"The world is a dangerous place for women." Her mother used to say. "Men prowl like animals looking for the weakest prey." Anis used to wonder why, then, did the women of the Lanae family pen themselves up like sheep for slaughter.
She had matured a lot since she had last thought that. Now she understood. Lenae women were not bound to the interior of the tower. They were free to come and go which becomes a necessarily when you have no man around to help you survive. Lenae women learned to cook and clean, or else live in their own filth, and sew and weave, or else freeze in the winter, but that wasn't all they learned. They learned to work the ground in order to eat, and to use weapons to hunt as well as protect themselves. The tower was a rather ingenious solution to the hunt for a mate. A man must be brave enough to come looking and have the perseverance to last through the rigorous questions and tests a Lanae women might impose on him.
Yes, Anis liked living in the tower, except for one small detail - Ryanthia.
Ryanthia was Anis' cousin. All Lanae women have a right to living in the tower whenever they want for however long they choose and it just so happened that Ryanthia decided to come not too long after Anis had settled herself in.
"I'm tired!" Ryanthia whined as she plopped onto the ground of the garden.
"Would you like to eat tonight?"
"Duh."
"Then you better get picking because I am not sharing any of mine." Ryanthia harrumphed and stuck her tongue out at Anis. The pitiful part of this exchange was that both girls had been alive the same amount of time, 19 years, and yet Ryanthia threw a temper tantrum like a toddler.
"Hallo!" Anis sighed. Though the point of the tower was to find a mate, right now she was not in the mood to deal with a man who's first impression is a shouted 'Hallo!' from across the small clearing. Ryanthia, though, had a different opinion.
"Why hello there!" She called back, batting her eyes. The man, if that's what you could call that string bean of a male, blushed slightly as he approached and bowed low to the two ladies. "And what, pray tell, brings you here on this fine day, stranger?" Ryanthia let out an obnoxious giggle, still batting her eyelashes so fast Anis was surprised the man didn't blow away.
"I heared rumors about two young women living in a tower in these woods alone and I thought to myself: I should pop in for a visit and make sure the girls have proper supervision. I wouldn't want to have ignored this information and have been responsible for the demise of said beautiful ladies." Ryanthia giggled again. Anis just stared.
"Well, as you can see we are quite responsible for ourselves and have no need of supervision. As such, you should be on your way soon, it will be dark in a few hours and it takes more than that to get to the nearest town." Anis gathered the plants she had collected and turned to go inside.
"Why don't you stay here the night mister . . ." Anis froze in her place.
"Karle, just Karle." Another giggle.
"What do you say, Anis? Couldn't Karle stay the night? You said yourself that he wouldn't make it to town by dark." Anis sighed, she had admittedly dug her own grave.
"Very well, but being the honorable gentleman I am sure you are, you will sleep outside." Ryanthia giggled and took Karle's arm.
"I don't believe I caught your name, lady." Ryanthia led Karle to a small bench set up away from the tower. Anis went inside to prepare supper, though Ryanthia had been basically no help Anis was still kind enough to prepare her meal as well as one for Karle.
When supper was nearly finished Ryanthia rushed in.
"You will never guess what has happened!" Anis barely spared a glance at her gushing cousin. "Karle has brought a friend." Anis wiped her hands and put them on her hips.
"Well either he brought his own food or he's going without supper because i have none for him."
"I brought my own." A man stood in the doorway. "I wanted to apologize for the sudden arrival. Karle and I had been planning to leave town in the afternoon but he disappeared before lunch."
"Oh."
"I am sorry again, I have not introduced myself. I am Gentry." He bowed.
"Oh, I am Anis, and this is my cousin Ryanthia, if she hasn't already introduced herself." Gentry nodded to Ryanthia.
"I will take my leave then, I wouldn't want to be underfoot." Anis nodded as Gentry bowed out.
"I know that look." Ryanthia grinned pointing at Anis' face. she laughed and clapped her hands like a child on Christmas. "You think Gentry is attractive!" Anis scoffed.
"And?" She turned back to the food. "I have the right to think that people are attractive."
"Mm hmm." Ryanthia hummed knowingly as she slinked out the door giggling. Anis shook her head. Yes, she thought Gentry was attractive but that didn't mean that she was going to fawn over him as Ryanthia was doing with Karle. She shook her head again and gathered up supper and dishes.
Gentry took the dishes from her when she walked outside as Ryanthia and Karle ignored her while they giggled and blushed at each other.
"Thank you." Anis set down the food.
"Of course, I would never turn down a damsel in distress." Gentry grinned.
"If you want your food warm you had better eat it now." Ryanthia patted around next to her without taking her eyes off Karle.
"What would she do if you put a rat under her hand?" Anis laughed at the suggestion.
"Scream and run for the hills most likely. Pity I don't have any on hand." Gentry chuckled and took a bite of some dried meat.
"Did you want something else?" Anis motioned to the food she had prepared.
"I thought you had no food for me." Anis blushed a little.
"I was not in a good mood, and, with the lovebirds over there, I think there will be plenty extra."
Suddenly Ryanthia shreiked.
"Yes!!" She jumped up from the ground. "Oh Anis, did you hear? Karle asked me to go back with him! Oh, dear Karle, I would love to!" Ryanthia pulled a blushing Karle from the ground and dragged him for a walk around the clearing.
"A 'thanks' is apparently in order. " Gentry threw a questioning look at Anis.
"Your friend is about to take away the thing that is making my stay here miserable." Anis waved her hand toward the couple.
"You and your cousin don't get along?"
"Oh, we do. As long as she is talking and I am working." Gentry chuckled.
"In that case, I should also be thanking you." Anis returned the confused glanced Gentry had given her moments before. "Karle is my Ryanthia."
"Ah." Anis smiled. "I suppose you will be leaving with them tomorrow?"
"I suppose. Though, if you would allow me, I would like to come back to visit you. I might even bring an entire meal with me." Anis averted her eyes.
"I wouldn't be entirely opposed to that." Gentry nodded and they both finished their meal in silence as they watched Ryanthia and Karle strut around the clearing.
"Oh Anis, I will miss you so much!" Ryanthia hugged Anis tightly. "Will you miss me?"
"Very much." Was Anis' flat reply. Gentry stifled a chuckle on top of his horse.
"Well my dear, we must be off if we are to make out schedule." Karle called from his mount. Ryanthia nodded and took a hold of his arm so he could hoist her up.
"Farewell dear cousin." Karle turned his horse and trotted off.
"Until we meet again, Lady Anis." He threw her a casual salute before following his friend. Anis watched as he disappeared into the trees.
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