Mouth agape, Ryle stood staring after the mouthy stranger. Caelia smiled sheepishly at him. “Well…He sure seems thankful.”
Ryle snapped out of his stupor and smiled back before heading to his house. He stopped, realizing he had forgotten his shepherding bag, which he had left by the outcrop hanging over the valley where the herds grazed.
He turned to Caelia and asked, “Actually, Caelia, would you care to fetch my shepherding supplies? I left them by the cliff. I would get them myself, but I should see to the guest....”
Caelia nodded happily and skipped away, always willing to help out.
Ryle once again started his trek to the cabin resting on the side of the rocky road. As he neared the house, yells and screams met his ears. Wincing at the noise, he pulled the door open and immediately dodge-rolled behind the table, and just in time, for a pan flew through the space where Ryle had been just seconds before.
Standing up, Ryle calmly dodged a rolling pin chucked at his head.
“Bailey, it’s rude to throw things,” Tabitha pointed out pleasantly from her place on the floor, merrily coloring a picture book. Ryle’s mother looked up from her cleaning, just noticing the catastrophe in her house. “Bailey!”
Bailey looked up with baleful eyes, and defiantly raised a cutting board. Noa gasped and shielded herself behind her mother’s skirts, pressing her face deep into the folds. With a war cry, Bailey launched the board at Ryle, who merely sidestepped the oncoming object.
“Okay, sweetie. It’s naptime,” Ryle’s mother said, collecting the child into her arms before any more ammo could be taken. The howling subsided as the two left the room.
Ana breathed a sigh of relief as she retrieved the cutting board from Ryle. She dipped it into the sudsy water and scrubbed it before returning it to its place in the cabinet. Ryle walked over to help her clean the mess just as Caelia walked in the door, toting behind her a strange girl. She stopped, dumbfounded, and stared at Ryle and Ana.
“O-oh! Are you two…courting?” she stuttered out.
Ana and Ryle stared at each other in disgust. “No way in-”
“Ana! Watch your language!” Ryle’s mother appeared in the doorway to the kitchen. Turning to Caelia, she said, “They’re brother and sister. Ryle is completely eligible.” Her eyes were sparkling dangerously.
“Mother’s gone mad!” Ana whispered urgently to Ryle, “Get out while you can!”
Before Ryle could make his escape, his mother tightly gripped his arm and then grabbed the two young girls and dragged them to the table. “Let us talk,” she said. “Oh, Ana, could you please check up on the injured boy, please?”
“Can’t father do it?”
“You’re father is sleeping.”
“How?”
“I have no idea, dear. Just do as I say and check on him!”
Ana sighed spitefully as she stalked off into the room of the wolf-boy. Ryle winced in sympathy. His mother quickly turned her attention back to him and his companions.
“As I said earlier, Ryle is completely eligible. As you can see, he’s a fine looking boy!” Ryle flushed with embarrassment. She continued, “Nothing would make me happier than seeing my boy in a wonderful marriage with a big family. Now, you dear, what is your name?”
“..Caelia?” she said, making it sound like a question.
“Well, then, Caelia, you look like you could handle having lots of babies. What do you think of my son?” Caelia looked mortified, and joined Ryle in the blush of humiliation.
Ryle’s mother stared at her for a few more minutes, before saying, “Well, I suppose it is rather a big decision to make all at once.” She shifted her attention to the strange girl squirming with discomfort next to Caelia. “I’m sorry, but I don’t believe I caught your name.”
The dark haired girl met her eyes. “Amara.”
“Amara, is it? Well, I’m sure you find my son very attractive. He is such a handsome boy,” she giggled, pinching his cheek. “You could not do better than my Ryle here!”
She went on like this, oblivious to the obvious discomfort of everyone around her. Tabitha giggled from her place on the floor.
Fortunately, they were saved by Ana’s return, and with her, the indignant injured boy.
Ryle’s mother’s eyes shined dangerously as she saw the boy. She walked up to him and enveloped his hands in hers. “Hello, young sir. You can call me ‘Mother.’ What is your name?”
The boy looked at her with obvious disgust. “Yanille.”
Mother put an arm around Yanille and hauled him off, ignoring his yells of protest and pain. “In case you haven’t noticed, I have a giant gash on my side, woman!”
She pulled a sleeping man (Ryle’s father) from the couch. He groaned and rolled over, still asleep. She then pushed Yanille down onto the now vacant seat before calling Ana over. “Ana! Sit next to him!”
Ana looked mortified as she realized what was about to happen. “Oh, mother, please n-!”
“You will do as I say!”
Looking like an abandoned puppy, Ana slowly made her way to the couch and sat down gingerly, as far away from the boy as possible.
“Closer!” Mother growled menacingly.
Bright red, Ana scooted closer.
“Now,” Mother said in a sickeningly sweet voice. “Let’s discuss our prospects.”
Yanille was still clutching his side, gasping. Ana lost all color in her face.
Turning to Yanille, Mother said, “My daughter is single. As you can see, she’s beautiful, as all my children are. Take her as your wife!”
Yanille stared like an idiot. “You’re kidding, right?”
“Why would I kid about something as important as my daughter’s singleness? Not a one boy around here wants to take her as his wife because she’s so roguish! She’s an absolute tomboy! The only thing she can do right is cook!”
“..And why exactly are you trying to pass her off on me?”
“Because you look like you can handle her! It does help that you’re good looking… I wouldn’t want ugly grandchildren!”
He started laughing, softly at first, and then hysterically, clutching his injured side. “I can’t marry somebody like her! Do you know what you are imposing on me? I have to marry somebody with social standing!”
“Social standing?” Mother asked, dumbfounded. “Wait a moment, dear…Honey!” she called to her husband, who was still lying on the floor.”
“Yes?”
“What is the name of that one boy? The one whose father is a king?”
Father thought about it carefully. “Was is not something like Jamill, or Yanib?”
“Could it have been..Yanille?” Mother asked, panicked.
“Yes! That sounds about right!”
Mother fell to her knees and stared towards the ceiling. “Oh, sweet mother of mercy, what have I done?”
She quickly stood up again and glowered down at Yanille. “You WILL marry my daughter!”
...
Yeah, sorry about the horrible-ness of it all.
