“I guess among your people males and females aren’t friends very much, huh?”
She shook her head.
“No man would want to degrade himself by having a female friend. Women are lower than men—their thoughts and ways are below a man’s thoughts and ways.”
“Well, that’s another difference between us,” Brand remarked. “We Kindred believe that males and females are equals.”
“Equals?” Allara couldn’t help staring at him in surprise. “But…but only men can do the difficult work outside the home!”
“Not with us,” Brand said firmly. “Our females have jobs outside the domicile if they want them. Did you meet Doctor Olivia?”
“You mean Liv?” Allara shot the yellow-haired Earth woman a glance. She was sitting at a table close by with her mate, another Beast Kindred. “She’s a physician?” she asked, frowning at Brand.
He nodded.
“A damn good one. And her mate, Baird, couldn’t be more proud of her. And Sophia teaches art classes…Lauren owns a bakery. And of course, you know that Kat plans and coordinates all the weddings and other ceremonies aboard the Mother Ship, as well as doing research for anyone going on a mission to another planet.”
Allara’s head was spinning. All the Earth women she had met actually worked outside the home. How could that be?
“But…who does the house work?” she asked at last. “The cooking and cleaning and raising the children if they and their husbands both work outside the home?”
Brand shrugged.
“They share it, of course. That’s only fair, since they both work out of the home. Of course, you don’t have to get a job if you’re not comfortable with it,” he added quickly. “Everyone makes a living wage here aboard the Mother Ship and my career as a pilot will support our family…when we have one,” he added softly.
“A family…” Allara bit her lip. He meant children and now that she knew exactly how children came about, she wasn’t too eager to discuss such things.
“Are you all right?” Brand leaned down to peer anxiously into her face. “You turned pale when I mentioned having kids.”
“I…I will be fine,” Allara said quickly. “This is just…a lot to consider.”
“If you decide you want to train to do something outside the domicile, you can. Or you can stay home.” He took her hand and squeezed it. “It’s completely up to you.”
At that moment, as if on cue, Kat came back with several people dressed in black, formal looking clothing trailing her.
“Lauren is getting the cake table all settled,” she said to Allara. “But I thought you’d like to meet the string quartet I hired from Earth to play at your wedding.”
“String quartet?” Allara asked, looking at the group of assembled people. There were two men, who must be from Earth, since they were smaller than the Kindred, and two women. All four of them were carrying elaborately carved wooden boxes that had long strings stretched tightly over them. Some of the boxes were much bigger than others and all had long handles on them.
“Hi there,” one of the women said, smiling at Allara. “I’m Selena Bates and this is our quartet. We usually stay in the background but Kat, here, said you really liked our rendition of Pachelbel’s Cannon.”
“Oh, the music!” Allara clasped her hands to her chest. “It was so beautiful! Every note was true. What instruments did you use—please tell me!”
“Well, I play first violin,” the woman called Selena told her. “And George, here, plays second violin. Tamara plays viola and John is on the cello.”
As she spoke, she lifted the wooden box which had a long handle on it, as though to illustrate her point.
“That is your instrument?” Allara asked. “Your…vio-lin?”
“Sure.” With an easy smile, the Earth woman tucked the wooden instrument beneath her chin, raised a long stick, and began to use it on the strings to make a sweet, haunting sound that went straight through Allara’s body as a long, lovely shiver.
“Ohhh,” she whispered, closing her eyes as the music tugged at her. “So beautiful.”
“Well, thank you.” Selena stopped playing and smiled at her. “Kat told us you were from a culture where music is very important.”
“There is nothing more important,” Allara said earnestly. “But I do not understand why you are allowed to play an instrument—you are a woman.”
“Well, yes, I am…” Selena looked as though she didn’t understand Allara’s question.
“My new bride comes from a very strict culture,” Brand said, explaining for her. “Apparently women are not allowed to be musicians there.”
“Oh, how sad!” The Earth woman looked truly upset by this idea. “I can’t imagine my life without music,” she said.
“Oh, women are permitted to have music—but only through song,” Allara told her. “But I envy you—truly I do. When I was young, before I knew any better, I dreamed of being a musician and playing an instrument—though we have nothing like these vio-lins you have, among my people, the Q’ess.”