"Yes, husband," I mumbled.
He smiled proudly, then jerked his chin at Sylis. "See, I told you she'd be fine. So who else are we getting on our team? Do you know yet?"
"Boys," Sylis said. "So, because of that, I've listed you as my second in charge, and I'll be using you as a scout."
"That sounds dangerous," I said.
Tobias murmured in agreement. "It is, but I like being a hunter. Knowing I'm serving our people? It's - "
The clanking of a spoon against a cup cut him off. Slowly, we all turned to see Reynold Saunders stand, gesturing for the one clanking that spoon to stop.
"Would the men to be married today please come forward?"
Ten men, ranging in age from barely old enough to be men all the way to those too aged to stand straight moved toward where that tail hung on the wall. The elders pointed, clearly discussing something I couldn't hear, and a block of men, placed in four alternating lines, formed. There were three on the back row, two on the next, then three again, with the front being two more.
Around us, the voices grew with excitement. I heard someone at our table wondering how many children these pairings would produce. Someone else complained about the ceremony taking too long, but all ten of those men were dressed in their finest, and quickly sorted into place.
Then the first girl walked in. A man moved to her intended with the rod we all feared. I couldn't help but tense, which made Tobias reach over to rub my leg under the table.
"Looks like we have a few young men this time," he told Sylis.
"More than I expected," Sylis agreed. "And trust me, the pressure is only growing."
"What pressure?" I asked.
"To find a wife," he said as if that should've been obvious. "I turn twenty-three in November, but I swear everyone remindsme that I should take this opportunity to claim one of the newly available girls."
"Or a widow," Tobias pointed out.
And both of them were looking at me. My head turned from side to side, trying to figure out what they wanted, but I wasn't going to offer up one of my friends! No one else would get as lucky as I had!
So I changed the subject. "Who gives the rod to the new husbands?"
"My father gave me mine," Tobias said. "It's a respected family member or associate. He must be married himself - or widowed."
"I don't have anyone to pass me one," Sylis said. "I'm thinking that makes a good enough excuse to put it off a little longer."
Tobias murmured under his breath. Yes, I was clearly missing something, but I didn't dare ask now. Instead, I watched the girls making their way in. Each one was dressed in something beautiful. All of them looked terrified, but I understood.
I was just about to go back to my meal when the last girl lunged at her intended. A collective gasp filled the room, and I jerked back to see three men grab the girl. The man she'd been headed for pried a hair pin from her fist, then threw it on the ground.
"I will not agree!" the girl screamed.
And the man she was to marry simply thrust his arm in, grabbed her by the throat, and pulled her face to his. "You," he roared, his words carrying easily in the stunned silence, "will. Now stand there and don't say anything. I don't care."
The girl tried to struggle again, but when her soon-to-be-husband punished her again, he used a closed fist. She dropped, falling to her knees, but he simply yanked her back up.
The next girl wasn't much better. She didn't have a pin, but her defiance was refusing to enter the dining hall. A group of men dragged her into her place. When her intended grabbed her wrist - hard - she gave up her fight.
After that, it was fine for a bit, but the ninth girl had to try again. Unlike the others, she had come prepared. She made it all the way to her place, smiled the way we expected, but just as the final girl moved into the room, the ninth pulled a knitting needle from her sleeve and stabbed at her husband-to-be.
He gasped, staggering back. The other men grabbed her. There was a struggle, and all I could do was press my hands over my mouth as the girl was forced to the ground, disarmed, and then kicked by one of the men. Her yelp of pain cut me to the core.
"I will kill you!" she screamed at her intended. "I have another year! I would rather die than be your wife!"
"And those rules have changed," Mr. Saunders called out. "Stand up, girl. There is no more banishment. You will all be wed, or you will be stoned as per the words of the Bible. So decide quickly, because wedohave a ceremony to get on with."
"Give in," I breathed. "Marry him. Please, just marry him!"
