Page 90 of The Boy Bride

“Nonsense!” Tirtu protested loyally. “Lord Vanu? Never.”

Lill laughed. “He is, though.”

“I don’t know if I’ve heard him speak,” said Halza.

“Oh, you must have,” said Padunu.

“I don’t think I know what his voice sounds like, though.”

“Just sort of … ” Tirtu’s powers of description failed him at the first hurdle.

“Broken,” Lill supplied. “Kind of like this.”

“Earth’s tits! That’s it exactly.”

“Doesn’t use pronouns. Saves breath.”

Tirtu and Padunu whooped with laughter.

“Quite painful to talk like that,” said Lill in his ordinary voice, rubbing his throat. “Not doing it anymore.”

“Have a drink,” Halza suggested, offering his cup.

“Uh. Sure.” He would have the tiniest sip. Or, well, a relatively small sip. He put the cup firmly back on the table after the second swig.

“Is it easier in the lowlands for a woman to leave her husband?” Tirtu asked suddenly, reaching for the open wine bottle.

Padunu smacked the table with his palm. “What are you talking about?”

“Divorce. Is it easier in the lowlands?”

“It’s impossible in the lowlands! They don’t allow it!”

“Pad,” Halza intervened soothingly, “why are you shouting at him?”

“Because—because—why didn’t he know that?”

“I just didn’t! I thought—I don’t know. How can they not have divorce? What if a husband doesn’t want his wife anymore?”

“He gets a new one! And another, and another! He can have as many as he wants!”

“He can also divorce a wife he doesn’t want, Pad. That is allowed. It’s just that the wife can’t ask for a divorce herself.”

“Here in the mountains”—Padunu was jabbing his finger at the table for some reason, and growing red in the face—“you may have one husband or one wife or one … ” He waved a hand at Lill. “ … whatever you are—and no more! But, if both parties wish to dissolve the marriage, they can. They do it the same way as getting married in the first place. There’s a ritual, and they go their separate ways.” He sat back as though he had proved some sort of point.

“That’s very interesting, Pad,” said Halza placatingly. “Have you ever been married?”

“I? Married? I’m a shaman!”

“Ah,” said Lill, pleased to find he had something to contribute to the conversation, “so your Order is celibate.”

“No, no, no. Shamans don’t have orders, we’re not like Zashian priests. But yes, we are supposed to remain celibate.”

“Supposed to,” said Tirtu, looking up from his ram’s horn with a sudden leer.

“Shut up!” Padunu barked.

“He didn’t say anything,” Halza protested.