Wells.”
“I had a tape on chaldra,” he interrupted. “It did not explain the Wells.”
I sighed. The sun was getting higher, and I had to find M’lennin.
“I shall try to show you, then. A girl, when she reaches puberty, takes a number of examinations. Her scores on these, she submits to the Wells. From this information on her physical, psychical, and mental potential, the Wells either accept or reject the girl. Astria has first choice, Arlet second, and so on. Astria will take a highly intelligent girl with a strong fore-reader index, if she is attractive; Arlet will take a high hormonal index, for they specialize in exotic sex. Each Well has a character. It is a great honor to be an Astrian girl, and wear the silver chain with white interwoven. Once a girl is accepted by a Well, the security of her family is assured. They are gifted by the Well and benefited in many ways. The girl’s earnings are invested by the Well, and we are very good with money. A woman goes out of Astria with a great fortune. She is also educated continually and thoroughly. She learns comparative cultures, the known languages of the galaxy, musics, dances, a large number of required subjects, and others, of her choice. She learns the ways of love. She becomes cultured and sophisticated. She has opportunities to mate with some of the most powerful and brilliant men in the known galaxy. Should a woman, given a choice between such a life and the lot of the farmgirl on the plains, choose to churn bondrex milk and slop parr? And meet perhaps a hundred men in her life? Should she risk bearing the unfulfilled chaldra of reproduction to her grave? The chances of an isolated Silistran woman conceiving are sixty to one.
“As for the men,” I continued, “I believe our men are content. Only four percent of Astrian women conceive by off-worlders. A man need not have money to partake of the Well if he is Silistran. There are games once a set, and festivals once a pass, where the men may earn silver and gold well tokens. These games range from physical to psychical, and any man with a talent or skill may gain entrance to the Well in this manner. Men love the gamble as they love wealth. A man knows that should he bring child on a girl in the Well, he will acquire not only a sensual, beautiful woman, but the money to enjoy her at his leisure in luxurious surroundings. If he can impregnate two, then two women and two fortunes are his. The men control much on Silistra. Both the dependent and independent cities draw great revenue from the Well and the traffic they bring. The traders and the merchants and the slayers and the hunters, and the weavers, and more, prosper from the Wells. Thousand of years ago the Day-Keepers and the forereaders determined the social structure of Silistra, building upon the ruins of past mistakes. It has endured.”
“You are angry,” he said, tracing my lips with his finger.
“No,” said I, “but I have said this say many times.”
“What if a woman falls in love with a man without him having impregnated her?” he asked thoughtfully.
“There is the pressure of chaldra to consider,” I reminded him. “Perhaps she would stay in the Well until she conceived, and petition that the father’s right to her body be waived. If the Well accepted this, they would pay the father double the birth-price, and the woman would, once having repaid the Well, be free to leave and go to her lover. The Well would gift them and absorb the loss. I have never heard of a woman leaving the Well without conceiving. She goes to the Well to become pregnant. Why would she leave without fulfilling her purpose?”
“You have not conceived,” said he, “but you have left the Well.”
“Oh,” said I. “I have taken on the chaldra of the mother; to find my father. I seek him. I have no man whom I love. The skein of the time weave bears me to Arlet. My father was an off-worlder who did not want my mother, nor the birth-price, nor me. He
“I had a tape on chaldra,” he interrupted. “It did not explain the Wells.”
I sighed. The sun was getting higher, and I had to find M’lennin.
“I shall try to show you, then. A girl, when she reaches puberty, takes a number of examinations. Her scores on these, she submits to the Wells. From this information on her physical, psychical, and mental potential, the Wells either accept or reject the girl. Astria has first choice, Arlet second, and so on. Astria will take a highly intelligent girl with a strong fore-reader index, if she is attractive; Arlet will take a high hormonal index, for they specialize in exotic sex. Each Well has a character. It is a great honor to be an Astrian girl, and wear the silver chain with white interwoven. Once a girl is accepted by a Well, the security of her family is assured. They are gifted by the Well and benefited in many ways. The girl’s earnings are invested by the Well, and we are very good with money. A woman goes out of Astria with a great fortune. She is also educated continually and thoroughly. She learns comparative cultures, the known languages of the galaxy, musics, dances, a large number of required subjects, and others, of her choice. She learns the ways of love. She becomes cultured and sophisticated. She has opportunities to mate with some of the most powerful and brilliant men in the known galaxy. Should a woman, given a choice between such a life and the lot of the farmgirl on the plains, choose to churn bondrex milk and slop parr? And meet perhaps a hundred men in her life? Should she risk bearing the unfulfilled chaldra of reproduction to her grave? The chances of an isolated Silistran woman conceiving are sixty to one.
“As for the men,” I continued, “I believe our men are content. Only four percent of Astrian women conceive by off-worlders. A man need not have money to partake of the Well if he is Silistran. There are games once a set, and festivals once a pass, where the men may earn silver and gold well tokens. These games range from physical to psychical, and any man with a talent or skill may gain entrance to the Well in this manner. Men love the gamble as they love wealth. A man knows that should he bring child on a girl in the Well, he will acquire not only a sensual, beautiful woman, but the money to enjoy her at his leisure in luxurious surroundings. If he can impregnate two, then two women and two fortunes are his. The men control much on Silistra. Both the dependent and independent cities draw great revenue from the Well and the traffic they bring. The traders and the merchants and the slayers and the hunters, and the weavers, and more, prosper from the Wells. Thousand of years ago the Day-Keepers and the forereaders determined the social structure of Silistra, building upon the ruins of past mistakes. It has endured.”
“You are angry,” he said, tracing my lips with his finger.
“No,” said I, “but I have said this say many times.”
“What if a woman falls in love with a man without him having impregnated her?” he asked thoughtfully.
“There is the pressure of chaldra to consider,” I reminded him. “Perhaps she would stay in the Well until she conceived, and petition that the father’s right to her body be waived. If the Well accepted this, they would pay the father double the birth-price, and the woman would, once having repaid the Well, be free to leave and go to her lover. The Well would gift them and absorb the loss. I have never heard of a woman leaving the Well without conceiving. She goes to the Well to become pregnant. Why would she leave without fulfilling her purpose?”
“You have not conceived,” said he, “but you have left the Well.”
“Oh,” said I. “I have taken on the chaldra of the mother; to find my father. I seek him. I have no man whom I love. The skein of the time weave bears me to Arlet. My father was an off-worlder who did not want my mother, nor the birth-price, nor me. He
Similar Books
