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rix_scaeduI have been meaning to mention that when the story talks about fortified wine, I am talking about something very close to, if not identical to, port. Kasoohlt, on the other hand, is a white whisky made from maize. This may explain why the ladies drink both of these from small glasses....
This piece runs to 1,930 words and I hope that you enjoy it.
Onnaday, 3 Deichen, 1893 C.E.
Sebti, 21 Sajibu, 2157 T.M.L.
1 Ueuekayomatilistli, 8 Coatl, 6.11.2.1.8.3.9
Dear Journal,
I woke up this morning a lady in expectation of receiving a proposal of marriage.
It is an experience unique in my personal history. It combines both hopeful expectation and dread that the expected event won't occur - a situation in which I would not like to dwell overlong.
Nais had to remind me that today is a day of rest. I spent some time while I was getting dressed in my red visiting gown to draft a telegraph to Tallaig summarising the situation and letting him know what I wish to do if asked for my hand in marriage. It is less than three months before Tallaig's guardianship ends and at almost twenty-five years of age, I hope that I know my own mind.
I took the draft message downstairs with me to breakfast and when I exchanged greetings with Miztli in the foyer, I asked him for his opinion of my wording. (I did explain that my brother can be 'prickly’, and I didn't want to inadvertently put his back up.) Miztli said that he found nothing objectional in the text, but recommended that I consult his father and brother as well because, he said, they needed to know my wishes in this matter and I was being reasonable - in case the way that matter turned out meant that I needed allies.
Cousin Ghrus, Axolin, Chiccetlalli, and Yeixi were all at breakfast when I arrived and none of them could find anything about my draft that would ruffle my brother and guardian's sensibilities. Cousin Ghrus excused himself briefly from the room - to fetch the draft of his telegraph message to my brother, and I was pleased to see that he was recommending that Tallaig accept an offer from Lord Elnaith, if it is made.
As we were agreed on our messages, Cousin Ghrus had a footman take them to the telegraph office to be sent. The footman seemed almost excited or eager to run this errand, despite it being a day of rest, but Cousin Poktlilui arrived as he left and explained that courtship matters are often dealt with on a day of rest as that is when people have time to do so. I then made a good breakfast of porridge and set the matter aside to await Lord Elnaith's call.
I spent the morning with my embroidery and finished the last of my guardian beasts. The fanged toad-like beasts are very pleasing to me, but the line of them around the cloth looked...unclothed to me. So, I consulted with Cousin Poktlilui, Great-aunt, and Tehaneume on the twin subjects of propitious numbers and colours, particularly in relation to food and meals. That was why I started a three line border in running stitch on both sides of my little beasties. Done with six lengths of thread at once and switching my needle between them, it went very quickly.
It was not finished by the time lunch was served, of course. This part of the work is quick, but not that quick. Lunch was served in the breakfast room with the soup being poultry and beans with root vegetables. Tehaneume described my cloth to our cousins and expressed surprise at how much I had done so quickly. I pointed out that I was practised at such things and had deliberately chosen a design and execution that I could carry out relatively quickly. Tehaneume and I then had a conversation about stitch and thread choices to quickly produce particular effects, which the older ladies had some interest in, but the gentlemen withdrew from and began their own discussion about, I believe, sports fishing.
After lunch, I sat back down with my embroidery. I am very close to being done with it and it is an obligation here that has a finite end.
Lord Elnaith arrived halfway through the afternoon. He was admitted by Axolin who happened to be in the foyer when Lord Elnaith knocked on the front door. (My cousins might have had a rota in place to make sure that the door was not unattended.) Lord Elnaith went straight into an interview with Cousin Ghrus. Despite it being a day of rest, the news travelled so quickly that Cousin Poktlilui was entering the room as Axolin finished telling me the news. After a quarter of an hour, Cousin Ghrus ushered Lord Elnaith into the parlor and ushered the cousins who had joined me in there out. Once the door had closed behind them. Lord Elnaith cleared his throat and gave a very pretty, and succinct, speech about how greatly he esteemed me and hoping that I would grant him the honour of accepting his hand in marriage. I replied that I was very flattered, because I also greatly esteemed him, and did he realise that our children would have to go by the surname of Nearabhigan? He said that he did and that if I accepted him, then he would apply to the Emperor for permission to pass the bh' prefix to our children so that they would go by bh'Nearabhigan. He added that if the petition was not accepted then it was likely that my personal style would likely be Anadrasata Nearabhigan, Lady Elnaith bh' Sedloit. However, if his petition is accepted, he intends to take the surname bh'Nearabhigan himself, there being he said drily, rather a lot of bh'Sedloits and him being a younger son. The revelation that he had thought on this matter, although it is probably the most contentious issue for most people, and come up with these solutions, quite took my breath away, and there were a few speechless moments before I could get my acceptance out. Lord Elnaith then opened the door so that we could share the happy news and, although they were all in the hallway outside the door none of them were obviously eavesdropping.
Despite it being a day of rest, we all celebrated with a small glass of kasoolht each. Lord Elnaith seemed surprised by its potence. He also stated his intention of approaching my brother as soon as possible for his approval of the match. I was glad that Cousin Ghrus and I had already messaged my brother.
After Lord Elnaith left, I resumed my embroidery while Great-aunt debated with herself by bouncing her thoughts off Tehaneume about whether a dinner or a ball should be held in honour of the engagement. I felt the need to point out that Lord Elnaith and I probably did not have sufficient local acquaintance between us to support the guest list for a ball. I also opined that the match was not so important as to arouse interest among locals that would motivate them to attend such a function. Cousin Poktlilui agreed that this was true, and suggested that a Forbaign family dinner with all of Great-aunt's children, children-in-law, and grandchildren, and grandchildren-in-law invited. She pointed out that if this visit had not involved Great-uncle's papers, they would probably be whisking me around the countryside to meet everyone, so a dinner would both let everyone meet me, and have me meet them, and celebrate my engagement while also introducing them to my betrothed. Given that the family would need to travel and they believe I should be home by my birthday in order to deal with the end of my guardianship and (possibly) my trust, they set to working out suitable dates. Rest days and Naiphday were a complication. Finally they decided that, allowing for Lord Elnaith's availability, 6 Ueuekayomatilistli was the earliest that the dinner could be held, with the next possible date being the 8th, then somewhere from the 10th to the 13th inclusive. Great-aunt went upstairs to draft a note to Lord Elnaith, enquiring about his availability, to be sent around in the morning, before she had dinner.
I did not finish embroidering the cloth this afternoon but I am very close.
Being a rest day, dinner tonight was a stew in the breakfast room. Tonight's recipe involved a gamey dark meat that I didn't recognise (a venison?) and, I think, dried potatoes that were reconstituted by cooking in the stew. I am not sure how you would go about drying a whole potato, and I am not sure why you would need to preserve them in this way but a walk through the food markets here demonstrates that I do not know as much about potatoes as I thought I did.
After we ladies withdrew to the parlor for our kasoolht, Tehaneume raised the question of what we would do if Tallaig refused to approve my engagement. The simple answer, although Great-aunt pointed out that he would be foolish to do so, is to wait until my birthday and then marry anyway. My advantage, if he takes that course, is that I am not currently under his hand. I added that the same thing applies if my mother objects to my plans for my future, given that she has taken steps to keep me, well, unattached ever since I might have come out. Cousin Poktlilui agreed that could be a difficulty and suggested that we might need to enquire if we can legally marry in the Confederation. As a wedding in the consulate's chapel by the consulate's chaplain would be a wedding in the Empire and could not take place without my guardian's consent before my birthday, I asked what the requirements for a legal marriage within the Confederation are.
Firstly, there is a residency requirement - more of a presence requirement really. One party must have been present in the althepetl where the ceremony takes place, and adjoining althepetl, and/or an allied althepetl for no less than three tzolks before the wedding takes place. (Obviously, Lord Elnaith and I don't meet this basic qualification.) Secondly, the parties to the marriage cannot be within certain degrees of familial relations to each other. (Almost completely certain that this does not apply to us.) Certain warranties as to a lack of impediment (such as an existing marriage) have to be provided by the civil authorities and those to be married. A statement should be provided from the couple's religious patrons that there is no impediment to the marriage at that time. All of that being satisfied, a civil marriage contract is enacted, usually with some ceremony, and filed with the althepetl's administration. It is customary for the happy couple to progress to the temples of their deitical patrons and those of the city, and both advise the gods of what they have done and sacrifice for their ongoing good fortune.
The gentlemen joined us as I was discovering that I don't have the vocabulary to understand what the religious impediments to a marriage might be. They were helpful in explaining who Tlemutsiko's deitical patrons are. These deities are The Lord of the Dawn (because Tlemutsiko is the first, or one of the first places, in the Confederation to see the rising sun), the Lady of Waters (because it is on the Circle Sea), and the Lord of the Earth (because of the Circle Mountains). Everyone was surprised that no-one had told me this before. I remarked that it was probably one of things that everyone knows and didn't remember that I would not.
I excused myself to go up to my room early tonight - there was so much that I wanted to make sure that I recorded before I became too tired to do so.
Anadrasata Nearabhigan
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Date: 2025-02-16 04:15 pm (UTC)So, the ladies are drinking White Lightning. :-)
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Date: 2025-02-17 06:28 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-16 08:45 pm (UTC)One minor typo catch: The fanged toad-like beasts are very *leasing* to me - one missing letter is all it is.
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Date: 2025-02-17 06:25 am (UTC)About Lord Elnaith's title. Yes, the Empire's system of aristocratic titles has grandfathered in a lot of different things that didn't originally belong together, but a lot of the ongoing system is based on my understanding of the British peerage. Lord Elnaith doesn't have a title in his own right, in his case the 'Lord' is a courtesy title because his father holds what we might call a senior rank in the peerage - no doubt a holdover from when being extra polite (and possibly subservient) to a peer's son was a good life move because a couple of hefty lads wouldn't be sent around to teach you manners. If he was Lord bh'Sedloit then he would have a title in his own right - probably a barony but possibly an earldom. It is possible that our gentleman might later receive these honours from the Emperor, but for now he is Lord Elnaith bh'Sedloit.
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Date: 2025-02-18 05:09 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-02-21 10:56 pm (UTC)(Was it not kasoohlt the cousins got Lord Elnaith drunk with, then? re: his suprise at the strength)
"Great-aunt debated with herself by bouncing her thoughts off Tehaneume" <3
I'm not sure how you'd dry a whole potato either and have Anadrasata-levels of curiosity about it. (Though I did read something about drying sliced turnips as travel-food in 18th century Switzerland the other day. I'm still not wholly convinced by the idea...)
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Date: 2025-02-21 11:24 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-03-30 10:22 pm (UTC)OTOH, I'm familiar with ~half a dozen kinds of potatoes. A culture that has hundreds of kinds of potatoes may well have dozens of types selected for ease of drying & very long term storage.
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Date: 2025-04-01 10:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2025-04-01 10:58 pm (UTC)Have now meandered far from your story ...