He was Almost Absorbed by the System

Chapter One Hundred And Fifty Five - A Wife Or An Apprentice

Author's note; Thank you so much for your patience and for the wonderful comments I have received for this book (and others) recently.  I appreciate your time.

K'tai-tul was in the greenhouse when his mother called, tending to saplings infested by slugs that had managed to sneak into the protected nursery.  One by one, he picked the slimy critters from the tender leaves and dropped them into a bucket.  He had already removed nearly a whole bucket load and was not yet finished his gruesome task.  Hearing her call, he picked up the bucket and took it several metres away from the greenhouse to place it on the ground.  He would deal with it later.  He also needed to find out how and where the slugs had managed to get into the nursery or this whole task would prove pointless.

He stretched his back, sighing as his spine seemed to click in many places, before turning towards the house, where his uncle was exiting and moving towards him.  K'tai-tul rolled his eyes heavenward realising that his mother had sent his uncle to get him.  His uncle shrugged, sheepishly, but neither man dared get on L'tai-shu's bad side.

"There are slugs in the greenhouse," K'tai-tul informed his uncle.  The man had been hovering protectively over his wife, whose health and mood had improved over the past month.  Just yesterday, the woman had chased him out of the house having had enough of being smothered by him.

"Oh, I'll look into it," his uncle said.  A tree farmer spend years raising their crops, an outbreak of critters could set them back a long time if they did too much damage to the saplings that they had spent months growing.  As he did as he stated, K'tai-tul entered the back of the house, where he removed his boots so not to get mud on the floor.

"She's in the greeting room," his aunt informed him as she washed dishes in the warm kitchen.  K'tai-tul nodded in acknowledgement and moved towards the rarely used room.  A greeting room was a place to greet and entertain guests, but his family usually only entered it to remove dust and cobwebs.  In fact, it had not been in proper use since his aunt had married into the family.  The room contained a few wooden chairs, with plump cushions upon them to make the seating more comfortable.  At the centre of the room was a thick rug and on the rug was a small wooden table.  Upon the table, there currently was a tea set and two of the chairs were currently occupied.  In one sat his mother and in the other...

"Greetings, T'chu-gon," K'tai-tul said politely, while inwardly seething.  T'chu-gon was the son of the current head of the Gon family.  Like his own, the Gon were tree farmers, but their family was large and with many branches.  Although to outsiders T'chu-gon was just a son, he was actually the one in charge of the family.  The elder was old and his mind was becoming lost to time.  However, T'chu-gon had lazy brothers, who while were content to allow the man to make the decisions while their father was alive, were greedy enough to want his place when he was dead.  T'chu-gon had a plan to prevent his scheming brothers from taking his rightful place, unfortunately that plan involved K'tai-tul and his family.

"I was just thanking your mother for her warm hospitality," the man said in return.  L'tai-shu thanked him before rising from her seat.  Although, she was the matriarch of the family, her son was the official head in the eyes of the people.  Of course she expected a full report from her son once his business was concluded and she made sure he understood that.

He did not roll his eyes upward, just offered her a curt nod before she left the room.  K'tai-tul watched her go and inwardly sighed.  He did not want to talk to this man right now.  He sat in a spare chair, though he wished it wasn't required of him.  "To what do I owe this honour," K'tai-tul asked as T'chu-gon placed his tea cup onto the table.

"I was hoping that you had thought further on my proposal," the man replied.  "You know it would benefit you greatly."

"While there would be benefits," he said, tactfully, "you can't deny that this is a decision not to be taken lightly.  You are basically asking me to relinquish my family name."