“And that includes kidnapping one’s bride?”
“Most definitely.”
“I don’t see how kidnapping a woman can ever be justified. Women are not objects, not property.”
“Only princes and kings, members of the royal family, kidnap a young woman for marriage.”
“That’s even worse.”
He shook his head. “The custom of kidnapping one’s bride goes back a thousand years. It helps protect one’s family and society by strengthening tribal relations, forging bonds between rival tribes, protecting one’s women and children from nomad tribes that might seek to prey on vulnerable tribes.”
“I’m sorry. I still can’t wrap my head around the custom.”
“Many of Saidia’s young people joke about the ancient customs when attending university, but if you asked them if forced marriages and arranged marriages should be banned, not one of them would vote to have them outlawed. It’s part of our history. It’s a big part of our cultural identity.”
“So not all Saidia citizens have an arranged marriage?”
“About half of our young people in the urban areas choose a love marriage. If you move away from the big cities, nearly everyone prefers arranged marriages.”
“Why the difference?”
He shrugged. “In the desert, people strongly identify with their tribe and tribal customs. You don’t have the influence of technology. Towns are remote. Travel is difficult and change is viewed with suspicion. When you come to Haslam or the other desert communities south of the Takti Mountains, it’s like traveling back in time. Haslam isn’t the city capitol. The desert isn’t urban. And I, as the king, must be sensitive to the new and old faces of my country. I can’t alienate the youth in the city, but I must also respect the youth in the desert.”
“They don’t both want the same thing?”
“They don’t want the same thing, nor do they understand each other. It’s been a struggle for us, in terms of keeping Saidia connected. When our students are ten, we try to encourage the children to do an exchange; children from the desert leaving home to spend a week in the city with a host family, and the children in the city to go to the desert for a week. It used to be mandated but that became problematic. We still want children to participate, but our city children are bored by the desert and the lack of entertainment, and the children from the desert are overwhelmed by the city noise, pollution, and frenetic activity.”
“So what do you do?”
“Try to respect both aspects of the Saidia culture, and be careful not to alienate either.”
“It’s a balancing act,” she said.
“Absolutely.” He studied her a long moment, his gaze slowly sweeping from her face down to her shoulders and then breasts. “I don’t want to see you in those clothes anymore. I have provided you with a wardrobe, a more suitable wardrobe for the climate, the Kasbah, and our honeymoon.”
Jemma had just begun to relax, forgetting her own situation having been pleasantly distracted by the discussion, but suddenly reality came crashing back. She tensed, flushed, angered as well as frustrated. “Is that a request or a command, Your Highness?”
“Both.”