Leeway

"Is that so? If it isn't anything that serious, then we shouldn't bother the other matriarchs. Let's go somewhere else to..."

"Actually, I would like to make this something official, so their presences would be more than welcome, as we discuss this topic." Galathor interrupted Randella, not letting her do it her way.

"Oh? And what is it about?" Randella asked, even though she already knew what was about to come. The rumors had already entered her ears and she had been thinking throughout all this time, how to properly deal with it, only to aways end up with no concrete ideas.

"Heh, it's just that my son, in one of his outside adventures, spotted a lovely lady from your Southern Moon tribe wandering through the Green Wind Plains. Since then, he couldn't stop talking about her and how beautiful she was, bothering me day and night. I was a hundred percent certain, that he was smitten with her and asked him if he wished on making her, his official wife; the wife of a future tribe chieftain."

He made sure to make it sound like a fantasy and also to extol the status of his son, going as far as revealing his future wish of making him a chieftain.

Suddenly, Rothur stepped forward and said: "I want her to be my fateful partner! Since that day, I couldn't stop dreaming of having her to myself and I'm hellbent on pursuing her! I wish the matriarchs could grace me with your blessings..."

"As you can see, my Grey Mane tribe is willing to enter in a pact with the Southern Moon tribe, through a marriage between my son and one of your promising women." Galathor reinforced.

One of the elderly matriarchs got interested on that topic and couldn't help but ask: "And who is this woman? Who's this fortunate lady, that was able to get your son's favor? Depending on who she is..."

Before even hearing the name of that lady, Randella started feeling a headache. She sighed in silence and just let things happen according to fate.

"Her name is Lya. She has a beautiful long brownish-black hair and a pale skin." Rothur answered in excitement.

However, his expression changed as he saw the older matriarchs getting silent. But since he didn't know why they reacted that way, he could only wait for one of them to say something.

Galathor also noticed the changes, but he quickly realized that there must be something wrong with that person. Maybe she was one of the matriarchs' daughters, but that fact shouldn't be something able to change their expressions in such a way, since the other part was his son; someone with an even greater status, if you were to compare them.

"R-Randella... We are leaving this in your hands. Make sure you do not let them get dissatisfied." The oldest of the matriarchs suddenly passed all the responsibility of that matter, over to Randella, who seemed to be expecting that something like that would happen.

Through her words, it seemed like the matriarch was telling to Randella, that she should try her best to fulfill Galathor and Rothur's request, when in reality, she was actually referring to Lya.

The matriarchs knew something about that woman; something that made them feel threatened when dealing with her.

"Understood" Randella bowed in respect as she saw the matriarchs excusing themselves from the room, from the trouble.

She perfectly understood what those words signified, since she had the same knowledge as the other matriarchs.

Not giving Galathor and Rothur any time to think anything about those words, she turned around and said: "Follow me. I'll bring you to visit that woman, but I expect that you will respect her decisions, especially in case she decides on denying your son's offer."

"Oh? You're going to allow one of your women to have the final saying on this matter?" Galathor spoke while rubbing his grey beard.

Usually, normal tribesman had to obey their leaders' orders, since it was considered as an honor to serve the tribe for a greater purpose. But Randella knew Lya was a special case that shouldn't be labelled as a normal tribesman and therefore, shouldn't be put together with the others.

"The Southern Moon tribe doesn't force our women into something they do not want. So, it is entirely upon your son to win over her heart. Does he have the ability to do that, though?" The youngest matriarch swiftly threw part of the responsibility over to Galathor's son, who made a proudful expression, since he considered himself a smooth philanderer.

However, Galathor knew what were Randella intentions were. She wanted to be in a position where they wouldn't be able to blame the Southern Moon tribe, passing all the fault of that matter, over to his son and the woman he wanted to court. And looking towards his own son's confident expression, he couldn't help but feel disappointment on him, since he couldn't even think about the whole scenario, taking everything for granted already.

"Heh, this seems so convenient. Don't blame us later, if something were to go wrong." Galathor casually said.

Randella couldn't fully comprehend what he meant, but she reasoned it was about the marriage. However, his words contained a deeper meaning. The way he said it, seemed like he already knew what would be the outcome and was already creating a few plans for the future.

After exchanging those words, the seven visitors departed from the main hall, silently following Randella, who was leading them to a certain house. Differently from what one would expect, she was not leading them to a distant location, but to a fairly close part of their tribe, where there were only good houses.

That was definitely an area where only their greatest warriors would be allowed to live, making Galathor think that the person his son took a liking, was definitely the daughter of one of the matriarchs. At least, she must be someone important, someone akin to a noble, otherwise, there wouldn't be the need for Randella to create a leeway just to deny their offer.