Wednesdat Excerpt, "Quest"

Anvar and Linvin each took up a rocker and drank their ale.  Before long, Linvin had his pipe out as well.

“Mother was right about the view up here.  You can see the entire city.”

“Speaking of views,” Anvar chided, “You had quite the nice view of young ladies out here.”

“Do not remind me,” Linvin said as he rocked.  “I felt like the prize whore in a brothel.  Could you hear what they were saying from over there?”

“Sadly, no,” replied Anvar.  “The acoustics were not very favorable in the corner.”

“In that case,” Linvin laughed, “I envy you.  They were all like trained pets following their mothers’ orders.  Everything they said sounded like, ‘I love children.  I hope to have several.  In fact, boys run in my family.  It is not my place to question my husband’s authority.  He is lord of the house and his word goes.  The only reward I seek in life is to make my husband happy and did I mention how much I love children?’  And this was not simply one person’s answer.  They all said the exact same thing!  Sometimes they would change the order a bit but they all were the same.  It was all I could take not to scream!”

“Well,” laughed Anvar, “Those all sound like fine qualities in a wife.”

“Oh, puh-lease!” barked Linvin, “Those are fine qualities in a dog!  The answers were as phony as the ones I gave this evening, only less convincing.  If they were really telling the truth, then why would I want a wife like that anyway?  They sounded like servants.  I do not want a wife like that and truthfully, until my mother made it a priority, I had no urgent desire to attain a wife.”

“Surely one of those beauties must have stood out from the group,” Anvar said before drinking his ale.

“Not one,” Linvin said as he walked over to the rail again.  “Sure,there were some that were ravishing, voluptuous and captivating in appearance, but I want more than that.   I want someone with a brain.  Someone I can talk to.  Most of all, I want someone who cares more about methan my money or name.  The question I really wanted to ask was, ‘If I was poor and no one knew my name, would you still be so eager to marry me?’”

“That would have raised some eyebrows,” Anvar laughed, “I take it you did not ask because you knew their answers.”

 

“No,” Linvin corrected, “I did not ask because I could not trust the answers they would give.”