[SE] Silver Bells and Cockleshells

Of course Amalia had not known, but the confession still catches her by surprise, makes her heart stop for a second. For Safrin to act so, with such cruelty, such callous manner... it reminds the girl of the blighted goddess, of the fingers clenched around her chin. For a moment she is silent, trying desperately to make sense of what she has learned, to figure out why such a thing has happened, what sin was committed, what more he did. A simple question cannot be all of it, but for once Amalia does not pry. She searches the bard's face with her eyes, her hand slipping more firmly over his cheek. In the end it does not matter why, what he may or may not have done to deserved it. It does not matter who he was when he found himself at the mercy of Safrin's wrath: all that matters is what comes next. Do you want to talk about it? the girl asks silently, gently, her soft expression unusually opaque. What did you learn? a m a l i a You were young and you'd stare With a reverence unimpaired Searching in your dark eyes to find the stars already there