Of Women and Bread

Lord Fred had a question about Aqualaria that he wanted to ask, but he was uneasy, because he felt that it might be rude. He began, "Very few people have crossed the Shreken and have survived to tell about it. I have heard traveler's tales - wild ones. They say that Aqualaria is a land where the army is composed entirely of women, and that men are slaves. I certainly do not mean to offend. That is just what I heard."

Astra shook her head. "I think that the fact that those tales are spread and believed says as much about the ways of the Havnheim as it does our monarchy. We do trace the family lines through the mother, rather than the father, as they do among the primative tribes of the Ryngaerd, with which we are familiar. I cannot speak for the Havnheim, of course, but it seems from your question that family responsibility works the same way there. This simple fact changes how property and offices are inherited, as well as a number of other things. But as far as 'holding men in slavery', no. Our army consists mostly of the great and petty nobility, who are expected to know how to ride, and use a sword and a bow. The commoners are not allowed to possess swords and bows and arrows, but the Queen does make sure that they are trained to use the pike in case the barbarians attack, and most of them are handy with tools like the machete, which they must have to work their farms, and so are not as tightly controlled."

"But why are women even in the armies at all? An Allarian woman's youth is spent in nursing and raising children. How does Aqualaria manage if the mothers are all in the army?"

"Perhaps the Havnheim is torn by constant war, but in the Ryngaerd, we generally see little more than incidents of theft or sporadic raids from the nearby tribes, and with many of them, we get along well. I believe that is because all of the people in the monarchy are ready, at any time, to respond with a massive display of force. The dragon is a problem, but we are not alone in not being able to solve that. But as to why we have our young women get martial training - it is part of the way things have been done for a long time. But there are also practical reasons. Service in the army, under hardship and working with one's peers, is one way that we can measure a woman's - or a man's - character, so everyone should have a chance at it. And it is not as if the wife and husband are totally alone. I think that you will see how it works when you get there, Fred." Astra smiled, to show that there were no hard feelings concerning his candid questions.

Checkers also volunteered an opinion. "Aqualaria is not unique in training women to be able to fight. When hunting season is at its peak, we cannot afford to have many Gliders grounded, so girls get a similar training as boys in hunting and tracking. We do not have the division between the 'nobility' and 'commoners' that Astra mentioned - all of us get the same education. Most of our training with weapons concerns how to use it to bring in food, but with the threat from outsiders, such as the men to the West and the dragon, we also are drilled in tactics to combat these as well."

Fred asked, "I do not understand the lack of a nobility. I would think that there would be fights as the strongest families rose to the top, as abilities are naturally unequal. Becoming a knight takes much training, and why would you waste training on how to lead or handle a horse in battle on a farmer or artisan, who could better spend the time as an apprentice to a master, learning his craft?" Astra looked at Fred and nodded her head in agreement. He made a good point. The Gliders' arrangements seemed wasteful.

Checkers face assumed an earnest expression, as she tried to explain. "We do not live under quite the same conditions as you do. First, there are fewer of us than there are of our neighbors. So every Glider has to have some knowledge of how to survive and repel an attack. If we lose one captain in a fight, we cannot have an entire patrol die because nobody can lead it out of an attack."

"While we have a number of noted craftsmen, we do not have farms, much less the great manors, like the men west of us have. These men have cut the land up to grow grass to eat, which is not a very filling food, at least for us. You all seem to like it though."

"Grass?" asked Astra.

"Yes. When it gets to a kind of light orange colour, it produces seeds. I once saw a couple of farmers take some stones and crush it into a sort of white paste. Then they take it to a magician, who mixes in some magic plants, and heats it. The paste gets big. I have heard it called 'bread', but it is really just grass, and does not do much for me."

Fred and Astra looked at each other again. Both had supressed a chuckle at Checkers' description of a bakery. They both continued looking at each other, each assuming a blissful expression and happy to say nothing. Belboz did not intervene. In fact, he had said little. He was apparently bored and his mind had wandered somewhere else, much to Astra's relief. Checkers suddenly felt very much ignored.

She decided

1. not to say anything, and let well enough alone.
2. to give Fred and Astra some privacy by wandering nearby on some excuse.
3. to ask Belboz what land he came from, and what wonders he had seen.

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