Stars could burn so cold, even though they were fire. Even though they were suns. Safrin's words were colder still, whispering of the places between stars, the great airless ballroom that they moved about in their stately cosmic dance. There were no chains that bound him but still he hung exposed and aching from the trial to which he had been put, stripped of his illusions and airs.
Ordinary.
Once he would have rejected it with all that he had him.
Once he would have longed for it with every broken fiber of his being.
Now...
Now he was too exhausted and too cold to know what to do with the goddess's proclamation. He curled downward on his knees amid the blooms as Isuma cuddled against him, peeping soothingly, and neither of them noticed when the flowers around him seemed to bend just slightly more towards him than the wind could account for.
Ordinary.
Once he would have rejected it with all that he had him.
Once he would have longed for it with every broken fiber of his being.
Now...
Now he was too exhausted and too cold to know what to do with the goddess's proclamation. He curled downward on his knees amid the blooms as Isuma cuddled against him, peeping soothingly, and neither of them noticed when the flowers around him seemed to bend just slightly more towards him than the wind could account for.
