“Sorry?”
She tipped her chin in the direction of where the man in the robes was and repeated, “The Eunuch. He has charge of the scouts who search for the wives for the Hunt. He has charge of the Hunt and its celebrations. He has charge of the warrior selections and once the warriors are selected, he chooses who will be trained by whom then, once they are of an age, who will be assigned to whom. The warriors spend years as what we would consider squires, serving at the same time training before they are sent out to make their first kill. And when we ride, once the Dax chooses camp, he has charge of organizing the chams, making sure livestock and horses are kept downwind, refuse is disposed of correctly, things the Dax has little interest in.”
I was stuck on something she said previously.
“He’s a eunuch?”
She nodded. “The Dax before King Lahn did the deed himself. I watched it. Everyone did. It happened on this very dais.”
Oh my God!
I stared at her then breathed, “Why?”
She shook her head. “There are those who…” she paused, “prefer their erm…” she hesitated again, “own kind.”
“He’s a homosexual?” I asked, aghast at where this was going.
“A what?” Diandra asked back.
“He likes men as in, having relations with them,” I explained.
She nodded and muttered, “He did.”
Yikes!
“They don’t…” it was my turn to pause, “they don’t allow homosexuality and they –?”
Diandra shook her head. “No, Dax Lahn does, he does not seem to care. He only punishes those who force it on others who do not wish it. The other Dax though…” she trailed off then whispered, “it was unpleasant.”
I bet it was. It was also unacceptable. So unacceptable, it was hideous.
I pressed my lips together and looked forward.
“He was cast out, Dahksahna Circe,” Diandra kept talking to me. “But Dax Lahn remembered he was a fine warrior under his father’s reign. He remembered he had a sharp mind. He sent scouts to find him and gave him this role. It is a high honor.”
I nodded, feeling slightly better about that (slightly) and even better that Lahn would do that but my mind had turned because I was watching the clearing and something was happening.
Then it happened.
“This can’t be,” I whispered to Diandra.
I was staring at the little boys lining up in front of us on the slab of stone at the foot of the dais. A quick glance to the side showed that Lahn was sitting in his black throne next to me, still leaned forward, elbow to knee, eyes to the boys. I looked back at the boys and saw that each had a belt in which they carried two knives at the sides and each had a leather strap across their little boy chests that held a sheath and small sword at a slant at their back, like adult warriors. I also saw that the knives and swords were made of wood.
And last, I saw that these boys had to be no more than four or five years old.
What was going on?
“Diandra,” I whispered, my voice trembling.
“It is their way,” she whispered back, lips close to my ear and I twisted my head and caught her eyes.
“They’re little boys!” I hissed.
“My queen, it is their way.”
“But –”
She cut me off firmly. “Sit, watch, listen but do not disgrace yourself or your king. Do not. There is a time where you can defy your king, there is a time when you can make your preferences known, he has made this clear, but, Dahksahna Circe, this is a crucial ceremony to the Korwahk, it guarantees the future of The Horde so this is not one of those times.”