Jealousy

Writers: AL, Vix
Date Posted: 29th November 2008

Characters: Vanea, Neata
Description: Vanea brings home a firelizard egg and meets with her daughter's jealousy.
Location: Emerald Falls Hold
Date: month 12, day 28 of Turn 4

Neata straightened from where she had been replacing the rug. She had put it out to beat it and let it hair and was just returning it to its proper place when her mother arrived. She pushed a stray strand of hair that had escaped from its confines behind her ear and was about to speak when she realised her mother was carrying something. She paused and then asked, "What's that?"

"Something that I need to keep warm," Vanea told her, pushing past her daughter. "I know it's hot, but we're going to need a fire."

"A fire!" That was very odd. Neata turned, frowning at her mother's back. "Why do we need a fire?"

The Headwoman unwrapped the cloth that surrounded a woven basket. "To keep this very warm."

Neata slowly began to take wood that had sat unused by the fire since the warm weather hand returned and tossed it upon the hearth. "What is that?"

Vanea sank into the rocking chair, cradling the basket in her lap. "A firelizard egg."

"Oh!" It made sense, of course, and Neata found herself feeling rather stupid. She hurried to start the fire and stoke it so that it was nice and warm. "Where did you get that?

"The gold from the Sungazer riverboat clutched it." The Headwoman peered down at the basket. "I only hope that I can remember all of the instructions for how to care for it."

"You only got one?" Neata couldn't disguise the disappointment in her voice as she drew close to take a look herself.

Vanea frowned at her daughter. "Only one? It was an honor to be offered even one. I wasn't sure whether I should accept."

Neata returned her mother's frown with one of her own. "How long until it hatches?"

"It'll be a while," the woman replied. "At least that's what Rahona told me."

"Oh." The girl shifted, her frown deepening for a moment, then her eyebrows rising as she queried, "Were there any left?"

"There were a few, but why would that matter?"

"Maybe if they need a home for another one I could get one too." The girl suggested, shifting from one leg to the other.

Vanea sighed as she regarded her daughter. "You don't need a firelizard egg. I wasn't sure that I should accept one, but I did and that's enough for our family."

"Why is it okay for you to have one and no one else?" Neata crossed her arms over her chest, her frown deepening. "It's not fair!"

The older woman regarded her daughter in exasperation. "For one thing, I'm older and hold a position of responsibility. For another, I was offered one."

"You could have asked for another." Neata stated emphatically. "And age and position shouldn't have anything to do with it."

"I would not have been so rude," Vanea told her. "I was offered an egg, and after some consideration I accepted it."

"If someone offered me one, would you let me keep it?" Neata didn't know anyone personally with a clutch, but maybe she could find one. Shards, she had never even _thought_ about getting a firelizard before, but now that her mother had one, she couldn't help but want one herself.

"If you're behaving as a proper young woman should, you'd not be frequenting any places where that would happen."

"What do you mean?" Neata placed her fists upon her hips, giving her mother an odd look. "If I find someone who has a firelizard who had a clutch, how is that being improper?"

The look Vanea returned was very similar to that of her daughter. "And exactly who do you know here at the Hold who has a clutch?"

"I don't." Not yet anyway. Surely someone in the hold had a clutch somewhere, it was just a matter of finding him or her. "I'm just saying I might find someone who does."

"You have no good reason to want one," her mother commented. "You just want to have anything that anyone else has."

"No one's ever even bothered to _ask_ me what I want!" Neata crossed her arms over her breast, her face reddening. "And when I try to say anything about what I want people just ignore it!"

"You don't ask for reasonable things." Vanea glared back at her daughter, her face equally red. "You ask for things that go against what's proper."

"They're things that _used_ to be proper." Neata pointed out, holding her mother's gaze with her own unwavering one. She was not about to back down. "Women used to be able to do more than just have babies, they could craft! And some are crafting now!"

The Headwoman sighed. "Someone offered me a firelizard egg – a very nice gesture. Can't you simply be happy for me instead of worrying over how you can get one?"

"I would be happier if I didn't feel like you took delight every time I was denied something _I_ wanted!" Neata threw her hands up in the air and turned her back upon her mother.

Vanea's shoulders sagged in defeat. She felt that she had tried to give her children everything that they could want, but this one always wanted more. "This argument is going nowhere." She rose and took the basket to the hearth.

"No, it never does." And with that, the girl stalked from the room. Her mother never understood and never would. If she wanted anything, she was going to have to do something about it herself. And that's just what she was going to do!

Last updated on the November 29th 2008

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Jealousy