"I will not marry him," she declared, having just burst into the tent where her parents were meeting with his parents. That's when she got a look at the him in question, kneeling politely behind his parents. Karak, the younger brother. Not the older Errak. "Leave, daughter," said Father. "This is not your concern."

"It's my future!"

"This is outrageous," said Karak's father.

"Why shouldn't I have some say?" she said.

"when I was your age," said Mother, "I would never have chosen your father." Father raised an eyebrow. "But my parents made the wise decision."

"The sapling does not choose where it grows," said Father. "It falls where the great oak wills."

"I want to marry someone who will make me happy, someone I can make happy, not this, uh...." She had rehearsed a speech for someone far older than Karak. "...this guy.

Father stood. "We are your parents. If you do not think we can choose what is best for you, you disrespect our wisdom."

"I don't, I think you're very wise, Father," she said. "But what I want should matter. Does the wise man, um, does not the wise man look which way the river flows before he sets his nets?"

Karak's father looked like he might catch on fire, but he did not break Father's silence. The tent was quiet.

"The wise man does," said Father.