He nodded slowly, remembering the tale of how she had been a sickly child, unable to play with the other children and her appearance causing even more hesitancy as something different in the community. It wasn't hard to imagine that few had been brave enough to pay court to her, especially if she spent much of her time working on the Valair farm, away from the Settlement.
"Only in the poetry you use to describe it," he teased gently, but there was a warm sort of sadness in his eyes. She deserved better than Sunjata, in his estimation, but Sunjata was the one she had chosen, and with his warning given there was little else he could do but hope for the best for them. Matters of the heart could only be learned by firsthand experience, in his estimation. "So long as the joy outweighs the pain, I think. And so long as you remember that your happiness is worth just as much as his. Don't be the only one to sacrifice for this, Maea. And... don't forget, either, that there are more kinds of love than just romantic. You can still love and support him without pinning your hopes for a partner on a man whose heart rests with a dead lover."
"Only in the poetry you use to describe it," he teased gently, but there was a warm sort of sadness in his eyes. She deserved better than Sunjata, in his estimation, but Sunjata was the one she had chosen, and with his warning given there was little else he could do but hope for the best for them. Matters of the heart could only be learned by firsthand experience, in his estimation. "So long as the joy outweighs the pain, I think. And so long as you remember that your happiness is worth just as much as his. Don't be the only one to sacrifice for this, Maea. And... don't forget, either, that there are more kinds of love than just romantic. You can still love and support him without pinning your hopes for a partner on a man whose heart rests with a dead lover."
