“You’re young,” she said, “but not a stripling lad.” And his gaze was strangely old, she thought. The color and shape of his eyes were arresting, sublime, but their expression was riveting simply for that perennial quality to his regard.
“I hope to still be young by the time I do take a wife,” he said without revealing more about Quereci customs.
They resumed their walk a second time, and she steered the conversation back to the festival and more recommendations for the parties he and his relatives might enjoy attending. “Dahran Omeya said you weren’t staying for the entire festival. Now that you’ve attended some of the gatherings, will you change your mind?” She prayed he’d say yes.
He dashed her hopes with a quick shake of his head. “We leave day after tomorrow, early. However, my cousins are insistent we go to the Sun and Rose celebration. Have you heard of it?”
Not only had she heard of it, she’d attended it several years in a row when she was still in her twenties. “It’s one of the favorite Delyalda celebrations. Four young men are chosen to represent Yalda or the sun. They dance with every woman participating until the musicians stop the music. The woman still dancing with one of the four suns receives a rose of promise. The belief is she’ll find her true love and be married by the time of the next festival.”
“My cousins will kill me in my sleep if I don’t take them to that particular event,” he said on a mournful note.
Emerence laughed. “Trust me when I tell you that you’ll have as wonderful time as they will. As long as you like dancing. I used to attend every year. I still go some years. It’s as entertaining to watch as it is to participate.”
“Why don’t you participate? You said you didn’t wish to marry until you found someone you considered worthy of your heart. That doesn’t mean you can’t still dance and hope just as the others do.”
Whoever became this man’s wife would be one fortunate woman, she thought wistfully. “It’s no longer for me,” she said. “As I’m no longer a dewy maiden and have never been a widow, me dancing in the Sun and Rose would make me ridiculous in others’ eyes. Besides, every woman participating is another woman’s direct competition for that rose. Many truly believe in the rose’s promise. I’ve no wish to make it harder when I have no interest in the outcome.”
His frown became a scowl. “The Beladine are very different from the Quereci. A Quereci woman, old or young, would be encouraged to participate in such a dance, not mocked for it, and the men would fight for the privilege of representing the god instead of waiting to be chosen. In fact,” he continued, “the woman would be the one to pass out a rose to a hopeful Quereci man.”
She sighed. “Your people sound amazing, the women so valued in your world.”
“They are the heart and soul of the clans,” he said. “A Quereci man isn’t considered a full-fledged member of the clan until he marries or is sponsored by a Quereci woman. A Quereci woman is born with the status.” He smiled. “You don’t believe me.”
She shook her head. “No, I do. Truly. I’m just amazed by it all. The Quereci men accept this way of things?”
He tilted his head to one side. “Of course. Why wouldn’t they?”
She wanted to ply him with more questions but unfortunately they’d reached her house. It sat small, dark, and empty across the street from where she stood with Gaeres. Never before had seeing it not given her pleasure. Until now.
“My home,” she said, pointing to the structure. “My father and his wife live next door.” The bigger home was dark as well. No doubt Tocqua and Linnett were sound asleep.
Prior to Gaeres’s revelations about the strong matriarchal nature of Quereci society, Emerence would have braced herself for some disapproving remark over the fact she owned her home independent of her father or some other male relative. Such a thing just wasn’t done. Tocqua himself had been so furious when first learned what she’d done, he didn’t speak to her for a fortnight. She didn’t regret it then. She didn’t regret it now. She might be solitary, but her life was her own, including this humble abode.
Gaeres didn’t remark on her home ownership, but his face drew into forbidding lines and his demeanor changed, taking