Post by greenie on Jan 14, 2010 9:03:04 GMT 10
Title: A little more
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Telling the truth would only make things worse.
Warning: Contains mention of abuse.
“Onua!”
Onua threw herself off the horse into her mother’s arms as soon as they stopped moving. “Mama, I missed you.” Being held by her mother was the first time she had felt safe in weeks, and the thought brought tears to her eyes.
“Onua, is everything alright?”
This wasn’t the place to tell her mother what she wanted to. “I’m just so happy to see you, Mama. It’s been strange, not having you around these last couple of months after seeing you every day for sixteen years.”
Her mother smoothed Onua’s hair. “I can’t believe my little girl is all grown up and married,” she told her, and led her into the house as Onua’s younger cousin cared for her horse.
The house looked different to how Onua had remembered it. Now that she saw it again, she knew it was the same as it was in her last few weeks there; much barer and plainer than the house of her childhood. It was the same with all of the houses in their village – the tribe had beggared themselves to pay for her dowry. They all knew that bringing peace by marrying the daughter of their chief to the son of the mayor of the nearest lowlander’s town was worth the cost.
Her mother set a cup of tea and a plate of food in front of her. “Eat up, it looks as though you could do with some fattening. You’ve lost a fair bit of weight, are you sure that everything’s fine?”
Onua thought about the bruise from the night before on her arm, and the ones on her thigh and hip from the night before that. She thought about how her new husband mocked her struggles to speak in Common and grew angry when she didn’t know how to cook food the way he wanted it. She wanted to tell her, to have a sympathetic ear and a shoulder to cry on…but it would break her mother’s heart. There would be war again if her tribe found out she was being mistreated, and Onua owed it to her people to make sure that that didn’t happen. She forced herself to smile. “Of course I’m fine, Mama. You worry too much.” Everybody in the village had already paid a high price to bring peace. She’d just paid a little more, that was all.
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Telling the truth would only make things worse.
Warning: Contains mention of abuse.
“Onua!”
Onua threw herself off the horse into her mother’s arms as soon as they stopped moving. “Mama, I missed you.” Being held by her mother was the first time she had felt safe in weeks, and the thought brought tears to her eyes.
“Onua, is everything alright?”
This wasn’t the place to tell her mother what she wanted to. “I’m just so happy to see you, Mama. It’s been strange, not having you around these last couple of months after seeing you every day for sixteen years.”
Her mother smoothed Onua’s hair. “I can’t believe my little girl is all grown up and married,” she told her, and led her into the house as Onua’s younger cousin cared for her horse.
The house looked different to how Onua had remembered it. Now that she saw it again, she knew it was the same as it was in her last few weeks there; much barer and plainer than the house of her childhood. It was the same with all of the houses in their village – the tribe had beggared themselves to pay for her dowry. They all knew that bringing peace by marrying the daughter of their chief to the son of the mayor of the nearest lowlander’s town was worth the cost.
Her mother set a cup of tea and a plate of food in front of her. “Eat up, it looks as though you could do with some fattening. You’ve lost a fair bit of weight, are you sure that everything’s fine?”
Onua thought about the bruise from the night before on her arm, and the ones on her thigh and hip from the night before that. She thought about how her new husband mocked her struggles to speak in Common and grew angry when she didn’t know how to cook food the way he wanted it. She wanted to tell her, to have a sympathetic ear and a shoulder to cry on…but it would break her mother’s heart. There would be war again if her tribe found out she was being mistreated, and Onua owed it to her people to make sure that that didn’t happen. She forced herself to smile. “Of course I’m fine, Mama. You worry too much.” Everybody in the village had already paid a high price to bring peace. She’d just paid a little more, that was all.
Oh, poor Onua! The only thing that keeps this story from totally completely breaking my heart is the knowledge that it didn't last forever. I always thought Onua was an interesting and incredibly strong character, and her strength really comes through in this.
Maybe once we'd have seen it during Smackdown!