THE PASSAGE

Solstice and Boyfriend Problems

Chapter 34

"The wolf once saved you and Zelub—how?"

"You see, Father disapproved of Zelub from the first time I started keeping company with him. Zelub and his family were fishermen who lived on the outskirts of the village. But that didn't matter to me. I fell in love with him anyway.

"When Father realized that I was falling in love with Zelub, he introduced me to another young man, whose name was San, from the neighboring village. San's father was also a merchant, as was my father.

"He called on me several times afterward, and I tried to be kind to him, although I wasn't interested. One day, he asked Father if he could take me to a festival in his village. It would require that I stay the night at his family's house. Father gladly agreed and requested me to go even though I didn't want to.

"The festival that he took me to was nice. I met new people and ended up having a good time. Later that evening, when we went back to his family's home, I stayed with San's sister in her room. She told me that San liked me and would soon be planning to ask my father to marry me. Upon hearing that, I was devastated.

"Now Zelub had not asked Father yet, only because he knew that Father was not yet in favor of him. But Zelub was a hard worker and was hoping that Father would change his attitude about him soon. So, I thought that maybe if Zelub and I would talk to Father together and try to convince him of our love, he may change his mind.

"The next day, on the trip back to my village, the village of Tokum, I talked with San. I told him that I wasn't interested in him because I was already in love with someone else. Oh, he was furious. He questioned me about who he was and how long I had been seeing him, and had I had sexual relations with him, which I had not.

"Then he tried his hardest to discourage me about Zelub, telling me that I would only become a poor fisherman's wife, smelling of fish, never having enough money to provide for my family.

"When I got home, I was so irritated with him that I went straight to my room."

"Wait, Solstice. You're a rohf-AH. You could support yourself. Why could you not make your own decision about marrying Zelub right then?"

"Because in Nod, a daughter is, in a sense, owned by her father until she is married. And the father must approve of the marriage. It is also customary that a wife not have an outside occupation, but instead, stay home to take care of her children and husband."

"But couldn't you and Zelub, like, run away and get married?"

"No, a young woman's marriage must be approved by her father before any priest will marry her, with her father being present and her birth certificate in hand. The only exception is if the young woman's father is deceased, but she would need documentation supporting that. So, continuing with my story, I went to my room and shut the door. I needed to make plans to see Zelub soon.

"A few minutes later, there was a knock on my door. It was Father. He told me that San just asked him for my hand in marriage, and he approved it. I was furious. I wasn't going to marry San, no matter what.

"I went to sit outside for a while to think. A little later, I saw Zelub's younger brother walking towards the mercantile. So, I told him to get word to Zelub to meet me close to sundown at our secret spot and that It was an emergency. Our secret place is a hidden cave that Zelub and I discovered one day while walking by the creek.

"That evening after supper, I told Mother and Father that I was going for a walk by the creek. I walked along the bank until I came upon our cave and waited for Zelub there. I hoped that his brother had gotten word to him. A while later, I heard leaves rustling outside. Thinking that it was Zelub, I went out to greet him. But to my surprise, it was San.

"He was furious, pantomiming his anger, yelling at me and calling me mean names. Somehow, he knew I was here to meet Zelub. I finally got angry enough with him that I slapped him across the face. That only made him more furious, so he hit me with his fist, and I fell to the ground. I covered my face with my hands as he drew back to hit me again.

"To my surprise, Zelub appeared and pushed San away. The two of them begin fighting, and then San pulled his dagger, and I gasped. San had Zelub on the ground, his blade only inches away from Zelub's neck, as Zelub tried to hold back San's hand.

"I was so scared, but I had to try and help Zelub. I rushed up to them and kicked San in the back of the head. That again only made him angrier. He threw that dagger at me, missing me by inches. San then reached for his boot knife and raised it above his head to stab Zelub. And then, out of nowhere, this large wolf appeared and lunged at San, clamping down on his throat. In a matter of seconds, San was dead.