The Lust of Horns

ROKK I

I tossed through jowls, hocks, and loins, before snatching a snout from Doomba's plate. He gritted his teeth. 'My apologies... you weren't going to eat that were you?' He stayed silent, and I shrugged, then turned to father. 'Brilliant plan except you've missed one minor detail.'

Large wrinkles rippled across father's forehead while his cheeks swelled. "And that is?"

'A promise,' I replied, taking a bite of the snout. 'The Chief has promised Eroh that the final decision will be his own. And I am certain it won't be Great Sis.'

'Preposterous!' Father spat, his face reddening. "No, Chief would allow a boy to make such pivotal decisions."

"The Chief is a man of his word ... And I was there the day he told him." I picked a bone from my tongue and flicked it. "It'll be Eroh's first decision, and the way the Chief will prove his manhood."

Father's right eyelid twitched.

I looked around the plates and table until I spied the last snout on his plate. 'Can I pry that from you for two loins and a hock?"

Father sat still for time, and then his lips curled upward while his eyes found a devious light. He picked up the snout, tossed it in the air, and caught it. 'This is perfect.'

I nodded, "I know it is... that's why I want it--'

'No you fool,' his smile deepened and eyes darkened, 'Our situation just improved.'

I scratched my head. "And why's that?"

The air in the room thickened, and a somber silence followed. Each of my siblings sat up attentively. Their hands crossed on the table. Eyes dancing with candlelight. A strange, twisted smile on their lips. I shivered at the chill that ran down my back.

'Eroh considers you as a brother, correct?'

I looked at each one of my siblings and watched their smiles widen. I eyed father, 'I-I'd imagine so... Ever since he lost Elior, he's treated me as such. Why?'

He leaned over the table to whisper, 'what if you were brothers?'

'I don't follow.'

'Think about it,' He squeezed the snout in his hand, 'If Breeba were to marry Eroh, you'd become his true brother.'

I shook my head. 'I already told you he has an eye for Nhedri... he's loved her since he was a boy ... nothing can change that.'

'Nothing?' Farther raised an eyebrow. 'Or no one?'

I sat still, imagining for a moment what I'd say and how Eroh would respond. Then I remembered our plan. I remembered why I failed the last two manhood hunts. It was because of Eroh; we made our pact. Though I never told father -- I could never tell him - he would never understand.

I looked at my sister, glistening like a cooked potato in the candlelight. I sighed, 'you want me to convince him to marry Breeba.'

Father sat up, and his face hardened. He was now the Lord of our tribe. The Chief of our village. And the man many of our people feared and respected. He said boldly, 'If you do this for us, you'll restore your honor. You will be a man in my eyes. And you will make me proud.'

I gasped, 'does that mean...'

'Yes,' father nodded, 'you'll have my approval.

The word caught me like a kick to the chest. I sat in an icy silence. My mind whispering questions and concerns. My father's approval, I thought, what I've always wanted.

'Will you do this for your people? Will you do this for your family? And will you do this for me?'

I looked into his cold, dark eyes and nodded. 'Yes, father.'

'Good,' he said, pulling back his arm and slinging it forward. 'Catch.'

I reacted slowly, catching the snout to my face. It fell on my plate, rolled, and tipped into the center. My siblings chuckled. Father smiled. And I sat staring now without an appetite.