Hoshor Plains Gentle Girl, Gentle Step

sobeille’s mouth formed a rounded shape in surprise. first — the depiction of a goat — in her mind it was some shuffling monstrosity with a wolf’s body and two spikes erupting from its head.

more pressing than that was ajei’s description of the men in her village. learning they were equals and stood alongside women earned the quietest scoff of disbelief. surely they did not expect men to stand on the same moral high ground as women? this challenged sobeille’s perception of the world. she rummaged carefully around the debris of her culture shock.

no! dat not be how it is in saffique. she stood a little taller, narrow chest rising in pride. my maman is de leader alongside my auntie — de men babysit and raise de children while de women hunt and patrol and go out into de world. it is how it be. your village be very strange. perhaps a man made it. she leveled ajei with a solemn eye.

’ave you met a cruel woman?