The Meat Tree by Gwyneth Lewis Read Free Book Online

Wrecks
    Nothing to do with me.

    Apprentice
    Come on! The evidence is there as plain as day. You gave birth to a beautiful boy. Listen, he’s crying for his mother.

    Inspector of Wrecks
    How could he be mine? I’m a virgin. You should know. You were the one who recommended me. If Gwydion says I’m a virgin, then I am.

    Apprentice
    Come back for the boy! You can’t just step over him and leave him, like embarrassing underwear shed in a public place. You’ve got to face up…

    Inspector of Wrecks
    I’ll never forgive you. You’ve exposed me to shame.

    Apprentice
    Campion. Does she mean the public humiliation here, or something darker?

    Inspector of Wrecks
    Her mind is so angry that I can’t quite tell.

    Apprentice
    What I’m saying is, do you think that Gwydion is the father of the child?

    Inspector of Wrecks
    You’d know the answer to that, as you’re him.

    Apprentice
    He is, though he doesn’t think he’s done anything wrong.

    Inspector of Wrecks
    You wizards fuck anything you want!
    This is typical old Earth morality. The women get shamed for exactly the same act as men, who face no consequences at all. Look! Math has picked up the boy and is cooing at him like a doting grandfather. He’s clearly going to take care of him, as he did the three children we conceived in the forest. And Aranrhod’s the one who carries the stigma.

    Apprentice
    Only because you tried to pretend you were a virgin.

    Inspector of Wrecks
    But this isn’t real life, it’s myth.

    Apprentice
    These are real children.

    Inspector of Wrecks
    Aranrhod only dropped one.

    Apprentice
    You were too busy striding out of the room with your nose in the air to see that you left another little something. I don’t know why, but I picked it up before anyone saw it and hid it under my cloak. Look, you can see it wriggling.

    Inspector of Wrecks
    Did anyone else spot what you did?

    Apprentice
    No, they were too busy naming the boy Dylan. I suppose if Math names the child, he takes responsibility for it, that’s how it works in these pseudo-medieval games.

    Inspector of Wrecks
    I’m puzzled about one thing. If, as you say, Gwydion was the father of the child – not to mention the thing that you have under your cloak – he must have known that Aranrhod wasn’t a virgin. So why did he try to tell Math that she was, when he knew she was bound to fail the test? See? Another instance of him being a compulsive liar, who secretly wants to be exposed!

    Apprentice
    He wasn’t to know that Math would test Aranrhod.

    Inspector of Wrecks
    He might have guessed. Math’s a magician and his life depends on the virginity of his footholder. Why would he risk dying for a white lie? He had to test her.

    Apprentice
    Math is our uncle.

    Inspector of Wrecks
    What difference does that make?

    Apprentice
    You’ve played female characters so often in here you’re beginning to forget how to think like a male. Gwydion was trying to get one over on Math, to see if he could trick him. Aranrhod would have enjoyed the status of being a virgin, knowing full well that she wasn’t. Even worse, they would have killed Math, leaving the way clear…

    Apprentice
    For Gwydion to take over the kingdom. Nice family, this.
    I’ve just had a terrible thought. Could it be that Math was the father of Aranrhod’s child?

    Inspector of Wrecks
    No, that doesn’t make sense. Why would he have tested me? He’d know for sure that I wasn’t a virgin.
    But what’s he doing with all these boys he’s adopting? What’s become of them?

    Apprentice
    I can’t find any information in my hinterland files about the three children from the forest. Do you have anything on Aranrhod’s son?

    Inspector of Wrecks
    Yes. Despite herself, she knows what happened to the boy. He was named Dylan and as soon as he was baptised, he made for the sea. He took on the