Ahe'ey - 2 Gravitational Pull Read Free Page A

knowledge of the things she loved most. He added that the actual Roman story did not include rape and that the word "rape," in this particular case, was derived from the Latin word "raptio," which meant "abduction." In return, she showed off her own knowledge of the tale.
    "Women were once again both the victims and heroes of the story. The women ended the war by imploring to their Sabine fathers and their Roman husbands. Why are men so cruel?"
    "You are full of contradictions Morgan. Is cruelty really a gendered quality?" He remarked, raising one eyebrow. She loved the way he challenged her with her own arguments. She shook her head in a gesture of hopelessness.
    "Sometimes it's hard to believe in the goodness of men. The two hundred plus Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by the Boko Haram are still missing. One day, if they are still alive, they too, may have to plead for their children and kidnapper husbands to their parents. I'm so sick of the violence of men trapped by prehistorical expectations of manhood."
    "Manhood is, today, an uncertain, frail status that is easily threatened. Insecure men attempt to affirm their manliness physically and symbolically. Zanus's appeal speaks to the insecurities of men raised with traditional values; men trapped in a world that is pulling the rug under their feet and challenging everything they believe in."
    "We're all to blame; we are teaching our daughters that they can be whatever they wish to be, while our boys are still hopelessly stuck in the man box." The thought of Zanus brought fire to her gut, the type of frustration she struggled to contain. "Sometimes it's difficult to take a peaceful stand when some men only understand the language of violence and war. These people don't want a fairer world; they want power, control and destruction. You don't see women acting like that."
    His eyebrows sunk and his eyes focused on the floor. "Women are capable of as much destruction and greed as men."
    "Give me one example of a place in the world where that happens."
    "Perhaps one day," he murmured and changed the topic. "You won't find the magic of Giambologna here, but I trust you'll still enjoy the sculptures of the American masters."
    "Indeed, it's not Florence nor the Louvre, but I can assure you it will do just fine. Unless you plan to fly me to Europe this evening?" She smiled, teasing him. He was so considerate and eager to please that she could not help but playfully retaliate with lighthearted irreverence.
    He blushed. They both struggled to look into each other's eyes, constantly playing a game of hide-and-seek: brief eye contact followed by swift escapes away from the electric charge that rushed through their bodies every time their eyes met.

Illicit Lust

    Ahe'ey

    Quinn was practising her hunting skills by following unnoticed a small herd of white-tail deer. She laid on the ground hidden by a shrub of Sapote. The animals fled the site as Amalia's voice resonated in the forest a few metres away.
    " Disgusting creature! " Quinn heard the old woman scream. "Who do you think you are to disgrace your lineage and waste the few royal genes present in your blood." Quinn looked around to find Amalia standing in front of Scout, who was lying who was lying naked on a grassy mound with another young woman barely in her teens. Scout jumped to her feet, grabbed her leather tunic that lay on the floor and held it over her breasts. Amalia pulled the girl's purple and white hair and screamed to her face.
    "You shame us all with your deviant lust." Amalia punched Scout's jaw so hard that she fell to the ground, hitting her head on the hard rocky ground to the side of the mound. Scout's young companion picked up her clothes and ran away in the direction of the village.
    "Your body does not belong to you," said the old woman, unsheathing her sword and pointing it to Scout's womb. Blood stained Scout's white hair as she moved back, away from Amalia's sword. She stood up, attempting to cover her