The Story From The Female Burgaharti (Fiction)

I -

“It was the first year of King Saul’s reign. The first sun opened its smile and Mother closed her eyes. I sat on a tree branch, watching, trying to understand the gloom in everyone’s voice. “Mother had closed her eyes.” That was all I was told. People close their eyes every time. I closed mine and opened it. Nothing happened.

“I jumped from the Rhodo Tree and landed like Matty, on all fours. Matty was my favourite Griffin and for a long time, we had a lot of adventures together. But not that day. That day, I was alone, with no one to fly me high above the experience I would soon have.

“It was Father Nomi who saw me first. He walked to my side and gave me a hug. He always gave me a hug. But that day, it felt all different. It was as if he was trying to shield me from the gloom but instead he smothered the little sunshine I had inside of me. I could hear the gloom sing a song and everyone walking to its tune. Even Father Raga wasn’t his usual self. He sat in a conner like a wounded Gray Aroth. Gray Aroths are playful beasts until you hit them or give them a scowl.

“I pulled myself from Father Nomi’s dampening hug. It felt like he needed the hug more than I did. I needed answers and Mother’s two husbands weren't obviously going to give them to me. I needed to find Mother; she always had an answer.

“I walked to the large room, where Mother always entertained her guests. Her best form of entertainment was to argue why females had to marry at all. Everyone knew about Regal but me. I know she was my elder sister and died when I was very young. But I never understood what it meant to love someone and not being able to spend time with that person until I walked halfway across the room and saw everyone gather at the end. I stopped. I was eight but I wasn’t stupid. It was then I heard the gloom sing to me too. ‘Mother is dead and gone to the grave.’”

The speaker swiped a hand across the screen, muttering, “Too sorrowful. Let me begin with something funny.” With that, the Galatical Speech to Text Machine buzzed and the screen refreshed into a blank page.

II -

“It was the eighth year of King Saul’s reign. Everyone lined up at the beginning stairs of the Temple of Anj-Kara each with their two husbands beaming with smiles. Everyone but me. I was sitting on a low branch of a Rhodo Tree, watching as everyone talked about the weather. There was nothing pleasant about the weather or what was happening underneath it. Most of the female Burgahartis had their husbands forced on them. Most of the smiling faces at the temple were forced. The second sun was on its way and everyone’s tail was turning dark green. Well, not mine. The Rhodo Tree has very large leaves and my Fathers allowed me to choose my husbands.

“I remembered the argument I had with Father Raga. He wanted me to mate as quickly as I could. Mother had mated late and childbirth had been hard for her, he had explained. I wondered why everyone only thought about childbirth. The males argued whose seeds would take hold first and the females chattered over having a female child.

“I know the ratio of male to females. Three to one. I learnt it in school. It was the Steak Virus that wiped almost half of the females in our planet. But I also learnt that the reason it spread that fast was because no one took it serious at first. After all, it was only females dying, dying at birth. It was probably some sort of allergy. Not until some female doctors began to speak up. But no one listened. No one ever listens.

“I jumped down from the Rhodo Tree and landed on all fours. “Animal!” I heard someone say. I smiled. I’ve heard worse. I have been called a barren Burgaharti, hater of procreation, infidel and arrogant dissenter. Well, Mother always said never to mind them and I never did. At least, not until I refused to have two husbands.”

The speaker stopped, and thought: “I think there’s a loop hole there. Let me start from the Court, and then into the Temple of Anj-kara and then marriage.” The Galatical Speech to Text machine began to turn up the exact words on the screen. “No! You dumb machine.” And then the swipe of the hand.

III -

“It was the sixth year of King’ Saul’s Reign when I left the Academy. I had just taken up a job at the Imperial Court as a proof reader. Then the Galatical Speech to Text machine wasn’t so developed. Every now and then, they would omit a word or spell a word wrongly or put in a totally different word. So, in truth, my job was to stare at the screen all day while the hearings went on.

“All of the judges were males. Females didn’t have the emotional strength to make good judgements, they argued. We were blessed by Anj-Kara with the responsibility of raising little , and hopefully more female Burgahartis. It was as if the male Burgaharti’s brain was different from the females. I knew mine was different though, for I could sense that who ever made that argument was stupid.

“It was one morning in court when a female Burgaharti walked into the great hall and asked if she could see any of the judges personally. I referred her to the clerks but she shrugged. Obviously, they had turned her aside and she came to me. I told her I couldn’t make that happen and she began to cry.

“She had been married for twelve years and had three living daughters. Giving the low numbers of females, that was a great feat. Now, her husbands wanted to betroth the girls at their tender ages. The oldest was only seven years old. I looked at her with pity. It was a lost case. The law allowed the two husbands to give out their daughters, as long as they both agreed. It was a stupid law but there was nothing I could do about it. I was not a judge. That night, I asked myself, ‘Why can’t you be a judge?’

“While going through Mother’s dairy, I had learnt what killed my elder sister, Regal. It wasn’t the Streak Virus. It was something worst, something slowly eating at every female Burgaharti. It was the compulsory marriage to two male Burgahartis. Every female Burgaharti had until her twentieth year to get married. In most cases, her fathers chose for her when she was very young.

“As I grew older, I learnt that Regal did not drown in the Eagle River. She committed suicide. Female Burgahartis have never been good swimmers. We have very large stomachs and an even larger tail. I wondered why no one thought we had very large brains too. Rather than get married to the suitors forced on her, she had ran into the river. Perhaps that was why my fathers didn’t force anyone on me. I never knew because I never got to asking them. No one ever wanted to talk about it.
“That night, as I slept on my cozy arrangement of smooth white rocks, I asked myself why I couldn’t be a judge. There were females everywhere. There were female doctors, farmers, teachers… every profession had a female except the bench. It was that night I had the thought of challenging the system.

“I had two tasks before me. First, I had to prove that restricting the bench to only males was wrong. I also had to prove that having a female Burgaharti serve as judge was going to make a lot of difference in a case. The second was already agreed upon, albeit not the way I wanted. The general belief was that females are easily swayed by emotions and not reason. Challenging that was going to be a lot of challenge.

“For two years, I nurtured my thoughts, afraid to tell anyone. I was weird enough and my sister had committed suicide. It would be not be impossible for other Burgahartis to thrown insanity into the mix. However, each time I remembered what happened in court that day, the sorrow and fear in female Burgaharti’s eyes, I felt like a coward. My Fathers had allowed me take all the time I want in choosing my husbands. It had made me blinded to what other females were facing.

IV -

“It was the eight year of King Saul’s reign when I returned home. I had to answer a query from the Temple of Anj-Kara. I was sixteen and ripe for marriage. I agreed. I only didn’t subscribe to marrying two husbands.

“I had fallen in love with Graven. Graven was a sweet caring soldier and prince from the Northern Islands. For me, he was ready to live the force and come stay in the capital. Then there was Boro, a judge at the court. He had tried his best to make me like him but his best was not enough. Graven advised me to marry him. I didn’t agree.

“I knew that there weren’t plenty of females around. However, I didn’t understand why females had to suffer for it. ‘We are not things to which every man has a right to.’ I once complained to Graven. Graven simply smiled and told me to look at it from a male’s perspective. Well, I refused. If no one was going to look at it from a female’s perspective, then I wasn’t interested in a male’s perspective.

“So that afternoon, I jumped from the tree and walked into the Temple. I noticed the scorn on the faces outside. It never bothered me. Inside, I had a long argument with a priestess. To think a priestess even argued for the stupid law annoyed me the more and I swore I was going to challenge that law in court. But first, I had to get a sympathetic judge.”

The speaker scrolled up, read the previous entry and smiled.

V -

“During that period, I hated Boro. I hated him for liking me against my will and for reporting me to the Temple of Anj-kara. When I realised he was going to be the judge on my case, I protested. It was unfair. How could anyone expect him to be impartial. And when Graven tried to argue in favour of Boro as judge, I knew I had to do it all alone. I told Graven goodbye and walked away
“Looking back, it was one of the most exciting times in my life. I was taking on the entire planet. To many, I was just one grumpy Burgaharti who didn’t care about the survival of her race. I was arrogant and selfish. Everyone gave up on me. Everyone but Father Nomi. Father Raga dropped in a few times but he would rather I dropped the whole affair. I wondered if that was how they had treated my sister.

“I first tried to have the judge changed but no other judge would have my case. It was as if the entire planet was playing a joke on me. How was I supposed to win a case when the one person that would lose is the judge. But there was no going backward. I appealed to King Saul.

“It was the first time a female would appeal to the king. It was unheard of. And to appeal for something like marriage was even ludicrous. But I stood my ground. In fact, at the time, I decided I wasn’t going to get married any more. I didn’t want any of it. I just wanted to live my life the way I wanted.

“It was also the year King Saul died. King Saul died without an heir so there was a bit of confusion as to who would ascend the throne. His mother and sister didn’t even give it a try. And so it came all the way down to a soldier from the Northern Islands. I was shocked when I heard Graven was to be crowned king. That changed a lot.

“In court, I asked why the queen didn’t marry two husbands, why there were not two kings on the throne. No one could give me a good answer. Everyone knew that had been the way it had always been. Then I asked why there were no female judges and everyone laughed. Everyone but a female Burgaharti sited in the corner.

“In our courts, everyone defends their case while the audience watch. The abidance can, at intervals, ask questions. This female stood up and asked why everyone was laughing. She then came forward and I recognised her. She was the one that wanted to see a judge a few year ago. She stepped to the bench with old and tattered history books. From there, she read our history.

“It had been a court of women that had decided that each female married two husbands. I couldn’t believe my ears. That we once had female judges was a surprise to me. I knew it didn’t help my case but that was enough.

“I lost the case and was asked to marry two husbands or be banished from the planet. Graven, who was going to be crowned king, asked me to marry him instead. I refused. I fell in love with two twin brothers who I adore.

“King Graven, maybe out of guilt feelings, appointed me as the first female judge. My first act was to review the case of females marrying two husbands. As you know, the law has been repealed. At 72 years old, I believe I have lived a good life. Do tell me about yours. I will like to know how females are treated on planet Earth. Yours. Shatlan Jironsu”

With that, Shatlan swiped, read the last and smiled.

The end.

This is my entry for the #TeamGirlPowa Women's History Month Contest by @teamgirlpowa

Blessings

[Image Source: Pixabay]