[Complete] Eroh has reached his seventeenth spring and has finally become a man. With manhood comes a gift: marriage to the woman he loves. But when a strange new woman from another world enters his life, he is stuck with the decision to honor his...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Lylef's beautiful grass-green eyes were all I wanted to see, but I spent the last week staring at a horse's ass.
The ride to Boarwood was miserable. My rump hurt miserably. And my father's voice was shrouded in misery. He shouted nearly the entire ride home. Cursing the Horn Lord and the Gods. It was a wonder how he wasn't marked for death.
"Who does he think he is?" My father glared at me like I'd had all the answers. "Denying my daughter. If it was Eroh, that would've been one thing ... But for the Chief to embarrass us like that? How dare he!" He smacked his horse, and it bucked. "Settle down you stupid beast before I make you into a stew." The horse flicked an ear and came under his control. He was a fat horse who was only good for carrying a fat man. With enough fat on him to make a fatty stew. "Worthless animal."
I rode beside him, teetering. I kept my legs firm and my hips strong to keep from falling. "Father. My manhood day is coming-"
"And what a disappointment you'll be ..."
"You best hope not. Lylef is coming into her womanhood ... if I am to become a man then we could be matched-"
"Ha!" The chief raised his rounded chin. "The Horn Lord will never marry that sweat meat to you ... not a two-time failure."
I pushed out my chest, not allowing him to wound my pride. "You don't know that. Lylef fancies me."
He snorted and gargled, then spat at my horse's feet. "That's what wishing will get you ..."
"You're wrong."
"And you're an idiot." Father bit off the cork to his horn then guzzled down a red that matched the color of his cheeks. "I loved a beautiful woman once. Even asked her to run away and marry me." His head bobbed. "She told me never ... then married that horse lord, Reigrum. Bitch!"
The wound seemed as fresh as the day it was carved. I was certain the wine only reopened it. That and my sister's rejection. If I were not to marry Lylef would I turn into my father? Is that whom I'd become? A fat pile of drunken meat?
"You went for a woman who never loved you ..."
"But she did." He hiccuped. "Nasalai loved me, and I loved her ... but she was too afraid of her father. And all he was was a worthless drunk." He took another drink and wiped his lips. "I was strong back in those days. Not like you. Fat, worthless, ready to croak."
I chuckled. "You keep drinking like that, father, and the only one croaking will be you."
Boarwood village had as many trees as it did cottages. A giant, spiked wall wrapped around the hundreds of homes to keep the beasts out. The wood was marked by the tusks of the Boartaur that roamed the land. They hunted in herds, killing anything that got in their way. I feared them as a child. Many times even being awoken by their snorts outside the wall. But the Boartaur were few these days ... something was making them run away.
