Time for Admiration

[Ivory]

"You have litters?"  Kathryn looked a little appalled.  All those screaming babies!  And, besides...

...What happen to their souls?

Carefully, she said, "Humans can have twins.  It's rare.  And it's considered a very bad omen indeed, because the soul of the baby is divided between the children.  As long as both children live, neither will have a whole soul."

Or so she had been taught.  She was trying to picture a litter -- like the litter of puppies that occasioned the kennel -- but with human babies.  And each of them would have the tiniest fraction of a soul...

And five or six thousand children?  It was a staggering amount!  How on earth did they support so many children?  Rather than try to really comprehend that number, she asked curiously, "Are you married?"

[Rhakōnba]

The Lornün did not realise the difference between human babies and her own kind-- human young squalled and threw up and couldn't support their own weight. Lornün kits were comparatively smaller, made little mewling sounds instead of cries, and had a tendency to wrap their tails on things and hang upside down if given half a chance. They generally stayed quiet and slept a lot, and took to toddling around after their mother ten weeks after birth, like little ducklings.

Rhakōnba looked agog at lady Kathryn, not sure whether to be amused or befuddled. "Yes, we have litters. I don't see why their soul would be split between them. They are all individual babies, not one baby shared into many. I can see why you might come to that conclusion for identical twins, but not a fraternal litter. W-- wait. Are you saying that you... That you kill one of the babies?!"  Rhakōnba looked shocked and horrified at merely the suggestion. What sort of barbarians killed their own children?!

"Ah-- no, not yet. I have had suitors, but I do not wish to be married just yet. I wouldn't want to leave my husband on his own, but many of my people are afraid of the top, so chances are he wouldn't want to come with. I think I'll wait till my third century at least, you know? Get a little exploring done first." She shrugged, though still perturbed by the idea that one might kill a child out of some bizarre belief that they shared a soul with their twin.

[Ivory]

"Oh, no!" Kathryn exclaimed, wide-eyed that she had, even accidentally, insinuated such a thing.  "It's just that, sometimes, one of the babies dies naturally.  If the other survives, he or she will have a whole soul.  If both babies live, sometimes the parents keep them.  More often they are given to the Church to raise and protect from magic and evil.  Being twins -- with only half a soul -- they're more susceptible, see."

Yes, to her it made complete sense -- but, of course, it was the only thing she'd ever known!  To her, it was simply a fact...  And, of course, there were families who did kill the twin -- but most in her circle hid the truth so well that Kathryn would never even consider it an option.

She smiled slightly in response to Rhakōnba's desire to wait to marry.  "I suppose," she murmured, "If humans were as long-lived as your people, we might be able to wait longer.  I should be engaged soon and married within the year.  And if I am not married by 25, I'll be considered an old maid, and no one will want to marry me at all."  That, she thought, wouldn't be so bad, really...  She could retire to a convent -- or at least pretend to.

[Rhakōnba]

"Oh! Oh good. I was worried for a moment. Um, but-- with a litter each child has the same connection to it's litter mates  as a younger child to their older sibling, it's just that they're all born at the same time. It's not like they're all identical twins or triplets or whatever; though we have noticed that identical twins have a special bond. We've always thought of it as both children having a duplicate soul rather than half of one, like they have duplicate bodies." That made much more sense to Rhakōnba than a split soul; what deity would inflict that on a pair of children?

Identical twins were very rare in Bzulft, but they did happen. Fraternal twins were much more common, though a litter of two was considered unusually small. While Rhakōnba admitted to being more fond of her twin than her other siblings, she didn't share the bond that identical twins seemed to have with him. Their closeness was probably due to the great age gap between themselves and their mother's other litters, meaning they had grown up together instead of with their elder siblings.

Rhakōnba blinked at Kathryn, brow creasing. She was very poor at judging human ages, other than telling the difference between a child, an adult, and an elderly person. "25... That sounds a bit young even for humans? Hm. Wait, how long do you live? How old are you, even, gosh I'm so bad at Human ages, my apologies." Her ears wilted sheepishly and she rubbed the back of her neck, huffing a small amount of involuntary smoke from her nose-- that was still new and strange, though she was getting better at controlling it.

"And hey, if you're not married by 25 then you might still meet a good man who will fall in love with you for your heart, not your youth. Alternatively, sprint into the wilderness and find a cute woodsman!" She was only half-joking. If she wasn't going to get snapped up after 25 then why not? Tear up the fancy skirts and hunt down an adventurer who wanted a fun, clever, bold daredevil of a wife rather than some sixteen year old waif hidden away in a castle!

[Ivory]

Strange!  But, Kathryn supposed, they probably worshiped different gods and had different customs!  There was nothing wrong with that -- even if they were completely opposite from her own viewpoints.  She was Connlaothian, after all!

"Most Connlaothians are old at 60, and few live further beyond that."  Given the national occupation, it was a little surprising so many lived that long!  "And I'm 17," she answered with a light laugh.  "That must seem very young to you."

It seemed very young to her as well, come to think of it, standing beside someone whose life expectancy was so incredibly beyond that!

She blushed lightly at her new friend's solution to the marriage dilemma, accompanied by a laugh.  "Oh my God, I could never!  Even if I were an old maid.  My father would disown me.  And my mother would die on the spot!"  Though her eyes were twinkling at the thought.  Handsome woodsman indeed...  "I would be the talk of the entire country!"

[Rhakōnba]

"60? Whoa." That saddened her greatly. Any human friends she made would pass away so quickly... What if she fell in love with a human? That would shatter her heart into a billion pieces, surely. But-- better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all? Hm. The thought was still worrying. Oh dear, Rhakōnba had been sure that humans could make it a a little over a century at least! Maybe she had just assumed?

"17! My people are only this big at 17!" She gestured with her hands about a foot apart, amazed at how quickly humans developed. The human lifespan was to the Lornün what a mouse's was to a human, and everything about them seemed so rapid. "But I think we are comparatively the same sort of age. At the same stage of development? Whatever the term is." She flipped a hand dismissively.

"Oh! Oh dear! That would be quite a strong reaction!" Rhakōnba's hands came up about her mouth in surprise, eyebrows raised. "Oh dear oh dear. Hm, well... How does your family feel about non-humans, because I have this short brother--" She gestured how 'short' her was, which was about 6'8", "-- and he's crazy wealthy, so he ticks that box. And he's not a gigantic arse, so that's always good! If you don't get picked by a human by 25 then you could meet him." She gave a cheeky grin, tail thumping with amusement. "But come on, you're pretty gorgeous. You must have all the boys swooning, you're bound to get a good one."

[Ivory]

Kathryn laughed, completely charmed by her reaction.  So, in the terms of her people, Kathryn was but a child...  It was an amusing thought!

"I'm sure my mother would rather I be dead," she replied cheerfully, as if that didn't bother her in the least.  It truly didn't -- her mother was infamous for over-reacting.  "My father, I think, would be scandalized, but he'd be happy for me if I were happy."  She grinned thoughtfully at that, although she had a very different boy in mind...

"There was an...incident...at a ball my parents hosted.  A thief broke in and made his escape with a small fortune -- including the ring my father had just presented to my mother as a gift."  She flushed lightly.  "I'm afraid we're not in a very good social position right now..."

She paused a moment, then, she lowered her voice slightly.  "Well, there is this one...man."  She had almost said boy, but, of course, he was quite a bit older than that.

[Rhakōnba]

 Rhakōnba appeared almost scandalized at the idea that a mother might wish her daughter dead over such a silly thing. But Kathryn didn't seem to care-- oh well, apparently that wasn't a big deal to her. Perhaps she didn't get along with her mother? It seemed that the old phrase 'you can pick your friends but not your family' was true for all species'. "...Wow. That's a, uh. Pretty extreme reaction."

"Oh no! Ah thief?" Rhakōnba was no stranger to thieves-- the family of the Captain of the Guard were often targeted by the more daring thieves, and Rhakōnba had encountered many of the stupider ones trying to break into her home. But for a thief to steal a small fortune; that was terrible! "But-- what does that have to do with your 'social position'? The loss of the stolen wealth? Or the actual being-stolen-from? I don't see how that could lessen your position..." Humans! They sought any excuse to drag someone's name down.

"Oh reeaaaaally? Ya wanna tell me 'bout him?" Rhakōnba grinned wide, the nosy parker that she was. A man, huh? Rhak had guessed that Kathryn had all the guys tripping over themselves, but apparently she was right!

[Ivory]

"He stole from our guests -- other nobles.  They're understandably upset and blaming our lack of security."  She sighed softly.  "But he arrived disguised as a Duke -- with his invitation.  And this particular Duke is a bit of a recluse, so how were we to know?"  And he apparently played the role so well...  "He's also being blamed for three murders -- a local lord and two guardsmen."  She fidgeted slightly at that.

Blushing furiously now, Kathryn said, "I met him out in the woods.  He's...unique.  Tall.  Very...muscled."  Her blush deepened further.  "Handsome.  And these green eyes that seem to see everything...  And he's quite bold."  She giggled softly.  "But a gentleman when he sets his mind to it."