October 18, 1191
"Mother?" Prior didn't get an answer, but he didn't get a protest either--and Prior's mother was not the type to keep her objections to herself. "Mother, are you all right?"
"Oh you poor, silly child!" She grimaced--and giggled. Neither were actions typical of her. "I'm fine. Why would you think otherwise?""I saw Auntie Xeta leave. She didn't look happy. Did you two fight?"
"No, we didn't fight. We're just... I don't know. On different pages in regards to our friendship, perhaps."
Their friendship. Maybe, maybe not. But his mother needn't have pretended for his sake. He'd been privy to enough little hints about his parents as a much younger child, too young to make sense of them--but not so young that he wouldn't remember years later. "Are you a sapphist?"
She cocked her head to the side. "Where did you learn that word?"
"I'm thirteen. I know lots of words." He joined her on the bed, as he had when he'd been little. He hoped he hadn't been too blunt with her. "I, uh... I used to see Auntie Aydelle leave your room on occasion. And I used to see Uncle Searle leaving Papa's. I didn't think much of it at the time, since I spent time in friends' bedrooms too. But grown-ups don't play in bedrooms the way children do.""Perhaps. But if your father and I had been involved in such lifestyles, would you think any of less of us for it? Would you think us ungodly?"
"Have you read the Old Testament, Mother? God Himself doesn't have much going for him in terms of godliness--all that smiting and jealousy and constant need for worship. I think wanting to be with someone to your liking is nothing compared to killing a bunch of children for making fun of a bald man."
"I suppose you have a point there." His mother sighed. She only sighed when she was about to be honest--more honest than she wanted to be. "Don't think poorly of Xeta for my sake. She's been very lonely since Jadin died, and I don't think she knows what she wants from me. The truth is, I'm too old to enter a romance with someone who's not sincere, even if she thinks she might be. It may frustrate Xeta, but I can't give her anything until she knows whether or not she wants me to.""I think you're right to make that call." Not that Prior knew much of love, or much of pursuing or being pursued since he'd been betrothed to Neva for as long as he remembered and found her more than tolerable enough to feel the need for anyone else. But sometimes, people didn't need advice so much as they needed reassurance. "You'll just get hurt if she just wants to use you to get over Jadin's death. And I think she'd hurt herself doing that too, in the end."
"Such a wise boy you are." His mother smiled--for real this time. "Just like your father. He too could always make me feel better without spewing patronizing false optimism."In spite of the circumstances, Prior found himself grinning back.
Whoever his father had preferred taking to bed, there was no other man he'd rather be like. "I'm glad."NEXT CHAPTER:
