Ouroboros Spine pijannituk ⩅

the mousy agouti fell to silence, deciphering the poetry of the moonwoman's words and listening. it was not so different as things in her homeland, though there were more underlying customs in the northern ways than the woodlander's. in the land of many elms, there were a handful of hearths with more than two partners -- some wed to each other altogether or in situations similar to what kukutux described. 

"i understand. i meant only...you have both found so much happiness in each other. i do not wish to be a dark cloud on the sun-filled days, a stain on your happiness. i know you would never see it as such, you have always been gracious and welcoming to me," there was no small amount of gratitude in her voice, the smile that flickered across her lips. "but i do not wish to burden aiolos. six children...that's quite a lot of meat to provide, a rather crowded sleeping place for him." it was not his fault adrastus had turned away from them nor was it his responsibility to take care of children who were not his. she did not wish to make him unhappy.

"i am not sure i could ever ask such a thing of him. or you." she demurred gently. she did not wish to appear rude. but she would go childless before she posed such a question to the islander. 

some part of her, a great part of her, was relieved in this. that he would not touch her. she was not sure she was ready to give herself in such a manner, or that she would ever be again. her heart did not trust so easy anymore.

"if the sun is agreement...then i will be second wife to him, second mother to your children if permitted. perhaps it would be best to stay, to give them the family they should have been raised with." she considered this, glancing to her children. it did not matter if she did not know the same love her husband and sister shared. it only mattered that she followed the best path for them.

but in time they would be grown. her wounds would heal, she hoped. she could not say for certain that she would not long to know what that love felt like -- a truly unconditional love.

"all i ask is that someday, when my children are safe, if there should come someone..." the botanist trailed off for a moment. her feelings had been knotted up for some time. there had been a period, long ago it felt now, where there could have been something more for the moonlit spiritualist. it was not uncommon in her birth village. such emotion had since blossomed into sorority. she did not know if such could be changed with time, or if she could feel anything for aiolos beyond the love for a brother and tribesman. she did not know if someone would come. if she would be ready when they did. she did not know if amicable divorce existed within the ways of moonglow.

"i would like to find what you have found someday." just because the last marriage the alpha had arranged for the dove had gone awry didn't mean she'd lost faith in the ostrega's matchmaking skills. perhaps kukutux might someday know of a man in search of a wife with children to bring to his hearth, a man who would not turn them away because they weren't good enough.