68 GLADE 101
“They’re getting too close.”
It was hissed into the quiet of the night. The family had settled for the evening, gathered around scattered fires as they finished off the remainder of their meals. Fingers licked clean before they turned to the idleness of after dinner tasks, mindless things. But conversation sprung up in low tones. The adults favored the talk of the borders they’d imposed, and the people that were edging closer and closer to them.
“They’re challenging us.” Mama’s fist was quiet against the wood as she put it down. Not to disturb the sleeping child on her back and the many scattered around her legs. “They’re looking for a fight, and I think we ought to give it to them.”
“If we gave in every time they tried this, we wouldn’t be here.” One of her aunties; Nnerka wasn’t paying much attention to who it was that had spoken. Her head rested on Tuti’s side, the wolf curled up. His stomach was warm with the fullness of his meal as his head rested on his paws. His eyes had only just slid close and she thought she would have joined him, if not for the talk.
“You’re right, but this is different.” Mama seemed so sure. Maybe she was; this was her area of expertise. She took the spiderlings out on border walks often, and had secured a fair amount of their territory. There were murmurs of agreement from the others, but sighs of disagreeance.
The loudest came from above her. “What if we aren’t ready for a fight?” Mitka’s voice was soft, pleading. Nnerka had never known her aunt to be confrontational, let alone step out from the status quo. Maybe there was something to her concerns if she was doing this now. Maybe there was reason to be cautious. “Their numbers grow with each turn of the moon. More of them — able-bodied men — show up with more...weapons.”
“Glorified sticks and stones.” The venom in Mama’s voice might as well have dripped from her mouth. “Nothing we haven’t seen before. And we have numbers.”
“We have children. Not ready for...for war.”
There was a moment of silence, and then another sigh. The passing wave of murmurs; she turned her head and met the gaze of her sister. Dulan shook her head, but glanced toward someone over Nnerka’s shoulder. It must have been Heftre. From her position, she would not be able to see the older spider sign her opinion on the matter.
“We get that everyone is worried, but if we do nothing, we will have so much more to be worried about.”
Her Mother sighed, standing. “Enough. Let’s get the kids to bed and we can all discuss this in the morning when we’re not all about to pass out.”
As if on cue, she yawned. Loud and contagious; it passed from her to Tuti, who passed it to Dulan, to Sythi, to Matryl, to Camci — and so it went that all children old enough had been revealed to be fully awake before being ushered to the sleeping den.
It was hissed into the quiet of the night. The family had settled for the evening, gathered around scattered fires as they finished off the remainder of their meals. Fingers licked clean before they turned to the idleness of after dinner tasks, mindless things. But conversation sprung up in low tones. The adults favored the talk of the borders they’d imposed, and the people that were edging closer and closer to them.
“They’re challenging us.” Mama’s fist was quiet against the wood as she put it down. Not to disturb the sleeping child on her back and the many scattered around her legs. “They’re looking for a fight, and I think we ought to give it to them.”
“If we gave in every time they tried this, we wouldn’t be here.” One of her aunties; Nnerka wasn’t paying much attention to who it was that had spoken. Her head rested on Tuti’s side, the wolf curled up. His stomach was warm with the fullness of his meal as his head rested on his paws. His eyes had only just slid close and she thought she would have joined him, if not for the talk.
“You’re right, but this is different.” Mama seemed so sure. Maybe she was; this was her area of expertise. She took the spiderlings out on border walks often, and had secured a fair amount of their territory. There were murmurs of agreement from the others, but sighs of disagreeance.
The loudest came from above her. “What if we aren’t ready for a fight?” Mitka’s voice was soft, pleading. Nnerka had never known her aunt to be confrontational, let alone step out from the status quo. Maybe there was something to her concerns if she was doing this now. Maybe there was reason to be cautious. “Their numbers grow with each turn of the moon. More of them — able-bodied men — show up with more...weapons.”
“Glorified sticks and stones.” The venom in Mama’s voice might as well have dripped from her mouth. “Nothing we haven’t seen before. And we have numbers.”
“We have children. Not ready for...for war.”
There was a moment of silence, and then another sigh. The passing wave of murmurs; she turned her head and met the gaze of her sister. Dulan shook her head, but glanced toward someone over Nnerka’s shoulder. It must have been Heftre. From her position, she would not be able to see the older spider sign her opinion on the matter.
“We get that everyone is worried, but if we do nothing, we will have so much more to be worried about.”
Her Mother sighed, standing. “Enough. Let’s get the kids to bed and we can all discuss this in the morning when we’re not all about to pass out.”
As if on cue, she yawned. Loud and contagious; it passed from her to Tuti, who passed it to Dulan, to Sythi, to Matryl, to Camci — and so it went that all children old enough had been revealed to be fully awake before being ushered to the sleeping den.
