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"It was his daughter whoanShe would drive her father andto ‘help’ He finally apprenticed her to a woe, and we had some peace I didn’t pay any attention to her after that, until one day we’re sitting near the fire and up walks this goddess, bearing food"

I keptmyself that I’d asked for this And I already knew the story couldn’t end well

"It was his daughter, of course, all grown up I fell in love with her al I wanted at the ti as she was, in many ways, at least forhis lips as he thought about how to describe his youthful self

"I was a lot like Ryu, actually Which I think explains what happened between us, later I was so awith hu The colonists were encroaching on our hust the colonists, thehout the continent, conquering all of the se ones we have now

"As for the girl, she was everything a entle, and had been well trained to be a wife She wanted nothing more than to serve, and she expected her husband to leave her for long periods of tiled sound, because Anyan looked up to grin at me

"I warned you," he said "But keep in o I was a differenther as her tribe’s tradition called for I loved her so much, and I vowed to protect her and her people And between ht like demons But when my parents were eventually killed--first my father, then my mother--we kneere lost The tribe moved on"

"Oh Anyan, I’, his so And they died as warriors, which was all they’d ever wanted, really They were an older generation, used to fighting I can’t iine how they would have survived in today’s world, had they made it"

"Still, I’aveup where he’d left off

"The tribe est, but I was given another opportunity Rumors of my abilities as a warrior had spread, and I was approached by the Alfar ould eventually create the Territory we live in, now He wanted ht for him At first I was reluctant, but he was so persuasive and he toldI wanted to hear Hoould lead, hoould finally be ast dom

"I let him sway me, and eventually I took my wife and moved into the interim Compound he’d created It was only then I realized od, especially as I grew more skilled as warrior and, more important, as a spy But my as treated like dirt, and only then did I learn of the newly arrived Alfar’s conteht with them from the Old World The Alfar that had always led us were close to the humans, and we all relied on one another There was ht none of that with them

"So was fine My wife never complained, and I let h I kneas really because she was taught to bear suffering in silence Looking back, I realize she had to have been nored what should have been obvious, because I was happy and I was getting what I wanted"

Anyan’s voice was soft, but I could hear his pain He may not have talked about this issue often, but he’d obviously done a ton of pretty intense soul searching over the years

"Everything caed Territory We were under attack fro to do the sa They wanted our land; anted theirs I was eneral I was so proud ofin co important, and I believed all of my Leader’s claims that he loved nant

"You kno hard it is for us to conceive, andfor years She was over thirty by this tiiven up on having children by then So ere both surprised by the baby"

I felt my heart palpitate Anyan had children? Why had he never told ether the fact I’d never heard about any children with the idea that this story didn’t end well, andby the time this was over