... : )
Of course he had said those things. Her heart sank once Iskata mentioned him. Didn’t she not know that Anu hated him more then all the retched things that had ever crawled on the planet combined? Couldn’t she see that Anu was incapable of hurting anyone, especially the one she loved most, like he had? It was a mother’s right to question her, and maybe Anu needed the interrogation to know she was sure in her choice.
“I bet he did.” Her voice was different, a rarely seen anger rose into her throat. “And I bet he was young, and foolish.” If Anu had one thing, it was age and experience on her side, settling in her features and eyes as she spoke. At times she was naïve and acted much younger then she truly was, but when it mattered most Anu held the maturity and wisdom for each year she had lived.
She and the male were not the same and the words Iskata spoke, of commitment and faith, were unsettling. Anu was not one to think of the negatives, when she wanted something to work she thought of it working, not of the possible failure. “Commitment to my mate has never been hard for me. But I have been scorned and left.” Oh she hadn’t been raped and beaten, but hurt all the same.
Her voice was different, falling back into the need for approval. She wanted Iskata to bless their love, but now it was apparent that she might not be so whiling. “And, I don’t know what might happen but I’m whiling to chance my feelings. If it means being with her.” Even if Naniko did not love her as much as Anu believed she did, and even if she decided that she wanted another more, Anu would take the pain she would feel.
“I’m not him, she knows it as well as you do.” She wasn’t sure if she should speak in such a way, but her voice was soft though as sure as the rain was wet. She wasn’t capable of hurting her, physically she was inferior, and her mind was weaker still. It was that form of safety she offered that must have been when Naniko saw in her. Iskata must know she was far from any male that at some point sought her daughter’s love. |