Chapters 125 and 126 are different in that they contain a lot of material in note form. I plan to write that material in its full form at some time in the future, but it is not essential to the work. The reason I have done it this way is that I wish to post the last three chapters, 127, 128 and 129 which provide the explanations of why it all occurs. Ch 128 is essentially the same as Ch 2, but it was my original intention that the material should be in the Ch 128 position. I only included it as Ch 2 so as to provide some explanation at the beginning without giving too much away.
Regards,
Eolwaen
Some commonly used words are after the list of characters. Replace th on end of words with ness and t with d or ed and most of the rest are obvious if sounded out aloud. Some words with n or en on the end can be easily understood if the n is replaced by a d. Only difficult words and words that do not exist in English are now referred to specifically at the end of the chapter. Appendix 1 Folk words and language usage, Appendix 2 Castle places, food, animals, plants and minerals, Appendix 3 a lexicon of Folk and Appendix 4 an explanation of the Folk calendar, time, weights and measures. All follow the story chapters.
8th of Von Day 571
Iola’s Kitchen Banquet Menu – the Autumn Supper
Kippert Eel and Barley Bree
Pike and Perch Pie with Tank-grown Fresh-water Snails, Clansaver and Fish Sauce with Juniper Spirits(2)
Spitt Mammoth Ribs, Meatcakes,(3) Greenleaf,(4) Persebloom,(5) Onion Gravy, Ellberry(6) Sauce with Ellberry Wine(7)
Shader(8) Flummeries with Crusht Orkæke(9) Biscuits with Golden Gær(10)
Spicet Leaf with Brandy and Pennyroyals(11)
Though some folk had eaten smokt eel before most hadn’t, but all considert the smokt eel were novel and delicious in the unfamiliar barley baest soup. The fish pie had been servt several times before and was recognised and enjoyt as a treat provided mostly by Iola’s granddad and Gage’s squad. The half stride long mammoth ribs servt with the sweet, sticky, ellberry sauce and a variety of accompaniments, were extremely time consuming and enjoyable to eat requiring frequent use of the finger bowls and the larger than usual napkins, both generally uest with graill.(12) The moderately dry ellberry wine was considered to be an appropriate vintage to drink with them.
Many had had so much to eat they initially only tasted the flummery dish but considered the meal to have been one of the finest they had ever eaten and would not allow the kitcheners to take away their dessert, saying they would finish it with the music and brandy.
The occasion was regarded as one of the most enjoyable events of the year and Milligan had asked his managers to make enquiries as to how it could be bettered.
1st of Topal Day 594
George had been designing and building machine tools for lunes and had finished making a lathe with a machine cut steel lead screw by the end of the year. His original lead screw had been formed using an accurately maekt cord, specially maekt for him by Hawk, tightly wrapped in a spiral berount an accurately parallel plain lathed wooden rod and then set with varnish. The helical space created between the spirals of cord guided an appropriately shaped mechanism which moved the thread cutting tool as it cut the first metal screw thread on a relatively soft brass rod that had been machinen parallel using a modified conventional wood lathe with a hardened steel cutting tool. The cord had formed a simple thread. The brass lead screw had then been uest to guide the progress of the cutting tool on a steel rod.
Subsequent development of gears enabled precision screw cutting, and a worm wheel dividing head enabled better and better precision to be achieved, for due to the nature of the mechanism in every reproduction of itself the errors are divided by the fundamental ratio of the device. George's device uest forty, but typically forty or sixty are uest on Earth. Some talented apprentices have by now learnt all George’s basic mechanical knowledge, but they are still learning of electricity, electromagnetism and machine tool design from George, forge work from Oak, foundry work from Wolf, mathematics from Axel and Josephine, technical drawing skills from Terry and wood work with application of all their skills to horse drawn equipment from Vinnek.
George has become a guiding force for a highly intelligent and skilled group of machiners, who are, in turn, educating a larger, younger group which contains Dittander, Terry’s youngest daughter, who notwithstanding her age, ten, is a mechanical genius. Dittander had joined the group more than a year over without saying aught to any. It had been assumed since her father was a Master of the craft he had telt her to attend. By the time it was discovered he knew naught of it, it was too late. She was already outstripping the rest of her peers by a considerable margin. Dittander was Terry’s favourite child, and though he would never admit it and he never allowed it to shew she knew. Her strawberry blonde hair, two differently coloured eyes, green and violet, and her gamine smile had totally captivated him when he first met her, and she subsequently consolidated her hold on him with her intellect and interest in his craft, and as with most girls of her age she knew to a hair’s thickth just how tightly she had her dad wrapped berount her little finger.
Squill, her mum, was not too happy with her choice of craft and hoped it was just something she would grow out of. Terry, on the other hand was proud enough of her to support her, even gainst his wife, and he, like the other Masters, could see she would never wish to do aught else. Why would she? She was the best. Dittander had never been bothered by what other children thought of what they considered to be her boyish interest in machining, and her friend Jason, Oak’s elder son, had soon quashed criticism of her when he’d maekt it known he considered such criticism to be due to a level of jealousy only the truly unintelligent could exhibit.
14th Topal Day 607
Silverbean was sixty-eight when she birtht her girl babe Mystery. She’d enjoyed her pregnancy and maintained that when she’d had her family of eight children as a much younger woman she hadn’t been any where near as aware of her body and its changes as she’d been this time. She concluded it was much more enjoyable being old enough to have the time to fully enjoy the process. Her full bosom maekt nursing Mystery a more satisfying process than she’d ever experienced before, for she’d never been big and had only ever had barely enough milk to nurse her previous babes and had always worried her babes wouldn’t grow properly if they didn’t have enough. Once Mystery was a tenner old Silverbean’s breasts had become so full that she was truly grateful for the nursing brassiéres supplied by Veronica.
2nd of Faarl 570 Day 624
It was a colder than usual winter at the Keep and for the first time, according to the archives, there was no need for rationing which had always been the case before under such extreme conditions. Too as a result of George’s powered saws there was enough cut fuel wood in the Keep stores to last long past the winter which the new closed fires he’d designed used far less of. The new stoves were modified versions of the stoves uest in the kitchens. Available in a range of sizes they delivered hot water for washing and space heating too. A recent innovation had been waggon Master Geoffrey’s suggestion that any waggoner at the Keep at the tail end of the year unwilling to undertake a long trip so close to the bad weather be asked if they were willing to undertake the short trip to Seaburn Cove(13) to bring sacks of seaburn(14) back to the Keep’s stores. As always they would be paid out of the Collective,(15) but there would be no extra cost involved, for it maekt no difference to cost whether the seaburn was delivered this year or next year. As a result there was now a huge reserve of seaburn at the Keep. All the Council had to consider were the usual safety precautions that were managed by the ingeniators.
10th of Luval Day 662
Iola’s Kitchen Banquet Menu – the Burns Supper – the Winter Supper
Scotch Broth
Oban Oysters with Castle Caviar and Ice Calt Pure Spirits(18)
Haggis wi’ Basht Neeps and Tatties and a Dram(19) with a robust red wine
Spicet Ceël(20) in Whisky Sauce with Thick Cream and Birch Syrup with Ceël liqueur
Spicet Leaf with Brandy, Pennyroyals and Andrambuidheach(21)
Nearly fifteen hundred folk were piped to the Refectory tables for the kitchen banquet which could only be described as a truly splendid occasion. Euan was a piper of true bardic standing, his music reflected both his historic culture and implied his future culture. For the last eight lunes he had been busy writing down all the music he could remember, along with his new music inspired by Castle, for his granddaughter, Laslette, and his two apprentices who were all learning to read and write music as well as play the pipes. Douglas and his Scottish kith had excelled themselves, many were wearing the kilts, woven by Annella who had spent a lifetime hand loom weaving tartan before her incursion, and maekt up by Mabel who was equally experienced and though she had retired once was surprised to discover she was happy to be crafting again because now effectively self employed she was no longer under the pressure that her previous employers had placed her. Annella had been assisted by four adult weavers and six apprentices and Mabel by seven part time seamsters of various levels of experience. Rampion had knitt the kilt hose and his ability to produce such wonderful apparel from verbal instructions only had enhanced his reputation as a crafter considerably.
The many newfolk Scottish women, and not a few of the Folk born women married to Scotsmen, wearing a full length tartan skirt, dress blouse and sash looked very elegant. The dozens of children of all ages both newfolk and folkbirtht, dresst in clothes that many had never seen before the incursion, were excited and looking forward to dancing the new dances they had spent lunes learning wearing their new finery. Mist had enjoyed crafting the Celtic patterned kilt pins, belt buckles, sgian dubh(22) handles and jewellery of all sorts, in both silver and gold, that could be seen. She had maekt some wonderful sash broaches with bosses of cut crystal. Lunelight had left two year old Damson with kith, but with newbirtht Æneascoffey and arm in arm with Douglas, both resplendent in a Fraser tartan, for the first time in her life she considered her highth to be an asset to her womanhood. The couple looked magnificent.
None of the tartans were as original, it had been decided to depart from their original forms, and to create Castle forms of their birth clan tartans by adding a narrow line of blue to represent the sea which the Keep edged. The blue was not a part of the repeating pattern but additional warp threads close to the selvedge that became the lower hemless edge of the garment. Douglas, the host, greeted all to what he said he hoped would become an annual event that would diminish the dubhachas(23) that could so affect Celts far from their ancestral homes. He and his kith had maekt sure that all the Celtic newfolk had been invited and his words were appreciated by the Celtic newfolk, not just those of Scottish descent. Many Celts who were not of Scottish descent decided to have spaech with those who were with a view to having their own tartans created to express their common heritage. Jimmy, in McKinnon tartan, much to Berry’s astonishment, gave the version of the Selkirk Grace that all the Scots newfolk had agreed with Aaron was more appropriate for their new circumstances, as the Lord would have been interpreted as Yew, whereas all would understand the reference to Castle.(24)
And some wad ate that want it;
But we hae mate, and we can ate,
Sae let her, Castle, be thankit.
Iola’s Scotch Broth was served, followed by her Oban Oysters, which she described as being ‘kissed by fireseed(25) and searingly calt pure spirits served with unstinting quantities of Castle Caviar.’ She’d decided on pure spirits obtained from Joseph the brew Master rather than the eighty hundredths to go with the oysters. It was served in even smaller glasses than the thimble like ones the eighty hundredths was served in which had been specially maekt for her by Joan Mistress glass blower.
All stood as the two monstrous, steaming haggises were piped in by Euan, each on a steel oven plate maekt for the event, and carried by three big men on each side. The kitcheners had decided that other than Bjarni the strongest men available were all firekeepers who were delighted to be seen playing a rôle in the proceedings by their wifes. Bjarni as the kitcheners’ representative of the men was, much to his delight, on the right at the front of the first haggis to be brought in. The haggises were each laid atop the huge serving tables overseen by kitcheners acting as Douglas’ assistants. Douglas recited the Address to the Haggis, as last year from memory, and his assistants sharpened their knifes and sliced into the haggises at the traditional moments.
Polecat had his gangs of kitcheners portion the haggis on to plates from both haggises. As those with the plates moved down the serving tables, further kitcheners added the neeps and tatties. The kitcheners uest to serving many folk quickly maekt it an efficient process and within three minutes they were sitting to their places at the table ready to eat too. Hamish proposed the toast to the Haggis which was drunk as the year before with over young but improven and improving whisky, and the company sat to their Haggis wi’ Basht Neeps and Tatties. The haggis this time was spiced with pepper not mercyfruit and the difference was appreciated even though not understood by most.
The cooks, as last year, braekt with Scottish tradition, and Spicet Ceël in Whisky Sauce with Thick Cream and Birch Syrup was served. The only difference from last year being the whisky rather than the brandy in the sauce, but it was already forming the new tradition. Spiced leaf was served with brandy, pennyroyals and the new Andrambuidheach, the sixty hundredths whisky liqueur, served in tiny glasses also specially maekt for the occasion by Joan, that Douglas and Gordon were producing, which Douglas maintained was a better liqueur than Drambuie on which it was based. The name, the diners were telt, translated as The Drink that Satisfies, which none thought unreasonable. All knew how it was pronounced, but virtually none could spell it, and even fewer cared. Douglas knew it would soon acquire a Folk spelling, and glad that he could retain what mattered to him of his culture he was happy the Folk valued the contribution he and his kith were making to the lifes of all.
He was especially glad he was young enough to be able to look forward to tasting the whisky he and Gordon had laid down when it reached its best. He was a whisky expert with a sensitive palate, and considered that after a whisky reached its proper balance of mellow and sharp tastes the rest was in his words, “just marketing man’s bullshit and purely there to put the price up. The quality did not improve.” He had said many a time to friends, “If a whisky needs twenty years to be drinkable it must have been gey(26) rough when it went into the wood.(27) A whisky properly made by someone who knows what he is doing needs no more than ten to fifteen years, even in a virgin oak barrel and only a glaikit eejit(28) would use a new barrel.”
When he had explained his view to Gordon, Gordon had said, “There is a similar nonsense spaken of brandy, but I bethink me you have it in a tellin,(29) Douglas.”
This year the toasts and spaeches were many and ofttimes departed from tradition, but it was recognised new traditions were in the making which was entirely appropriate, and all enjoyed their participation in the creation of their new culture. As always at any formal Folk event the dancing was a major part of the entertainment and it was interspersed with the music, spaeches and addresses.
Ross spake in immortal memory of the creator of the Wee sleeked, timorous cowering beastie and explained not very seriously that in the light of the Kennel Squad’s activities it was nae wonder, but all who understood were serious drinking in appreciation of its author. Douglas thanked Ross for his words and pointed out that it was not inappropriate that tradition taekt account of modern times.
Alastair proposed the toast to the Lassies with a solemn recognition of the equality of women on Castle which he considered to match their heritage as Celts since they proudly considered themselves to be the only people on Earth who had never practised sexual discrimination, which he maintained was a just and proper stance. He acknowledged that his awaerth of that aspect of Castle was due to his sister Céline, whom he sailed with, and whom he had never considered to be other than his equal. It was seen, though he was somewhat embarrassed to admit it, his love for her had maekt him realise how highly he had always regarded women. His sincerity, and love for Céline, who had introduced him to her sister, Midnight, now his wife, was obvious to all.
Morag toasted the men in her response to the Laddies, she was amusing for most of her time on her feet, but her concluding remarks expressed her gratitude to now be living in a place where it was not necessary to remind the menfolk it was a crime to beat a woman, which she explained for the benefit of the folkbirtht had been the focal slogan of a fifty year long campaign whence she came. She gave Alastair her total support and approval as she said, “Celts, it is true, have never practiest sexual discrimination, and Alastair’s love for his family is as much a Celtic trait as a Folk one, but some Celts have long had a problem with domestic violence. I am glad that Alastair is man enough to admit, implicitly but clearly, that truth, and also to make clear his repudiation of such. He is a man I am glad to acknowledge as a friend. As a woman sees it he is a man, and Midnight is a fortunate woman.”
The word sheets had been distributed tenners before and the dancing, songs, speeches and recitals taekt them to gone three in the forenoon and many a child was carried home asleep long since. Morgelle as their only singer song writer had been in demand, and she sang and played in Vorn, Gaelic and Folk. She had written a short amusing song in Folk for Iola to sing accompanied by herself. The song was of their pleasure in the eve, but ended with a twist by reminding them that it was all due to the search for a tripe receipt to feed the Folk which was more important than their pleasure in the eve.
Douglas asked Milligan, who he insisted was as tradition required a guest, to give the vote of thanks, and all sang Auld Lang Syne, cross handed as tradition required, most from the sheet of words, which ended a hugely successful eve.
Lillian for the first time since her incursion felt she was truly at home, and Morgelle’s playing of the cruit(30) and even more her singing in Vorn had stunned her. She knew there were a few Gaelic speaking newfolk but had assumed she was the only Vorn speaker on Castle. Now she was no longer alone. When Morgelle telt her that her entire clan lived on the Vorn spaeking Ocean Isles Lillian had been overwhelmed, for she truly was living mongst blood kin. That Tussock, her new husband, thought so highly of Euan’s and Morgelle’s music that he had asked if they may meet to play together had put tears of joy in her eyes.
It had been so successful an event Milligan realised the kitchens could never hope to regard it as theirs, and he was planning next year for himself, Basil and Hobby to make it a major event for the entire Folk in the Greathall. Days later, he was still chuckling over Iola’s song and the consequences of the search for a tripe receipt and thinking regards what the kitchens would do in the stead for their banquet.
Of all the Folk, Aaron was the one whose understanding and recall of the archives was the deepest and the most complete. He was aware the most recent incursion was going to have a more profound effect on the Folk than any other ever had had and it was possible that future incursions could have even more profound effects, for which they had to be prepared. It was clear to him, as it wasn’t even to the most senior of the healers and herbals, the scourge of Castle, the fevers, was going to be eradicated as a result of the knowledge brought by the newfolk, and the work done using that knowledge by the Folk both new and birtht. The new understanding of infection and wound care meant more would survive serious accident and be able to contribute for many more years.
Suki had remembered the work of man who had noticed a particular mould,(31) eventually leading to a substance called penicillin, had killed, or at least prevented the spread of, other invisible animals that caused wounds to go bad sometimes leading to deadth. The details were unclear, but Suki had been definite penicillin ultimately saved untelt thousands of lives, and Irena, her memory prompted by Suki’s recollections, said the man’s name was Fleming, and she thought the mould had been almost threwn away before it was realised what it could do. She remembered it was said to oft grew on bread and fruit. The healers and herbals were hard at work to find a mould with the required properties. The dairy crafters now routinely brought samples of any product that had not developed as it should have done to the herbals for evaluation, as did the provisioners and kitcheners with mouldy bread and fruit. It was only a matter of time before they achieved success.
The reduction in infant mortality brought by the skills and knowledge of the most recent additions to the midwifes and healers who had new knowledge to share meant more adults to contribute in the future.
Aaron also reflected as the healing skills of the Folk became more sophisticated there was a possibility of survival for those who should not have children. He had no concept of genetics, but was aware one did not breed from weak stock, one ate them. The healers and midwifes who eased the passing of newbirthts in extreme cases needed to realise this at an even deeper level in order to protect the Folk from progressive degeneration. They would need to record this in their archives and act accordingly. He firmly believed this progressive degeneration, which the archives of incomers’ interviews had given him to believe had been ongoing on Earth for at least a hundred years, was in part responsible for the behaviour and qualities of some of the newfolk, particularly those who failt to become Folk and thus dien. The most senior healers, midwifes, herbals and Master at arms behaviourists of the future must only select their successors from those who totally understood this principle. He had said to Nigel, “Earth has oft been our treasure but equally oft our bane. We must be prepaert for both.”
He also realised the new mechanical innovations in their growing techniques brought by George and developed by the many craft Masters who had formed the new craft, now known as the machiners, were going to result in a vastly greater food store gainst the lean times, which in the past had oft taken their elders before their time after poor summers followed by hard winters. The early deadth of those elders was in effect the loss of the most experienced members of the community, and was a serious blow to the Folk. The implications of these events were profound. Aaron could see without the loss of a tenth of the Folk, on average every twelve years, the population would soon grow and it would grow at a rate which would keep increasing. This would lead to exploration and settlement of all Castle. The pressure to have large families which was fundamental to the Way would be eased, and Aaron could perceive a dim and distant future, where it may even have become a liability to the Folk, and the Way would have to be radically different from what it was now.
Most Folk assumed the Way was set in stone and had always been as it was at present. Aaron knew it had evolved, slowly to be sure but inexorably, naytheless. The pace of that evolution had matched the pace of the development of the society it served. The challenge was to make sure it continued to evolve at the same pace as the Folk evolved. He and his successors must resist attempts by any to set the Way in stone. The danger was if it became static, and the Folk outpaced it, it would eventually become part of a mythical Golden Age. An age to be looked back to with nostalgia from a time when the Way was no longer an integral part of the Folk. Aaron knew the Golden age was now, a perpetual now. The past was a Golden age for those who lived then, just as the future would be for those as yet unbirtht. As the past served the present, so the present served the future, and it was his craft to ensure that it did so now, and continued to do so.
Aaron had long considered there was a need to establish a new craft whose sole responsibility was to maintain and modify the Way, so as time progressed it continued to serve the development of the Folk, and didn’t hold them back. He had discussed this with Nigel, and they were in total agreement of what had to be achieved within foreseeable life times, and they were training Wayland to be Nigel’s protégé and future successor. They had found potential members of their Guardians Of The Way weren’t rare, they were almost non-existent, but both had agreed it was quality that counted not quantity, and they were still seeking others to join the two they had found.
The most important task for this new craft would be to ensure the Folk didn’t become any less valuable to each other as the population soared and moved farther and farther away from the Keep as time went on. It would have to maintain the core values concerning interpersonal relationships and care of the vulnerable. It would be vital it prevented all attempts to regulate the lifes of others by those who considered they knew best how others should live. He considered it wasn’t impossible, since such folk would be acting gainst the Way, the Master at arms would have to instruct the Master huntsman to take the usual steps. Nigel surprised himself by being in total agreement with Aaron on this matter.
Ultimately, the new craft would have to determine what the optimal population for Castle was, and then ensure it wasn’t exceeded. He had no idea how many lifetimes that would take or what measures would be needed, but one thing he was sure of was, as of this most recent incursion, Castle would never be the same again and they had to be ready for the consequences of the next one. That too was the Way of it and how should be.
As the population grew Aaron was aware decision making by popular acclaim at a Quarterday appearance would no longer be a viable method, for eventually most of the population would live nowhere near the Keep. In consequence he had concerns regards how Castle should be governed in the future. He had questioned the concept of an inherited Ladyship, and though he didn’t consider it necessarily an unacceptable idea he accepted there were other equally good mechanisms for leadership: the Lady or Lord choosing their heir from the populace with, or without, popular approval, an elected Lady or Lordship, or a Republic, there were many other options. He had had discussions with Yew regards this and both were of the belief the Council’s views must be sought, but before then Aaron and Nigel must have a comprehensive set of arguments both for and gainst every possibility they could conceive of, and to present to them with the admission other mechanisms were acceptable and naught was irrevocable nor set in stone.
Aaron and Nigel start writing down ideas for preliminary discussions with Yew and Siskin prior to Council involvement concerning the Guardians of The Way and its future. Aaron was firmly of the belief the Folk would have the leadership and indeed everything else they deserved. They had to be involved in the decision making process, else others would decide for them and they would have no mechanism to change what they didn’t like and they would deserve that too. Nigel was in complete accord with his view, and he’d added if the Folk were not involved in the decision making process eventually they would become unable to make decisions, as had happened on Earth.
Judith’s new mill was completely fitt out for milling by mid-summer. Though much finishing work remained to be done, the dam, leet and tail race were complete. Later in the year the mill processed the entire produce from the six new grain growing holdings north of the river in less than a lune with capacity to spare. As a result the holdings expanded their activities. Though half of the Collective funding had been a grant and half a loan, by the end of the season the millers had repaid all of the Collective funding because they considered it proper to do so, so as to enable other large projects to be funded.
Sagon telt the Council that all of the Collective’s notes, which had been written purely to keep tokens in circulation so the Castle economy did not grind to a halt due to lack of liquidity, had been bought back and burnt, many had been uest as Collective contributions, which all considered amusing. As Yew said, “I do understand how it works, but it is amusing to consider that a note written by Sagon’s office in a crafter’s hand worth his entire year’s Collective contribution is just a piece of paper back in Sagon’s hand.”
Harmony married Faith and Oak’s son Jason who with her encouragement discovered he has a good bass voice. The pair have started singing together in the eves in the Great Hall.
Janet always smiled when she thought back to the beginnings of her craft. Ninija, now a sixty-six year old seamster with fourteen children and as she put it, “Far too many grandchildren and great grandchildren for poor Shader to keep track of,” had been going to retire when the incursion occurred. The challenge of making the new clothes, which initially had been just brassières but had rapidly been followed a wide range of lingerie, she had found irresistible, and she’d immediately joined Janet to their mutual satisfaction. A few days later, they had been pondering some improvements on nursing brassières when she said to Janet, “I was twenty-two at the last incursion, and some of the newfolk were wearing brassières, but they were clumsy and unattractive. They were like two rigid cones on a chest band and the women who wore them said they were uncomfortable and when they taekt them off their breasts lookt as if they had been forcen into a mould. I remember Ivy, she was naemt Ivanya and spake no Folk then, but she was prodigious bosomt and a much desiert woman of surpassing beauty, and one who also spake as she sayt she had remarkt she was glad to be rid of hers and considert an apron to be much more comfortable and attractive. As a result of a woman of Ivy’s beauty threwing hers away and wearing an apron in the stead, none even considert trying to develop them into a comfortable or useful garment, and they were soon forgett. I only just remembert it now, probably because there doesn’t seem to be any resemblance between those back then and the ones you have designt nor the ones the other newfolk are wearing.” They had come a long way since then.
Janet’s craft is now followed by sixteen others, four Mistresses brassière and twelve apprentice brassièrers. Janet had suggested the term corsetière for one who maekt the garments, that being the only term of even passing relevance she could remember having heard of, but Folk women had accepted brassière as the name for the garment, and widespread custom had determined the Folk designation of the craft and its members according to accepted Folk usage. Hence a qualified maker of brassières was a Mistress brassière and her apprentices were apprentice brassièrers.
The brassières brought to Castle by the recent incomers had all been uest as patterns. Nearly every woman on Castle had at least one, but as predicted they did not catch on for social wear, though a lot of other lingerie created by Janet and the other craft brassièrerers had become very popular. Those pregnant and nursing had created a huge initial demand for the supportive and the nursing brassières with absorbent pads but it had soon settled to a steady rate. Pubescent girls and young women had created a similar demand pattern for what Beth had jokingly referred to as boob bumpers.(32) Mallard had had to take on another two apprentice trim makers to keep up with demand as a result. Wryneck who had long maekt needles for the seamstresses as well as the healers was making hooks and eyes for lingerie and support wires for brassières. Echo of the woodcrafters maekt all sorts of things from tallgrass(33) including treen,(34) reeds and other parts for musical instruments, but she was now spending more of her time producing the flexible stays used by the seamstresses in apron bibs and other garments designed for bosom support.
The new cross craft involving the healers and the seamstresses is now producing a whole range of absorbent products, women’s lunetime(35) products both towels and tampons, dressings of all sorts for the healers, personal products for care of the elderly and swaddling(36) for babes. Nearly fifty folk are involved. Of all the innovations brought by the newfolk this is the one most highly thought of by the Folk born women, though Amber had been correct in that there was little interest in tampons because even newfolk women considered the sponges(37) to be more convenient.
The combination of Roger’s scientific approach to growing cannabis and Declan’s fungi growing experiments have produced drugs for the healers with a much higher and more consistent concentration of active principles. They have also yielded large quantities of edible fungi for the cooks. A Penicillium type mould (38) discovered by the herbals has proven to be highly efficacious combating infection, but it is in short supply. Roger and Declan are trying to increase the production of the healing mould and the search for more such moulds continues. Mistress herbal Ella is examining large numbers of herbs with the assistance of Mistress herbal Shelagh with a view to providing other methods of controlling infection.
Much to their relief and joy Yew and Rowan retire and Siskin starts her Ladyship with Weir. Yew and Rowan become more involved with their grandchildren especially Heidi and Rampion, Siskin’s heirs. Yew was known to have said to Rowan, “There’s not much any can teach Heidi, for she’s as sharp as a gimlet, but there’s a lot we can do to help Rampion become the man that Heidi will need when he is Lord.”
“Are you implying he will be Lord only in name, Yew, and that Heidi will be Lord in truth?”
“No, Love. Not at all, but there are things he will never be able to do and Heidi will be able to deal with those for him. However, like all of us she will need someone at her side, like I have always needet you, and Rampion will need her. I sayt we could help him to become the man that Heidi will need, not the Lord she will need. The matter of Lordship will solve itself, but he needs help to reach manhood, help to be less hesitant, more decisive. Yes I know he has grown much in that direction which is as a result of Heidi’s influence, but we can help too.”
Will retires, and Gale becomes the Mistress huntsman, but Will, after being approached by Aaron, initiates discussions concerning managing the next incursion, and how to train and maintain a greater force to deal with it if necessary without incurring unnecessary cost or effort. Aaron’s point of view was simple, “The ingeniators tell us the entire Keep is a massive defensive structure. They say every aspect of its design maximises its effectivth as such. Gainst whom, Will? I believe we need to prepare for aught, Will, and the changt crafters in your office are the ideal Folk to provide that defence for the Folk.” Most of the senior Folk knew of firearms and since they existed on Earth they could be brought to Castle by incomers, and none disagreed with Aaron and Will’s ideas.
Thomas retires, and Gareth becomes the Master at arms. Unknown to Willow, Gareth has had spaech with Thomas regarding training Willow to take over when he retires. Thomas in full agreement said, “Give her as much responsibility as she can bear and then give her more. Make sure she is ready early in case you have to retire early. It’s what I did with you, Gareth, long before I telt you I’d decidet you were to be my deputy, though most of the office were aware of my decision without being telt.”
“Really! I bethinkt me that everyone was as hard presst as I.”
Faith and Oak’s daughter Lilly marries Gage.
Mistress beekeeper Jessica is now nineteen and marries twenty-three year old Mike the newfolk plumber who is still crafting with his new father Master plumber Spruce. There are now five wood workers assisting her mother Mistress wood crafter Teal to produce frame beehives. The design she settled on after her initial use of wine cases, which she considered to be amusing as the Reverend Lorenzo Lorraine Langstroth’s initial design was said to be based on the wooden wine crates he received wine in, was not original.
It was a design she had wished to use for years. The frames used a Langstroth top bar, but the brood chamber was based on the Modified Dadant hive invented by Charles Dadant, a Frenchman who’d emigrated to America. Her top bee space hives were very similar to the ones uest by the Benedictine monk Brother Adam at Buckfast Abbey. Her brood boxes too were five spans [20 inches, 508mm] square and three spans [12 inches, 305mm] deep which was imperceptibly larger than Brother Adam’s, but the dimensions were chosen to suit Castle’s units. Her honey super boxes were also five spans square but exactly half the deepth, 1½ spans. The frames were sized to suit the boxes preserving the bee space. The boxes were capable of taking thirteen frames but she preferred to use twelve with a narrower dummy board, for that prevented ‘rolling’ the bees when removing the first frame during an inspection.
She’d written a detailed manual on how to use the hives, for a number of holdings had expressed interest in acquiring some. Veronica had been to see her regarding some hives for Sunwarmth and some for trading and had in passing mentioned the wax that was present on the foliage of the hurthorn shrub. Jessica though technically a cross crafter with the candlers only supplied them with beeswax now, but she thought they may be interested in another source of wax so she asked Veronica to have spaech with Mistress candler Anna.
Harmony the wife of Faith and Oak’s son Jason births their boy babe Gevlik.
The new mill complex north of the river is finished in its entirety complete with a whole range of powered machinery, notably power hammers, ore crushers and smelting bellows for the smiths and founders, and saws for the wood crafters. It is now a small township and has been virtually rebuilt so as to minimise the efforts that have to be put in to deal with the caltth of the winter. A new, much less steep trail has been cut across the hillside to the mill which continues beyond it back down to the foot of the slope to rejoin the trail.
Judith and Storm’s eldest child Iola was three lunes pregnant when she married Heron. She subsequently birtht her first babe, a boy named Jamesstorm after her fathers.
The new dry docks at Dockside are finally opened after a great deal of effort and a number of initial failures to blast out the granite sill. Brock and his brother Bruin, the designers and Master builders of the docks, are relieved that they managed to bring their plans to a successful conclusion, for they had had more than a reasonable number of setbacks. They were also a little saddened, for there were no large projects in sight that would suit the pair.
A series of huge caverns had been discovered in limestone hills six day’s whilth north of the new bridge, much to the delight of the cheese makers. The dairy crafters, using the millers’ experiences, started a small settlement rather than a series of holdings near the caverns and uest the dryer caverns as craft workshops for all dairy activities not just cheese making. Several caverns were dedicated to the production of the bluen cheeses and large quantities were produced, but unfortunately never enough to meet demand. There was much argument concerning the new settlement’s name, but as a result of the immediate need of a name it was initially called Caveside in the same way the settlement berount the new mill had become yclept Millside. Eventually the settlement became yclept Cavern Blue after the bluen cheese.
The valley bottom land near the caverns was lush and ideal for milch kine. The land berount the cavern entrances was hilly, rather than mountainous, and it provided perfect forage for the sheep and goats. The stony soil was ideal for their feet, free draining and abrasive, it kept their hooves worn down and free from foot rot. It was also much enjoyed by the descendants of the new beasts, which had turned out to be neither sheep not goats despite their having features of both. Once acclimatised to Castle, they had given a small amount of milk which maekt a popular cheese that was delicious young and aegt to a creamy, full flavoured, though crumbly mature product. There was much interest mongst the dairy crafters in creating a bluen version of the cheese.
Modesty and Solace had been approached a few lunes after the incursion with a view to improving the milk yield from the new beasts, and, though they still believed considerable improvement could yet be realised, the latest generation were now producing thrice as much as their ancestors did when they arrived. There was considerable variation in the fleece they produced, some of them producing a soft fleece with long fibres much in demand especially for babe clothing, the others producing a soft fleece too but with a shorter fibre with a decided crimp. Both produced two to eight weights of fleece overall, with the long fibre producers not quite as productive as the others. Unlike sheep fleece which could be nigh to half wax(39) the new beasts fleeces were a dry fleece, but rather less than half of the fleece was of the highest quality and breeding programs had been embarked upon for fleece improvement too, though all the fleece was useable. There was a wide variation in fleece colour from black through browns, oft with hints of red, to purest white, oft with hints of silver.
A number of the original young new beasts had been orphans and had been bottle raised by the animal husbanders’ children in the same way they raised pet lambs and kids. The children had simply referred to them as pets. The species was affectionate with other species including humans, and the name given to the bottle raised young by the children had eventually been uest for the species. The pets became thuppets in spaech. Geep or shoats had been suggested, but both seemed contrived, and neither had been accepted. The sheepherds maintained thuppets had acute hearing, and they acted as guards and were oft aware of predators before the sheepdogs. Axel, in conversation over dinner with some animal husbander friends of Timothy’s, had suggested yows and tups as names for the female and male thuppets respectively, those being the dialectal words for ewes and rams whence he came. The idea caught on, probably because none had thought of aught better, and conversation was difficult without an appropriate vocabulary. Thus there were now thuppet yows, tups and pets: females, males and young, and naturally enough those who husbanded thuppets were known as thupherdesses and thupherds. The castrated young were originally referred to as cut tups but with time by a process none were aware of at the time they became cups.
Explorer Yan keel laid.
Jessica has twin boys, Langstroth and Dadant named after the two famous beekeepers who had twixt them provided the outlines of her new hives.
Explorer Två keel laid
Io is born to Iola, and Heron insisted Iola name their first daughter saying he would name their next son Antolak after his grandda. Most thought Io had been derived from Iola’s name, but it was an alternative form of Judith and Io was named after her granddam.
Gdana who was six feet and two spans [6 foot 8, 203cm] tall at nine years old was crying in the shadows of the Greathall during the First Quarterday dance at not finding any boy willing to dance with her because of her highth. Liam, now seventeen and eight feet and a span [8 foot 4, 254cm] and still growing, had never managed to find a heart friend and when he heard her crying he asked her if there was aught he could do to help. Had he been any less tall she would have run away from him, but Liam seemed kind and his highth enabled her to feel and behave like the girl she was, for with him she felt very small. Most folk expected adult behaviour from her due to her size. She was comfortable explaining things to him and he said, “Being big is a pain in the arse, but you seem quite small to me, though not too small.” Liam’s language maekt her giggle, and when he asked her to dance she was delighted.
They danced together all eve, and Gdana felt happier than she could ever remember. When Liam asked her to be his heartfriend as he was taking her home she agreed but said, “Liam, though only nine I’m a big girl and my lunetimes startet when I was four. If you like we could be intendet now, for I would eventually like agreement. The healers tell girls that pregnancy usually stops growth which wouldn’t bother me at all and because of my size it would not be dangerous to me. What bethink you?”
“Are you saying you would like to bed me now, Gdana?”
“Yes I am. This night in my bed if we become intendet, for as long as you don’t mind becoming a father I’d rather not wait nor take the herbs.”
Liam thought a second and asked, “If we become intendet, we may as well become agreäns. I can provide for us even if you seek no craft till you are fourteen and we could if you like take chambers near your family. What bethink you to that?”
“I’d like that a lot, and I would like to be pregnant betimes. My family is of unusual composition, for my granddam and my mum have agreement with Mum’s brother and his husband. They have been subject to much gossip and conjecture over the years and I know would be happy for us and accept how ever we choose to live. I don’t know what I will for a craft but I shall start seeking immediately. I’ve never enjoyed childhood despite my kith’s loving support, so I shall start adult life this moment. Do you have a bedchamber with privacy?”
“Yes. I live close by my family, but I have my own chamber off one of the walkways. Why?”
“Because, Husband Liam, my chamber has little privacy, so yours is where we’re sleeping this night. I intend to go to bed a maid(40) and awake a woman. In which direction is your chamber?”
Milligan retires and Gibb becomes the Keep Head cook. Iola still in charge of the soup and stock makers becomes Gibb’s deputy, much to the approval of Abigail, Ashridge and Polecat. Her first suggestion was that the kitchens have discussions with Basil such that the kitchen firekeepers were recognised as cross crafting as kitchen porters too, since they enjoy the rôle. Basil was happy with that because as a result of his firekeepers’ tales of helping the kitchens he had had many requests from the limited to join his firekeepers, for they were aware of the security and comfort they would have taking their leaf and meals with Iola’s crafters in her kitchens.
Ashridge and Abigail taekt over parts of Gibb’s old rôle as well as some of their own, whilst Iola taekt over some of Ashridge’s and Abigail’s rôles as she focussed on integrating the activities of the entire kitchens with a view to minimising effort and waste. Her most significant immediate change was to integrate the activities of the butchers and the provisioners, which had the approval of Morris who had suggested Dabchick be in charge of the two sets of crafters. Morris was more interested in training young butchers, a number of who strictly spaeking had been provisioners, though the distinction had now become meaningless, and he suggested that his training activities should be expanded so all apprentice soup makers, storekeepers and provisioners as well as butchers spent time with him. His reason was that he did not wish the kitchens ever again to be in the situation where they had to struggle with large carcasses because they had no butchers with the skills to deal with them. Iola thought his suggestion sensible and expanded them to include all apprentices to the kitchens.
Dabchick continued to supervise the provisioners and immediately appointed her deputy Ivana, who had been Morris’ deputy, to be the Mistress butcher. Iola remembering the way Milligan had had her crafting in all of the kitchen’s offices to gain experience in her first lunes in the kitchens had spaech with Gibb regards the matter, and it was not long before she, Gibb and Bruana had organised a comprehensive training programme for kitchen apprentices which was overseen by Bruana. At the end of it apprentices had spent time crafting at every aspect of kitchen activity including with the kitcheners and the firekeepers before specialising in the activity of their choice. As a result of the changes, Iola suggested to Gibb that Dabchick and Bruana should be managers due to the extent of their responsibilities. Gibb put the idea to his other managers and all agreed.
The kitchens had become a smoothly functioning office with their troubles behind them. Morris’ wife Miranda was pleased Morris was no longer having to work as many hours, which had begun to worry her, and glad he now had more time for painting which taekt the stress out of his life.
Spokeshave is declared the first folkbirtht Master machiner trained in the new craft. Not only are the machiners a huge craft, there are hundreds of others cross crafting with them, and even more with little connection to them who are receiving an education from them.
Jessica has twin boys again, and at Mike’s suggestion she named them after another pair of famous beekeepers, Manley and Field. Robert Orlando Beater Manley and Oliver Field were both highly successful commercial beekeepers and prolific writers on the subject.
Explorer Tre keel laid
Explorer Yan launched and fitting out begins.
Lilly births her first babe, Rose, named after her mother. She’d asked Gage if he’d name their first son, but he’d struggled to think of a name. Most of the folk he’d had dealings with on Earth he’d rather have forgotten. Eventually he said, “Denny. Denny was my only friend before I came here. He’ll be working my dogs now with his.” Lilly was saddened that Gage considered he’d only had one friend, but because he’d always been tight mouthed concerning his life before Castle she said nothing other than, “Denny. I like that, and none else will be callt that. Yes I like it.”
Bling marries Bittern. All the way through their relationship Bling had had to set the pace, for Bittern was despite his bravado still nervous in her presence. However her persistence had paid off, and despite having had to bully him into making love he’d finally proposed without any prompting, and that was the first time she’d ever let him see her cry.
Explorer Fyr keel laid
Explorer Två launched and fitting out begins.
Maiden voyage of “Explorer Yan”, captained by Madder and Robert.
Heidi now fourteen in Castle years marries Rampion who is twenty-one. Siskin in consultation with the Council declares Rampion and Heidi her heirs. Heidi is the only reason Siskin and Weir were prepared to confer heirship on Rampion, for though he is a liekt and diligent man he is not over bright. Heidi makes up for that and he listens to her and acts on her advice. They are a good combination and highly thought of by the Folk.
Wayland, now seventeen, officially becomes Nigel’s protégé and successor and as such the youngest recorded Councillor. An expert and intuitive behaviourist he rapidly becomes one of the most respected persons on Castle.
Explorer Fem Keel laid
Explorer Tre launched and fitting out begins.
Maiden voyage of Explorer Två, captained by Vlæna.
Explorer Yan returns with much to tell.
The fevers strike and only eighty-eight folk succumb of whom only seven perish, all elderly and suffering from other ailments too which are believed to have lowered their ability to withstand the fevers despite their inoculation. The entire Folk is to be re-inoculated with the cowpox material as it becomes available.
Due to improven midwifery and infection control but mostly due to the cowpox inoculation the population is now just short of forty-two thousand and growing from the previously static thirty-five thousand without serious setback for the first time in recorded history. The deadths from the fevers would have been expected to be aught from five to seven thousand Folk.
Bling births her first babe, a girl, Sooz, named after her Earth friend. Bittern was at her insistence present when his daughter maekt her first appearance, but it had taken the combined efforts of his sister Beth and his mum Beatrix to keep him there. He’d been obviously terrified for Bling and it was only his family that prevented him from completely falling apart. Beatrix said to Beth afterwards, “Men! They can’t help themselves you know, Love. However the good thing is Bittern will forget how fragile he’d been and no one else will speak of it. He’ll be better when Bling has her next one.”
“I know, Mum, but part of it is because his life before wasn’t that good. He’s never sayt much, but his Dad and brothers were all monsters, and with no Mum or sisters he did his best to be different from them. Bling’s the best thing that ever happened to him.”
Beatrix nodded and said, “I sometimes wonder if any of the newfolk had a decent life before Castle. Maybe that’s why we ended up here. Still we’ve a meal to prepare. Could be a couple of dozen descending on us to see Sooz, so we’d better be doing.”
Explorer Sex keel laid
Explorer Fyr launched and fitting out begins.
Maiden voyage of “Explorer Tre”captained by Jana.
Explorer Två returns
Frame beehives have rendered skeps obsolete and for the first time ever beekeeping products manage to nearly meet demand. Alfalfa, now forty-four, steps down as the Mistress animal husbander to look after family. Jessica, now twenty-six, is the first beekeeper to become the Mistress animal husbander.
Heidi, now seventeen, births her first babe, a daughter naemt Prudence. Prudence is a very traditional Folk name and was Rampion’s third great grandmother’s name. The Folk considered their choice of a name that had always had an association with Ladyship to be appropriate and a good omen for their Lordship.
Explorer Fem launched and fitting out begins.
Explorer Tre returns
Maiden voyage of “Explorer Fyr” captained by Spelt who was reluctant to leave ‘My Love’. When telt he could sail with his wife Treen after whom he had named his vessel ‘My Love’ he agreed.
Beth had been a long time recovering from her grief at Greensward’s untimely deadth. After a three lune courtship she had accepted him as her heartfriend and her parents, brothers and sisters had been delighted for her. The couple had been heartfriends for two years and had been considering when was best to announce their intentions, but it was not to be, for tragedy struck, and Beth had been devastated by his deadth from a heart condition none had known he had. That had been eight years over, and it was now a long time since Beth had realised even if she never found another man who could accept her she would be happy to be the auntie of her brothers’ children, though she realised even then ideally she would like to find a man who could accept her who had children. She yearnt to be a mum, and it helped to remember what Saithe had telt her so long ago.
Saithe was a fifty year old hunter who’d had agreement with Falcon since she was twenty, and because both women crafted as members of the huntsmen Saithe knew of Beth and the difficulties her life presented. Saithe was one of the few who truly could understand, and in order to help Beth she telt her of her own life. Few remembered the circumstances now, but Falcon was seventeen years older than she and had lost Ripple his first wife in childbirth. All had been proceeding well, and then she had deteriorated so quickly the healers had not been able to cut in to birth the babe before she dien. They saved the babe, but for Ripple it had been too late. He had always blamed himself for her deadth because as a herbal he believed his craft should have been able to save her. Knowing his guilt was bootless he threw himself into his craft in order not only to take his skills to the limit but also to extend the knowledge of his entire craft.
He had become the best herbal Castle had ever known with many new herbs and treatments to his credit. Three years after the deadth of Ripple, he’d realised, much to the relief of his kith, he had to marry, for his six children were suffering from the lack of a mum, and he was ashamed that in his grief he had not considered their plight. The Master at arms office had not been able to help, for there was none on their books seeking such as he, so undeterred he maekt an appearance on fourth Quarterday. He knew most Folk did not usually make such decisions on fourth Quarterday, but waited till first or more oft second Quarterday when their choices would be wider, but his children needed a mum straightforth, so he accepted his choices would be limited and maekt his appearance. Three women responded, but he didn’t will agreement with two of them, for some thing telt him his children would not like them.
Saithe he did like. She’d said she would love to be mum to his children, for she couldn’t have any, and had been looking for a man with a big family needing a wife for a long time. She’d also said there were other matters they would need to discuss in private before reaching agreement. Saithe had been born a boy, but had lived as a girl and then as a woman from as far back as she could remember, certainly since she’d been three. Like Beth, she had taken the puberty blockers and the feminising herbs, and she’d asked, “May hap now I’ve remindet you of the herbs you providet when I was a girl, you are no longer interestet in agreement with me?” Falcon was embarrassed by his failure to recognise Saithe, but she said, “No apology is requiert, Falcon, for the herbs have changt me greatly.”
Saithe was to Falcon a pretty, intelligent and interesting young woman, and he’d replied, “If my children don’t like you that would make it difficult, but other than that why should I not be interestet?” His children had taken to Saithe on sight for she was a loving mum, distributing hugs and kisses to all in return for naught at all, and when their lifes were difficult she was always there for them. Two years after her agreement with Falcon, his unagreeän(41) cousine, Sdorn, had died from inexplicable cause and her two children Zandra, who was nine, and Tenon, who was six, were orphaned. The children belonged to a large clansfolk and there were many of their clansfolk who wisht to adopt them, but close to Falcon’s children they had been adamant in wishing Saithe for their mum, and the Way said their choices could not be gainsaid. Thus Saithe and Falcon had eight children. Adults now with children of their own, Saithe’s children loved their mum as much as their children did their granny. Saithe and Falcon had had a loving and successful agreement for thirty years.
“The records say there have always been women like us, Beth, and whilst we do need a rather special man to love and be lovt by they exist. I have knoewn a number of men and a woman who wisht to braek their agreement and for me to braek mine with Falcon in order that I could be their wife. They are not the kind of folk I am spaeking of, for any, be they woman or man, who would be willing to cause such pain is not special. They are manipulative, inadequate users of folk, and after their disappointment when they realise you do not provide the thrill they imagint you would they are as sure to leave you as they left their previous agreän, but as I sayt the special ones like Greensward and Falcon do exist, we just have to look a bit harder than other women. You are always well come to have spaech with me concerning aught.” Saithe had kissed her cheek, and despite their age difference, the two had been good friends ever since.
Beth would have been happy to join or form a multiple marriage but had never met any she liekt enough to consider it, and though the Master at arms office had her willingth on file they had never found such for her either. Over the last five years Beth had had agreements with three men none of which had been satisfactory because as she tearfully telt her mum after the braekdown of the third, “There must have been something missing, Mum, because he wasn’t what I was looking for. I’m just glad there were no children to be hurt. Hale sayt he doetn’t wish me to go, but I couldn’t stay with him any longer. I was so unhappy. I just wish I knoewn why. I can’t help but believe it’s me.” Beth sniffed and then no longer able to contain her hurt, she wailed, “Oh, Mum, I tryt so hard. Why doet Greensward have to die? I lovt him so much.”
All three of Beth’s agreements had ended the same way. She had walked out on men she couldn’t stay with any longer because she was unhappy with them. None of them had had children which Beth thought might have kept an agreement going, but illogically she was grateful she had never hurt children which she knew she would never have been able to forgive herself for. There wasn’t anything Beatrix felt she could say to help but hugging and kissing Beth, she replied, “I don’t know why Greensward died, Love. But I do know you will find someone. You’re only twenty-three, and you’ve lots of time. I know it doesn’t help, but I was forty-three before I met your dad and had any children, and you were all worth waiting for, but I am the first to admit I was somewhat bitter before I found you and your brothers.”
Wayland telt her, “It’s not your fault, Beth, so stop blaming yourself. You are who you are, and though there are not that many folk on Castle you can’t possibly have met a fraction of them. There must be any number you could be happy with. Greensward can not possibly have been the only person capable of loving you unconditionally and making you happy. You just haven’t met any of the others yet, or may hap you have and doetn’t realise it. It’s perchance a good thing you left Hale because Bittern was angry he was making you unhappy when we could all see you tryt so hard to please him and no matter what you doet it never seemt to be enough. I had to stop Bittern from doing something regards it.”
Wayland’s words as always comforted her. She knew her brother Bittern, a big, powerfully built man who crafted as a smith with the huntsmen making work knifes, would have been prepared to fight with any he thought was hurting her. They had always been close, and she was glad for his sake Wayland had prevented him from creating trouble for himself which would have upset Bling, his wife, far more than him. Most folk considered Bittern to be a tough and hard man, but Beth knew that was just an illusion only maekt possible by Bling who was the quietly dominant one in their agreement because it was her strongth of character that enabled Bittern to be not only less insecure but the husband, father and man they wished him to be. But still Beth was a little upset because as her brothers one by one had married and started their families she had started to feel she was being left behind.
Wayland had suffered from the opposite problem, over the years he had been pursued by any number of girls, and then women, who would have liekt to reach agreement with him and he had felt hunted. But even he had recently married, and he was the last of her twelve brothers to do so. Most of the others had married heartfriends they had been involved with within lunes of their incursion. Wayland’s wife Vervain was a diminutive healer, five years older than he, who had been Cwm’s apprentice. Vervain had telt Beth with a wry smile, “Ignoring him was all I could bethink me of to do that would make me different from all the others. I sometimes imagine he only marryt me to fend the rest off you know.”
Beth thought a lot of her sister, and she’d been instrumental in bringing her and Wayland together. “That’s not true, Vervain. They wisht to collect him and as Nigel’s protégé and Councillor Wayland it became much worse for him. We could all see you lovt Wayland right from when you met him, long before he became a Councillor.”
Vervain had smiled reflectively, “Yes. For years I’d lovt him, but for a suppoestly clever man who spent his life, even as a child, helping others he had been singularly unobservant and remiss at helping himself, and I was grateful for your help in bullying him to agreement.”
The two young women had laught and Beth remarked, “We all wisht the best for him and that was you. I, and my brothers, and sisters too, have never had cause to regret what I doet. After Greensward’s deadth I uest to wish sometimes I were pursuet like that, thinking at least that way I should have had a choice and possibly findt someone. But then seeing poor Wayland’s face I’d realise it wasn’t something any sensible person would wish, so I’m still looking.”
Three lunes after the braekdown of her agreement with Hale, Beth met Gramot, a twenty-nine year old holder, at the second Quarterday dance in the Greathall. Gramot was a woman who preferred women, and like Beth had had a number of unsatisfactory relationships which had never developed, mostly because she was happy living on the isolaett holding of her clansfolk and had not found any prepared to live there. Gramot didn’t consider herself to be on the dock, but in the lonely, small hours admitted to herself she wasn’t far away from it. She was a tall, strong woman with mannish mannerisms and features. She had the slender hips and buttocks and wide shoulders of a man, was flat chested and had large hands and feet. She dresst like a man, had her hair cut like a man’s and had been seeking a petite and feminine wife.
Disappointed by the lack of response to her appearance earlier in the day, bored with the dance, yet not ready to leave, Gramot was feeling pity for herself when she espied Beth at the other end of the hall. Her interest piqued, she asked Beth to dance. Beth and she enjoyed each other’s company and were interested in one another, but whilst Beth knew Gramot was a mannish woman who preferred women, Gramot knew naught of Beth at all, for she spent little time at the Keep, crafting and living on the holding founded by her parents and three other couples six days whilth from the Keep, and she’d never seen nor heard of Beth before.
In many ways Beth had been unlucky in life, but as a woman living in a boy’s body she had been fortunate. May hap it be genetic, or may hap psychosomatic due to the way she thought and lived, or a combination of the two, or even due to the same circumstances that had created her psyche, doubtless the herbs had helped, but she had never developed facial nor body hair, had a boy’s voice indistinguishable from a woman’s, an androgynous facial structure easily feminised by artful traces of cosmetics which Amethyst had shewn her how to use to best advantage years over, small delicate hands, with attractive nails she hadn’t bitten for years, tiny feet and a slender figure. Beth was not only feminine in her behaviour, she looked every wiedth a pretty, petite woman. She was only a wiedth taller than she had been ten years over, and she had been small for a thirteen year old, but there were many folkbirtht women of her highth or less.
The arresting herbs had held masculine pubertal development to naught, and feminising herbs, usually given to late and slowly developing girls and closely related to the herbs which prevented pregnancy, had encouraged her bosom and hips, both enhanced under the guidance of Amethyst and Mint by the skills of the seamsters and the Mistresses brassière, as the specialist lingerie seamsters were now known. She was one of Janet’s best and favourite customers. Unlike most women she was still always seen by Janet herself who was now seventy-three and effectively retired.
It had been Janet who had laid Beth’s anxieties concerning her lack of bosom to rest. She had kindly remarked when Beth was sixteen [13 Castle years, 16½ Earth years] and had been taking the herbs for three years, “I wish I’d had the opportunity to take the herbs, Beth, because you’ve far more to shew for yourself than I have ever had. I worried about it till I came here, and I was sixty three then.” Janet had smiled and admitted, “It has never maekt any difference to Blackdyke, he loves me as I am, and there will be another man for you somewhere who will love you as you are. No man any more than any woman is unique. Greensward will not be the only one to love you.”
Janet smiled as she’d altered the fit of a dancing gown for Beth, she was adjusting the fit at the hips to give a slightly more pronounced outline to Beth’s cotte.(42) She continued, “But in the meanwhile since we have any number of tricks to enhance the way a gown drapes it’s only sensible that we make use of them.” She finished her work, bit off the rest of the thread and said, “Just slip it on for me to see how it looks, Beth.” Beth had undresst and put the gown on before stepping on to a stool and turning berount as indicated by Janet, who had gone to move a large full longth mirror so Beth could see it from behind too. Janet had run her hand over Beth’s cotte to smooth the wrinkles out of the fabric and twitched the cloth to settle it and give the desired effect and said, “Yes, that’s just enough to catch the eye without being, shall we say, a little over obvious, don’t you think?”
“That’s exactly what I wisht, Janet. My gratitude to you. And for you reassurances too. I am sure you’re right. Mum says I have to be patient, but Mint telt me there’s not much fun to be had waiting.” Janet had smiled and kissed her cheek before she left. That was a long time over, but Beth had never forgotten the conversation and was still being patient, and still not having much fun.
At the end of the dance Beth had allowed Gramot to kiss her, but she’d held off from any further intimacy. Gramot accepting Beth’s reluctance had asked her if they could meet nextday. Beth, who had arranged to meet Timothy to have her hair trimmed and dresst in the forenoon, had agreed to meet Gramot for lunch and suggested they go for a walk afterwards. That night, before she slept, Gramot was wondering what she could do to attract Beth whom she believed she could be happy with and thought was at least a little interested in herself. Beth went to bed with her head in a whirl. She had just spent a very happy eve with a woman, a woman whom she was attracted to and who had given her feelings she had not had for a long time, a woman who she thought possibly had what ever it was that had been missing in her previous agreements. Beth had spent the last ten years living as a woman, the last five seeking a man. She’d been young when she’d known Greensward and both of them had been aware they had a long way to go before they became adult. Now Greensward was long dead and she was a lonely adult who spent too many nights crying herself to sleep.
The idea of agreement with a woman, be she however mannish, had never occurred to her. As she thought that, it maekt her realise she was now considering it, and if naught came of her meeting with Gramot she realised she needed to have her file at the Master at arms office altered to include a willingth to explore the possibility of an agreement with a mannish woman. Beth was irritated with herself for not already having that on her file when she remembered that Master herbal Falcon had telt her of such a possibility years over. The practicalities of explaining things to Gramot didn’t bother her at all. Beth was completely Folk in her thinking, and established and happy in her female persona. Most of the Folk weren’t aware of her as aught other than a woman who was a successful craft hunter and like her brothers, a fanatic fisher who was a close friend of Will, Leech and Gwendoline. Other than she wished a husband and children her life was perfect.
Beth always felt more feminine after a visit to see Timothy, but thisday her freshly dresst hair maekt her feel much more confident regards going to meet Gramot, ridiculous she knew, but all the same she felt seductively invigorated by her hair as she changed into clothes suitable for walking outside the Keep. She was excited but nervous at the possibility of romance and chose her lingerie with care, even though none would see it it too gave her confidence. As always she enjoyed the soft and sensuous tactile sensations of what she knew was a sheer indulgence on her part. Her mum had telt her long over most women had an indulgence on which they spent more than necessary to give them confidence, her mum’s she knew was shoes, and ever since her first shopping expedition to Weork with Pol, long before Amethyst had given her the box of underwear when she had finally accepted herself as a girl, Beth had realised, without knowing why, lingerie was important to her, and she still didn’t know why.
Remembering the laughs she had shared with Pol as they had shopped for undies she shed a few tears and couldn’t help wondering what Pol’s life was like now. Was she marryt? Did she have children? Before meeting Gramot for lunch, Beth decided to wear a pair of soft leather riding trews with three-quarter longth skirts and matching waterproof riding boots that she normally wore when wild fowling. A lace trimmed flaxcloth(43) blouse, and a thuppet(44) fleece shawl for warmth completed her attire, and having done her best she went to meet Gramot.
At lunch they had both been very self-conscious due to the looks they thought they were receiving from other folk, which was just imagination on their parts. Coming from an isolaett holding, Gramot was not uest to large numbers of folk, and despite her thoughts lastnight, Beth was not entirely comfortable with the idea of a relationship with a woman. For over a decade she had lived as a girl and then a woman and she’d never thought of herself as male. They decided to walk through Outgangside and along the edge of the Longwood. Despite the warmth of the day, a heavy dew still lay on the grass and Beth was glad she had chosen to wear leather trews with boots rather than suede gauchos with shoes.
The fragrance of the midsummer flowers, especially the meadowsweet, was powerful enough to taste on the moist air. As they walked through Outgangside Gramot held her hand out to Beth who held hands with her as they walked. It was a sunny day, and despite the wisps of mist that the sun was still chasing off the damp vegetation, the birds, wild flowers and insects were making the most of the short summer as they hastened to raise the next generation. The couple enjoyed the shine,(45) the sounds and the sights and only when they had walked past the last of the buildings did they spaek. Gramot asked Beth, “I am seeking a wife, Beth, and I believe I could be happy with you. I should like the opportunity to make you happy, will you consider me for agreement?”
Beth taekt her time replying, “You may not be interestet in me, Gramot, when I have telt you of myself. The situation is complicatet for me. I am a woman but have only livt as a woman for twelve years. I grew up as a boy, and I have the body of a boy though I never was a boy. My heartfriend, who lovt me as I be, dien eight years over when I was young, and I findt it difficult to move on from the loss of him. Since then I have been seeking a man who would have a care to me as he doet. I have had three unsuccessful agreements with men, the last of which endet just a few lunes since. I walkt away from all three agreements because they maekt me unhappy, and I don’t know why. I do know all three of my agreäns lackt what my heartfriend had, but what that was I know not. It was only lastnight after meeting you I considert an agreement with a woman, and even if you are not interestet in me I shall certainly consider other similar women now. I do find you attractive, and I am interestet in you as a potential husband because I bethink me you may have what ever it was that was missing in my previous agreäns that my heartfriend had. I believe I should enjoy being your wife, however, if you make me unhappy I know I will walk away from you too.”
Gramot was surprised but not shocked by what Beth had telt her, and still hand in hand they continued walking in silence whilst they considered the situation. When they reached the edge of the trees Gramot asked hesitantly, “May I kiss you, Beth?”
Beth turned towards Gramot and with a look of great joy on her face looked up into Gramot’s eyes and whispered, “Oh yes.” Gramot taekt Beth’s face between her hands and very gently, but at great length, kissed her.
“I am already falling in love with you, Beth. Could we have agreement?”
“As long as you can accept you are my husband and I am your wife, I too shall come to love you, and we have agreement.” Beth paused before continuing in explanation, “It’s how I see myself, and I have payt too high a price to become myself to go backwards in any way.”
“I can understand that because to accept myself as someone of mannish personality who wisht a wife like any other man hurt me a lot too, and I too am not prepaert to go backwards. I too have had relationships that never developed, mostly because my family holding is a long way from the Keep, and I wish to live there at least some of the time. I never considert my wife may be someone like you, but may hap being a husband or a wife has little to do with the body one has and more to do with how one regards oneself? I don’t know and I don’t care. I just know I wish you for my wife and I should like to kiss you again.” Their kisses this time were not gentle and left them both bruised and breathless.
They resumed their walk and Beth telt her husband, “I don’t mind living with your family some of the time, Gramot, but I need to live here some of the time. I have craft obligations to the huntsmen, and because of the way I am I need to spend time with my sisters and brothers and even more do I need Mum and Dad.” Beth paused for thought before continuing, “My sorrow, but you do realise as your wife I shall refer to you as he and become upset when others don’t, do you not?”
“I never considert that before, but I do like the idea since it is how I have regardet myself for most of my life, and my family have been referring to me as he as far back as I can remember. My Auntie Bekka was insistent that all the new family, kin and kith we acquiert at the time they foundet our new holding ten years over should so do too and correctet all who forgett and miscallt me, but I have no idea how I should be able to make other folk do that, do you?”
“Probably not, but may I suggest you have spaech with Wayland? He was the one who maekt it possible for me to become myself.”
Gramot was surprised at that and asked, “Councillor Wayland? Do you know him?”
“He’s my brother, and he has guidet my life since he was ten. I am grateful to him for that, but most of all I love him.”
Gramot was rendered spaechless for a while. Notwithstanding his lack of age, Wayland was one of the most important folk on Castle and renowned for his probity, intelligence and willingth to help folk solve their problems. He was also reclusive, and other than via Aaron, Nigel or the Council virtually impossible to approach. His large family were known for being protective of his privacy. Gramot knew he had a lot of brothers, but he’d not been aware Wayland had sisters too. Still not able to accept yet as Beth’s husband he was Wayland’s brother Gramot asked, “Bethink you he would really be willing to advise me?”
“I know he would be happy to help any who had a care to me. I telt you, he is my brother, and he loves me.” Beth stroked Gramot’s cheek and continued gently, “He is your brother too now. He is not what most of the Folk believe you know. It’s just he spends so much of his time helping others in what little time he has left he needs privacy and time for Vervain and himself. They wish a family which will make his time even more precious to them. If you will, I shall introduce you nextday and ask him to advise you concerning your needs to be yourself. You can then have spaech with him. If you will me to be present I shall stay, or if you would prefer privacy I shall leave the two of you to have spaech.”
Gramot, who had always considered his personal problems to be too trivial a matter to bother such august personages as Aaron, Nigel or Wayland with, all of who were Councillors concerned with the major issues that affected the Folk, had never considered such an opportunity would come his way said, “I should be grateful if you would do that for me, Beth, and I should far rather you were there too.”
Beth nodded and said, “Of course I shall be there if you will me to be. I’m your wife. Changing the subject though, Gramot, if you don’t mind?” Beth waited for Gramot to nod in agreement. “I’ve always wisht children, and though I love looking after my nieces and nephews even more would I love some of my own. What are your thinkings regards children?”
“I have always wisht children too. Had I findt a woman who could bear children to be my wife I should have prefert her to have had the children, either by a friend or relative or even one of the Masters of leisure. Had she not been able to have any I was prepaert to have them myself, which now I have agreement with you I am still prepaert to do.” Gramot hesitated a little, “I know you sayt you were not prepaert to go backwards, and I shall respect any decision you make, but were you able and prepaert to make me pregnant then that would offer us a solution. I don’t like the idea of being pregnant nor of nursing babes, but if that is the price I have to pay to have a wife and a family I shall willingly pay it. I do like the idea of us having our children with one else involvt, though if that is unacceptable to you I should be prepaert to approach one of my cousins.”
Beth smiled, “Like you I don’t like the idea of what I should have to do, but at least that way we may be able to have a family. I have considert adopting children, but was telt the most recent children available for adoption includet myself when I came here ten years over as an incomer. I too love the idea of having our own children, but I don’t know whether it will be possible.” She smiled and added in explanation, “Years over, before puberty, the herbals givn me herbs to prevent masculine development and then others to enhance my feminine appearance. They warnt me at the time they would probably restrict my growth too. I don’t know whether they doet or no, for though I only grew a wiedth more after starting to take them I was always small for my age. It bothert me for a while, but I became glad of it eventually because it maekt my small bosom and hips seem appropriate.”
Gramot had been unaware such things were possible, but considert Beth’s tiny size to be a significant part of her appeal. “I love you being the size you are. If it’s not possible, whether due to the herbs or no, as I telt you, I have a lot of cousins I can ask, most still live at the holding where we grew up. My mum and dad and three other couples startet it when I was nineteen, and we all became one family. I’m the eldest of us all, and I’m six years older than my Auntie Bekka, who was newfolk. She marryt Uncle Burdock not long after the incursion and has been of great aid to me ever since.” He laught, “Sometimes it’s hard to remember who is a syskon(46) and who is a cousin, though none of us care as we all grew up as syskonen.”
Beth smiled and said, “I feel we should try ourselfs before you ask a cousin. No doubt we shall have to negotiate our agreement as it progresses, but that is how it has been all my life, and I am looking forward to the future. You never know, we may come to accept or even enjoy the process of having a family, I believe we should hope for it. Wayland says life is difficult enough without creating problems. When we return to the Keep may I introduce you to my mum before we do aught else? She will be so happy for us and very relievt I have findt someone to love who wishes to loves me.”
Gramot, despite his masculine appreciation of her as a pretty young woman, was still coming to terms with Beth’s deceptively deep femininity and was amazed Beth considered it necessary to ask for permission, which was not in keeping with the Way under which all were of equality. It was a shock to him when he realised it was part of Beth’s perception of herself, and he also realised how easy it would thus be to take advantage of her. He was delighted by Beth’s view of herself as a woman, and avowed to himself never to take advantage of her submissivth, not least because to do so would demean his own opinion of himself. Good folk did not abuse positions of trust nor those of power, and he found the concept of abusing her love to be repugnant. He was unaware of how his view would ensure the permanence of their agreement because that had been the largest single factor in the failure of Beth’s previous agreements. Beth too had been unaware of that because it was not in her psyche to be assertive. Marcy her previous self had never been assertive, merely defensive. [Marc and subsequently Marcy are Beth’s deadnames.]
Unknowingly Beth had been seeking a husband who, like her brothers and Greensward, would respect her submissivth, and, as part of his love and care to her, give her the freedoms and choices she was incapable of taking for herself. Even when they went fishing together her bothers asked her to decide where to fish knowing that, despite her being the best fisher and reader of the water, she would not elsewise put herself forward and tell them. Her three previous agreäns had taken her submissivth to be her acceptance of their dominance. Subconsciously she had perceived that to be a lack of love on their parts, and hence, as she was a woman who needed their love in order to love them, they had driven her away. “I wish to meet your mum and dad, and the rest of your family too, and I know my family will be equally interestet in meeting you because they too will be happy for us and relievt I also have findt someone to love who wills to love me.”
Amazed at the way their lives had evolved, but happy with their prospects, they returned to the Keep spaeking of their families and their dreams of children. Aware they had turned the usual elements of a marriage completely berount, neither cared, and they knew none else who mattered to them would either. They were also aware some may have difficulty making the necessary accommodations, but the newly agreeän couple considered that to be a problem not of their making.
Bling births her second babe, a boy, who she insists is to be naemt Drive. Bittern doesn’t understand her insistence on the name, but realising his wife is too upset to explain her need for the name he acquiesces. Eventually she telt him of her childhood and why she had wished to name her son after the taxi driver who had maekt such an impression on her. The drive(47) whose name she had never known.
Brock and Bruin are relieved to have been provided with a project that requires their skills. The Council now able to fund a bridge over the Arder four days whilth by waggon east of the Keep on the new waggon trail commissioned the pair to start work as soon as they were able. The pair goent to have spaech with Axel regards the structure and he agreed to craft with them. He also suggested they have spaech with Gervaise, for he opined the long ropes now being maekt as a result of Gervaise’s knowledge and skills would be hugely helpful.
Veronica and Zoë support Tansy and Craig to start a new horse breeding holding at the Arder bridge with a view to it becoming a major waggoner stables when the bridge is operational. The holders at Sunwarmth assist the couple with quality bloodstock for riding and draught horses.
Explorer Sex launched and fitting out begins.
Maiden voyage of “Explorer Fem”captained by Asphodel.
Explorer Fyr returns
Eight new major holdings had been started south of the Keep since the incursion, all highly productive due to having been set out so as to take advantage of George’s machinery. There are plans to build a mill to service them. This time the machiners’ and other technical crafters’ requirements are to be designed in from the beginning. Rock now seventeen and married to Revæl has completed his apprenticeship as a millwright and stone dresser and is producing the plans with his parents, Judith and Storm, for the new mill.
No longer as isolaett as of yore, Sunwarmth is now a major heavy horse breeding holding. Two other trails have been established to the holding, neither through geothermally active areas. Both trails are of considerably greater whilth from the Keep, but they pass through other more recently established holdings making it viable for waggoners to make a trip via them all. The new fruits and berries have been planted elsewhere, but whilst some grow, none grow as well as at Sunwarmth which is the warmest site that has yet been discovered outside the valley of spouters. The holders of Sunwarmth have as a result become exceedingly affluent. The valley of spouters has become the property of the Sunwarmth holders, and they have an all year round presence at Valley Holding because there is year round work to be done there. The Master at arms office has granted them title to Rutlan’s Stand where the yaarle trees are fenced inside a paddock. The holders plant every yaarle nut they can find and betimes it will be necessary to extend the paddock for at least one in twenty of the nuts germinate in their first year. The cabin and stables there are now uest by waggoners who pass that way on the occasionally uest new trail that leads to several newly founded holdings.
Wayland’s advice had been that since Gramot was a name uest, like many, by more or less equal numbers of men and women, to use a name that was predominantly uest by men. He reasoned, since most of the Folk had not met Gramot before, they would naturally assume someone looking like Gramot with a masculine name was a man and use the appropriate pronouns. He summed it up by saying, “Let others make the changes, Gramot, rather than making any effort to correct them.”
In private that eve, with Beth sitting on his knee, Gramot asked Beth for advice regards a new name, “You chose a new one. How doet you decide, Beth?”
“My previous name was a short one and I like short names. Beth just came to me. It was feminine and I feelt it suitet me. When I telt Mum, she said it was lovely and kisst me. It was all easy really. Dad just acceptet it, but that’s Dad. My brothers knoewn I was a girl because Wayland sayt so, and none of them ever argue with him.” The couple smiled at the idea of any arguing with Wayland, and Beth continued. “So they’d been treating me like a sister from our incursion, only Sharky had any problems understanding, but he couldn’t help that. It was only after he marryt Lucimer that he understandt, and mercy knows how long it taekt her to explain it to him. I’m not sure I can help you, Love, because its a matter of how you perceive yourself. The only thing I can suggest is that you are totally honest with yourself because you will have to live with what ever you choose. I have always been extremely feminine. I never had to make any effort, for it’s just the way I am. Fiona, Warbler and I have been sisters since my incursion, and Warbler always sayt I was the most girly girl she ever met or hearet of, and she’s never understandt how I can be a hunter and enjoy fishing. I’d help if I could, but I don’t know how.”
Gramot struggled to put ideas into words, but finally said, “I’ve never considert how mannish a person could be. I only considert I was happier as a man than as a woman. I doetn’t fit with the other girls and spent all my childhood considering myself to be one of the boys. I was devastatet by my first lunetime, though the rest of puberty wasn’t too distressing, for it doetn’t make me look much like a woman. I can recognise what you say concerning your femininity, but I have no idea how masculine I am. Do you?”
Beth was reluctant to answer, but eventually replied, “You are asking me to define your manhood, Gramot, which I can’t do, for I don’t know how. I can only tell you how I, as your wife, see you. If you require me to, I shall tell you, but I feel vulnerable doing so.”
Gramot hugged and kissed Beth and said, “Please do so, and there is no need to feel vulnerable.”
Beth nodded and said, “You are tall, big and strong. You have a man’s hips and shoulders. Your cot is that of a man, and I love it. Your breasts are so small as to be invisible the way you dress. To any who doesn’t know you, and that is most of the Folk, even to have spaech with, you seem like a man because your voice is at the deep end of the range for a woman, and many men have higher voices than yours. You are not the most masculine of men in your behaviour, but you are more masculine than most, and I do love the way you are. I believe a masculine name would suit your image of yourself, it would make you happy in the way that Beth maekt me happy.” She smiled, “It still does.” Beth kissed her troubled husband and whispered in his ear, “I do love you, and what ever you chose will make me happy if it makes you happy. May I make a suggestion, Love?” Gramot kissed her again and nodded. Hesitantly Beth whispered, “Granite is not a bad name for a masculine man. It is similar to Gramot, and as far as I am aware not uest by women.”
Gramot had moist eyes as he said, “Yes. That would suit me. My gratitude for your thinkings.”
The couple indulged themselfs in kisses, and Granite caressed Beth’s cotte. “Not here, Love, please. Take me to bed where we can enjoy ourselfs properly.” They standt and Granite to Beth’s delight taekt her literally and carried her to bed in his arms.
In spite of neither Beth nor Granite having a high libido they had a happy and satisfying love life which did not include penetrative sex, but they had decided Beth should try to make Granite pregnant, and since it was necessary, they were resolved upon the matter. They didn’t expect to enjoy it, since it was at odds with their self-perceived images, and they didn’t. Granite was virgo intacta with a more complete and resistive hymen than was typical, and as a consequence of taking the feminising herbs, Beth was small. Both of which, coupled with their total lack of experience, and hence expertise, had resulted in Beth not managing to play the man’s part. Neither had realised love making, as normally practised by most couples, was a skill that only came with practice. Their first attempts had been tearfully humiliating for both of them, and hence a lune after their first attempt Granite was still virgo intacta, but they were in love, now desperate for a family, and so decided to approach the healers for advice and help.
Gosellyn after examining Granite telt them, “Cwm can solve your problem, Granite, in a minute or two. However, it is clear you are both finding the matter stressful which is inhibiting both of you. You need to relax and enjoy yourselfs rather than seeing it purely as a matter of making Granite pregnant. I shall provide you with some cream which I suggest you apply to each other, without attempting to make Granite pregnant. Think of your most enjoyable activities whilst using it till it just becomes a pleasurable part of what you do. Only after it has become something that no longer creates any stress should you attempt to make Granite pregnant.” The couple both nodded, Gosellyn having maekt them aware the stresses she referred to had been a major factor in their problems. “If after a while you still have problems you can return at the most fertile part of your cycle, Granite, and we can impregnate you with Beth’s essence, which we can enable you to produce, Beth, if that is a problem.
“That I suggest is a method of last resort since I know you wish to be able to do it yourselfs. I only telt you of it so when things are difficult, as they will certainly be to start with, you are not further stresst by thinking you are running out of options. Beth, your lack of size is no impediment, many men with families are no bigger, but you must realise the puberty arresting herbs you taekt very effectively stopt you undergoing a masculine puberty and will have rendert your essence less viable. Too the feminising herbs you taekt and are still taking will have had a more significant and permanent effect and have possibly rendert your essence non-viable, but if you will to try I suggest you try for a year or so before coming back for further help. If it looks like you will be coming back you may prefer to consider a friend or relative to father your children. There are lots of possibilities still open to you, so relax and enjoy yourselfs.”
Vervain dealt with Granite’s hymen surgically in minutes and after leaving matters a lune the couple enjoyed themselfs following Gosellyn’s advice. A lune and a half later, they resumed trying to make Granite pregnant, and they persevered till Beth could relax and allow her body to become suitably interested. Eventually they both became relaxed and skilled enough to make love that way without any undue effort, even to the point of being able to dispense with the cream, though it had taken a lot of tears and kisses to reach that point. They realised what had maekt the difference was their acceptance that making love that way, or indeed in any other way, had naught to do with their self perceived identities as Beth the woman and wife, and Granite the man and husband. They continued for six lunes and were overjoyed when Granite missed a lunetime. Making Granite pregnant had not affected their rôles as wife and husband, and as Beth had hoped, eventually they had come to enjoy it, albeit as a tiny part of their love life. Then, with great relief, they reverted almost entirely to their usual more enjoyable activities, yet they did make love that way as an occasional change so as not to lose the skill because they wished a family and not just a child.
Granite was loth to be seen to be pregnant, especially by strangers, so they returned to his family’s holding before it became obvious. Despite his highth and large build, Granite had small breasts which along with his narrow hips and broad shoulders contributed to his mannish appearance. Other than in bed, where they unrestrainedly and unselfconsciously enjoyed each other’s enjoyment of their body, Granite was embarrassed by his breasts and dresst in such a way that they weren’t noticeable. His breasts became larger with pregnancy, and he became obviously pregnant. It was a trying and tearful time for the couple, and Beth was grateful for the support of her husband’s extended four couple family, especially Eyebright, his mother, whom she had come to love as another mother and his auntie Bekka.
Bekka had telt Beth, “Don’t worry, Beth. I’ll handle the youngsters for you. I know Granite will not be able to cope with over much attention, but the girls can’t help but be interested. Most have never observt a birth. Obviously they will wish to as it is an important rite of passage. But I’ll deal with the youngsters and Granite too.”
Bekka had instructed Granite’s younger sisters and cousines as to what would be appropriate spaech and behaviour in the circumstances. She’d had to be firm with a few telling them she’d be ill pleased if they were ever disrespectful to any carrying a child under her heart. She added that as they were already aware Granite was special, so extra respect was required. She’d had such an influence on the behaviour of the younger females of the family, reminding them that belike all of them would be pregnant within not so many years, that Granite had been happy to have spaech with them of his pregnancy which maekt life for both Granite and Beth much easier. When Bekka had explained to Granite the girls wished to be there at the birthing she’d managed to settle him to the idea as a family obligation so much that he was happy to birth Julia in the presence of a large number of the girls. Granite had a prolonged but, despite having narrow hips, problem free birthing and Eyebright had birtht a small but hale granddaughter they named Julia after Beth’s birth mother. When Julia was a lune old the three of them returned by ship to the Keep so Beth could fulfil some craft obligations.
Granite willingly accepted the necessity of nursing Julia, but did not enjoy it. Unknown to Granite, Beth went to see the midwifes. The feminising herbs she had taken before puberty had given her a small but definite bosom and a slightly wider and fuller cotte. That the herbals could provide herbs to bring a woman’s milk in she knew, and she had wondered if they would enable her to nurse Julia. The midwifes and herbals had telt her they had no idea. They were willing to provide the herbs, but they’d cautioned Beth she would probably be disappointed since though the herbs that had encouraged her bosom had a feminising effect it varied in degree, as her surprising ability to enable Granite’s pregnancy had demonstrated. They also warned her that whether the herbs worked or no they would undoubtedly further reduce the viability of her essence, probably completely, which of course had implications for any further children. She decided she wished to try it despite the cautions.
When Beth asked Granite if she could take the herbs, explaining despite the potential drawbacks she wished to, he had been surprised but happy concerning the matter, and sayt if needs must they still had the options of his cousins for further children. Beth had been advised of the necessity for dry nursing to help the herbs, and she dry nursed Julia every feed till her screams of frustration became tears of hunger before Granite nursed her. Gradually Beth’s milk came in, but she was taking the herb extract for nearly two lunes before her milk came in sufficiently for her to be able to nurse Julia without Granite having to nurse her too. The couple had not thought to question Julia was happy and settled nursing with Granite, since her screams and crying when Beth had been unable to satisfy her had stopped immediately when Granite nursed her, however, once Beth had been able to satisfy her she was a much happier babe. When Granite had nursed her it was something he knew he had to do, and Julia was hungry. When Beth nursed her it was a joy for both of them and satisfied much more than Julia’s hunger. Beth had confided to her mum it was the most wonderful experience of her life. Beatrix had admitted that nursing Joanne had been an amazing experience that she been completely taken aback by, for it had done things to her physical senses and her emotions she hadn’t been aware existed.
As Beth’s milk came in fully, not only did her breasts increase in size dramatically, her nipples and areolae became those of a woman rather than those of a girl, and Beth was overjoyed when Mistress midwife Irena telt her that would be a permanent change though her breasts would become smaller after weaning Julia. When she noticed her cotte and hips had increased a little too she was very happy with her enhanced womanhood which maekt sitting on Granite’s knee much more enjoyable for both of them, and she smiled as she realised she needed to visit Janet for some new lingerie. Granite, relieved at no longer having to nurse Julia, was taking herbs to discourage his milk and was relieved when his breasts returned to only slightly larger than they had been. The couple were very happy with their lifes, and were looking forward to more children, but in spite of knowing it would be less stressful next time they decided to leave it a while before they went through it all again.
After having spaech with Irena, who telt her most weäns, even if they were eating three or four solid meals a day, would continue nursing for comfort for as long as they were allowed to do so, Beth decided she was going to allow Julia to nurse for as long as she would because if she were still nursing when their next child was birtht there would be no need for the herbs. She also admitted to her sisters she was loth to give up nursing Julia simply because they both enjoyed it. Beth’s breasts continued to increase in size a little as Julia grew and her appetite increased, and Beth considered they had become large enough to constitute a proper bosom and she no longer required the pads sewn into most of her frock bodices. Mistress seamstress Mint who though she had only had a small bosom even when nursing Allia had naytheless found a nursing brassière to be very convenient suggested the idea to Beth, but Beth was having none of it. For her the ultimate in women’s clothing had always been an apron,(48) and she had always wished to be able to wear one. Now she had a bosom and the hips Amethyst had telt her years over were required to avoid looking like a stick in a sack that’s what she wore. To her the inconvenience when nursing Julia was as naught compared with the enhancement of her womanhood.
Index of significant characters so far listed by Chapter
1 Introduction
2 Jacques de Saint d’Espéranche
3 The Folk and the Keep
4 Hwijje, Travisher, Will
5 Yew, Allan, Rowan,Siskin, Will, Thomas, Merle, Molly, Aaron, Gareth, Oak, Abigail, Milligan, Basil, Vinnek, Iris, Margæt, Gilla, Alsike, Alfalfa, Gibb, Happith, Kroïn, Mako, Pilot, Briar, Gosellyn, Gren, Hazel
6 Chaunter, Waxwing, Flame, João, Clansaver, Irune, Ceël, Barroo, Campion, Limpet, Vlæna, Xera, Rook, Falcon, Cwm, Sanderling, Aldeia, Catarina, Coast, Elixabete
7 Mercedes, Spoonbill
8 Lyllabette, Yoomarrianna
9 Helen, Duncan, Gosellyn, Eudes, Abigail
10 George/Gage, Iris, Waverley, Belinda
11 Marc/Marcy, Pol
12 George/Gage, Marcy, Freddy/Bittern, Weyland, Iris, Bling
13 Thomas, Will, Mercedes, Llyllabette, Yoomarrianna
14 Kyle, Thomas, Will, Angélique
15 Mercedes, Morgelle, Gorse, Thrift, George/Gage, Chris, Iris, Thrift, Campion
16 Bling
17 Waverley, Mr. E
18 George/Gage, Larch, Mari, Ford, Gorse, Morgelle, Luke, Erin
19 Will, Pilot, Yew, Geoge/Gage, Mari, Ford, Gosellyn, Cwm, Cerise, Filbert, Gareth, Duncan, Helen, Thomas, Iris, Plume, Campion, Pim, Rook, Falcon, João, Hare
20 Yew, Rowan, Will, Thomas, Siskin, Weir, Grayling, Willow
21 Brook, Harrier, Cherry, Abby, Selena, Borage, Sætwæn, Fiona, Fergal
22 Yew, Thomas, Hazel, Rowan, Gosellyn, Siskin, Will, Lianna, Duncan
23 Tench, Knawel, Claire, Oliver, Loosestrife, Bramling, George, Lyre, Janice, Kæn, Joan, Eric
24 Luke, Sanderling, Ursula, Gervaise, Mike, Spruce, Moss
25 Janet, Vincent, Douglas, Alec, Alice
26 Pearl, Merlin, Willow, Ella, Suki, Tull, Irena
27 Gina, Hardy, Lilac, Jessica, Teal, Anna
28 Bryony, Judith, Bronwen, Farsight
29 Muriel, Raquel, Grace
30 Catherine, Crane, Snipe, Winifred, Dominique, Ferdinand
31 Alma, Allan, Morris, Miranda
32 Dabchick, Nigel
33 Raquel, Thistle, Agrimony, Benjamin, Ian, Phœbe
34 Eleanor, Woad, Catherine, Crane
35 Muriel, Hail, Joan, Breve, Eric, Nell, Mayblossom, Judith, Storm
36 Selena,Sætwæn, Borage, Grace, Gatekeeper, Raquel, Thistle
37 Siân, Mackerel, Winifred, Obsidian
38 Carla, Petrel, Alkanet, Ferdinand
39 Dominique, Oxlip, Alma, Allan, Tress, Bryony
40 Agrimony, Benjamin, Ian, Ella, Kestrel, Judith, Storm
41 Ella, Kestrel, Tress, Bryony, Tunn, Whin, Plane
42 Weights & Measures and Sunrise & Sunset Times included in Ch 41
43 Ella, Kestrel, Serenity, Smile, Gwendoline, Rook, Tress, Bryony, Tunn, Whin, Plane, Sapphire, Mere
44 Pearl, Merlin, Rainbow, Perch, Joan, Breve, truth, Rachael, Hedger, Ruby, Deepwater
45 Janet, Blackdyke, Janice, Kæn, Ursula, Oyster
46 Janet, Gina, Alastair, Joan, Breve, Truth, Bræth, Mayblossom, Judith, Storm
47 The Squad, Mercedes, Fen, Judith, Storm, Iola, Alwydd, Heidi, Rock, Stephanie, Matthew
48 Bronwen, Forest, Opal, Spice, Vincent, Kathleen, Niall, Bluebell, Sophie
49 Janice, Kæn, Ursula, Oyster, Imogen, Wryneck, Phœbe, Knapps
50 Erin, Nightjar, Eleanor, Woad
51 Gina, Jonas, Janet, Gerald, Patrick, Tansy, Craig, Barret, Ryan
52 Constance, Rye, Bling, Bullace, Berry, Jimmy, Leveret, Rory, Shelagh, Silas
53 Rachael, Hedger, Eve, Gilla, Mallard, Fiona, Fergal, Tinder, Nightingale, Fran, Dyker
54 Pamela, Mullein, Patricia, Chestnut, Lavinia, Ophæn, Catherine, Crane
55 Susan, Kingfisher, Janet, Gina, Jonas, Ruth, Kilroy, Judith, Storm, Iola, Alwydd, Heidi, Rock, Stephanie, Matthew
56 Gina, Jonas, Patricia, Chestnut, The Squad, Hazel, Janet, Blackdyke, Swift, Clover, Vetch, Mangel, Clary, Brendan
57 Erin, Nightjar, Xera, Josephine, Wels, Michelle, Musk, Swansdown, Tenor
58 Timothy, Axel, Nectar, Waverley,Yvette, Whitebear, Firefly, Farsight, Janet, Blackdyke, Swift, Clover, Vetch
59 Lilac, Firefly, Farsight, Lucinda, Gimlet, Leech, Janet, Blackdyke
60 Douglas, Lunelight, Yvette, Whitebear, Thrift, Haw, Harebell, Goosander, Judith, Storm, Iola, Alwydd, Heidi, Rock, Stephanie, Matthew, Matilda, Evan, Heron
61 Brendan, Clary, Chloë, Apricot, Llyllabette, Yoomarrianna, Otis, Harry, Gimlet, Leech, Jodie
62 Gimlet, Leech, Lark, Seth, Charles, Bruana, Noah, Kirsty, Shirley, Mint, Kevin, Faith, Oak, Lilly, Jason, Gem, Ellen
63 Honesty, Peter, Bella, Abel, Kell, Deal, Siobhan, Scout, Jodie
64 Heather, Jon, Anise, Holly, Gift, Dirk, Lilac, Jasmine, Ash, Beech, Ivy, David
65 Sérent, Dace, Opal, Spice, Vincent, Clarissa, Gorse, Eagle, Frond, Diana, Gander, Gyre, Tania, Alice, Alec
66 Suki, Tull, Buzzard, Mint, Kevin, Harmony, Fran, Dyker, Joining the Clans, Pamela, Mullein, Mist, Francis, Kristiana, Cliff, Patricia, Chestnut, Timothy, Axel, Nectar, Waverly, Tarragon, Edrydd, Louise, Turnstone, Jane, Mase, Cynthia, Merle, Warbler, Spearmint, Stonecrop
67 Warbler, Jed, Fiona, Fergal, Marcy, Wayland, Otday, Xoë, Luval, Spearmint, Stonecrop, Merle, Cynthia, Eorl, Betony, Smile
68 Pansy, Pim,Phlox, Stuart, Marilyn, Goth, Lunelight, Douglas, Crystal, Godwit, Estelle, Slimlyspoon, Lyre, George, Damson, Lilac
69 Honesty, Peter, Abel, Bella, Judith, storm, Matilda, Evean, Iola, Heron, Mint, Kevin, Lilac, Happith, Gloria, Peregrine
70 Lillian, Tussock, Modesty, Thyme, Vivienne, Minyet, Ivy, David, Jasmine, Lilac, Ash, Beech
71 Quartet & Rebecca, Gimlet & Leech, The Squad, Lyre & George, Deadth, Gift
72 Gareth, Willow, Ivy, David, Kæna,Chive, Hyssop, Birch, Lucinda, Camomile, Meredith, Cormorant, Whisker, Florence, Murre, Iola, Milligan, Yarrow, Flagstaff, Swansdown, Tenor, Morgan, Yinjærik, Silvia, Harmaish, Billie, Jo, Stacey, Juniper
73 The Growers, The Reluctants, Miriam, Roger, Lauren, Dermot, Lindsay, Scott, Will, Chris, Plume, Stacey, Juniper
74 Warbler, Jed, Veronica, Campion, Mast, Lucinda, Cormorant, Camomile, Yellowstone
75 Katheen, Raymnd, Niall, Bluebell, Sophie, Hazel, Ivy, Shadow, Allison, Amber, Judith, Storm Alwydd, Matthew, Beatrix, Jackdaw, The Squad, Elders, Jennet, Bronze, Maeve, Wain, Monique, Piddock, Melissa, Roebuck, Aaron, Carley Jade, Zoë, Vikki, Bekka, Mint, Torrent
76 Gimlet, Leech, Gwendoline, Georgina, Quail. Birchbark, Hemlock, Peter, Honesty, Bella, Hannah, Aaron, Torrent, Zoë, Bekka, Vikki, Jade, Carley, Chough, Anvil, Clematis, Stonechat, Peace, Xanders, Gosellyn, Yew, Thomas, Campion, Will, Iris, Gareth
77 Zoë, Torrent, Chough, Stonechat, Veronica, Mast, Sledge, Cloudberry, Aconite, Cygnet, Smokt
78 Jed, Warbler, Luval, Glaze, Seriousth, Blackdyke, Happith, Camilla
79 Torrent, Zoë, Stonechat, Clematis, Aaron, Maeve, Gina, Bracken, Gosellyn, Paene, Veronica, Mast, Fracha, Squid, Silverherb
80 George/Gage, Niall, Alwydd, Marcy/Beth, Freddy/Bittern, Wayland, Chris, Manic/Glen, Guy, Liam, Jed, Fergal, Sharky
81 The Squad, Manic/Glen, Jackdaw, Beatrix, Freddy/Bittern, Fiona, Fergal, Wayland, Jade, Stonechat, Beauty, Mast, Veronica, Raven, Tyelt, Fid
82 Gimlet, Leech, Scentleaf, Ramsom, Grouse, Aspen, Stonechat, Bekka, Carley, Vikki, Morgelle, Bistort, Fritillary, Jed, Warbler, Spearmint, Alwydd, Billie, Diver, Seal, Whitethorn
83 Alastair, Carrom, Céline, Quickthorn, Coral, Morgelle, Fritillary, Bistort, Walnut, Tarragon, Edrydd, Octopus, Sweetbean, Shrike, Zoë, Torrent, Aaron, Vinnek, Zephyr, Eleanor, Woad, George/Gage, The Squad, Ingot, Yellowstone, Phthalen, Will
84 Morgelle, Bistort, Fritillary, Alsike, Campion, Siskin, Gosellyn, Yew, Rowan, Thomas, Will, Aaron, Dabchick, Nigel, Tuyere
85 Jo, Knott, Sallow, Margæt, Irena, Tabby, Jade, Phthalen, Yumalle, Stonechat, Spearmint, Alwydd, Seriousth, Warbler, Jed, Brett, Russel, Barleycorn, Crossbill, Lizo, Hendrix, Monkshood, Eyrie, Whelk, Gove, Gilla, Faarl, Eyebright, Alma, Axx, Allan, daisy, Suki, Tull
86 Cherville, Nightshade, Rowan, Milligan, Wayland, Beth, Liam, Chris, Gage
87 Reedmace, Ganger, Jodie, Blade, Frœp, Mica, Eddique, Njacek, Whiteout, Sandpiper, Serin, Cherville, Nightshade, peregrine, Eleanor, Woad, Buzzard, Silas, Oak, Wolf, Kathleen, Reef, Raymond, Sophie, Niall, Bluebell
88 Cloud, Sven, Claudia, Stoat, Thomas, Aaron, Nigel, Yew, Milligan, Gareth, Campion, Will, Basil, Gosellyn, Vinnek, Plume
89 Llyllabette, Yoomarrianna, Silverherb, Cloudberry, Smokt, Skylark, Beatrix, Beth, Amethyst, Mint, Wayland, Bittern, Fiona, Fergal, Joan, Bræth, Nell, Milligan, Iola, Ashdell, Alice, Molly, Rill, Briar
90 Morgelle, Tuyere, Bistort, Beth, Beatrix, Sanderling, Falcon, Gosellyn, Gage, Will, Fiona, Jackdaw, Wayland, Merle, Cynthia, Jed, Warbler
91 Morgelle, Tuyere, Fritillary, Bistort, Jed, Otday, The Squad, Turner, Gudrun, Ptarmigan, Swegn, Campion, Otis, Asphodel, Jana, Treen, Xeffer, Stonechat, Bekka, Vikki, Carley, Beatrix, Jackdaw
92 Turner, Otday, Mackerel, Eorl, Betony, The Council, Will, Yew, Basil, Gerald, Oier, Patrick, Happith, Angélique, Kroïn, Mako
93 Beth, Greensward, Beatrix, Odo, Morgelle, Tuyere, Bistort, Otday, Turner, Gace, Rachael, Groundsel, Irena, Warbler, Jed, Mayblossom, Mazun, Will, The Squad
94 Bistort, Honey, Morgelle, Basil, Willow, Happith, Mako, Kroïn, Diana, Coaltit, Gær, Lavinia, Joseph (son), Ruby, Deepwater, Gudrun, Vinnek, Tuyere, Otday, Turner
95 Turner, Otday, Waverly, Jed, Tarse, Zoë, Zephyr, Agrimony, Torrent, Columbine, Stonechat, Bekka, Vikki, Carley, The Council, Gage, Lilly
96 Faith, Oak, Lilly, Fran, Suki, Dyker, Verbena, Jenny, Bronze, Quietth, Alwydd, Evan, Gage, Will, Woad, Bluebell, Niall, Sophie, Wayland, Kathleen, Raymond, Bling, Bittern
97 Jade, Phthalen, Yumalle, Margæt, Tabby, Larov, Morgelle, Tuyere, Bistort, Fritillary, Brmling, Tench, Knawel, Loosestrife, Agrimony, Jana, Will, Gale, Linden, Thomas, Guelder, Jodie, Peach, Peregrine, Reedmace, Ganger, The Council, Faith, Oak, Lilly, Ellen, Gem, Beth, Geän
98 Turner, Otday, Anbar, Bernice, Silverherb, Havern, Annalen
99 Kæna, Chive, Ivy, David, Birch, Suki, Hyssop, Whitebeam, Jodie, Ganger, Reedmace, Whiteout, Sandpiper, Catherine, Braid, Maidenhair, Snowberry, Snipe, Lærie, Morgelle, Tuyere, Bistort, Fritillary, Ælfgyfu, Jennet, Cattail, Guy, Vikki, Buckwheat, Eddique, Annabelle, Fenda, Wheatear, Bram, Coolmint, Carley, Dunlin
100 Burdock, Bekka, Bram, Wheatear, Cranberry, Edrian, Gareth, George, Georgina, Quail, Birchbark, Hemlock, Bramling, Tench, Knawel, Turner, Otday, Ruby, Deepwater, Barleycorn, Russel, Gareth, Plantain, Gibb, Lizo, Thomas, Mere, Marten, Hendrix, Cuckoo, Campion, Gage, Lilly, Faith
101 Theresa, Therese, Zylanna, Zylenna, Cwm, Ivy, David, Greenshank, Buzzard, Zeeëend, Zrina, Zlovan, Torrent, Alastair, Céline, Meld, Frogbit, Midnight, Wildcat, Posy, Coral, Dandelion, Thomas, Lizo, Council
102 Beth, Beatrix, Falcon, Gosellyn, Neil, Maple, Mouse, Ember, Goose, Blackcap, Suede, Gareth, Robert, Madder, Eider, Campion, Crossbill, Barleycorn, George, Céline, Midnight, Alastair, Pamela, Mullein, Swager, Margæt, Sturgeon, Elliot, Jake, Paris, Rosebay, Sheridan, Gælle, Maybells, Emmer, Beauty, Patricia, Chestnut, Irena, Moor
103 Steve, Limpet, Vlæna, Qorice, Crossbow, Dayflower, Flagon, Gareth, Næna, Stargazer, Willow, Box, Jude, Nathan, Ryland, Eller, Wæn, Stert, Truedawn, Martin, Campion, Raspberry
104 Coolmint, Valerian, Vikki, Hawfinch, Corncrake, Speedwell, Cobb, Bill, Gary, Chalk, Norman, Hoopoe, Firkin, Gareth, Plover, Willow, Dewberry, Terry, Squill, Campion, Tracker, Oak, Vinnek,
105 Council, Thomas, Pilot, Vinnek, Dale, Luca, Almond, Macus, Skua, Cranesbill, Willow, Campion, Georgina, Osprey, Peter, Hotsprings, Fyre, Jimbo, Saxifrage, Toby, Bruana, Shirley, Kirsty, Noah, Frost, Gareth, Turner, Otday, Eorl, Axle, Ester, Spile, David, Betony
106 Jodie, Sunshine, Ganger, Peach, Spikenard, Scallop, Hobby, Pennyroyal, Smile, Otday, Turner, Janet, Astrid, Thistle, Shelagh, Silas, Basalt, Suki, Robert, Madder, Steve, Bekka, Cowslip, Swansdown, Susan, Aqualegia, Kingfisher, Carley, Syke, Margæt, Garnet, Catkin, Caltforce, Council, Thomas, Briar, Yew, Sagon, Joseph, Gareth, Gosellyn, Campion, Will, Qvuine, Aaron, Siskin, Jasmine, Tusk, Lilac, Ash, Beech, Rebecca, Fescue
107 Helen, Duncan, Irena, Scent, Silk, Loosestrife, Tench, Knawel, Bramling, Grebe, Madder, Robert, Otter, Luval, Honey, Beth, Beatrix, Falcon, Amethyst, Janet, Lilac, Jasmine, Ash, Beech, Fiona, Blackdyke, Bittern, George, Axel, Oak, Terry, Wolf, Vinnek, Dittander, Squill, Harmony, Jason, Lyre, Iola, Heron, Yew, Milligan, Alice, Crook, Eudes, Abigail, Gibb, Melanie, Storm, Annabelle, Eddique, Fenda, Lars, Reedmace, Jodie, Aaron, Nigel, Thomas Will
108 Aldeia, Coast, Chris, Wayland, Liam, Gage, Fiona, Fergal, Beth, Greensward, Jackdaw, Warbler, Jed, Guy, Bittern, Spearmint, Alwydd, Storm, Judith, Heidi, Iola, Heron, Beatrix, Harle, Parsley, Fledgeling, Letta, Cockle, Puffin, Adela, Gibb, Coaltit, Dabchick, Morris, Lucimer, Sharky, Rampion, Siskin, Weir, Alsike, Milligan, Gosellyn, Wolf, Campion, Gareth, Aaron, Nigel, Geoffrey, Will, Roebuck, Yew
109 George, Lyre, Iola, Milligan, Gibb, Adela, Wels, Francis, Weir, Cliff, Siward, Glæt, Judith, Madder, Briar, Axel, Molly, Coaltit, Dabchick, Bluesher, Qvuine, Spoonbill, Ashridge, Morris
110 Nectar, Cattail, Molly, Floatleaf, Timothy, Guy, Judith, Briar, Axel, Storm, Beatrix, Iola, Coaltit, Siward, Cockle, Gibb, Lune, Manchette, Gellica, Dabchick, Morris, Sycamore, Eudes, Fulbert, Abigail, Milligan, Ashridge
111 Iola, Turner, Otday, Alwydd, Will, Dabchick, Sgœnne, Coriander, Saught, Ingot, Molly, Vivienne, Michelle, Nancy, Fledgeling, Letta, Milligan, Spoonbill, Knawel, Beaver, Cnut, Godwin, Ilsa, Holdfast, Jeanne, Tara, Lanfranc, Furrier, Joseph, Crag, Adela, Jason, Judith, Gem, Wolf, Storm, Terry, Axel, George, Oak, Coaltit, Posy, Gage, Bluesher, Nigel, Heron, Aaron, Orchid, Morris, Russell, Thomas, Eudes, Ashridge, Polecat, Redstart, Herleva, Fletcher, Jasmine, Ash, Beech, Lilac, Elaine, Kaya, Fulbert, Buzzard, Raymond, Firefly, Roebuck, Francis, Cliff, Odo, Alice, Grangon
112 Council, Bruana, Iola, Kirsty, Glen, Shirley, Wormwood, Noah, Aaron, Dabchick, Nigel, Judith, Milligan, Campion, Gibb, Morris, Polecat, Ilsa, Glæt, Braun, Turbot, Voë, Llyllabette, Yoomarrianna, Sledge, Cloudberry, Smockt, Burgloss, Hubert, Skylark, Srossa, Cygnet, Uri, Cnara, Sexday, Luuk, Slew, Quinnea, Roach, Vosgælle, Siward, Adela, Bluesher, Olga, Amæ, Helen, Odo, Wels, Camomile, Fulbert, Ashridge, Swaille, Gren, Spoonbill, Alwydd, Puffin, Chub, Gage, Ivy, Sippet, Orcharder, Knapps, Eudes, Fledgeling, Cnut, Letta, Nightjar, Greensward, Saught, Carver, Wlnoth, Flagstaff, Coaltit, Thresher, Parsley, Harle, Coriander
113 Aaron, Glæt, Braum, Sandpiper, Ellflower, Abigail, Nigel, Morris, Iola, Ivana, Zena, Trefoil, Comfrey, Scorp, Milligan, Ashridge, Polecat, Gibb, Basil, Knapps, Sagon, Pleasance, Posy, Woad, Will, Gage, Strath, Eric, Ophæn, Coriander, Vivienne, Michelle, Camilla, Odo, Siward, Swaille, Fulbert, Adela, Coaltit, Dabchick, Eudes, Harle, Matthew, Grangon, Hayrake, David, Gellica, Biteweed, Heron, Qvuine, Hjötron, Fledgeling, Parsley, Spoonbill, Greensward, Bluesher, Beatrix, Roebuck, Sagon, Letta, Carver, Wlnoth, Beaver, Saught, Swegn
114 Iola, Dabchick, Gage, Fulbert, Eudes, Coaltit, Burnet, Adela, Sippet, Milligan, Spoonbill, Coriander, Fennel, Knapps, Llyllabette, Yoomarrianna, Smockt, Wheatear, Cloudberry, Sanderling, Scree, Eve, Sledge, Hubert,Irena, Suki, Burgloss, Harle, Polecat, Gibb, Gordon, Douglas, Lunelight,Lovage, Francis, Pleasance, Siward, Grangon, Qvuine, Ashridge, Abigail, Alice, Emma, Embrace, Basil, Aaron, Nigel, Hville, Heron, Bluesher, Musk, Michelle, Joseph, Ivy, Bruana, Noah, Ianto
115 Council, Basil, Iola, Ilsa, Crag, Sgœnne, Waternut, Joseph, Ivy, Dabchick, Milligan, Roebuck, Polecat, George, Yew, Will, Gage, Raspberry, Lisette, Bruana, Ianto, Noah, Evan, Yanto, Jocelyn, Lætitia, Faith, Kæn, Janice, Oak, Lilly, Jason, Wolf, Irena, Mica, Quartz, Peregrine, Ellen, Ousel, Abel, Honesty, Rose, Suki, Veronica, Chris, Mast, Vinnek, Alan, Jane, Beatrix, Jackdaw, Nancy, Douglas, Euan, Coriander, Yæna, Gosellyn, Peter, Bella, Anne, Joa, Joanna, Harrion, Beth, Otter, Luval, Bittern, Wayland, Tansy, Craig, Jonathan, Rhame, Moil, Blush, Alfalfa, Puffin, Briar, Bay, Storm, Hobby, Gibb, Judith, Bjarni, Mhairi, Kbion, Nigel, Bluesher, Spoonbill, Grangon, Kell, Deal, Wryneck, Weir, Musk, Joseph, Knapps, Deepwater, Gordon, Ashridge, Yanwaite, bluebean, Alice, Alfgar, Matthew, Heidi, Rampion, Heron, Siskin
116 Fiona, Fergal, Nightingale, Margæt, Milligan, Polecat, Tinder, Beatrix, Whitethorn, Irena, Lilly, Isabel, Beth, Warbler, Gage, Cicely, Will, Bruana, Coaltit, Gibb, Ianto, Noah, Iola, Morris, Joseph, Dabchick, Kirsty, Shirley, Ivana, Judith, Posy, Wolf, Oak, Jason, George, Gem, Firefox, Mangel, Mace, Millet, Faith, Yew, Hazel, Rowan, Siskin, Basil, Hobby, Thomas, Nightlights, Alkanet, Ferdinand, Eudes, Fulbert, Ashridge, Abigail, Briar, Almond, Crake, Storm, Barret, Alec, Harris, Brock, Bruin, Graill, Joanna, Alice, Alfgar, Fiddil, Orcharder, Melanie, Adela, Spoonbill, Betony, Michelle, Ellen, Jocelyn, Lætitia, Abel, Mari, Ford, Peter, Honesty, Bella, Yæna, Harmony, Dittander, Molly
117 Lyre, George, Irena, Lilly, Goshawk, Peregrine, Graill, Judith, Oak, Dabchick, Iola, Coaltit, Fulbert, Spoonbill, Parsley, Knapps, Gage, Ashridge, Eudes, Oullin, Bruana, Diana, Hville, Adela, Ingot, Herron, Rosebay, Gwyneth, Sheridan, Sturgeon, Jake, Maybells, Council, Yew, Will, Thomas, Rowan, Qvuine, Milligan, Joseph, Bluesher, Greensward, Morris, Grangon, Ryan, Hobby, Phœbe, Harris, Alec, Fiddil, Orcharder, Briar, Sagon, Storm, Durance, Charlotte
118 Iola, Adela, Knapps, Dabchick, Bruana, Beatrix, Bwlch, Burnet, Winefruit, Twailles, Saught, Spoonbill, Coaltit, Fulbert, Eudes, Coriander, Milligan, Hobby, Morgelle, Caoilté, Fritillary, Tuyere, Ælfgivu, Morwen, Bistort, Furnace, Turner, Froe, Otday, Otter, Luval, Molly, Ivy, Eorl, Geoffrey, Betony, Gosellyn, Smile, Phœbe, Cwm, Angharad, Vervain, Irena, Lilly, Falcon, Judith, Storm, Iola, Alwydd, Charlotte, Heron, Heidi, Rampion, Yew, Rowan, Spearmint, Veronica, Mast, Flint, Peregrine, Loosestrife, Bramling, Tench, Knawel, Oliver, Claire, Gdana, Grebe, Ironwood Agrimony, Joseph, Gordon, Diana, Gander, Gibb, Lunelight, Pleasance, Bay, George, Jason, Briar, Barnet, Oak, Acorn, Knott, Ingot, Gage, Beth, Jed, Guy, Qvuine, Swegn, Mortice, Mike, Spruce, Linden, Will, Gale, Morris, Rock, Revæl, Rampion, Matilda, Silverherb, Wheatear, Brock, Bruin, Estelle, Slimlyspoon, Edwin, Aspen, Musk, Joseph, Cynthia, Sannie, Lobelia, Merle, Laura, Warbler, Mint, Allia, Kevin, Laiqqa, Davvi, Madder, Robert, Crossbill, Barleycorn, Compass, Sextant, Sólarsteinn, Fulke, Bryony, Cobalt, Tress, Livette, Whin, Plane, Tunn, Lavender, Balsam, Jade, Phthalen, Tallia, Yumalle, Larov
119 Joseph, Briar, Sago, Swegn, Tress, Bryony, Gordon, Livette, Whin, Plane, Tunn, Lavender, Balsam, Cobalt, Sppleblossom, Lotus, Veronica, Mast, Flint, Peregrine, Bloom, Weälth, Coppicer, Lacy, Silverbean, Marjoram, Scorza, Gooseberry, Cove, Gowwan, Hugh, Earnest, Campion, Aaron, Skale, Xera, Horehound, Joaquim, Lorna, Leofric, Sabrina, Shag, Vinnek, Ruby
120 Warbler, Jed, Thrift, Firefox, Beth, Greensward, Will, Leech, Livette, Gloria, Peregr Janet, Ninija, Fiona, Isabel, Lilac,Ash, Beech, Jasmine, Rebecca, Francis, Yellowstone, Buttercup, Gage, Opal, Mist, Odo, Milligan, Thomas, Will, Gareth, Yew, Rowan, Basil, Hobby, Sagon, Campion, Joseph, Iola, Alwydd, Spearmint, Heron, Heidi, Rampion, Bowman, Gibb, Coaltit, Gordon, Douglas, Dabchick, Pleasance, Fergal, Åse, Leveret, Durance, Wayland, Laura, Stonecrop, Aaron, Nigel
121 Warbler, Jed, Thrift, Firefox, Iris, Otday, Gooseander, Harebell, Haw, Molly, Campion, Qvuine, Axel, Milligan, Veronica, Mast, Shag, Flint, Scoter, Sabrina, Marjoram, Peregrine, Clarice, Lingon, Cove, Gooseberry, Boarherb, Lorna, Horehound, George, Gowwan, Bloom, Leofric, Silverbean, Scorza, Flittermouse, Bryn, Hugh
122 Will, Gage, Mari, Ford, Milligan, Basil, Gudrun, Fergal, Rowan, Iola, Llyllabette, Yoomarrianna, Sledge, Hubert, Svetlana, Stanislav, Kathleen, Reef, Desmond, Raymond, Nigel Dabchick, Gabriëlla, Campion, Qvuine, Swegn, Nuulla, Gareth, Juniper, Leech, Thomas, Pilot, Yew, Janice, Ashlar, Slate, Whitethorn, Marble, Kæn, Berg, Linden, Lorna, Horehound, Banana, Veronica, Mast, Joaquim, Sabrina, Shag, Bloom, Cove, Hugh, Dlupé, Seela, Bullnut, Rutlan, Coppicer, Peregrine, Gowwan, Torrent, Irena, Chiffchaff, Lilly, Gosellyn, Cwm, Pim, Agrimony, Margæt, Otter, Suki, Whitethorn, Falcon, Mink, Ousel, Lyre, Dudaim, Yew, Sagon, Rowan, Jed, Turner, Otday, Hazel, Flint, Geoffrey, Eorl, Kæna, David, Harle, Clarity, Joseph, Milligan, Gibb, Gooseberry, Spoonbill, Ashdell, Bruana, Grangon, Pleasance, Heron, Basil, Alsike, Wolf, Zoë, Torrent, Columbine, Madder, Robert, Compass, Sólarsteinn, Sextant, Fulke, George, Peregrine, Molly, Falcon, Briar, Spoonbill, Dabchick, Honey, Bruana, Eudes, Fulbert, Grangon, Milligan, Gibb, Ingot, Sagon, Paul, Bulrush, Brightth, Happith, Douglas, Aaron, Nigel, Euan, Musk, Plume, Hobby, Courage, Truedawn, Nathan, Wolf, Geoffrey, Gosellyn, Steve, Axel, Yew, Zoë, Flint, Zephyr, Fletcher, Orkæke, Lunelight, Damson, Agrimony, Æneascoffey, Siskin, Brock, Bruin, Vinnek, Turner, Otday, Havern
123 Veronica, Mast, Zoë, Torrent, Columbine, Zrine, Zeeëend, Zlovan, Zylanna, Zylenna, Eolwaena, Tualla, Quoylay, Isdeän, Qheræce, Molleande, Sayley, Sennen, Waggon, Ivy, Vivienne, Nicola, Minyet, Morris, Dabchick, Iola, Geoffrey, Godfrey, Roebuck, Letta, Redstart, Russell, Iffan, Ælle, Fulcrum, Constant, Catfish, Lingwood, Fyrday, Vvavva, George, Lyre, Sagon, Graill, Joanna, Fiddil, Orcharder, Brock, Bruin, Judith, Storm, Caldera, Beth, Falcon, Warbler, Fiona, Isabel, Greensward, Jed, Fergal
124 Eleanor, Fuchsia, Woad, Bruana, Iola, Fulbert, Dabchick, Coaltit, Spoonbill, Ashridge, Noah, Bittersweet, Veronica, Mast, Coriander, Oak, Jason, George, Shag, Sabrina, Wolf, Joseph, Howell, Gervaise, Lilac, Rebecca, Jasmine, Fescue, Joella, Ash, Beech, Cattail, Guy, Molly, Beatrix, Cwm, Aida, Sharky, Lucimer, Wayland, Beth, Gage, Irena, Lilly, Eliza, Council, Gareth, Thomas, Yew, Bullnut, Flittermouse, Joaquim, Scorza, Aaron, Weälth, Silverbean, Hotroot, Shoveler, Gooseberry, Leofric, Bryn, Prawn, Gail, Dlupé, Rutlan, Flint,, Gorse, Cove, Weir, Milligan, Ruby, Janet, Alison, Olga, Miels, Ysteil, Horehound, Gowwan
125 Iola, Gage, Milligan,George, Oak, Axel, Josephine, Terry, Vinnek, Dittander, Squill,Jason, Silverbean, Mystery, Veronica, Geoffrey, Euan, Laslette, Douglas, Annella, Rampion, Mist, Lunelight, Damson, Æneascoffey, Jimmy, Berry, Aaron, Yew, Joseph, Joan, Bjarni, Polecat, Hamish, Gordon, Ross, Alastair, Céline, Midnight, Morag, Morgelle, Lillian, Tussock, Basil, Hobby, Suki, Irena, Nigel, Wayland, Siskin, Judith, Sagon, Janet, Ninija, Shader, Ivy, Beth, Mallard, Wryneck, Echo, Amber, Rowan, Weir, Will, Gale, Thomas, Gareth, Lilly, Gage, Jessica, Mike, Spruce, Harmony, Gevlik, Storm, Heron, Jamesstorm, Modesty, Solace, Timothy, Langstroth, Dadant, Io, Gdana, Liam, Gibb, Abigail, Ashridge, Morris, Dabchick, Ivana, Bruana, Miranda, Spokeshave, Manley, Field, Rose, Bling, Bling, Bittern, Madder, Robert, Heidi, Rampion, Wayland, Vlæna, Sooz, Alfalfa, Prudence, Spelt, Treen, Gramot, Greensward, Saithe, Falcon, Ripple, Sdorn, Zandra, Tenon, Hale, Beatrix, Vervain, Cwm, Amethyst, Mint, Blackdyke, Leech, Gwendoline, Pol, Bekka, Marcy, Drive, Brock, Bruin, Gervaise, Zoë, Tansy, Craig, Rock, Revæl, Sharky, Lucimer, Fiona, Warbler, Granite, Gosellyn, Eyebright, Julia
Word Usage Key
Some commonly used words are below. Replace th on end of words with ness and t with d or ed and most of the rest are obvious if sounded out aloud. Some words with n or en on the end can be easily understood if the n is replaced by a d. Only difficult words and words that do not exist in English are now referred to specifically.
Agreän(s), those person(s) one has marital agreement with, spouse(s).
Bethinkt, thought.
Braekt, broke.
Cousine, female cousin.
Doet, did. Pronounced dote.
Doetn’t, didn’t. Pronounced dough + ent.
Findt, found,
Goen, gone
Goent, went.
Grandparents. In Folk like in many Earth languages there are words for either grandmother and grandfather like granddad, gran, granny. There are also words that are specific to maternal and paternal grandparents. Those are as follows. Maternal grand mother – granddam. Paternal grandmother – grandma. Maternal grandfather – grandfa. Paternal grandfather – grandda.
Heartfriend, a relationship of much more significance than being a girl- or boy-friend is on Earth. Oft such relationships are formed from as young as four and they are taken seriously by both children and adults. A child’s heartfriend is automatically one of their heartfriend’s parents’ children too, and a sibling to their heartfriend’s siblings. Such relationships rarely fail and are seen as precursors to becoming intendet and having agreement.
Intendet, fiancée or fiancé.
Knoewn, knew.
Lastdaysince, the day before yesterday.
Loes, lost.
Maekt, made.
Nextdaynigh, the day after tomorrow.
Sayt, said.
Seeën, saw.
Taekt, took.
Telt, told.
Uest, used.
1 Liquid Gold, a light dry hoppy ale reminiscent of lager.
2 Juniper Spirits, Genièvre, Dutch Gin.
3 Meatcake, mixt cereal flour batter oven cooked in hot fat which makes it expand to a light airy cake many times its original volume, equivalent to Yorkshire pudding. Literally a cake served with meat, usually roast meat.
4 Greenleaf, spring greens, spring cabbage or collards.
5 Perse, Folk word for purple. Persebloom, purple broccoli.
6 Ellberry, Elderberry.
7 Ellberry wine, a brandy fortified elderberry wine equivalent to Port,
8 Shader, a rare and delicious rubus fruit, a member of the raspberry and blackberry family. Shaders grow in dank soil in heavy shade. Unique to Castle.
9 Orkæke, a berry spice with a unique taste, and unique to Castle.
10 Golden Gær, a strong sweet dessert white wine created by brew Master Bowman to which he gave his wife’s name.
11 Pennyroyals, a mint flavoured confection much used by those who craft with horses as a reward or treat.
12 Graill, a giant isopod that lives in the sea and uses the tideline possibly to breed between two and four nights a year. They can reach three feet long and forty weights. The plural of graill is graill.
13 Seaburn Cove – an open cast source of seaburn when the tide is out.
14 Seaburn, sea coal.
15 Collective, equivalent to the treasury or exchequer, the fund for public enterprises. The Collective also functions as a banking service.
16 Black Beauty, a dark heavy beer with a creamy head, not unlike Guinness.
17 Acorn ale, a pale larger-like beer brewed with crushed acorns for flavour.
18 Pure Spirits, actually 95.6% (by mass) ethanol. The rest is water. The is the highest concentration of ethanol that can be produced by fractional distillation at atmospheric pressure. Atmospheric pressure is approximately 10⁵ Pa. It is actually defined to be 101325 Pa.
19 Haggis wi’ Basht Neeps and Tatties and a Dram, Haggis with mashed swede [rutabaga] and potatoes with a glass of whisky.
20 Ceël, pronounced sea + ell, (si:ɛl), a small sweet pear-like fruit unique to Castle, often dried and powdered unripe as a vanilla like flavouring. Pyrus fragrans.
21 Andrambuidheach, a Castle version of Drambuie. The spelling is a Castle form of the translation from the Gaelic. The words have all been run together as is common in Folk, but the original means ‘The drink that satisfies’.
22 Sgian dubh, the traditional spelling of the small single edged ceremonial knife worn in the sock as part of highland dress. Strictly the spelling should be sgian dhubh, but the older form is used in this specific case.
23 Dubhachas. A black, bleak and desolate longing, depression, dreariness, melancholy, deep sadness.
24 The version presented here has the words ‘her, Castle’ instead of ‘the Lord’ in the final line.
25 Fireseed, the seed of an member of the umbelliferae family unique to Castle. The seed is used ground in food, it is too dangerous to use whole in food though it is so used in pickling spice mixes which are not eaten with the pickles. The vinegar renders the fireseed far less dangerous. Untreated fireseed is so hot an excess can blister the mouth before numbing the taste buds for many days, the blisters can take a lune to heal.
26 Gey, very, exceedingly.
27 The wood, the barrel.
28 Glaikit eejit, foolish idiot.
29 Tellin, a small tasty, often pink coloured, marine bivalve. In a tellin is equivalent to in a nutshell.
30 Cruit, a harp.
31 Mould, Penicillium notatum.
32 Bumpers, fenders.
33 Tallgrass, generic name for various species of bamboo.
34 Treen, literally of the tree, i.e. an item made of wood. Strictly treen could be any useful, usually small, item, but oft as here the term is used to describe tableware.
35 Lunetime, menstrual.
36 Swaddling, term uest on Castle for nappies (diapers in US) and not for wrapping cloths as in its original meaning on Earth.
37 Menstrual sponges, natural sponges used internally in the same way a tampon is.
38 Penicillium chrysogenum was Penicillium notatum.
39 Wax, lanolin.
40 Maid, in this context a virgin.
41 Unagreeän, a person with no agreän, one who is unmarried.
42 Cotte, Folk word for a female bottom, male is cot. Both words are respectable and uest by all. Both derive from apricot which like buttocks have a defined cleft. The default is the feminine, like most but not all Folk words. Cotte would be uest for example for a babe of unspecified sex.
43 Flaxcloth, linen.
44 Thuppets, the new beasts that came with the incursion of 568. Probably alpaca.
45 Shine, sunshine.
46 Syskon(en), sibling(s).
47 Drive, colloquialism for a taxi driver or cabby.
48 Apron, a direct descendant of a Bavarian Dirndl. An apron consists of a laced bodice atop a full skirt. It is worn with a low-cut blouse with short puff sleeves, which often are threaded with ribands, and an apron. It is normal and frequent wear for women of the Folk.
Comments
Eating the Unfit...
Is Aaron really considering treating the non-Folk in future incursions as meat animals?
Or deciding that the quality of Earth people is descending to the point where from now on they should simply kill or sterilize the entire incursion on arrival?
Assuming that's not the case, what does he think will need to be done differently? Given the reverence for motherhood and children, aborting the fetuses of women raped by outlaws wouldn't be popular. But other than that, new arrivals are already being told to assimilate or die, so the latter group are not breeding. The Folk have been literally preparing the Keep for centuries against an invasion of hostiles, so even a concerted attack against them by a united group of newcomers won't threaten their survival. (Unless or until we get to a post-apocalypse scenario where everyone coming across carries an energy weapon with them, or can build a nuclear device from personal belongings.)
Or is he thinking of starting to rank the Folk for utility and sterilizing the losers? The Way, as he noted, can change, but that'd seem to be totally contrary to tradition. (Also wildly impractical, if the population does spread throughout the world.)
Eric
Aaron
Aaron is merely considering that there are those, be they animal or human, that should not be allowed to pass any inadequacies that threaten the Folk on. He and the rest of the senior members of the Folk have no problems with the limited having children, for they are contributing to the Folk. [See his, Basil's and Willow's interactions with the firekeepers of Happith's squad]
Aaron only cares whether incursionists can become Folk or not, if not they will die, not be eaten. Castle will sort the population without any help from Aaron or his successors. Sort being uest in a literal sense here.
For the future see the last few chapters. Chapter 129 is the end.
Regards,
Eolwaen
Eolwaen
I Know There's No Problem...
...with the limited Folk. That's why my "sort" was by utility. The limited can certainly be useful.
Eric