"Hello Marisol," Changying said warmly as she opened the door to the chalet.

"Hello dear, those men have been locked up in the study for ages, and I thought you might like to walk with me for a little while." Marisol indicated the sunshine outside the chalet.

"I would like that, let me just put on some walking shoes," she agreed and opened the door widely allowing Marisol to enter as she found her bag and pulled out a pair of jogging shoes.

"So how are you feeling about returning to the farm?" Marisol asked lightly despite the gravity of the subject.

"Nervous," she admitted. "I mean I have an idea about what will happen, but it's all just so strange, bizarre even."

"Bizarre is a good word for it," she laughed. "I can see how you would think that, though. I have always lived this life, so for me, the way young people live today seems a little bizarre."

"I can see that," Changying laughed as they walked out into the morning light. They began walking further up the hill that sat above the vineyards and house and chatting about her Christmas at the farm and how she had been tricked into singing at the festival. Marisol and Zachariah had hosted a similar party for their neighbours and friends without the concert, instead bringing in a small choir to serenade the party goers.

To Changying's surprise, the track ended in a Balinese style hut with a daybed and cushioned bamboo chairs. They sat and looked out over the view content to be silent for the moment.

"You must love him with all of your heart to accept the trial you are about to undertake," Marisol broke the silence.

"I do. I have never met anyone like him. He makes me feel like I am more than I am like I could be anything. He makes me feel like nothing could ever hurt me as long as I have him in my life," she tries to express how she felt adequately and gave up. "I love him more than I ever thought I could love another person, and if this is what he needs me to do so that we can have a life together, then I will agree to whatever the trial brings."

"I am glad, he deserves a love like that, he has grown into a wonderful man," she said wistfully. "Zachariah and I love him as our own, and we want you to succeed so no matter what happens over the next few months, cocoon yourself in that love you feel and know he would not be separated from you if he didn't have to be."

"That sounds ominous," Changying turned to look at the woman.

"Not at all," Marisol laughed. "Bizarre as you called it, but not ominous. You are an outsider so our ways will test you more than most."

"It's a patriarchal society where the men dominate and the women, even the wives, serve the needs of the twelve patriarchs," she said confidently. She had done enough research to know what the trial and her time in servitude would mean in general terms. She was prepared to put her feelings on equality away for the time being. When she wore the necklace Wang gave her she gave him total control over body and well-being, she would just be extending that to his father, and though she was nervous, she had come to terms with the strangeness of the situation.

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"I see you have done some research," Marisol said appreciatively. "Throughout history Patriarchs have been more prevalent than matriarchs, I quite enjoy the comparisons between the two."

"I would imagine them to be quite opposite," Changying seemed to consider the idea.

"Not at all, in the end, those that wield power rule in similar fashion. The difference is in what drives the two societies that differ. Patriarchal societies revere history and linear timelines. They are rational and slaves to reality. They have a dogma that that is based purely on reality and science. You've seen that at work recently no doubt," she laughed again. "Matriarchal societies tend to revolve around cycles of time and the eternity of the universe. They are more driven by ritual and magic, beauty and art."

"So you go with the left brain is masculine and the right brain is feminine theory," Changying said enjoying the turn in the conversation. "The ancient Egyptians believed that a pharaoh could not rule without a balance of both the feminine and the masculine within one ruler. There is also the belief in the balance of yin and yang which perhaps is the ultimate goal for some Asian societies."

"One could but hope, but I am not so optimistic," Marisol rebutted her point, and the two women continued to debate the ideas of spirituality versus science within the bounds of patriarchs and matriarchs.

Time went by quick for them, and Marisol looked at her buzzing phone announcing that they had been summoned back to the house.