30 Mating Rituals

Brightise knew that it was stupid and nosy of her to ask, but she could see that Rayvad was in a rare good mood he hadn't been in since Syd had been alive, and she was just too curious to resist. Maybe that would be written on her tombstone one day: BELOVED SISTER/DAUGHTER/MOTHER, TOO CURIOUS TO RESIST.

She doubted she would get to become a mother before she died though, considering her current predicament, which made it all the more interesting to find out if Rayvad had any children.

"Do you have kids?"

Rayvad burst into laughter. She had never seen him laugh so loudly and freely before. She had never even seen him laugh quietly. She considered this a big, if unintentional, success on her part.

"Do I look like someone who has kids?" he asked her loudly.

Brightise shushed him. "Clober is sleeping!" Then she added in a whisper, "I don't know what Slorigans who have kids are supposed to look like."

"Older than me, for sure!"

Brightise suddenly felt annoyed. She was happy that he found this funny, but she didn't think he had a valid reason to be making fun of her. "How should I know the rules of your mating rituals?" she said angrily.

Rayvad stopped laughing. "You really don't know?"

"Really."

"What do they teach you at school in Selgonfield?" he asked her.

"Not about you," Brightise snapped. "The average person in Selgonfield never even meets a Slorigan. We are taught how to read, write, do basic math. You know, useful things."

"Okay, okay." Rayvad cleared his throat. "Sorry."

"What was that?"

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "For offending you."

"Is this some kind of sorcery?"

"What sorcery?"

"You apologizing to me."

Rayvad scolded. "No. Take it or leave it."

Brightise smiled in satisfaction. "I'll take it. So, they didn't let you have a kid because you are still too young and immature?"

Rayvad sighed, but decided not to give in to her teasing. "Partly. You do have to be over 30 to participate in a mating ritual, but you also have to be of a certain rank and be in full control of your Elemental Powers. I don't know how the Amazons choose the mothers, but I assume they choose the best warriors too."

"Maybe they don't," Brightise said thoughtfully. "I mean, I don't know anything about them that you don't, but having a baby is a nine-month-long commitment for a woman. All you have to do is be there during the mating ritual, but they have to carry the baby to term. Maybe they save their best fighters, so they are available for battle."

"I haven't thought about that. I guess it could be possible." Rayvad thought for a moment. "Oh, you also have to volunteer."

"What do you mean?"

"For the ritual. No one can force you if you don't want to participate. Most Slorigans volunteer though. They find the process... fun," Rayvad said, blushing a deep red color.

Brightise felt her own cheeks flush. It was fine to talk about mating ritual criteria and babies as long as they didn't mention the actual procedure. Then the conversation suddenly took an awkward turn.

Rayvad yawned in an effort to break the tension. "I'm tired."

"Yeah, me too. Lots of new information to digest..."

Brightise lay down next to her sleeping sister and closed her eyes. It was strange to be talking about babies with anyone but her older sister, let alone a man she barely got along with. Morral had always been the one who fawned over newborn babies, helped out when a neighbor was going into labor, and babysat toddlers when their mothers got sick.

All things considered, Brightise was barely keeping Clober alive. Morral had been the one who had raised them both.