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“Not lovely enough? Do not fret yourself over such things, wife,” I admonished. “You are right, though. However, if I stayed, do you not think they would come pounding at the door, wondering if I had been burned?”
“There would have been smoke coming out of the window,” she said.
“There is nothing to do here, Luella. I would rather be in the fields,” I said, remarking how one of her eyebrows was raised.
“You did something last night, Metheus. I want to talk about that.”
She straightened herself and sat on the bed. I stood in front of her, already dressed in my breeches.
“What did I do? Are we not supposed to talk about what we did not do and what we are not supposed to do?” I grinned at her.
Anyone who could hear me knew that I was playing with literal fire.
“My fire was burning. I could have burned you to a crisp. If you were another man, we would be picking up your ashes this morning. But you did something. Yes, you did,” she accused, her eyes bright and a smile formed on her lips.
“You were dreaming, Luella. I probably did something that someone should have done a long time ago. Calm you down,” I explained.
“So, does that mean you can calm me down easily then?” she asked, unconsciously biting her lower lip.
Somehow, I was distracted by the movement, but I quickly shook myself out of it.
“Are you trying to get me killed? I know of other, swifter ways to do it. I don’t want to burn alive,” I said.
That wiped off the smile from her face. She went back to lying down on the bed as if resigned to her fate.
“What possibilities are you trying? Do you want to find out if you can be cured? But for what now? Now that you are married to someone you do not love?” I prodded.
She did not move, but her eyes shifted towards me. Those green eyes seemed to scrutinize my face. Was she studying me? Did she see through my pretenses?
“I want to be normal, Metheus,” she sighed. “For years, I had been resigned to being a spinster. Nobody wanted to marry me after they realized what I could do. The drought had somehow made things happen. This marriage, on the outside, is perfect.”
That sent pleasure through my spine. Luella thought that we looked perfect in people’s eyes. I knew of her vanity even before I met her. It must be something for her to think that way.
“What can I do to make things normal?” I asked, willing to serve. After all, we could make things a little better for both of us. It did not have to feel like a prison. I wondered who was having a more difficult time between the two of us.
Was I having a difficult time?
At that moment, I confessed that I was not. I even sat back down on the bed. Then, I rested my head on a pillow. Her face was a few inches from my stomach, but she did not flinch. She stayed where she was.
“You made it a little normal just now, Metheus,” she said.
“I am not staying in bed, Luella. I am just resting my back a little.”
“What if – if we?”
“We what?” I squinted at her. Her eyes took a faraway gaze. What was this woman thinking?
“Never mind,” she said. “What made you say yes to this arrangement, husband of mine? Do you not have a woman waiting for you to marry her? At least, in my case, it is clear that there is nobody who would want to risk their lives.”
“I have told you the truth. It is the land. It is also an opportunity for Mogochislenia and Arrowspear to have some kind of link. We believe that everyone sees us as barbarians. We are not, you know. We dress according to our weather. So, the men are often either bare-chested or fully covered. You will not find anyone dressing anywhere in between.”
“That explains your wedding garb,” she remarked.
“Ah, yes. Did you like it? The flowers?”
“I love them all, Metheus. I cannot understand why it has become so easy for me to talk to you. I thought you were not a nice man.”
“What made you think that?”
