Objects of Desire, Part Eight
Title: Objects of Desire 8: Culture Clash
Word Count: 3266 words
Warnings/disclaimers: This is a work of original fiction, featuring characters of my own creation. Any similarities to real people are unintentional. Please do not copy or recreate any of this story without permission. There will be m/m interactions and relationships featured throughout the story, and some references to f/f and f/m relationships (of varying degrees) also, although sex scenes are not explicit.
Author's Notes: This story is un-beta'd, so apologies for any errors I haven't removed. If anything stands out to you, please let me know so I can fix it, and this includes plot-holes or omissions. Concrit and discussion is always welcome; flaming and complaints without possible solutions are not. Most mysteries will be explained in later chapters and I will hopefully cover any questions you may find yourself having in due course. But please feel free to ask me if you think I should cover more than I have, or even say a little less. Apologies for the delays in posting chapters.
Story Notes: This is a continuation of a story I began a while ago, featuring a futuristic Earth after a cataclysmic set of events has left most of the world inhospitable and uninhabited.
Two countries arose from the ashes of the world we know: Aumethia and Guaya. Women are rare due to a genetic disease that affects females more than males, and are therefore protected and revered in both nations. Breeding is selective and controlled by women, and men only have contact with them when necessary.
Men therefore live mostly without women, but as trading only began between the two countries within the last fifty years, they have quite different customs regarding how they cope with this.
This world no longer has much of the current technology we take for granted; there is no internet, no television, no air travel, and little in the way of international communication other than to travel between the two continents by sea.
In this story, a small delegation of Guayans have recently arrived on Aumethian soil to further trade negotiations and exchange ideas and strategies to move forward into the future.
Previous Chapters:
1. Delegation | 2. The Water Converter | 3. Planning the Expedition | 4. Conception | 5. The Journey Begins |
6. Speculations | 7. Courting Danger
This Chapter: Tainor finds out more about life in Aumethia through interviews and observation as well as from the books he is allowed to study from Pannion's main library.
Tainor stared after the wagon as Quon pulled away, his heart thudding inside his chest. The conversation they'd had seem somehow laced with a suggestion that Quon wasn't completely against adult male relationships and yet… there was no way to tell. And his final remark about taking Tainor's mind off Delph's absence seemed like a clear warning that he knew of their liaison. Was he meaning to censure them? Should Tainor be wary?
He didn't have a clue. Perhaps it was as well that Delph was away. Tainor blinked into the dimming sunlight and moved to knock on his hosts' door. Lior, the young blond wife of councilman Naziah, answered so immediately that Tainor wondered if he had been waiting on the other side. His young son Hendor was playing on the floor behind him and Tainor smiled as the boy looked up at him shyly.
"Come in, Tainor, you are just in time for a pre-dinner drink. Naziah should be home soon."
"Thank you." Tainor followed Lior to the drinks cabinet and waited while the shemaina poured a small glass of an amber-coloured drink. It held a fire so fierce that Tainor had learned to sip it gently rather than try to pour it directly down his throat in one hit as he had done the first night.
Lior spoke softly to Hendor. "Please take your things to your room and get ready for dinner. Daddy will be home soon, love, and you know how he hates clutter."
The boy, who seemed around five or six, spoke little and Tainor wasn't sure if he was simply in awe of the strangers in his home or if there were rules about children's behaviour that kept him so quiet. It was so different from his own upbringing that he couldn't decide. He'd have to ask Lior more about child-rearing here.
Once Hendor had left and he and Lior were seated comfortably on the two low couches in the room, Lior began to ask Tainor questions. This was the first time Tainor had been alone with one of the shemanie, and he found himself equally charmed and flattered at the attention he was receiving. When his husband Naziah was present, Lior seemed much quieter; as if his place was less important in life than his husband's. Truthfully, Tainor was a little embarrassed by the subservient role shemanie appeared to play in Aumethian life, although Lior didn't seem at all unhappy.
"Who does all the cooking and cleaning in Guaya? If you do not bond or marry other men, what do you do for affection? Are you allowed friends? Why is sex such a secret?" Lior was insatiably curious and Tainor found his questions delightfully refreshing, although somewhat difficult to answer.
Lior had been thrilled to find out that Delph and Tainor were sleeping together despite Guaya's strict policy against such relationships. Delph had warned against allowing their hosts to know of it, but they had been given a shared room; with only one large bed and Naziah had given a knowing look at their discomfit upon discovering it, and announced that they would have to work it out, before escorting his giggling wife out and leaving them alone.
The next morning, over breakfast, Naziah had told them he would ask no questions of them, and would not be advising Quon or the other Guayans what arrangements existed in their home. His point was not lost on either Delph or Tainor and they had accepted this at face value, despite the danger in it. Delph suggested that denial was always an option and what occurred in the privacy of their room could not be verified, in any case. He maintained an easy if somewhat gruff public façade at all times, refusing to allow any evidence of their intimacy to be revealed. Tainor followed his example; there was no other choice.
However, Lior gave them both coy looks when he could, and when Naziah had Delph occupied in conversation over dinner the second night, had said with no hint of embarrassment, "No matter what my husband is maintaining of your charade, I know you are well-occupied together at night. Don't worry, my lips are sealed. I'm so glad you're not as sterile as your leaders would have us believe! You are gorgeous together."
Tainor had blushed bright red, but Delph had neither heard nor noticed, so involved in a description to Naziah of a military excursion into the Barren Lands was he. Tainor nodded uneasily and kept his tongue, spooning in more of the stew in front of him and studying the table setting intensely rather than be drawn further.
Today Lior seemed much more willing to push things. Tainor had just started to form a simple answer to the first question when the front door opened and Naziah strode through. Lior shook his head meaningfully and stood up quickly. "Naziah, my love; a drink?"
He'd gone all dutiful wife again so quickly that Tainor began to wonder if there was some kind of rule about shemanie not beginning conversations; especially not difficult ones concerning a very different way of life halfway across the world.
"Thank you, Lior; a drink is exactly what I need. Tainor, how was your meeting with your countrymen? I believe I'm to take you to visit the Adele Hills Library tomorrow. What do you hope to find there?"
Lior rushed to fill a glass for his husband and offer it to him. Naziah sat down opposite Tainor and smiled as Tainor began to answer. He tried not to feel uncomfortable as Lior sat next to Naziah and listened politely, for all intents and purposes ignored in his own home.
How quickly it was becoming obvious that the cultural differences were very wide between them, and Tainor wondered how any of the readings he had studied had managed to be so incomplete. He resolved to write a lot more about the culture here himself, and tried as much as he could to include Lior in the conversation as he told Naziah what he looked forward to learning from the library.
One thing he had gleaned from the Aumethian information texts was how little regard most high-ranking Aumethians had for interference in their social structure; it seemed likely he would have opportunity to find answers to many of his questions about that in the library tomorrow.
~//~
The library was fascinating, Tainor had to admit. Some of the books there were much older than he'd ever seen before, and although the librarian was watchful, Tainor was allowed to handle them. He'd donned the thin gloves he was given and escorted with little further ado to where most of the Aumethian historical texts were kept. Jarnol, the librarian, explained the categorisation based on something called 'The Dewey Decimal System' as they walked down the aisle. When Tainor looked confused, he smiled and asked what sort of works he was looking for.
Upon hearing that he wanted to see anything relating to the formation of Aumethia and its governmental organisation and cultural identity, Jarnol couldn't be more helpful. The three major tomes Jarnol unearthed were carefully set on a heavy table in the middle of the room and Tainor was invited to study them at his leisure.
Even Naziah smiled and invited Tainor to take whatever notes he wished from the books. Naziah retreated across the room once he'd spoken, and appeared to be flirting openly with Jarnol as far as Tainor could tell, although the librarian kept glancing across, his eyes lingering on Tainor's glove-covered hands as he did so. Tainor tried to concentrate on the words in front of him, which was difficult at first as he considered what it meant in this country when a married man carried on so with another man who was very clearly not his life-partner.
After a while though, he lost interest in the men standing opposite as the information he was reading began to take over his thoughts. Soon, he was shutting them out altogether in favour of the chapter he was reading about the difficulties of men living without women and how cloistering the breeding women (known here as lapinas) and their infertile counterparts (robotas) had led to the introduction of shemanie to fulfil men's baser needs as well as a whole raft of other services and functions in society, almost as an afterthought.
Tainor found it interesting that sex had been the most significant underlying reasoning for creating this third gender; something Guaya had all but completely ignored.
The figures he read showed something similar to Guaya's population-wise, although Pannion and its sister-city Maia had a smaller overall population than Santine, where he lived. They had tracked population growth and many other related statistics, and in the two hundred or so years since The Undoing had almost managed to increase numbers to half the level they'd been at immediately beforehand - after an extreme decline initially due to the lack of breeding women and a high death rate.
Something similar had happened in Guaya, for the same reasons, and although Tainor didn't know the exact birth rate in his home country, he was stunned to understand that fertile women here, on average, gave birth to five or six children each, even after all this time. By all accounts, this was their solution to sustain and increase the population, which he supposed made sense. He made a note to locate more information about his own country's statistics when he returned and cursed his lack of foresight regarding such comparisons.
Reading on, he came to a chapter regarding the introduction of the shemanie and shifted in his seat, keen to know more. He read that the first generation of shemanie were chosen in early adulthood, with ten percent of the male population being selected, although Tainor could not see who had made that decision or in fact chosen them. The text described the process as a natural selection of boys who were considered girlish or pretty; ones who volunteered or showed an inclination towards the feminine, and although refusal on the part of the youth was allowed, it was strongly discouraged. What he hadn't realised was that the youths were castrated, and he blinked in surprise at the knowledge. Thinking of Lior's slim and almost curvaceous figure, it did explain that, but he was surprised that such an extreme was necessary and wondered why the practice was continued when so many men in Aumethia were paired with other uncastrated men.
It was by the third generation of shemanie that the choosing ceremony was formalised. At this point, the numbers remained around ten percent, although every 'family' who had a son who chose 'The Cup' was considered honoured, and their fathers became eligible for council membership, which was a high honour indeed, going by the elaborate descriptions of pride involved.
Tainor wondered how things had come to change over time, since Naziah was a council member, although he did not have a shemanie child. However, his son was still very young. Perhaps they had some plan in place already regarding such things at the time boys came to their fathers? But no, if he recalled correctly, Hamane had no children yet and was very well-placed in council from what Tainor understood. Obviously custom had changed, but this book was not recent enough to explain it. Tainor assumed one of the others might do so, but if not, he'd ask Naziah or Hamane about it.
By lunch-time, Tainor had several pages of notes in front of him and was about to open the third book when Naziah - who had disappeared some time earlier after realising Tainor was not going to be brief in his study - returned and suggested a break.
Tainor, surprised to find he was indeed hungry, agreed readily when Naziah assured him he'd be allowed more time with the last book after they'd eaten.
"There are many questions I hope you will be able to answer for me," Tainor asked Naziah over the delicious spread Jarnol's assistant had set out on the table for them all to share.
"Certainly," Naziah answered, lifting an eyebrow as he chose food for his plate. "What can I help you with?"
"I'm very interested in how Council are chosen, and what constitutes a good candidate. As I understand it, only married men can become a member?"
"Yes, that's correct." Naziah smiled absently, as if recalling something pleasant, and then focused on Tainor. "In the early days, only existing fathers could be nominated, but during the plague of the seventies, several of the older councilmen died and we had few nominees - not everyone wishes for such an honour, surprisingly - and it was extended to include all married men. You see, once elected, it is a lifelong position. There are always twenty full councilmen, and a number of nominees must be always be ready to step into the breach, should it be required."
Tainor nodded, intrigued. It was more like the Andian than he'd realised, although Andian members could retire when they were no longer able to fulfil the functions required of them, such as those in ill health or of extreme age. "So fatherhood is no longer a requirement? Does that mean those men do not have to have shemanie children?"
"In essence, no. Although there is some… lack of honour, I suppose you could say, should a councilman's sons all refuse the Cup. While not every family has a shemaina, we have been raised to see it as a great privilege to be allowed to raise them. My youngest brother, for instance, was seen as the most likely candidate in our family and my father would have been greatly disappointed had he refused." Naziah's smile faltered and his brow creased as he spoke. "There was some doubt for a while, but my father and shemur made him see sense. Now, Beytra is happily married to Wireck and their first child is coming to them in less than a year! He is very much looking forward to being called shemur."
"So, had he refused… your father would have felt less… important?"
"It's a complicated thing. He would not have felt less important as such, but for him to be elected to any leading council role would have been unlikely."
Tainor frowned, trying to understand. "Is it not so that Hamane has no children?"
"No, but he has been chosen for mating, and will no doubt produce many children in the years to come. He is still young and virile."
"I see. I'm just… I thought he held some special position in order to be overall host to us. To the Guayans, I mean."
"Ah that. Yes, I see where you may have thought that. He is on the Water Board and spoke at the council meeting you attended, but he is not in a leading role. The Water Board supervisor is unwell currently. As for his appointment to the Guayan delegation; this was decided by Council Chairman, Lord Velenth. Lord Velenth makes all such decisions, with the aid of Lord Deacon and Lord Dallen, who are considered the Right and Left of Chairman. In his absence - or if he is ill - the Left and Right make decisions on his behalf. Hosting the delegation had to be with families who had room to spare, and could not be with anyone less than council members, of course. The honour… you understand. Senior members rarely have visitors in their homes although their families have mostly grown and left."
"Yes, of course. May I ask you about the Cup ceremony?"
Naziah looked wary. "I can tell you what takes place, if that's what you mean? If you wanted more information on how boys are chosen or what they do to prepare, you would be better talking to Lior… although…" He stopped, looking even more awkward as Tainor tried to work out what the problem could be.
"Is there a problem? I don't wish to make things awkward."
"No, it's just… Lior is… I would prefer that you not speak with him about it. He is my wife and… I prefer that he did not have to be involved in business matters. He is so easily distracted and there is our son to consider."
Tainor had no idea what Naziah meant, but he didn't wish to step on toes. "I understand. Would another shemaina, perhaps someone single, be able to help? Or… I assume they attend lessons? A teacher perhaps?"
"Actually, Hamane's wife, Shaedryn, maybe helpful. He leads Cup practices once a month, I believe."
Thinking about people he'd seen in various places since he arrived, something struck Tainor suddenly. "Do shemanie not work?"
Naziah smiled, amused. "No, it's not encouraged. I believe a few have taken up voluntary roles, but generally, shemanie remain with their fathers until marriage."
Tainor wanted to ask if this meant they lived with both their father and 'shemur', as Naziah had described shemanie mothers, but wasn't sure how to word it in the face of such blatant chauvinism. "Not at all?"
"No, they have no need. Their husbands will take care of them when they are of age, and until then, they are under their father's care."
It was all very interesting and Tainor wondered how much this system had deliberately been set up to mirror ancient traditions from before the Undoing. He had read many books in Guaya about times when women were treated very similarly. He wondered how shemanie felt about their position in life. From what he'd seen in Naziah's home, Lior worked hard enough, although there was a servant who performed outside chores. Lior cooked, cleaned, cared for Naziah's son and sewed all their clothes too. He was almost always doing something that would be considered work in Guaya.
Nodding at Naziah's answer, Tainor smiled at the man. "Do you think Hamane would mind if I spoke to Shaedryn? I would keep it brief and general if it is more prudent."
"Hamane would be happy to arrange it, I'm sure. Let me have a word with him when we return to council tomorrow. You can ask him yourself if you'd rather, but I doubt he will have a problem with anything you may want to know."
That made Naziah's refusal to involve his own wife even harder to understand, but Tainor didn't press. Perhaps he just didn't like Lior talking to other men… and then it clicked. 'Easily distracted', Naziah had said. Remembering Naziah's flirty behaviour with Jarnol, Tainor thought it was something of a double-standard, but that made a warped kind of sense if the chauvinism in Aumethia was as thorough as it was beginning to appear.
"Thank you, I would be grateful if you could speak to Hamane for me." At least it appeared that asking a man's permission to speak to his wife was the correct etiquette. "Is it all right if I take some notes from that last book now?"
"Of course; don't let me keep you."
Naziah stood up and gestured for Tainor to take his leave. As he walked back down the hallway, Tainor couldn't help noticing Jarnol slip back into the room behind him, where Naziah remained. He wondered if this was typical of all relationships here, and shook his head as he returned to the table where the books still lay. Pulling on the white gloves once more, he decided that the way of life here was probably not as idyllic as the Aumethians would have them believe.
~//~//~
TBC
Word Count: 3266 words
Warnings/disclaimers: This is a work of original fiction, featuring characters of my own creation. Any similarities to real people are unintentional. Please do not copy or recreate any of this story without permission. There will be m/m interactions and relationships featured throughout the story, and some references to f/f and f/m relationships (of varying degrees) also, although sex scenes are not explicit.
Author's Notes: This story is un-beta'd, so apologies for any errors I haven't removed. If anything stands out to you, please let me know so I can fix it, and this includes plot-holes or omissions. Concrit and discussion is always welcome; flaming and complaints without possible solutions are not. Most mysteries will be explained in later chapters and I will hopefully cover any questions you may find yourself having in due course. But please feel free to ask me if you think I should cover more than I have, or even say a little less. Apologies for the delays in posting chapters.
Story Notes: This is a continuation of a story I began a while ago, featuring a futuristic Earth after a cataclysmic set of events has left most of the world inhospitable and uninhabited.
Two countries arose from the ashes of the world we know: Aumethia and Guaya. Women are rare due to a genetic disease that affects females more than males, and are therefore protected and revered in both nations. Breeding is selective and controlled by women, and men only have contact with them when necessary.
Men therefore live mostly without women, but as trading only began between the two countries within the last fifty years, they have quite different customs regarding how they cope with this.
This world no longer has much of the current technology we take for granted; there is no internet, no television, no air travel, and little in the way of international communication other than to travel between the two continents by sea.
In this story, a small delegation of Guayans have recently arrived on Aumethian soil to further trade negotiations and exchange ideas and strategies to move forward into the future.
Previous Chapters:
1. Delegation | 2. The Water Converter | 3. Planning the Expedition | 4. Conception | 5. The Journey Begins |
6. Speculations | 7. Courting Danger
This Chapter: Tainor finds out more about life in Aumethia through interviews and observation as well as from the books he is allowed to study from Pannion's main library.
Tainor stared after the wagon as Quon pulled away, his heart thudding inside his chest. The conversation they'd had seem somehow laced with a suggestion that Quon wasn't completely against adult male relationships and yet… there was no way to tell. And his final remark about taking Tainor's mind off Delph's absence seemed like a clear warning that he knew of their liaison. Was he meaning to censure them? Should Tainor be wary?
He didn't have a clue. Perhaps it was as well that Delph was away. Tainor blinked into the dimming sunlight and moved to knock on his hosts' door. Lior, the young blond wife of councilman Naziah, answered so immediately that Tainor wondered if he had been waiting on the other side. His young son Hendor was playing on the floor behind him and Tainor smiled as the boy looked up at him shyly.
"Come in, Tainor, you are just in time for a pre-dinner drink. Naziah should be home soon."
"Thank you." Tainor followed Lior to the drinks cabinet and waited while the shemaina poured a small glass of an amber-coloured drink. It held a fire so fierce that Tainor had learned to sip it gently rather than try to pour it directly down his throat in one hit as he had done the first night.
Lior spoke softly to Hendor. "Please take your things to your room and get ready for dinner. Daddy will be home soon, love, and you know how he hates clutter."
The boy, who seemed around five or six, spoke little and Tainor wasn't sure if he was simply in awe of the strangers in his home or if there were rules about children's behaviour that kept him so quiet. It was so different from his own upbringing that he couldn't decide. He'd have to ask Lior more about child-rearing here.
Once Hendor had left and he and Lior were seated comfortably on the two low couches in the room, Lior began to ask Tainor questions. This was the first time Tainor had been alone with one of the shemanie, and he found himself equally charmed and flattered at the attention he was receiving. When his husband Naziah was present, Lior seemed much quieter; as if his place was less important in life than his husband's. Truthfully, Tainor was a little embarrassed by the subservient role shemanie appeared to play in Aumethian life, although Lior didn't seem at all unhappy.
"Who does all the cooking and cleaning in Guaya? If you do not bond or marry other men, what do you do for affection? Are you allowed friends? Why is sex such a secret?" Lior was insatiably curious and Tainor found his questions delightfully refreshing, although somewhat difficult to answer.
Lior had been thrilled to find out that Delph and Tainor were sleeping together despite Guaya's strict policy against such relationships. Delph had warned against allowing their hosts to know of it, but they had been given a shared room; with only one large bed and Naziah had given a knowing look at their discomfit upon discovering it, and announced that they would have to work it out, before escorting his giggling wife out and leaving them alone.
The next morning, over breakfast, Naziah had told them he would ask no questions of them, and would not be advising Quon or the other Guayans what arrangements existed in their home. His point was not lost on either Delph or Tainor and they had accepted this at face value, despite the danger in it. Delph suggested that denial was always an option and what occurred in the privacy of their room could not be verified, in any case. He maintained an easy if somewhat gruff public façade at all times, refusing to allow any evidence of their intimacy to be revealed. Tainor followed his example; there was no other choice.
However, Lior gave them both coy looks when he could, and when Naziah had Delph occupied in conversation over dinner the second night, had said with no hint of embarrassment, "No matter what my husband is maintaining of your charade, I know you are well-occupied together at night. Don't worry, my lips are sealed. I'm so glad you're not as sterile as your leaders would have us believe! You are gorgeous together."
Tainor had blushed bright red, but Delph had neither heard nor noticed, so involved in a description to Naziah of a military excursion into the Barren Lands was he. Tainor nodded uneasily and kept his tongue, spooning in more of the stew in front of him and studying the table setting intensely rather than be drawn further.
Today Lior seemed much more willing to push things. Tainor had just started to form a simple answer to the first question when the front door opened and Naziah strode through. Lior shook his head meaningfully and stood up quickly. "Naziah, my love; a drink?"
He'd gone all dutiful wife again so quickly that Tainor began to wonder if there was some kind of rule about shemanie not beginning conversations; especially not difficult ones concerning a very different way of life halfway across the world.
"Thank you, Lior; a drink is exactly what I need. Tainor, how was your meeting with your countrymen? I believe I'm to take you to visit the Adele Hills Library tomorrow. What do you hope to find there?"
Lior rushed to fill a glass for his husband and offer it to him. Naziah sat down opposite Tainor and smiled as Tainor began to answer. He tried not to feel uncomfortable as Lior sat next to Naziah and listened politely, for all intents and purposes ignored in his own home.
How quickly it was becoming obvious that the cultural differences were very wide between them, and Tainor wondered how any of the readings he had studied had managed to be so incomplete. He resolved to write a lot more about the culture here himself, and tried as much as he could to include Lior in the conversation as he told Naziah what he looked forward to learning from the library.
One thing he had gleaned from the Aumethian information texts was how little regard most high-ranking Aumethians had for interference in their social structure; it seemed likely he would have opportunity to find answers to many of his questions about that in the library tomorrow.
~//~
The library was fascinating, Tainor had to admit. Some of the books there were much older than he'd ever seen before, and although the librarian was watchful, Tainor was allowed to handle them. He'd donned the thin gloves he was given and escorted with little further ado to where most of the Aumethian historical texts were kept. Jarnol, the librarian, explained the categorisation based on something called 'The Dewey Decimal System' as they walked down the aisle. When Tainor looked confused, he smiled and asked what sort of works he was looking for.
Upon hearing that he wanted to see anything relating to the formation of Aumethia and its governmental organisation and cultural identity, Jarnol couldn't be more helpful. The three major tomes Jarnol unearthed were carefully set on a heavy table in the middle of the room and Tainor was invited to study them at his leisure.
Even Naziah smiled and invited Tainor to take whatever notes he wished from the books. Naziah retreated across the room once he'd spoken, and appeared to be flirting openly with Jarnol as far as Tainor could tell, although the librarian kept glancing across, his eyes lingering on Tainor's glove-covered hands as he did so. Tainor tried to concentrate on the words in front of him, which was difficult at first as he considered what it meant in this country when a married man carried on so with another man who was very clearly not his life-partner.
After a while though, he lost interest in the men standing opposite as the information he was reading began to take over his thoughts. Soon, he was shutting them out altogether in favour of the chapter he was reading about the difficulties of men living without women and how cloistering the breeding women (known here as lapinas) and their infertile counterparts (robotas) had led to the introduction of shemanie to fulfil men's baser needs as well as a whole raft of other services and functions in society, almost as an afterthought.
Tainor found it interesting that sex had been the most significant underlying reasoning for creating this third gender; something Guaya had all but completely ignored.
The figures he read showed something similar to Guaya's population-wise, although Pannion and its sister-city Maia had a smaller overall population than Santine, where he lived. They had tracked population growth and many other related statistics, and in the two hundred or so years since The Undoing had almost managed to increase numbers to half the level they'd been at immediately beforehand - after an extreme decline initially due to the lack of breeding women and a high death rate.
Something similar had happened in Guaya, for the same reasons, and although Tainor didn't know the exact birth rate in his home country, he was stunned to understand that fertile women here, on average, gave birth to five or six children each, even after all this time. By all accounts, this was their solution to sustain and increase the population, which he supposed made sense. He made a note to locate more information about his own country's statistics when he returned and cursed his lack of foresight regarding such comparisons.
Reading on, he came to a chapter regarding the introduction of the shemanie and shifted in his seat, keen to know more. He read that the first generation of shemanie were chosen in early adulthood, with ten percent of the male population being selected, although Tainor could not see who had made that decision or in fact chosen them. The text described the process as a natural selection of boys who were considered girlish or pretty; ones who volunteered or showed an inclination towards the feminine, and although refusal on the part of the youth was allowed, it was strongly discouraged. What he hadn't realised was that the youths were castrated, and he blinked in surprise at the knowledge. Thinking of Lior's slim and almost curvaceous figure, it did explain that, but he was surprised that such an extreme was necessary and wondered why the practice was continued when so many men in Aumethia were paired with other uncastrated men.
It was by the third generation of shemanie that the choosing ceremony was formalised. At this point, the numbers remained around ten percent, although every 'family' who had a son who chose 'The Cup' was considered honoured, and their fathers became eligible for council membership, which was a high honour indeed, going by the elaborate descriptions of pride involved.
Tainor wondered how things had come to change over time, since Naziah was a council member, although he did not have a shemanie child. However, his son was still very young. Perhaps they had some plan in place already regarding such things at the time boys came to their fathers? But no, if he recalled correctly, Hamane had no children yet and was very well-placed in council from what Tainor understood. Obviously custom had changed, but this book was not recent enough to explain it. Tainor assumed one of the others might do so, but if not, he'd ask Naziah or Hamane about it.
By lunch-time, Tainor had several pages of notes in front of him and was about to open the third book when Naziah - who had disappeared some time earlier after realising Tainor was not going to be brief in his study - returned and suggested a break.
Tainor, surprised to find he was indeed hungry, agreed readily when Naziah assured him he'd be allowed more time with the last book after they'd eaten.
"There are many questions I hope you will be able to answer for me," Tainor asked Naziah over the delicious spread Jarnol's assistant had set out on the table for them all to share.
"Certainly," Naziah answered, lifting an eyebrow as he chose food for his plate. "What can I help you with?"
"I'm very interested in how Council are chosen, and what constitutes a good candidate. As I understand it, only married men can become a member?"
"Yes, that's correct." Naziah smiled absently, as if recalling something pleasant, and then focused on Tainor. "In the early days, only existing fathers could be nominated, but during the plague of the seventies, several of the older councilmen died and we had few nominees - not everyone wishes for such an honour, surprisingly - and it was extended to include all married men. You see, once elected, it is a lifelong position. There are always twenty full councilmen, and a number of nominees must be always be ready to step into the breach, should it be required."
Tainor nodded, intrigued. It was more like the Andian than he'd realised, although Andian members could retire when they were no longer able to fulfil the functions required of them, such as those in ill health or of extreme age. "So fatherhood is no longer a requirement? Does that mean those men do not have to have shemanie children?"
"In essence, no. Although there is some… lack of honour, I suppose you could say, should a councilman's sons all refuse the Cup. While not every family has a shemaina, we have been raised to see it as a great privilege to be allowed to raise them. My youngest brother, for instance, was seen as the most likely candidate in our family and my father would have been greatly disappointed had he refused." Naziah's smile faltered and his brow creased as he spoke. "There was some doubt for a while, but my father and shemur made him see sense. Now, Beytra is happily married to Wireck and their first child is coming to them in less than a year! He is very much looking forward to being called shemur."
"So, had he refused… your father would have felt less… important?"
"It's a complicated thing. He would not have felt less important as such, but for him to be elected to any leading council role would have been unlikely."
Tainor frowned, trying to understand. "Is it not so that Hamane has no children?"
"No, but he has been chosen for mating, and will no doubt produce many children in the years to come. He is still young and virile."
"I see. I'm just… I thought he held some special position in order to be overall host to us. To the Guayans, I mean."
"Ah that. Yes, I see where you may have thought that. He is on the Water Board and spoke at the council meeting you attended, but he is not in a leading role. The Water Board supervisor is unwell currently. As for his appointment to the Guayan delegation; this was decided by Council Chairman, Lord Velenth. Lord Velenth makes all such decisions, with the aid of Lord Deacon and Lord Dallen, who are considered the Right and Left of Chairman. In his absence - or if he is ill - the Left and Right make decisions on his behalf. Hosting the delegation had to be with families who had room to spare, and could not be with anyone less than council members, of course. The honour… you understand. Senior members rarely have visitors in their homes although their families have mostly grown and left."
"Yes, of course. May I ask you about the Cup ceremony?"
Naziah looked wary. "I can tell you what takes place, if that's what you mean? If you wanted more information on how boys are chosen or what they do to prepare, you would be better talking to Lior… although…" He stopped, looking even more awkward as Tainor tried to work out what the problem could be.
"Is there a problem? I don't wish to make things awkward."
"No, it's just… Lior is… I would prefer that you not speak with him about it. He is my wife and… I prefer that he did not have to be involved in business matters. He is so easily distracted and there is our son to consider."
Tainor had no idea what Naziah meant, but he didn't wish to step on toes. "I understand. Would another shemaina, perhaps someone single, be able to help? Or… I assume they attend lessons? A teacher perhaps?"
"Actually, Hamane's wife, Shaedryn, maybe helpful. He leads Cup practices once a month, I believe."
Thinking about people he'd seen in various places since he arrived, something struck Tainor suddenly. "Do shemanie not work?"
Naziah smiled, amused. "No, it's not encouraged. I believe a few have taken up voluntary roles, but generally, shemanie remain with their fathers until marriage."
Tainor wanted to ask if this meant they lived with both their father and 'shemur', as Naziah had described shemanie mothers, but wasn't sure how to word it in the face of such blatant chauvinism. "Not at all?"
"No, they have no need. Their husbands will take care of them when they are of age, and until then, they are under their father's care."
It was all very interesting and Tainor wondered how much this system had deliberately been set up to mirror ancient traditions from before the Undoing. He had read many books in Guaya about times when women were treated very similarly. He wondered how shemanie felt about their position in life. From what he'd seen in Naziah's home, Lior worked hard enough, although there was a servant who performed outside chores. Lior cooked, cleaned, cared for Naziah's son and sewed all their clothes too. He was almost always doing something that would be considered work in Guaya.
Nodding at Naziah's answer, Tainor smiled at the man. "Do you think Hamane would mind if I spoke to Shaedryn? I would keep it brief and general if it is more prudent."
"Hamane would be happy to arrange it, I'm sure. Let me have a word with him when we return to council tomorrow. You can ask him yourself if you'd rather, but I doubt he will have a problem with anything you may want to know."
That made Naziah's refusal to involve his own wife even harder to understand, but Tainor didn't press. Perhaps he just didn't like Lior talking to other men… and then it clicked. 'Easily distracted', Naziah had said. Remembering Naziah's flirty behaviour with Jarnol, Tainor thought it was something of a double-standard, but that made a warped kind of sense if the chauvinism in Aumethia was as thorough as it was beginning to appear.
"Thank you, I would be grateful if you could speak to Hamane for me." At least it appeared that asking a man's permission to speak to his wife was the correct etiquette. "Is it all right if I take some notes from that last book now?"
"Of course; don't let me keep you."
Naziah stood up and gestured for Tainor to take his leave. As he walked back down the hallway, Tainor couldn't help noticing Jarnol slip back into the room behind him, where Naziah remained. He wondered if this was typical of all relationships here, and shook his head as he returned to the table where the books still lay. Pulling on the white gloves once more, he decided that the way of life here was probably not as idyllic as the Aumethians would have them believe.
~//~//~
TBC