After Rae Campbell is murdered by her abductor, she wakes in a world that exists parallel to ours- one which diverged in 1761, when a band of Scottish Highlanders joined with the Skin-Walking Kituwah tribe to oust the British from Appalachia.
Rae b...
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"Again."
I groan and rub at my eyes. Elder Diyani is a relentless task master. For the past two days, she has arrived to Calum's estate at first light, and has not left until dusk. We do not break, not even for lunch, although my head is so full of new information it feels close to bursting. I've been in a fog since last night.
That is likely the closest to approval that I am ever going to come.
I've been practicing the names of the seven matriarchal clans, and the names of The Grandmothers in Calum's council, for days. Apparently, my pronunciation is atrocious- a 'butchery of language,' Elder Diyani had called it.
"The Patriarchal clans?" Elder Diyani prompts, and I sigh again.
"Campbell, MacDonald, Chattan, Maclean, MacLaren, Drummond, Murray, and Cameron," I recite. I cross my legs, and tap my foot against the floor while running my sweaty palms down my leggings.
"Good. Our Righ is of which clan?"
Thinking of Calum makes my stomach tighten and my heart clench and my pulse race. I haven't seen him since breakfast the other morning.
Elder Diyani claps her hands, and jerks my attention back to the room.
"Aniwaya and Murray."
Elder Diyani tuts and flicks my forehead. "Incorrect. A person can only belong to one clan."
"Why do all of us have two clan names, then?" I demand, rubbing the stinging skin.
"You are of one clan, and the child of another."
"That doesn't make sense!"
Elder Diyani takes in a deep breath, and slowly lets it out, my ignorance seeming to get under her skin. "You do not know our ways." The way she says it sounds like she is reminding herself.
"The Kituwah were matriarchal; children belonged only to the mother and her clan. Fathers were not considered to be legally-or biologically- related to their own children. When our peoples merged, the Patriarchal Scottish Clansmen were unwilling to adapt to the order of the Kituwah, nor were the Kituwah willing to become a patriarchy. A compromise was reached. Daughters would remain in the matriarchal clans, and sons would become a part of the patriarchal ones.
"You are Raelyn nieagh a Campbell of Clan Aniwodi. That means your father was of Clan Campbell, therefore you are a daughter of Clan Campbell. However, you belong to Clan Aniwodi. You are subject to the laws, punishments, protections, and rules of our Clan."
"Wait. Doesn't the Righ make the laws?" I cut in, and Elder Diyani shakes her head.
"Some. The Righ is in charge of ensuring all of the clans follow the general laws of the land. However, each clan has their own... code of conduct, shall we say. We reward and punish our own. Except, of course, in cases of treason."
