I sailed seas of emotion to wander a forest of scars
I am a dance of light and darkness, a galaxy of shadow and stars
I am a dance of light and darkness, a galaxy of shadow and stars
"They're loyal because they have no choice." It's a quiet, pained whisper, straining against her throat. Her eyes clench closed and she shakes her head, trying to clear her thoughts. "He left her. Or, he tried. He left her and he went with me to Safrin, and when there was nothing she could do I told him I'd try to find a way."
A shuddering sigh, tears blinked away behind fluttering lashes. She turns her face up to the horizon, the palace that is now close enough to run to and hide within. She wants to run away, to take shelter behind the walls, and yet she hesitates. Her confession is not finished.
Amalia turns back to Gideon, taking a deep breath. "But in the end he went back. Because if he hadn't, he would have died. Because she told him he could choose, but he couldn't." She isn't trying to justify it. She still disagrees with Sam's decision, still thinks that it was weak, but Amalia understands. He trapped himself in an impossible situation, enslaved and chained by a smiling captor.
Just like the others who come through the portal.
"That's why I want to help the Ascended. Because at the end of the day, they're not free. They're slaves to a goddess who does not love them, only what they can do for her. And some of them have made a choice and done terrible things in her name that deserve justice, but most of them? They're captured children, for a mother who treats them like tools."
A shuddering sigh, tears blinked away behind fluttering lashes. She turns her face up to the horizon, the palace that is now close enough to run to and hide within. She wants to run away, to take shelter behind the walls, and yet she hesitates. Her confession is not finished.
Amalia turns back to Gideon, taking a deep breath. "But in the end he went back. Because if he hadn't, he would have died. Because she told him he could choose, but he couldn't." She isn't trying to justify it. She still disagrees with Sam's decision, still thinks that it was weak, but Amalia understands. He trapped himself in an impossible situation, enslaved and chained by a smiling captor.
Just like the others who come through the portal.
"That's why I want to help the Ascended. Because at the end of the day, they're not free. They're slaves to a goddess who does not love them, only what they can do for her. And some of them have made a choice and done terrible things in her name that deserve justice, but most of them? They're captured children, for a mother who treats them like tools."
Amalia
