The silence stretched on for a long moment until Rava spoke up. “Luminescence isn’t as important as you think it is.”
“I certainly didn’t need to glow for Rava to know that I loved her,” Leeu, Neelu’s twin brother added.
Rava and Leeu had chosen each other many seasons ago. Neither of them ever glowed for anyone, but they didn’t care. They found each other, and they’d been happy ever since.
Their comments seemed to break the tension in the room, and everyone went back to their conversations.
Fatima scooted over to the other end of the table where the elderly couple was sitting.
“So you truly never luminesed for each other?”
“No,” Leeu let out a laugh. “All that glowing stuff isn’t necessary. I don’t need a goddess to tell me how perfect Rava is. I could see that all by myself.”
“Oh Leeu,” Rava’s ears turned a dark blue against her white hair as her mate doted on her.
“It’s true,” Leeu nodded to himself proud that he could still make his mate blush after all these years.
“I hadn’t thought that was even an option,” Fatima commented with a pensive expression on her face.
“Of course it is,” Rava assured her. “You don’t need luminescence, all you need is love.”
Fatima glanced over at me under her lashes then quickly looked away. Was she thinking about me? About us? Hope welled up in my chest at the thought that she might consider meworthy of her even though I’d never glow under the full moon again.
Fatima scooted back over to her bowl of food and informed me that she would like to head home.
I helped her up from her seat and together we walked out the door.
The half full moon illuminated the path as we walked past my house toward hers.
“Do you miss her?” Fatima asked.
“Miss who?” I missed my mother still, even after all these years, but I wasn’t sure that’s who she was referring to.
“You’re mate,” she answered hesitantly.
Her statement made me pause. I didn’t usually think about Riella. The only reason why I’d been thinking about her lately is because Fatima’s mate Drelic had died.
“No, I do not miss her,” I shook my head.
“Did you love her before she died?” Fatima asked.
“No,” I sighed, still feeling the pain of that old rejection in my heart. “I did not love Riella and she did not love me.”
“Oh,” Fatima frowned down at the ground. “I’m sorry to hear that.”
“It’s alright. She was in love with someone else. They ran into the forest together the night we luminess. I don’t know if they were running away together or if they were saying goodbye.”
“How did she die?” Fatima asked.
“She and her lover were killed by jagwas,” I answered.
“Like Drelic was,” Fatima commented.
“Did you love Drelic?” I turned the question on her.
“No,” she shook her head.
Just then a cold wind blew through the village making Fatima shiver.
