Jigano could not doubt her experience, or the future that she painted of his memory: mourned briefly and then forgotten, as all mortal lives eventually were in the long span of years. A brief twist of resistance flared through his chest at it; he was a bard, after all, and being remembered meant a great deal more to him than it should have… but no matter what shrine he prayed to, he could not control anything that would happen after he died. He could only trust those he had helped, whose lives he had impacted, to remember him fondly and pass his stories down…
And wasn’t that Safrin’s point?
But it was Ludo’s, too.
Gods most fortunate he wished there was a way to walk the balance between them, but the ties between them were so ancient and complex he didn’t know where to begin… and he had not given the goddess the respect due to a deity when he should have. Still, his curiosity led him to ask the question he never should have given voice to.
And her answer was… everything.
Who could know him better than someone who had torn him apart, stripping away his illusions and lies? She knew what he wanted, what he yearned for, and she whispered it in silken words that wrapped around his heart and left him trembling with how badly he desired the picture that she painted. Of the man he could be, if only he walked away from his oaths.
The bard swayed on his feet as thoughts and emotions chased through him, his heart thrown into chaos by her…
Offer? No. Nothing so concrete. But the possibility of one…
”Why?” The words came out more a plea than a demand, his voice a whisper on the floral breeze around her shrine as he stood stunned and overwhelmed. ”I’ve disappointed you before this, so why… why would you do this for me?” A gift, a purpose, a hope… ”And… what would it cost?” There couldn’t be change without some form of loss. No gift of the gods he had ever received without effort and work to be worthy of it. What she dangled before him seemed almost too good to be true, and he feared the price of it even as he ached for the dream of it.
And wasn’t that Safrin’s point?
But it was Ludo’s, too.
Gods most fortunate he wished there was a way to walk the balance between them, but the ties between them were so ancient and complex he didn’t know where to begin… and he had not given the goddess the respect due to a deity when he should have. Still, his curiosity led him to ask the question he never should have given voice to.
And her answer was… everything.
Who could know him better than someone who had torn him apart, stripping away his illusions and lies? She knew what he wanted, what he yearned for, and she whispered it in silken words that wrapped around his heart and left him trembling with how badly he desired the picture that she painted. Of the man he could be, if only he walked away from his oaths.
The bard swayed on his feet as thoughts and emotions chased through him, his heart thrown into chaos by her…
Offer? No. Nothing so concrete. But the possibility of one…
”Why?” The words came out more a plea than a demand, his voice a whisper on the floral breeze around her shrine as he stood stunned and overwhelmed. ”I’ve disappointed you before this, so why… why would you do this for me?” A gift, a purpose, a hope… ”And… what would it cost?” There couldn’t be change without some form of loss. No gift of the gods he had ever received without effort and work to be worthy of it. What she dangled before him seemed almost too good to be true, and he feared the price of it even as he ached for the dream of it.
