Chapter Forty-Three: Tayla's Family Reacts

The next morning, the Palace meeting hall

"I forbid it!" Shalila declared furiously, stomping around the hall,
like an angry mammoth. "She will not marry that boy, especially at her age! I
am going to shake some sense into that girl, if it's the last thing I do! I
don't care if the King and Queen of Calmag will likely approve; Tayla is too
young to commit herself to anyone!" She was truly angered now, not only by
Tayla's accepting the marriage proposal of a boy that Shalila did not approve
of, but of the actions of Dirkan and Bajal yesterday. Dirkan and Bajal were now
forced to listen to Shalila's raving and ranting.

If Shalila had been home on Astoria, she would have started throwing
everything within reach, but since she was on another planet and using someone
else's property, all she could do was stomp throughout the palace, slam doors,
and shout at the top of her very healthy lungs.

She turned on her husband and her grandson now, wanting to vent her
rage on the two people she considered responsible for this disaster. "Dirkan
and Bajal, I hold you two fools accountable for this! What in the universe were
you two idiots thinking, charging after Ridikar like that? You two could have
caused a serious rift between Calmag and Astoria. There are planets that go to
war over this sort of thing alone! It took me hours last night to calm down
Ridikar's family and explain to them your actions. Kildara had to talk her
husband out of having you two arrested for the assault on the heir to Calmag's
throne. You two are lucky to have your lives and your freedom still! And you
two imbeciles upset that child for no good cause!" Shalila took a deep breath
before continuing, " I understand that you two muscle-bound gorillas had to go
retrieve Tayla from Ridikar. If you had calmly, but firmly insisted that Tayla
come back here with you, she probably would have done so quietly, with no fight.
Instead you two come charging into that cave like two barbarians with no brains
or common sense! Dirkan, I specifically told you not to do anything to
embarrass Tayla in front of Ridikar, and now you and that foolish grandson of
mine have literally pushed Tayla into Ridikar's arms! The exact opposite of
what we wanted has now happened! If you two weren't related to me, I would-"

"Shalila, love, please calm down," Dirkan begged her; begging was
something that he rarely did, but he had never seen Shalila so angry with him
since the days that he had first started training her for the war against the
Saiyans. "Tayla is not going to marry him."

Shalila took a deep breath and toned her voice to a very low level.
She shot Dirkan a deadly glare, something she had not done since her early days
first training under him. She looked straight into his shiny coal eyes and said
in an icy undertone, "You better insure that does not happen, Dirkan, you and
Bajal both. You and Bajal are responsible for this crisis, and you two will
help me solve it. I ought to make you both handle this entire matter, but since
Tayla is my granddaughter, I will not allow her to make such a foolish mistake.
Plus such a situation requires a wise woman's hand. Tayla would have never
accepted Ridikar's proposal, if it had not been for you two pushing her into it.
She will not marry that boy, even if I have to drag her off of Calmag early to
prevent it from happening. I love her, and I will not allow her to ruin her
life, no matter what she insists on doing."

Bajal held his head down in shame; he had no voice or spirit left to
argue with his grandmother, for his wife, Alora, had raged at him herself the
night before. Alora called him every name that a woman could call a man,
putting him down for his idiocy. Alora thought that Bajal and Dirkan had gone
too far in trying to stop Ridikar. Alora had yelled at him for hours, and then
she demanded that he apologize to Tayla today, or he would be sleeping on the
floor for the entire time on Calmag.

Bajal looked at the stone floor, hoping to avert his grandmother's
wrath. At that inopportune moment, Tayla slowly entered the meeting hall,
looking for King Kitchator; she and Ridikar were supposed to meet him together.
Tayla gulped when she saw her angry grandmother, who told her archly, "Tayla,
sit down; I want to have a talk with you about this ridiculous proposal of
Ridikar's."

Tayla sat down on a wooden chair against the wall and said not a
word, for although she had told Bajal and Dirkan off, she did not dare talk back
to her grandmother. Shalila was still in charge of her, and she wanted Tayla to
know it.

Shalila glared at her granddaughter darkly. "Well, young lady, what
do you have to say for yourself?" She sat down in another wooden chair next to
her granddaughter, crossing her arms and sitting upright and stiff.

Tayla was silent, trying to think of a way to answer without
angering her grandmother further. What was left of her drama and passion the
night before had fled the moment she saw her grandmother's angry gray eyes.

"Well?" Shalila prompted her.

"Dirkan and Bajal shouldn't have attacked Ridikar like that!" Tayla
cried suddenly.

"They did overreact," Shalila told her sternly, "but you should not
have gone off with a young man by yourself. Did you even think of the
consequences, Tayla? Didn't you realize that Ridikar could take advantage of
you? You had no business being with Ridikar alone!"

Tayla looked down in her lap, shamefaced, for she was just realizing
the wrong that she herself had done. She knew now, and probably knew then, that
she should not have gone off with Ridikar by herself without permission. But
she liked Ridikar, and Ridikar had managed to get her alone last night for a few
minutes and tell her how wonderful married life with him would be.

Tayla dared not to say a word, as Shalila continued her lecture:

"You will break this engagement off immediately, Tayla. You are
twelve years old, far too young to marry anyone. I don't care if you are old
enough by Calmagian law; you are an Astorian, and you will follow Astorian law
in this instance. You are still my ward, and such a marriage would require my
consent, which I will not give. Even if you were of age, Ridikar is not a
suitable husband for you, and his actions yesterday proved it-"

"But, Nama!" Tayla protested, "We were just kissing!"

"Kissing leads to other things, especially when you are alone like
you were yesterday. It doesn't matter, Tayla; I do not like the boy, and I will
never consent to a marriage between you and him. There is something about him
that is not right, something sinister-"

Rojal entered the room at that moment, pleased that Tayla would be
marrying Ridikar and therefore would be staying on Calmag permanently. He saw
this as a welcome chance to have Tayla off of the Clan's hands once and for all.

He deliberately ignored his grandmother's ire and smiled brightly at
Tayla, much to everyone's surprise. He walked over to Tayla and took her hands
in his. "Tayla, I congratulate you on this marriage, for it will make you a
Queen and solidify Astoria's alliance with Calmag. I am proud to have my
youngest aunt become the next Queen of Calmag," he declared happily.

Tayla smiled slowly at him. "Thank you, Rojal, it's nice to know
someone is happy for me."

"ROJAL!" both Shalila and Dirkan declared in a unified, terrible
voice. Shalila turned to her heir and said in a voice laced with icicles,
"Tayla is not marrying Ridikar, and that's final."

"Rojal is right, Nama," Tayla told her softly. "Wouldn't you like
to see me become a Queen?"

Shalila thought that Tayla was being impertinent, and she whipped
around and snapped at her in a tone sharp enough to slice steel, "No, I do not,
young lady! Not Ridikar's queen anyway! I don't care if he is to become the
next king after his father; you are not marrying him, and I mean it!" Tayla
shrank back from her Nama's razor voice.

Gracina and Gorna entered the meeting hall at that moment, followed
by Lelina and Gracina's four children. Tila and Tayka were carrying flowers
that they had made into bouquets, the fragrant green and blue roses of Calmag.
Nikon was loudly banging a drum and singing happily:

"Tayla's getting married, hooray, hooray!
She'll get to play and have fun all day, hooray, hooray!
There'll be lots of yummy food and candy to eat,
And plenty of kids to meet!
Tayla's getting married, hooray, hooray!"

"NIKON!" Gracina shouted at her second oldest child severely, "That
will be enough! Tayla is not marrying anyone!" Nikon stopped banging his drum
and grew sad and quiet.

"I don't see why not," Tayla told her beloved older sister calmly,
as Tila and Tayka gave her their bouquets of roses. Tayla sniffed them
appreciatively and kissed both Tila and Tayka on their foreheads. "Thank you
both for these flowers, I love them."

"Can we come to your wedding, Aunt Tayla?" Tayka asked.

"Can I wear my pink caftan?" Tila asked.

"Is Ridikar going to kiss you?" Tayka wanted to know.

"Are you going to kiss him?" Tila inquired.

"Will you be getting toys, lots of toys?" Tayka asked hopefully.

"Can I play my drum at your wedding, Tayla?" Nikon asked loudly.

"Are you going to have lots of candy, Tayla?"

"Are you going to dress up really pretty?"

"Want Tila and me to get you more roses for your wedding?"

"Will there be lots of food?" asked Nikon, who could eat almost as
much as Dedron.

"Children, quiet," Gracina told her brood sternly. All three
children fell silent immediately; they were well trained. Riccan finally spoke
up, angry with Tayla for agreeing to marry Ridikar:

"Well, I don't want you to marry Ridikar, Tayla! I don't like him!
Why are you going to marry him?"

"I love him," Tayla told Riccan, but with a small note of
uncertainty in her voice.

"You're only twelve!" Gracina avowed. "How can you know what love
between a man and a woman is like at your age?"

"You were fifteen when you agreed to marry Lektron," Tayla
protested, "and that age is not much older."

"Tayla," Gracina told her quietly, "Lektron and I grew up together,
and I knew him all of my life, plus I had my parents and grandparents' approval.
You barely know Ridikar, and from what I have heard of him, he does not sound
like husband material. He does not respect you, nor care for your honor or
virtue." She smoothed her burgundy caftan and adjusted her brown sash, trying
to think of more words to say.

"Yes he does!" Tayla cried. "You don't know him, Gracina, you
really don't! He's charming and handsome and kind and brave-why he fought to
save his planet from Saiyans and Hycanese when he was only my age!"

Dirkan laughed contemptuously. "In his dreams, maybe! I doubt that
boy even knows what a Saiyan or a Hycanese looks like!"

Gorna finally cut in sharply, "Tayla, Gracina and Nama are right.
You are a mere child, and no Astorian girl at your age is getting married. You
are a naughty, badly behaved girl who has now shamed our Clan. What did I do to
deserve such a troublesome sister like you? If my daughter had pulled such a
stunt, I would be furious! If you were my child, I would-"

"Gorna--" Shalila began warningly, but Tayla interrupted before her
grandmother finished.

"But I am not your child," Tayla retorted, "so you have no say in
this, Gorna."

"Thank Kami Orchida that you are not my child!" Gorna snapped
angrily. "But you are wrong when you say that I have no say in this matter. I
am your oldest sibling and the next heir to Astoria's throne, and no sister of
mine is marrying a reprobate like Ridikar. Yes, I agree with Rojal that such a
union would strengthen an alliance with Calmag, but I do not agree with him
about you marrying Ridikar. The young man is no good, even if he is to be the
next ruler of this planet after his father! I forbid it, Tayla Chloe, and
that's final! I will prevent this marriage, if I have to chain you by your
wrists to your bed!"

Tayla leaped out of her chair and stared defiantly at Gorna. The
room became quiet and tense. "You will not prevent anything, Gorna, for I am
not subject to you yet. You should be happy that I am marrying Ridikar; you
said so yourself that anything to help Calmag and Astoria ally with each other
is a good thing."

Gorna hissed at Tayla's first sentence, "I did not mean my youngest
sibling marrying a disgraceful young man like Ridikar! You have no idea what
that boy is truly like-why he has done nothing but cause trouble. He drinks and
parties constantly, and he's a weakling and a coward. There is nothing in him,
nothing worthy."

"I see many things in him that are worthy," Tayla told her quietly.
"And he is no coward, Gorna, for he had the courage to propose to me right in
front of everyone yesterday."

"You are a Princess of Chloe!" Gorna shouted. "And no Princess of
Chloe related to me will disgrace herself by marrying at only age twelve. You
have often cause trouble and disgrace for me in the past, making me angry,
taking up everyone's attention and favors, but this, Tayla Chloe, this time you
have gone too far! You aren't worthy of the attention and love that everyone
showers on you-"

"Gorna!" Gracina cried out.

"That will be enough, Gorna!" Shalila snapped angrily.

"Quiet, Gracina, I will have my say," Gorna shouted at her younger
sister. She turned to Shalila and said bitterly, "Nama, you defend her even
now? Considering that she has let us all down?"

"Gorna," Shalila told her sternly. "I do not approve of Tayla's
actions yesterday, but I do not approve of how the situation was handled either.
And Tayla has done nothing to you personally to deserve your insults. If you
have constructive criticism for her, fine, but no insults or hurtful remarks
that will make things worse."

Gorna stiffly turned away from her; all she could see was that
Shalila was still defending Tayla. She turned to her errant youngest sibling
and completely ignored her grandmother's advice. "Tayla, I knew that one day
you would do something to mar your name and reputation and that day has come!
You have shamed the Clan of Chloe name with your actions! I am ashamed to call
you my sister! You are a spoiled brat who insists on having everything your own
way, and if you were my daughter, I would cast you out-"

Tayla burst into tears at that moment, as she held up seven fingers.
"Then cast me out then, Gorna! Allow this marriage to happen, and I promise,
by the Seven Moons of Astoria, that you will never see me again! You have
always hated me, Gorna, for no good reason! I don't what I have done to you to
deserve this before now, but it no longer matters! Why do you hate me so much?
I wanted to love you and you to love me, but I know that will never happen! You
should be happy that I am marrying Ridikar, for I will not be coming back to
Astoria to pester you anymore. Then you can be happy once and for all and have
Nama and everyone to yourself, just like you always wanted! You'll finally get
your wish, Gorna: to be rid of me permanently!" And with that, she pushed past
everyone and ran out of the meeting hall, with everyone calling after her.

"Tayla! Come back, please!" Shalila cried, her heart breaking at
her granddaughter's pain.

"Tayla!" Dirkan cried. He and Shalila ran out of the hall after
her.

Gracina told Gorna nastily, "Congratulations, Gorna, you finally won. Your wish
has been granted. Just tell me this much: are you happy with what you wished
for?" Gracina then ran after Dirkan and Shalila.

Gorna fell to her knees and grew silent.