Total pages in book: 153
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 141492 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 707(@200wpm)___ 566(@250wpm)___ 472(@300wpm)
Tala took her mother’s hand. “We’re not supposed to ever say bad things about people, especially family, but she is very mean.”
It said quite a lot that her mother didn’t admonish her gently.
“Lunja,” Safia said, nearly getting up to put her arms around her sister to comfort her. Farah hastily pulled her down. Amara put both hands on her shoulder. Safia subsided but looked like a warrior about to go into combat.
“You should have told me. I would have done something.”
“What could you do?” Lunja asked. “She still despises me. She thinks Jeddi has allowed us to be too outspoken.”
Safia’s gaze met Aura’s.
“I know what you’re thinking, Safia,” Aura cautioned, but her voice was filled with laughter. “You wouldn’t dare.”
“I might. Lunja, when was the last time that old battle-ax made you cry?”
The women gasped. Tala giggled.
“Safia,” Lunja protested, but weakly. “Last time I took the children. She was just as mean to Tala. She’s only six, but when she tried to share what she believed would help with joint pain, Zdan’s aunt cut her off and told her she should know her place. She told Zdan that was what came from marrying beneath him. He told her in a very quiet voice that he would not bring his wife or children back to her home and he would only come when necessary. He didn’t want us treated like that.”
Tala nodded. “Vava was very stern with her.” She was very proud.
Lunja gave Safia a watery smile. “Like Amara, very early in our marriage I realized how lucky I am to have Zdan, and I decided I would devote myself to his happiness. I put him first in my thoughts as much as I could. I watched him closely to see what he liked. I tried to find out what was important to him. What foods he liked.” She blushed. “I tried to learn to be very good in the bedroom. I knew I was never going to be a perfect wife, but I wanted him to be happy. I think that’s the key. I did my best, even though sometimes I was embarrassed to talk to him about everything, and to my surprise, he wanted me to communicate with him.”
Amara nodded. “Izem sets aside time every evening for us to talk. He makes it a priority. At first, I was so afraid. It felt like a trap to me, but then I finally realized he really did want to hear what I had to say, no matter how trivial.”
“Zdan wanted his children raised very differently than he had been raised. He’d watched our family for a long time,” Lunja said. “I was very shocked when I realized it was communication that mattered so much to him.”
Farah nodded her head as she bent over Safia’s hand, meticulously drawing out the patterns on her skin. “He often has long conversations with Jeddi.”
“Because he wants to be a good father,” Lunja said. “That’s another thing his aunt complains about. She doesn’t like the way he is with the children.”
Safia’s breath escaped in a long slow hiss, like that of a snake. “That woman.” She narrowed her eyes at Aura. “Don’t shake your head. You know she deserves a little payback.”
“You shouldn’t have told Safia that, Lunja. You know she’s always been the defender of the family,” Aura protested.
“Against demons,” Layla, the peacemaker, pointed out.
“Zdan’s aunt is a demon,” Safia said. “She made my sister cry, and Lunja is the sweetest woman in the world. She was mean to Tala. She’s six years old. There’s no excuse to be ugly to a child, especially since Tala was trying to help her.”
“What are you planning to do?” Lunja asked, her voice filled with suspicion.
Safia did her best to look innocent as the room fell quiet and her sisters-in-law, Tala and Lunja, regarded her carefully. “I’m pondering.”
“When we were children,” Lunja said, “we found out very quickly we didn’t dare play tricks on Safia. Not even the boys. She always retaliated—and in a big way. Sometimes it was impossible to tell she was the one who played the prank on us, but we all knew it was her.”
“Did you ask her in front of Jeddi?” Amara asked. She looked as if she were holding her breath.
“If she was asked outright, she would have admitted it, but we never did that, because we didn’t want to get her in trouble, since we had played a trick on her first. She was just more inventive than we were,” Lunja admitted, laughing at her memories. She indicated Aura. “I think Miss Aura, who is looking very innocent over there, helped her sometimes.”
Aura pressed her lips together and widened her eyes. “I have no idea what you could possibly mean.”
“You mean which time I’m talking about,” Lunja corrected.
“That too,” Aura admitted, laughing.