Is the Price too Steep?

You know, I have about decided that Cana has as many spies in this damn camp as I do. She knew about Another One, Oren and the verr, but she made me sweat, worrying about a reaction. I don't know why? I have yet to see a mean streak in the woman. Not even a small one. But, I have this feeling, that she might now have a mean streak, but she does have it in her to get even with me, sooner or later. But for now, everything is smoothed over, more or less.


That is when my next challenge presented itself. Damn!


What do you do when a man, a friend comes to you to ask a bride price. You give it to him, right? I can't just do the easy thing, name a few baubles, a number of bosk, maybe a fine bull, and be done with it. I have to ask a question, that I already knew the answer to.


Do you love the woman?


Well, no. You see, my friend is a very intense man, one of deep thoughts on many things, but I have learned long ago, that there is the one thing, that in all his wisdom, he does not understand or know. That one thing is love. He loves his tribe, he loves the land, and I think there are even friends and family members that he hold great respect and affection for. But does the man know love? I don't think so.


And therein lies my problem. We have both just turned through ourselves to make things right with the woman, to place her back where she belongs, to make her feel safe and protected. In doing that, did he really think I would set a price for her, to a man that admits that he does not love her? Not even for the man I consider my best friend. Not even to a man that I respect above all others.


Was I being narrow minded? Maybe so. But I just can't help it. I feel the both of them need more time, that this is coming too soon after the situation that we have all just barely managed to make right for the woman. I have got to know down deep in my soul, that they are right for each other. Now, what makes me the judge of that. Nothing.


There was a time, with me, that love would never have even entered into the equation. A time when the price would be set, paid, then they would have been on their own from that point on. But I am not that same man.


I am a man who has floundered himself when it came to the subject of love. I am a man who has known first hand what it is to be in a situation where one loves, and the other doesn't. I know how deadly that can be. I know how it can suck the very life out of you, make you act in ways that are uncharacteristic for you, as a person. I do not want that for Seveya. And I do not want it for Fonce.


The man Fonce possesses a standard of honor that I truly see in very few. He has an integrity about himself, and all that he does, that we should all look to as an example. Do I doubt that he would take care of Seveya. No. That is just not who he is. He would mate her, take care of her needs, and I even think that in the beginning, he would try to love her, in the only way that he knows how.


It is down the road that I worry about. What if the day comes when that integrity and honor is not enough? What if the day comes, when he realizes, or she realizes that what they have is not strong enough to withstand the day to day vagaries of life together.


Right now, I have no doubts that they both feel something for each other. I have no doubts that she loves him, and I really have no doubts that maybe incites something in him that no other has. My hope, is that something can grow from all of this.


By denying the bride price, and I trying to dash all of this? No. All I am trying to do is to get them to take more time. More time to look at what they have together, and see if it is something that will endure past these feelings of passion, and maybe even new emotions that are boiling in them both. I want them to be sure.


We mate for life. Good, bad or indifferent, that is how it is. I have seen matings set aside, but I have never seen anything really good come from this. There are always deeper emotions flowing beneath the surface, some that maybe never get resolved.


I do not want this for either of them. She has been through enough. And from what I know of him, so has he. All I want for them to do is take time, to know each other. To see if what they have can grow into something more.


And I realize, that in denying the price to him right now, I may be affecting my own future. But I have come to realize something about Mezoo and myself. What grows between us will endure. Each moment we spend together, brings us closer, makes us stronger. And understanding grows between us, a bond that it will grow stronger with each passing day.


This is what I want for Fonce and Seveya. This knowing, that they can endure life together, with all of the hardships that come with it.


I have no doubts that he will speak to me of this again, eventually. Maybe by that time, my answer will be different. But it will not be tomorrow, or the day after. They still need time.