"Just get up Hanna so this child will stop squealing, I can't take another minute of that ear piecing noise coming from her mouth" "yes, yes come on Hanna we have to get ready for tonight, and I am not a child Fennel, Oh this is going to be so exciting" Leigh squealed "Oh Goddess help us" Fennel moaned "See what I have had to put up with while you have been moping in your bed hut." "I am not moping Fennel, leave me be." I snapped. "Oh really, not moping you say. When was the last time you were still in bed when father sun first peeked around the mountain?" Fennel asked accusingly. "Oh I remember" Leigh screamed "it was when you were eight you were climbing that old tall tree down the foot path chasing after a squirrel. You lost your footing and fell. Thump! Right on your head, we thought you were dead remember Fennel? I cried for two days even after I knew she was going to be fine." "Leigh you cried when you saw the boys churning the cream into butter for the first time, in fact I think you still do." "I do not Fennel; don't be silly I haven't cried over butter for a year now." The three of us burst out with laughter. We laughed so hard we fell to the ground grabbing our sides and as we lay in the middle of my bed hut Leigh reached out and took each of our hands in each of hers.
Fennel was right. On a normal day I would be happily rising while Mother Moon was still in the sky, and hours before Father Sun would rise. I'd hurriedly grab my bow, tie a couple of sacks to my belt, sheath my knife, and start my day. Off I would hasten through the forest to my favorite hunting area, tracking prey for the morning fires, then I would triumphantly return before the first villagers stirred from their beds with my sacks filled with four rabbits and two wild turkeys (witch I would mechanically hand over to one of the boys tending the morning fires). But not today... Today is the day of my "Choosing".
Still holding tightly to each other's hands, we quietly lay there looking up, lost in our own thought of what the night will bring.
Leigh jumped up first "Grab your offerings and meet me at the well, hurry!" she squeaked as she ran out leaving myself and Fennel with a face full of dust from her feet that barely touched the ground. "The midwife is going to have to give her a little milk of the poppy to calm her down tonight, I can see it already." Fennel grumbled as she rose to leave. "Come on grab your offering and let's go before she faints." "Okay give me a minute I'll meet you there" I waved, dismissing her. Fennel rolled her eyes and left me still lying on the ground wishing I could stop time so tonight would never come.
"The choosing" I wonder who came up with such a stupid and barbaric ritual. On the nineteenth name day of every girl in the clan our mothers gather at the holding pens and pick three potential sires for each girl to choose from. The mothers would begin the painstaking task (for the men) of examining the males, starting with their teeth, then their arms, legs and finally the sperm sacks just like they would if they were looking for a stud for one of their prized heifers. After the three men are chosen they are each given a crown. A gold crown is given to the male that would be the mother's first choice for her daughter silver for the second, and bronze for the third. Then each chosen male is given a robe with a hood that covers them from head to toe like a package waiting for the right moment to be opened.
The girls in the meantime will prepare an offering to the Goddess. The offering should be something that represents the kind of sire you would choose for yourself. Fennel chose one of her prized hunting knifes that has lasted through many warriors from her bloodline hoping the goddess would bless her sire with strength. The trinket is placed in a cloth sack which is then taken to the well of wishes and tossed in as you whisper the traits you hope your sire will possess. Then when the moon is at its highest the girls, their potential sires, every female clan member, and if our mothers so choose our sires (I have no doubt my sire will be attending) will gather at the ritual circle. Each of the girls along with their potential sires will enter the circle. Then starting with the oldest girl fist she will begin to disrobe each of the males standing before her reveling her mother's choices. The entire purpose of this primitive ritual is to choose a sire and produce a female child before the next year ends. The female child is then raised by both mother and sire till she reaches the age of puberty. Then the sire is sent back to the male compound and the child is raise till adulthood by the mother alone. All male children producer from the union are sent to the compound from birth to be raised by the men never knowing his mother. "This has been the way of our clan for hundreds of years". My mother would preach at me "it is not something that will change anytime soon Hanna, so it would be best if you accept it now. It will make it easier when the time comes" I have heard this speech for the last five years, and it has not change the fact that I hate that this is forced on me and It has not made it easier for me to accept, and it never will
YOU ARE READING
Hanna's Choice. BookOne of The Amazon Series
RomanceA time when women were the warriors, and men were treated like slaves, until one warrior decided things needed to change.
