“Just start using your magic more, that burns a ton of calories," Knox tells me.
“Oh, I didn’t know that. Aside from fighting and my runes, I’m not sure what other things my magic can even do. I don’t know how to use it except for little things here and there," I admit.
“Has Lachlan put in a request for you to have your reading?” Sabin queries.
“Yeah, some guy in Europe is coming to do it, said he’d be here in a couple of weeks.”
“Tearson is doing your reading?” Ryker asks, surprise and something akin to reverence in his voice.
“I don’t know the guy’s name, Lachlan just said that he was in Europe.”
I reply, before shoving another bite of sandwich in my mouth. Ryker stares at me a bit longer with curiosity before he remembers the food in his hand.
“So, what’s with thecaster females are all delicate flowersmentality that some people seem to have?” I ask.
The curiosity has been bubbling inside of me since Sabin’s lecture this morning. So far, no one other than him has really treated me like that.
The paladin can’t seem to decide how they feel about me, but the other guys seemed fine to treat me like one of them.
“Well it stems from a couple of things, I guess. One is that there are far fewer female casters than there are male casters--.”
“Why is that?” I interject.
“Unfortunately, female casters have taken the biggest hit when it comes to things like inquisitions, witch trials, and any of the other innumerable events where women were killed for being different or more powerful. Because of that, casters in general almost died out. So, when female casters were born, they were fiercely protected and hidden in an effort to keep our race alive," Sabin explains solemnly.
“The current situation isn’t so dire; the ratio is now probably one female for every six or so male casters. However, that mentality of protect, shelter, and revere has now become embedded in our culture," Ryker adds.
“Not to mention that females are now used to males and covens fighting over them and bending over backward to keep them happy. There’s a certain expectation from females about how they should be treated and what their value is.”
“Thedelicate flower syndromeisn’t just perpetuated by male casters," Bastien explains. “You’re lucky because Lachlan is the kind of caster that will support any decisions you make when it comes to your magic or the mates that you choose.”
I scoff at what is clearly a delusional assessment of Lachlan being supportive or letting me make any decisions. So far that has not been my experience.
“Many female casters are more controlled. If not by their families, then by the elders. The stronger the magic in a female, the more the elders will try to match her up with a strong or prominent coven of male casters. There’s a lot of politics and matchmaking that goes on," Bastien continues.
“What do you mean by mates?” I query.
“Female casters take more than one mate," Valen answers cautiously.
“What the fuck?” I ask, with a high pitched squeak. I clear my throat and try again, aiming for less spastic. “I mean, excuse me?”
“No one’s explained this to you?” Ryker asks me, surprised.
“Uhhh, no.”
“Well, because of the skewed ratio of females to males, it became customary for female casters to bind with multiple mates. This allows multiple bloodlines to continue on and not die out. Casters are polyandrous. We all thought you knew," Valen fills in.
Holy shit!Maybe my theory that magic has something to do with my sudden attraction to multiple men isn’t so farfetched.Fuck yes,I don’t have to feel wrong for wanting them…all of them. Well, maybe not Sabin-- oh who am I kidding, I’d pounce on him, too. I’d just duct tape his mouth so I could stare at him without having to listen to him say rude, antiquated, sexist shit.
“So how does it work? You said there is a lot of matchmaking and other things that go into it. Does that mean you date? Like, does a female caster date a group or does she date multiple individuals until she collects all the ones she wants… like a bouquet of males?”
I chuckle at the visual.
“I suppose there’s no realone waythat bonds are made. Typically, a coven that is already formed will start looking for a compatible mate. We start piecing together our covens as teenagers. We all grow up together for the most part, and we naturally start to form relationships with casters that have skills that complement our own.”
Sabin gestures to the guys all around him.
“We grew up as friends, but after our readings, when we knew we all wanted to be paladin, we were approved to come together to form a coven. Mates can work similarly. We grow up knowing the females in our community. The elders usually have an idea of the pairings that they want and will facilitate a coven’s interaction with appropriate females.”
