Larksong Grotto fè dram

the seeking of a man for the first time was a rite of passage among the women of sapphique. erzulie, rosalyn, and chacal had all made their choices but come home in the end, rearing their children with no men.
her maman's falter in allowing njord near, in not correcting da uttered in infancy had created a longing in mireille that was undeniable. njord's betrayal of sapphique had lodged beneath her breastbone as if it were her own guilt to carry.
and sobo — in sobo she had found a brother, a man disconnected from masculinity and tied to the shores themselves. and he was the only one to whom she had been so close in such a way.
but njord had abandoned them and sobo was dead.
in val's arms, then, mireille did not seek the same, but he offered her the unique sensation of being quite understood. her instincts wanted him for his constant nature and willingness to follow the women of the cliffs; her heart willed him for the way he questioned nothing, meeting her now with the same breathless hunger that he had shown the first time.
she had seen then that he could not replace, and nor would she seek it. but he had become his own completion among them, he had raised his teeth for them, he had not sought what was not given, and yes, she saw the love in his caresses.
mireille did not think of attachments or their repercussions; she saw only a way to have everything she desired, and when val joined them, the radiant sound of splendorous joy which poured from her throat and echoed through the grotto was for him, and him alone.