meqet [ meh KEHT ], (noun) — duty; in particular, one's duty to the easily overlooked, without whom one would never be what one is: family, society, those who came before you. The saying "standing on the shoulders of giants" is a perfect illustration of meqet.
When my spouse left me at Shame's shrine, I expected Correction. What else? My only uncertainty was what form it would take. I was mulling the possibilities when the Guardians escorted me to...
...a table, set for two, in the flowered courtyard.
Bewildered, I allowed the Guardians to seat me. I watched as Shame poured wine for us both. We were served a light soup.
"This is it?" I said. "I thought...."
"Thought what?" he asked.
"That you would march children in front of me."
"Would that have worked?"
"No," I admitted.
"Then you know why I have not done it," he said.
I put my spoon down. "I am here because I refuse to have a family."
"Yes," Shame agreed.
"It is a heinous selfishness," I continued.
"So it is," Shame said.
"Then... why are we sitting here?" I asked. Maintaining this polite masquerade... I couldn't do it. "Correct me!"
Shame took a sip of his glass and said, "I can't."
"But why??"
He smiled, a little sadly I thought. "Because I don't want children either." As I gaped at him, he continued, "so I hardly have any moral authority in the matter."
"You... don't want a family either?" I asked, stunned.
"No," Shame said. "I am comfortable alone. I don't know how I'd fit my life around a family." He studied the sun on the wine, tilting the glass. "The Emperor worries, but he hasn't pushed. He may one day."
"What will you do then?" I asked, fascinated.
His mouth turned up at one corner. "I will find a wife at the Summer Tryst. I pray I'll have the humility to do so with grace, and not be much of a trial to her."
"You... don't think you'll find love?" I asked, because at very least I loved my mate.
"Nothing in this life is certain," he answered.
"Then... why?" I asked, wondering.
"Because society has given me much, and I have done all that I desired to do with my life. But a life spent fulfilling one's desires does not temper a soul." Another of those faint smiles. "That, I know by the work of my hands." He refilled my glass, though I had hardly touched it. "I don't know what kind of parent I'll make. And I have no extended family to help offset my... idiosyncrasies. But I will try."
"Have..." I trailed off, wide-eyed. "Have you ever told anyone this?"
"No," he said. He smiled. "But most people know Shame. You are having lunch with Kor. And so I must ask... is the soup poor? You've barely touched it."
"The soup is fine!" I exclaimed, startled. I picked up my spoon. "Although I don't have fruit soups often. What's in it?"
And so we talked, he and I, and it was no Correction all... but as he said, a meal between Ai-Naidar. That night while I lay alongside my mate, I thought of the look in his eyes. There had been fear there... fears, just like mine.
He had shared his name with me.
Maybe...
One day...