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 Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2019 9:53 am
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Aelius was lucky, in a lot of respects. He came from a good bloodline, for staters. He was intelligent by nature and god-gifted with a talent to cultivate that intelligence. He was also lucky to have Simbi as his tutor. The lion was modern, you could say, at least in respect to his desire to improve Myrsky Syntynyt. The way of the world, as it stood, left little in terms of options for their people. If were not a reaver, or married to one, then you were left with a low chance in rising in rank for instance.
Aelius had never discussed politics with Simbi, wanting to avoid a conflict in opinions as much as the fact that Simbi was a busy lion. Thus, he didn't know where the lion stood exactly on the reign of the newest Warlord for example. Aelius' opinions he would keep to himself mostly driven by self-preservation. His aspired vocation would one day (hopefully) lead him to advise Ushindi... which, in Aelous' view, the Warlord needed quite a bit of that.
A pair of cubs darted in front of Aelius, bringing him abruptly from his thoughts on the matter. He'd been walking along a worn in path, seeking out a couple who were considering marriage. It was his task to assess their union and confirm whether Simbi would witness it and when. Because he, himself, was not a lawspeaker yet, Aelius would be unable to fulfill the position for them.
The cubs giggled at their near collision with the big lion and swung around to stare at him with wide eyes. "Hullo, mister" the smaller lion (lioness?) greeted him.
A smile quirked on his lips in response. "Hello. I'm looking for a Ranvir. Would you happen to know about where he'd be?"
The cubs giggled again and the first who'd spoke continued. "Yessir, we'll show you!"
The second sibling nodded enthusiastically. "Yes, yes, he's right over..." She looked confused, doing a full turn circle around her. "'Round here... some'where."
"He's over here, sissy!" The first sibling looked exasperated and rolled her eyes up at Aelius as if he would share her sentiments with her sibling's lack of direction.
"Oh! Yeah!" The little lioness took off in the direction indicated by the first sibling who quickly followed with a disgruntled "hey!"
Aelius, small smile still on his maw, followed the cubs' lead off the path and into the moor, heading east towards the sun which was about a quarter of its journey over the sky.
The cubs, awkwardly tumbling through the grass which reached well past their knees, eventually led him to a lion who was in the process of tending to what he thought would eventually be a garden.
Hearing the cub's approach, who he assumed to be Ranvir turned a weathered look. "Whose that?" he asked rather gruffly. The cubs were obviously used to this demeanor as their excitement hadn't dimmed.
"He's lookin' for you Mr. Ranvir" the first cub said with a bright and shiny disposition, affirmed by the second cub's enthusiastic nodding again.
Ranvir's eyes suspicious assessed Aelius then, roving from head to tail.
Aelius nodded at the lion in greeting. "Quite the welcoming party you have." His smile quirked up briefly again before continuing. "I'm Aelius, here on behalf of Lawspeaker Simbi. You inquired about a marriage?"
Ranvir grunted in response, turning back to his work by pawing into the earth and turning the soil. "I did. Why isn't he here and you are?"
Not deterred, Aelius remained polite. "I'm here to speak with you and your betrothed before a ceremony can be conducted. Is she nearby?"
He didn't receive a response immediately. "Aye." The lion sighed, clearly put out. "Aye, she's here. Aslog!" The male bellowed commandingly. When it wasn't immediately answered, he turned to the cubs who were playing on the moor no great distance away. "Oy! Kari. Go fetch Aslog."
The cubs stopped chasing each other abruptly and shared a look between them, as if trying to decide which was going to be tasked with the errand. Seeming to have lost, the first cub drooped, defeated, and slunk off speedily to retrieve, presumably, Aslog.
Waiting patiently, Aelius sat on the moor, watching Ranvir return to this garden. He was on the verge of making polite conversation--or trying to--when the cub returned at a sprint, aiming right for her sister. Trailing behind her was a lioness that looked like matched her future husband in general demeanor.
"What?" she asked in a not-to-friendly tone. "Whose this?"
Aelius opened his mouth to speak but snapped it shut when Ranvir took over. "This is the... er.. guy from the lawspeaker feller whose to marry us." He jerked his head, indicating Aelius as the "feller."
He met the lioness's suspicious glower with a polite nod in her direction. "Hello."
"Oh? Right. Lets get on with it then." She approached Ranvir with determination, saddling up to his side and looking to Aelius expectantly.
The apprentice blinked several times in response to her waiting look. "Oh! No, we will not be able to conduct a ceremony today." He almost sounded panicked. This was not the couple he desired to give bad news. "A ceremony requires not just a lawspeaker, which I'm not, but also a priestess."
The lioness narrowed her eyes. "Not a lawspeaker? I thought you said he was." She looked accusatory at her future husband.
"I did not, I said he was from the lawspeaker!" he responded, matching her tone.
Aelius attempted to interject but was promptly overrun by a fit of bickering between the two. Maybe he would just tell Simbi that they changed their minds...? No, honor forbade him lying. With a heavy sigh, he raised his voice.
"Excuse me." The couple abruptly cut off and glowered in his direction. "I need to ask you two some questions about your union." Not giving them the opportunity to launch into each other, or him, he continued. "Firstly, what are your positions in Myrsky Syntynyt?" He looked from one to the other, prompting either to answer.
"We're freeborn." Ranvir responded for both of them with a tone that sounded like a challenge for Aelius to contradict him.
"Wonderful." He tried to respond in a business-like fashion. "And have either of you been married before?"
"No." Aslog answered in a flat, irritated voice.
"Good." No he paused awkwardly. He'd noticed the resemblance between the two cubs running around with Ranvir... though they didn't favor Aslog much... but he'd heard the cub address him as 'Mr.' How was going to address that? "Uhm... might I ask... do either of you have children?" He raised his eyebrows innocently.
At this, the lioness's face darkened but didn't speak. Instead she turned her head away with a nearly inaudible "hmph!"
The bridegroom looked guilty. "Er... well... yes.... Technically." Ranvir added that last bit as if wrenched from his body.
Aelius quirked an eyebrow at this. "Technically?"
"He knocked up the thrall." The Aslog snapped, her eyes lit like pyres and burning into Aelius, daring him to in someway to laugh at her.
Ranvir ducked his head and made angry, mumbling noises but didn't deny what she had to say.
"Oh." Aelius' eyes were wide and staring at the couple in fascination. Those cubs were not very old, so presumably they were still with their mother... he wondered where she was. Then Aelius recalled the next question he was going to pause and coughed slightly. "Er, well. Why do you want to marry?"
"For love." Ranvir raised his head and answered in malicious sarcasm for which he received another "hmph!" from Aslog.
Aelius couldn't very well couldn't contradict him, though it would be his private opinion that Aslog was threatened that the mother of the cubs would attempt to persuade Ranvir to take her as a wife over Aslog to rise in rank. "Right. Okay..."
Well there certainly was nothing legal that would prevent the two from marriage and he would tell Simbi as much when he returned. Did he recommend the union? Well... they seemed to deserve each other, so there was that. It wasn't the lawspeaker's duty to judge the quality of the marriage, or at leas that was his view point on it. He was happy that it wouldn't be him making the decision to officially sanction the marriage.
Aelius said his goodbyes to the couple (gratefully) and ruminated on the ideas of controlling the appropriateness between unions on his leisurely stroll back to what was deemed his working space.
Word Count: 1,466
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