Dragon's Egg Blue

Chapter 4

Once again, Angua carried baby Bonnie in the flowery shoulder bag. Carrot watched closely to see if she took on that vague, unfocused look she had when she'd started singing earlier.

Carrot had no objections to Breaking Out in Song. Such things happened frequently in the mines, and Angua had an excellent voice. However, he did not approve of being forced to sing. Many a shy dwarf had become even shyer after such an occurrence. It had seemed Angua's singing had been Without Her Knowledge.

She had been shy about revealing her True Nature, for which Carrot blamed himself and his ignorant comments disparaging the undead. For all her forthright tendencies in other areas, she'd become even shyer about discussing their Romantic Liaison. He understood wishing for Privacy for such a discussion, and they had spent most of the day in public, but he was beginning to wonder if she might be Avoiding the Topic by choosing to stay in public places. Now, for instance, she had volunteered to take Bonnie to Unseen University, where they would again be surrounded by strangers.

As they walked, he mentioned that he'd never met an Igor or Igorina, and Angua explained their fame as surgeons. They sounded like a Useful people, and no more confusing than most he'd met in Ankh-Morpork. Undecided if he was concerned or relieved to learn that Igorina's hair had likely come from a corpse, he asked, "Why wasn't Rina in the family portrait?"

"She was."

"I only noticed her parents and two brothers."

Angua said, "That was Rina and her brother." She paused, sliding a glance up at Carrot. "Igors are known for constantly experimenting and changing their own bodies. Transforming themselves. Some even transform from one gender to another. That's what Rina did. She was born a boy, and decided to become a woman."

Carrot considered this.

"Most people wouldn't notice. The work she had done was exquisite. I just happened to know that her brother specialized in helping with that kind of transformation. There was a girl in our village who went to him . . . " She finally looked at Carrot again. "You don't seem as shocked as I expected."

"It's Different, among the dwarfs," Carrot said. This wasn't something one normally discussed with Outsiders, but it was an element of the Courtship Ritual. They needed to have this Talk, he realized, before they could Move Forward with their Relationship. "Growing up, we really aren't aware of the gender of our friends. It isn't something we discuss. Even when you start courting a dwarf, it isn't Revealed at first. Eventually one finds out, of course, when things Progress."

Angua smiled. "I imagine so."

"People think dwarfs have issues with fertility, because many couples don't have children, but that isn't the real reason." He waited to see what she would make of that.

"You mean they stay together, regardless of what they learn during their courtship?"

"If they're truly In Love, yes."

"And that's why there are so many childless couples in the dwarf community." Angua took a few more steps and then stopped. "Did you have any siblings?"

"No. My Mum and Dad couldn't have children. They chose to adopt me, instead."

"You call them Mum and Dad. Not Mum and Mum, or Dad and Dad?"

"Most children don't learn the genders of each of their parents. Mum and Dad is a generic term, the closest translation in Human Language." They started walking again. "Did you think Sarah was making Advances at me, rather than toward you?"

"Toward me?" Angua looked surprised. "That's why you made that comment about me not objecting to her flirting." She laughed.

"It was you she watched in That Way."