stars in her eyes

RONIN if there's one thing i'm good at, it's surviving Ronin had mulled over the idea for hours - days, maybe - before he plucked up the courage to walk to the shrine within the Glade. The place where he'd first seen Safrin, where he had introduced Vanya to her... except this time it was his daughter who accompanied him. The afternoon was quietly sunny, the Glade dappled with light and alive with gentle birdsong. Ronin stepped carefully into the shrine, Aoife cradled in the sling against his chest (he was getting the hang of it, he thought). His daughter was awake, for now at least, and he was speaking softly to her as he headed further into the shrine. That, too, had taken some time indeed for him to get used to, Ronin stunned to silence in the wake of Vanya's death. Today, however, he was telling the story of the luxere and how he and Vanya had seen them here, only for someone very special indeed to join them. Carefully leaning down before the offerings, Ronin produced a few bright flowers gathered from the woodlands, and a downy, familiar looking feather from an osprey. He had others, but this he could spare to give to Safrin.