. You see what I’m faced with daily in my own home? But tell me, what’s your name? Let’s be friendly. We’ll use common names. I am Tronuck.”
I said, “I am Mark Jensen.”
A murmur again from the crowd. “Like the warlord, the shrine maiden has brought him from the shrine!”
The woman held up her hand and said, “People, this is a newcomer to our village, we will make him welcome and not ask too many questions about origins tonight. Those things can wait. They don’t matter in how we will welcome him. This evening is a mating declaration, nothing more.”
The man said, “Aeyli, Dorel, what is wrong with you?! Warn a poor old man for once! What other surprises have you concocted? Tell me that this is the last!”
The woman patted his arm and said, “Oh my poor husband, I am sorry to say that several more surprises await. Be of good cheer! Think of it as a birthday surprise!”
The man sneered at his wife and turned back to me. “Mark Jensen, this is quite the tale. Have you chosen Aeyli as your mate?”
I said, “I have. You may call me Mark.”
He said, “Mark, again welcome. Mark Jensen is a different name than we’re used to. It reminds us of the Warlord himself. Will you step closer and stand upon the fur you have brought?”
I stepped forward.
The councilman said, “And here’s another surprise that I think that I see. Weapon maker, come here. You say that the stick was made by a very special knife? Mark, will you allow this man to examine the knife that you carry at your belt?”
I removed the knife with its sheath from my belt and handed it to the weapon maker. He took it from me and looked carefully at the hilt, then at the scabbard, then removed it from its covering and examined the blade.
He turned and nodded at the councilman who said, “Well, tell me the surprise that I already know must be waiting for me.”