Sin and Penance

"She would marry him under the law, but her real husband and the father of all her children would be, was, Libo."

What? Surely her ears were deceiving her. She glanced around and saw people leaning in to whisper to each other. She saw them throw looks of shock at Novinha. Still maybe that was for some other reason. Yet the dread was building up like acid in her stomach. Slowly turning her head, she looked at Miro. His whole body was rigid. And then her world fell apart. Her brother…he was her brother? That was all she could think of. The though ran through her head over and over again. How could God punish her in this way? She was a good Christian. How could her faith be rewarded with the knowledge that her lover was in actuality her brother?

She ran her hands through her hair and bit her lip to stop herself from screaming out in anguish. She glanced at Miro again, but was staring resolutely at the Speaker. The Speaker! She had been right about him, and so had the Bishop. He was Satan. How could he not be? He was Ender, the Xenocide: a human being so animalistic he was varelse. He didn't just hurt people. He destroyed them. She wanted to run up to the platform and tear his heart out and then ask him how it felt. But he didn't have a heart did he. He was the Xenocide, so how could he?

But she knew her anger was for a different reason. What if she and Miro had never uncovered the truth? What if they had never found out that they were in fact brother and sister? They would have committed such a sin that God would have damned them to hell for all of eternity. So had the Speaker been right in saying what he had? She wasn't sure. And yet she was. She hated the Speaker, the bastard, as most everyone in the praça hated him right now. But she also loved him for the illusions he had broken.

Hastily, she wiped the tears that had started to flow down her face. In attempt to stop the tears she pressed her lips firmly together. It worked. So this was it. Miro was her brother, and incest in the eyes of God and society was a terrible sin. So she would never let it happen even though she knew Miro's passion would not be quelled by society. She decided right then that the moment she stepped out of the praça she would love Miro only as a brother. Guilt flooded her because she had come to this decision to stop loving him so quickly. But she had sinned for far too long. It was time for this to end. Slowly she started to leave the gathering, and the Speaker's voice grew softer.

Good bye Miro, my love….

Disclaimer: I don't own anything. Especially not the quotes I took straight from Speaker for the Dead.