Zairah
I had a dream, which was not all a dream... The bright sun was extinguish'd, and the stars Did wander darkling in the eternal space, Rayless, and pathless..
The riverboat groaned against the landing, ropes thrown and tied, and Zairah was among the first to step off. The ride had been miserable—Deepfrost’s cold always was—but she’d endured it swaddled in a borrowed coat a size too big, its hems frayed and its sleeves swallowing her hands. Thick trousers and worn boots completed the makeshift armor, practical if not flattering. She still looked out of place, like someone playing dress-up in other people’s clothes.
Her hair had come loose in the wind, long and dark, tugged across her face until she shoved it back with quick fingers. That revealed the horns: two black nubs, about an inch long and a few inches thick now, jutting from just above her temples. They caught the light like onyx, gleaming faintly, and the skin around them looked tight, tender, as if more bone had forced its way through not long ago.
She paused on the dock or moreso tried to get out of the way, taking in the noise and movement: crates thudding, people shouting, gulls wheeling overhead. Her gaze snagged on the woman at the center of it all, horns glinting, tail snapping, sleeves rolled as she worked alongside her crew.
Zairah’s breath clouded in the cold air. She stared openly and without shame, the thought rising and spilling from her lips before she even considered it.
“You’re like me.” The words were edged with curiosity more than anything else.
Her hair had come loose in the wind, long and dark, tugged across her face until she shoved it back with quick fingers. That revealed the horns: two black nubs, about an inch long and a few inches thick now, jutting from just above her temples. They caught the light like onyx, gleaming faintly, and the skin around them looked tight, tender, as if more bone had forced its way through not long ago.
She paused on the dock or moreso tried to get out of the way, taking in the noise and movement: crates thudding, people shouting, gulls wheeling overhead. Her gaze snagged on the woman at the center of it all, horns glinting, tail snapping, sleeves rolled as she worked alongside her crew.
Zairah’s breath clouded in the cold air. She stared openly and without shame, the thought rising and spilling from her lips before she even considered it.
“You’re like me.” The words were edged with curiosity more than anything else.
