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In the beat of silence that followed the information she shared with the two Ashen women and the proposal that she gave them to have Deimos be Ikigai's betrothed, Manea felt like she had to hold her breath while she waited on their reaction. She knew that she was walking a fine line between keeping her brother happy and helping him get the life he wanted and making sure that she was still making the right choice for Ikigai on top of the fact that the alliance between their packs hung in the balance as well. There was an obvious shock and surprise that briefly crossed both of their faces, but Manea couldn't tell right away whether that shock was a pleasant one or not. Eventually Venom did give her consent to the change in plans and that eased her worries a bit. Their attention shifted to Ikigai then and a moment later the young woman gave a similar answer. The trust they both placed in her to make the decision that would work best for everyone was daunting, but touching and humbling as well. Venom did bring up her brother's age as a point of concern and it was a valid one without doubt, but one that Manea didn't have a good solution to solve for and had to weigh the pros and cons regardless.

"I do appreciate both of your trust," she replied genuinely, giving them a dip of her head. "I do agree that the difference in age isn't ideal and I do wish I had a younger sibling to offer, but I am unfortunately the youngest of my siblings. I believe Poe crossed over into his fourth year this past winter so there still would have been a bit of a gap in age there... though not quite as much. Deimos is the next closest in age to me." If there had been a way for her to move time to switch things around or a way for her to have prevented her father from passing so that she would have younger full blooded siblings to offer she certainly would, but life did not allow for any of these things. "I do believe Deimos will be the most suitable match even with the age difference in consideration." She smiled softly and added as she put most of her focus on Ikigai, "In our family it is a tradition for us to go out into the world when we're of age to find our most suitable match—our soul mate as our teachings and laws call them. Deimos has been away for nearly three years looking for his mate and he seems to believe he's found that in you, Ikigai. I don't think he would have come home to me if he didn't truly believe it. He's a dedicated man through and through."

"Manea Mendacium"