was Obring she should watch - she had often seen the way Mother grew impatient when Obring spoke in council meetings. She had no respect for him, and neither did Father, though he hid it better. So if any adult male might exemplify disgusting behavior, it would certainly be Obring.
From now on, Chveya would focus all her attention on the adults around her, watching to see who was the Dazya of the mothers and who was the Proya of the fathers. In the process, she began to understand things that she had never understood before. The world was not as clear and simple a place as she had thought till now.
The most shocking revelation came on the day she discussed marriage with her parents. It had recently dawned on her that eventually the children would all grow up and pair off with each other and have babies and start the whole cycle all over again - this because of some vile remark by Toya about what Proya really wanted to do to Dazya. Toya had meant it to be an obscene horror, but Chveya realized that, far from being a horror, it was probably a prophecy. Wouldn't Proya and Dazya be the perfect pair? Proya would be just like Elemak, and Dazya would probably smile at Proya with complete devotion the way Eiadh did with Elemak. Or would Dazya be like her mother Hushidh, so much stronger than her husband Issib that she even carried him around and bathed him like a baby? Or would Proya and Dazya continue their struggle for supremacy all through their lives, trying to turn their own babies against each other?
That thought led Chveya to wonder which of the boys she would marry. Would it be one of the boys of the first year, her own age? That would mean either Proya or Okya, and the thought of either one repelled her. Then what about boys of the second year? Dazya's little brother Xodhya, Proya's little brother Nadya, or the "adult" Yaya - what a proud selection! And the children of the third year were the same age as her revolting brother Motya - how could she dream of marrying someone that young?
So she broached the subject with her parents as they were eating breakfast on a morning when Father was not going hunting, so they could eat together. "Will I have to marry Xodhya, do you think?" she asked - for she had decided that Xodhya was the least disgusting of all the alternatives.
"Definitely not," said Mother, without a moment's hesitation.
"In fact," said Father, "we would forbid it."
"Well, who then? Okya? Yaya?"
"Almost as bad," said Father. "What is this, are you planning to start a family anytime soon?"
"Of course she's thinking about it, Nyef," said Mother. "Girls think about such things at this age."
"Well, then, she might keep in mind that she isn't going to marry a full uncle and certainly not a full double first cousin."
These words meant absolutely nothing to Chveya, but they hinted at dark mysteries. What unspeakable thing had Xodhya done to become a "full double first cousin"? So she asked.
"It's not what he did," said Mother. "It's just that his mother, Hushidh, is my full sister - we both have the same mother and the same father. And Zaxodh's father, Issib, is your father's full brother - they both have the same mother and father, who happen to be Grandmother and Grandfather. That means that you have all your ancestors in common - it's the closest blood relation among all the children, and marriage between you is out of the question."
"If we can possibly avoid it," added Father.
"We can avoid that one, anyway," said Mother. "And I feel almost as strongly about Oykib and Yasai, because they are also sons of both Rasa and Volemak."
Chveya took all this in with outward calm, but inwardly she was in turmoil. Hushidh and Mother were full sisters, but not daughters of Grandmother and Grandfather! And Father and Issib were full brothers, as were Oykib and Yasai, and this fullness of their brotherhood was because they all were sons of Grandmother and Grandfather. Yet the very use of the word full implied that there were some here who were not full brothers, and therefore not sons of both Volemak and Rasa. How could that be?
"What's wrong?" asked Father.
"I just... who is it that I can marry?"
"Isn't it a little early..." began Father.
Mother intervened. "The boys who disgust you today will look far more