You're Not the One

Writers: Anaria
Date Posted: 28th June 2011

Characters: Namiren, Dylinia
Description: Namiren has a date with a potential wife.
Location: Emerald Falls Hold, Garnet Valley Hold
Date: month 2, day 20 of Turn 6

Namiren eyed the Minor Holder's daughter that was seated across the
table from him. His mother - like always - had been meddling, and had
invited the girl to foster at Green Valley for a few months. She'd
claimed it was so she could teach the girl the skills that she would
need to be an attractive prospect as a wife. In actuality she had
hoped to make her into an attractive candidate to be Namiren's wife.

Namiren had to admit, Dylinia was pretty. With blonde hair hanging in
ringlets to her lower back, and wide, child-like blue eyes, she
definitely was pleasant to look at. The problem occurred when she
opened her mouth.

"I know that men really want to have a lot of boys," she said, her
voice high pitched and somewhat whiny, "but I really want a lot of
girls. I want to dress them up in pretty dresses, and get them all
runnerbeasts, and baby felines, and all sorts of pretty things!" She
exclaimed, after he'd broached the subject of children with her.

"Well, do you understand why a man needs sons?" Namiren asked,
dumbfounded. Why would any woman with sense say something like that to
a man who had a Hold that needed inheriting?

"A man only needs one son to take over his Hold, silly. The rest of
them can all be girls," she said, very matter-of-factly.

"But what if anything were to happen to the one son. Or he wasn't fit
to take over the Hold?" Namiren asked.

Dylinia just blinked her big blue eyes at him, "Well I guess I never
thought of that."

Namiren groaned inwardly, but forced himself to keep a smile on his
face. "What do you believe the foundations of a healthy marriage are?"
he asked. In the end, it wouldn't matter one way or the other. He
wasn't expected to like his wife, or even get along with her. To
Namiren, a wife was someone who looked good on his arm at Gathers, who
came with substantial familial connections, and could produce healthy
sons. The rest was non-essential.

"Well, I know that I won't get a choice in who I marry but I want
someone who is handsome. And someone who won't push me to do things
that I don't want to do. And who will be a slow and romantic lover,"
Dylinia said, nodding quickly.

"Do you believe you could handle the aspects of running a Hold? Like
speaking with the Headwoman and the Cooks to ensure we have enough
supplies, and entertaining others at events?"

"I'm pretty good at figures!" Dylinia said happily. "And I like
talking to people, and I think that people like to talk to me too.
Especially men. Men seem to really be interested in what I am saying
to them, and they also really seem to like it when I wear this dress."
She gestured down to what she was wearing. Somehow, Namiren suspected
that men cared less about what she was talking about, and more about
the fact that her dress was so low cut he could have fit a wine bottle
in her cleavage without issue.

"Do you have any experience with runnerbeasts?" He asked. Green Valley
was becoming more and more well known throughout the Southern
Continent for their runners, and Namiren wanted a wife who had at
least a passing familiarity with the beasts.

"Baby runners are cute!" Dylinia exclaimed, smiling happily. "But I've
never ridden them, we didn't have many at our Hold. I don't even think
I've touched one. I would love to have one so I could put bows in her
hair, and braid it."

Namiren was going to kill his mother for making him deal with this
dolt. Yes, she was the daughter of a Minor Holder, but not a
particularly noteworthy one. They didn't have strong connections with
other Holds, and they weren't wealthy enough for Namiren to judge the
marriage as beneficial. Namiria just wanted her son to have an heir.
Namiren, on the other hand, felt that if he was going to be forced
into something he didn't want to do that he was going to pick the best
possible match.

"What do you think of women crafters?" Namiren asked. The subject was
a bit of a hot topic in his area. Rumors abounded that certain Halls
were allowing women to apprentice. It was disgusting to Namiren. There
would be a shortage of viable crafters soon if women started getting
ideas that they were too good to birth children like their station
demanded.

"I would love to be a Harper, but Da won't let me apprentice there. I
have a pretty good voice from what everyone tells me!" Dylinia
boasted.

Namiren cringed once more, but forced his expression to remain
neutral. "Oh, a good singer, eh? Perhaps you'd like to sing something
for me?"

Dylinia nodded, standing up and taking in breath in preparation. She
started one of the more difficult ballads that was popular in their
area. It required a singer with tremendous amount of range in the
upper register - when Namiren had heard it performed in the past, it
was sung by a young boy with a soprano voice that was clear as a bell.
It had been beautiful.

This performance, on the other hand, was an insult to the song.
Dylinia had an alright voice throughout the lower passages, but the
higher the pitch got, the louder and more shriek-y her voice got.
Namiren had heard felines being hunted outside the Hold, and was
familiar with the dying screeches they made. They were pleasant in
comparison to Dylinia's singing.

Namiren couldn't fake it any more. "I'm sorry Dylinia, begging your
pardon but I don't feel very well," he said quickly, before standing
up from the table, and leaving quickly.

Dylinia blinked a few times before finally saying, "I'll see you at
morning meal tomorrow?"

Namiren just kept walking.

Last updated on the August 3rd 2011

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You're Not the One