Ascending - James Alan Gardner [89]
“Ah, but I am more perceptive than most of the universe. Especially the parts of the universe that are vacuum.” I paused. “What precise type of act are you putting on?”
She did not answer right away. I was beginning to realize Lajoolie never did anything right away; she preferred to ruminate at length before committing herself to action. At last, however, she said in a low voice, “Have you heard of arranged marriages?”
“Of course,” I told her. “They are a narrative device found in works of fiction—designed to explain why persons who lust after each other cannot consummate their passion until the end of the book.”10
“Arranged marriages aren’t just fictitious, Oar. They’re quite popular in some cultures.”
“Popular with whom?” I asked. “Those who rent rooms for illicit affairs?”
Lajoolie tried to pull away from me, but I held on. She stopped struggling after a moment, but said most angrily, “This isn’t about affairs, Oar! It’s not about sex at all.”
“Then what is it about?”
“It’s about…oh, you’ll never understand.”
“Do you believe me stupid or deficient in some way? Or is it that you think an alien can never comprehend your niceties of emotion?”
“I don’t mean that. I just…”
“Tell me,” I said. “Tell me everything, and I shall be a sympathetic listener. Or if I am not a sympathetic listener, you can say to yourself, I was right that Oar cannot understand. Then you will feel better for being correct all along, and you will find you have stopped crying.”
Her next sniffle sounded slightly like a laugh…and in time, with many Lajoolie-like pauses, she explained her Dire Position.
On Being A Wide Woman
According to Lajoolie, all Divian men (including Tye-Tyes, Freeps, and myriad other sub-breeds) are attracted to females with broad shoulders. There is an evolutionary reason for this liking—in ancient days, muscular bodies indicated good health and breeding potential—but that is not what Divian men think about when they slaver over the width of a woman; they simply think how fine it would be to nuzzle such luxuriant flesh.
Therefore, Tye-Tye women are much in demand on Divian worlds. Tye-Tyes were originally engineered to live on a planet with high gravitation, so they had to be inordinately strong just to keep moving; but after Tye-Tyes were created, Divian men from other breeds took one look at the muscular Tye-Tye women and went most thoroughly goggle-eyed.
Though slavery had been outlawed for centuries, non-Tye-Tye males of wealth and privilege found ways to purchase desirable Tye-Tye girls for purposes of matrimony. Or simply for sex. This practice became a major component of the Tye-Tye economy…which led to a thriving industry wherein young girls were put through Diverse Regimens Of Training in order to make them more salable. This meant, for example, that brides produced for the off-world market were educated in useful skills: they learned many languages; they became adept at social graces such as music, witty conversation, and how to berate servants; and of course they lifted heavy weights in all directions so as to increase their natural charms.
Most of the girls sold as brides submitted quite willingly—they were young and impressionable, not to mention they had been told from birth what an honor it was, being purchased by strangers because of one’s appearance. These girls Did Not Know Any Better. But after marrying rich husbands (or being sold as mistresses), they seldom remained in the same state of ignorance; inevitably, they met other women who enjoyed very different circumstances, and they also met men who whispered such words as “Freedom” and “Love” and “Meet me behind the house when everyone else is asleep.” As time went on, an unquestioning girl-bride became an established woman-wife who was not so naïve and controllable as she once was. The woman’s husband/master/owner would try to control her anyway, at which point he would discover an important truth:
These