Free Broken World Book Three - A Land Without Law by T C Southwell Page B

hurried on,
"It's just a little ceremony. Everyone will be glad. I mean, for
the First Chosen to marry a Mujar is like the ultimate bonding
between Trueman and Mujar, reconciling all the differences of the
past..."
    "Showing
people that Mujar are as good as them?"
    "No." She saw
the trap and sidestepped it. "To show that Lowmen are worthy of
Mujar."
    Chanter
laughed. "Very clever, my little clan. But what would you expect
from this union?"
    "No more than
we have now. When you marked me, we became bound to each other,
just like a marriage. This would be the Trueman version, confirming
our bond in the eyes of my people."
    He sat up,
crossed his legs and faced her, taking her hand. "It's a foolish
idea. One that I can't agree to. A Mujar bond is not like marriage,
and ultimately you would not be happy trapped in a union that could
never give you the things you want. A marriage between Trueman and
Mujar would be an empty promise, a barren contract that would gain
us nothing."
    Talsy gnawed
her lip, unsure of his reaction to the idea to which Kieran had
been so averse. Would he also rail against it? Whipping up her
flagging courage, she met his eyes. "It doesn't have to be barren.
Now that there are no laws, we could have children."
    For a moment
his expression froze, then he looked down. She held her breath,
dreading an angry outburst, shocked refusal, or disgusted aversion,
but hoping for acceptance. The hand that held hers tightened, and
his shoulders shook. She bent to peer at his face, which the glossy
hair that had fallen over it hid. Chanter raised his head, his eyes
sparkling, and let loose the laughter he had been trying to hide.
He released her hand and fell backwards in paroxysms of mirth.
Peals of laughter burst from him as he convulsed with hilarity.
Fortunately, the goatherd whose hut they sat atop was always out
all day tending his flock, otherwise the laughter coming from above
might have startled him. Chanter seemed in danger of rolling off
the roof, he laughed so hard. Talsy strived to marshal her confused
emotions, a mixture of relief that he had not been angry and anger
at his mirth.
    "It's because
you're so damned perfect, isn't it?" she asked. "No Mujar would
sully his blood by mixing it with a mere Lowman's!"
    Chanter
sobered and sat up, shaking his head. "No."
    "Our children
would be the answer to the problems of this world. Mujar blood
would improve the Trueman race."
    "Listen to
me." He gazed at her earnestly. "It's impossible, okay? Not because
I think Mujar are too good to mix their blood, or that Truemen are
too bad. We're just too different. We're almost complete opposites.
We don't think alike, breed alike, live alike, nor even die the
same way. We have nothing in common."
    "So what would
a child of our two races be like? A monster?"
    "No." He
pondered. "I don't know, actually. You're right, without the laws,
crossbreeding would be possible. But as to the results, I cannot
speculate." He ran a hand through his hair. "Just forget it okay?
It's a good joke, nothing more." He chuckled. "You do come up with
the most outrageous ideas."
    Rising to his
feet, he stretched and turned to leave. "I must go and speak to
Kieran." He wagged a finger at her. "Forget it, okay? The answer is
no. No marriage, no children, not ever."
    Talsy frowned
as he jumped down and strode away along the road into the village.
A determined voice deep within her refuted his words with steely
resolution. She would prove him and Kieran wrong, somehow. She
would bring into the world the most beautiful child ever conceived,
and it would be Chanter's.
     
    Chanter mulled
over Talsy's words as he walked through the village. A crazy,
impossible Lowman notion, conceiving a child between two races so
utterly different that normally they could never breed. Only she
could come up with such an irresponsible idea. Like mingling fire
and ice, which would give you hot water, he supposed, or steam.
Like mixing Life and Death. He shuddered at the