Witan Jewell

by Russ L. Howard

  Ahy gave her warmest smile, and declared, “It’s a beautiful day to be out and about. Can we be of any help to you?”

  Swan Hilde’s stern visage was less than warm. “No.”

  Taneshewa was taken aback. “If we are to be bride-sisters, we ought to at least share each other’s burdens.”

  Swan Hilde stood up, wiped the sweat from her brow, and planted her fists on her hips. “Oh,” she said, “I don’t foresee us ever being bride-sisters. Not with the news I’ve been hearing.”

  Ahy’s stomach churned. “What are you talking about?”

  Swan Hilde delighted in the discomfort she was causing Ahy. Her smile was almost sadistic, more like the grin of a cat, than that of someone who was supposed to be a friend. “You’ll know soon enough. Just go ask Lana. You’ll find she’s not likely to vouch for you any longer. Without her as your advocate, it is doubtful you’ll ever marry Sur Sceaf.”

  Swan Hilde adjusted her petticoat up with her wrists, before turning from them and resuming her hoeing.

  The twins’ mouths were agape, as if they were in on some secret knowledge that Ahy could not even guess at.

  Meny looked like a wolf ready to rend its prey. She grabbed Taneshewa by the arm and said, “What the hell was all that about?”

  “I don’t know, but we’ll get to the bottom of this right now! Let’s go see Lana. Swan Hilde always has a burr in her craw.”

  “If you ask me, Ahy, the first order of business should be to bitch-slap that pinch-nosed hussy. I couldn’t bear to have her as a neighbor.”

  “I’m more worried about being her bride-sister. She’ll be a hard piece of ice to melt. Currying her favor will be like a yoke around my neck. From what she says, I don’t know if I’ll even get to marry Sur Sceaf.”

  “I read jealousy in every word she spoke. She’s just a spiteful shrew, Ahy. She’s probably lying to get you to ruin your romance with Sur Sceaf. I’d bet Lana will sort this out for us.”

  Lana’s front door was wide-open. Ahy leaned her head over the threshold of the door and hollered, “Yoohoo. Anybody home?”

  A maid in her black and white dirndl came to the door. “I’ll fetch Lana for you.”

  They waited on the threshold. The maid soon returned with Lana.

  Lana’s countenance bore a twist in her wrinkled brow that Ahy had never seen before, as if something were battling inside her.

  “Why, Ahy and Meny, what bringeth you here today?”

  Ahy said, “We were out and about, and a bit bored, and decided we’d come get a feel for what life might be like living here at Namen Jewell. I hope you can pardon our curiosity.”

  Meny interjected before Lana could get a word in. “Let’s cut the pointless chatter. Swan Hilde just told Ahy that she’ll likely never be marrying Sur Sceaf, and told us to go talk to you about it. What’s going on, Lana?”

  “Oh… Ahy, I would to the gods I didn’t have to tell thee what I have to tell thee. My heart hath been wrestling inside my breast, like cocks fighting both day and night. It’s not that I love thee less, my dear, it is that I love my son more.”

  “What on earth do you mean, Lana? How has this got anything to do with your son?”

  “Well if thou dost not already know; Aelfheah is utterly smitten by thee. He is obsessively blinded by thy beauty. And who can blame him? I know how much my husband loveth thee, and I value thy friendship very highly. Thou art one of the best people I know, but because Aelfheah is in love with thee, if I choose thee as a bride-sister, it will mean my son will face banishment to the Apache lands, where he would come under the rule of Kanarus, who is a wreckless warrior. I do not want my son to come to an untimely death. Thou wilt please pardon me if the emotions of a mother override the love of a sister.”

  Meny looked aghast, but kept her tongue, for which Ahy was grateful.

  “So what you’re saying is that you will not sustain me as a bride-sister. And no one needs ask the opinion of Swan Hilde. We all know she hates me. Am I to gather that you will now join together to deny me the one man I love with all my heart and soul?”

  “I cannot do aught but what my maternal duties dictate. I will not suffer my son to be banished to probable death.”

  Meny said, “I can see well that you are acting in your own best interests, but by the thunder beings, I am Taneshewa’s advocate, and I know that yours and Swan Hilde’s are not the final word. We will go and present this matter to the lady Paloma. I cannot believe that the Lord Sur Sceaf’s will has been honored. Might you tell us where we can find the lady Paloma?”

  “I haven’t even got a clue, where she might be.”

  The voice of Brekka rang out clear from the dining room, “She’s at the Ram’s Den with the king.”

  * * *

  The tilers admitted Ahy and Meny into the company of King Sur Spear, and the Ladies Mahalla, Paloma, and Redith.

  The lord Sur Spear stood up from the table and inquired, “Taneshewa and Mendaho, what a pleasant surprise. What brings you to Witan Jewell?”

  Ahy scanned the room. All the countenances bore warmth, and acceptance. “My lord, I am come to speak with the lady Paloma, for Meny and I just took an excursion to Namen Jewell, where I was told by both Lana and Swan Hilde that my marriage to Surrey is not likely to happen.”

  Sur Spear looked at the ground, then back up at Ahy before saying, “We have just been discussing this matter in great detail, as it has only come to our attention this day. I will let Paloma reveal our findings.”

  Paloma looked Ahy straight on. “My dear Ahy, I am sorry that these matters weren’t ironed out before you were talked to. I didn’t want you to discover this in this manner. I have already discussed this matter with all the bride-sisters, and every one of them excepting Lana and Swan Hilde support your marriage to Surrey, and would not deny him his true love. Such an act would be cruel on our behalf. But it would be unwise to move forward with the marriage until a peaceful resolution has come about.”

  Sur Spear said, “The Herewardi have seen this problem many times. No great house is built overnight and no marriage comes without its problems. Give us time to work out what shall be done to Aelfheah.”

  Ahy said, “Lana believes he will be banished to the Apache lands. She fears he will meet his death there.”

  “Alas, poor Lana, ever the mother hen. I hope you will not judge her harshly. I only wish she had not revealed this to you until we had come up with the resolution. I will not banish Aelfheah to the Apache Lands. Give us just a little more time. None of this is your fault. We want you to know that we have as much love for you as we do for Lana and Aelfheah. Trust that we can come up an answer to this mess that will be palatable to all parties concerned.”

  “To be honest with you, my lord, I have never loved a man so truly as I love Sur Sceaf. I would not have put up with even a tenth of the opposition I have met with for any man but him.”

  The lady Redith declared, “Well spoken, Taneshewa. The Ur Fyr has told me that you and Surrey will write a great tale in the scrolls of history. This never was any common courtship. Neither shall it ever have a common end. May the gods bless and comfort you. And may the Thunder Beings always be with you.”

  Chapter 13 : The Rite of Yays and Nays

  Before Taneshewa’s encounters with Swan Hilde and Lana, she had felt confident in the likelihood of her marrying Sur Sceaf. But now she was in a constant state of anxiety. Even if the votes of the bride-covey went to her favor, she wondered if she’d ever have Lana’s friendship again. The days passed slowly up to the day of her examination.

  A young sandy-haired steward came down the stairs and bowed. “The ladies are ready to receive the lady Taneshewa and the lady Mendaho.”

  Taneshewa took a deep breath and hiked her tight dress up to climb the stairs.

  The steward smiled as they passed. Stepping over the threshold, Mendaho stopped dead in her tracks and exclaimed, “Holy Grand Mother, you could put our whole village in here. Will you look at those
tapestries? Shit, the images look real and I bet that's all silk. And that polished floor sure beats the mats in our tipi. By Tah-Man-Ea, get a load of those carvings of swans on the ceiling.”

  Taneshewa put her hands up and whispered. “Sssh! They can hear you.”

  The doors closed behind her and the steward walked off toward the far corner and through the door to the kitchen. The smell of burning oak leaves pleasantly filled the hall, a practice the Herewardi had for honoring their noble fallen. What they called the burning of the king leaf. Paintings of animals on the ceiling represented the Herewardi zodiac of star marks. Most of the large room was empty, save for the tables stacked against the walls with the benches.

  Mendaho whispered, “I'll bet it's like a herd of buffalo when all those kids are piling in here. Can you imagine trying to get that swarm inside a tipi?”

  “Especially when they are hungry,” Brekka said.

  Brekka led them across the large hall with Mendaho still staring up at the ceiling as she followed. Before them was the Lady Paloma standing there in her regal aubergine robe, this time with her hair up in an intricate twist. She radiated a youthful maternal glory like that of the First Mother, but her countenance reflected authority.

  The rest of the bride-sisters with the exception of Swan Hilde sat around an oval Oak table with papers and books spread all over the surface. Lana bashfully made eye contact with Taneshewa. Everyone else wore friendly smiles of welcome.

  Brekka announced, “The lady Taneshewa and the lady Mendaho have arrived, Mother Superior.”

  “Ahyyyokah Taneshewa,” Paloma exclaimed, “Os-Frith and welcome to our council meeting.” Paloma turned to Mendaho and greeted her. “Mendaho, we have heard so much about you. Shining Moon talks about you non-stop. We even had a Mendaho night to read your letters. We simply loved them and especially the time you and Ahy thought Sagwi was a wolf chasing you.”

  Meny blushed. “I just wanted Shining Moon to know what was happening with her people.”

  Paloma announced, “I thought it would be informative to have the steward summon you prematurely. In point of fact, we thought it would be good for you to see some of the subjects we address in our Leofday Meeting. Please, be seated with us, and feel free to join in while we wrap it up.”

  “Os-Frith and greetings to all of you,” Taneshewa said. “It will be our pleasure to join you.”

  Shining Moon rose up and gave Mendaho a hug. “So good to have you here Meny. I hope you shall make many visits in a house that will always welcome you.”

  They took two of the three vacant seats around the table.

  Lana turned to her daughter. “Brekka, my dear, thou art excused. And no more eavesdropping.”

  “Yes Mother,” then turning to Ahy, she said, “I’ll see you later, Lady Taneshewa, and good luck. Lady Mendaho, when you are free, I can take you to see Redith.”

  Meny thanked her and Brekka walked across the hall and out the doors.

  Paloma turned to a dark haired girl standing in servant's garb behind her, “Dina, please tell the lady Swan Hilde, we require her company now.”

  “Yes, my lady.” The girl curtsied before heading off on her errand.

  “Well, Taneshewa, you have met us all previously, but I would like to introduce them to your friend. I am, as you know, Paloma, Sur Sceaf’s first wife. You, of course, know Lana, his second wife quite well. The lady on Lana's right is Faechild, his third, and next to her is Milkchild his fourth, whom you already know from your work on the histories together. Finally, your friend, Shining Moon, she’s the sixth.”

  Mendaho said, “You skipped the fifth, Swan Hilde.”

  “That’s right.”

  Mendaho said, “No matter. We saw her in the garden. She was whacking at the ground. I thought she might even be deaf because she ignored us to the point of rudeness.”

  Paloma looked at the table, “Yes, that’s Swan Hilde. She’s very focused, particularly when she’s in her garden. Won't even stop when she's six moonths with child. She is working on her plant propagation projects and probably wouldn't have seen thee if thou hadst stood right beside her.”

  “If you don't mind my asking, is there some reason why she is not in your meeting?” Ahy inquired.

  Paloma clarified, “She was excused to work until you arrived, because she had to finish a project she's been working hard on for two years now.”

  Loud footsteps could be heard coming from the direction of the kitchen. All the heads turned in that direction. Swan Hilde came marching in with a determination that reflected her usual passion and drive.

  “Os-Frith,” she said as she pulled out the last empty chair and sat. She had come to the table still dressed in her garden smock and dirty leather boots, her hands washed, but still earth stained from her labors. “Os-Frith! Sorry I’m late. Too much work to get done and not enough days to do it in.”

  Taneshewa thought, The Herewardi are always acting like there is not enough time. A day is a day.

  Paloma said, “Lady Swan Hilde, would you like to briefly enlighten the ladies Taneshewa and Mendaho on your labors in the garden?”

  “Pardon my dirty hands,” she held them up for all to see, “I’m breeding different types of potatoes and left some in the ground over winter for harvesting. That way I'll be able to see how well they hold up under winter conditions.”

  “Breeding potatoes,” Mendaho said, “I didn’t know they had it in them.”

  “Oh, yes!” Swan Hilde said, “They are every bit as sexual as you and me. Someday, I’ll show you how it is done, but in a nutshell, one just takes the pollen from one plant and places it on the receptacle of another plant and sometimes you have a potato fruit with seed.”

  Ahy couldn’t believe how effortlessly Swan Hilde pretended like nothing had happened to taint their friendship. Meny seemed more than up to the task of keeping up the pretention.

  Paloma said with a smile, “Thank you Swan Hilde, we look forward to learning the results of your tests, but now we will be about the usual business for which you have been summoned. We were discussing my fifteen year old daughter, Aryfae, who wishes to see a young man named Sigmund from Hrusburg, who is nineteen. Milkchild vouches for him being an honorable young man, for she knows his mother well. As you may or may not know, ladies, our culture frowns upon dating when there is any more than a two years difference in age during their teens. Nevertheless, bounds cannot be set on love, especially young love. So we have to determine how to bank the fires of this young love and how to contain it until it burns safely in the marriage bed.”

  “That is very interesting,” Mendaho said. “I have my own story about this very subject.”

  “Please,” Paloma said, “we’d love to hear it.”

  Mendaho said, “I was only fifteen when a young brave, Billy Weasel, who was twenty, took a fancy to me. When there were problems like this in our village, the parents would just send one of them off to another village. Well, Billy and I got into real trouble fast. Because of this I was sent away from the Klamath tribe to live with Sagwi in DiAhman. As a girl of fifteen winters, I was not ready for what a boy of twenty had to offer, especially a dirty, nasty boy like Billy Weasel.”

  “That is what we fear may happen here, Mendaho. Thank you for sharing that testimony. I shall now give the floor back to Faechild, who is signing she has a solution.”

  Faechild stood up and said, “It seems to me that we should allow them to continue to see one another, but only under close supervision. Sigmund can come here and they can play games or take walks together, but always with one of us bride-sisters or one of the older boys as chaperones.”

  “Mendaho,” Paloma said, as Faechild sat back down, “what do you think? What advice would you give?”

  “Lady Paloma, Lady Faechild has an excellent suggestion. Billy Weasel was a sneeky person as I came to learn years later, but according to Lady Milkchild, this Sigmund is a young man of honor. Still, a girl of that tender age is no match for a boy who is that
much older. It’s an unequal match. I know I certainly wasn't ready and it's put my life way off kilter. If I had had a chaperone, things could have been very different.”

  Taneshewa was tempted to tell them of her experience where she had chaperones, but still managed to sneak off in the night to Standing Bull’s tent, and meet him at clandestine places undetected for the most part. But she kept silent. Her emotions were still too tender to even broach that subject aloud. After all, she hadn’t worked it all out in her own heart yet.

  “I agree,” Paloma said, “I thank you Lady Mendaho for your enlightening comments. I suggest that we go with Faechild’s plan. It’s not that I don’t trust Aryfae. It’s that I don’t trust the heat of our blood. As parents it behooves us to save the youth from themselves and their unschooled appetites. Does anyone else have anything to add, any must says or business?” Paloma looked around, waited, “Hearing none, we shall break for refreshment.”

  The handmaids arrived with foods and mead and distributed it around the table. Delicious seedy sourdough breads were passed around with butter and sweetened kefir. A smudge pot of oak leaves burned next to the table, its smoke snaking up through the air like silver threads entwining in the rafters above.

  After some light conversations, Paloma said, “Yes, Govannon’s brew has finally arrived. You know, we only drink it for very special occasions such as this.” Paloma grabbed a horn of mead and said as she raised it, “Let us eat, drink, and be merry.”

  Mendaho said, “I can drink to the marry part as soon as I find a man.”

  Faechild laughed and touched Mendaho warmly on the arm, “Merry means joyful in Herewardi, not to marry a man.”

  “Oh, that’s Mendaho.” Milkchild said, “Her life consists of boys and books. Actually that’s not too bad of a life if you think about it.”

  “Well, to me they both would be joyful, I would like a merry marry, but so far I ain’t had neither.” Everyone laughed. “However, Brekka the seeress says that he’ll be coming soon.”