If I can stop one heart from breaking
If I can ease one life the aching
If I can ease one life the aching
The shadows twist and reach, but instead of fear there is only anticipation, eyes cast about to find - there. Safrin’s outstretched arm is lit by the candlelight, and Harper’s scarred, tanned skin looks worn in comparison to her eternal perfection as his hand fits inside her own. Despite the luminance of her skin she is warm and solid as she wraps her arms around him, and he relaxes into her immediately.
“No, but they have not been easy on you either,” he murmurs as her lips touch his forehead. Years spent trying to be one step ahead of The Voice, creating demigods, blessing her followers to keep them safe; Harper can’t imagine that level of weight on someone’s shoulders. “I wouldn’t have succeeded without your blessings. The shifts you gave me, they kept me safe.” And though he certainly hadn’t been alone, the Stargate and her Attunement had kept the King Maker from doing much more than reaching the shore it died upon.
“I’ve had a lot of time to think this past year.” He remains comfortably still in her embrace, arms loose around her waist. “Maeve molds Torchline in your image, but I want to be able to protect it. The staff you blessed for me has no enemies any longer,” no Ascended to defuse or control, no insurgents to defend her land against. “But now is supposed to be a time of peace; I don’t want to keep the memory of war alive in our people by creating defenses, so all I can do is make myself stronger in preparation.” Smiling, a quirked smirk of a thing, Harper huffs a small laugh against her cheek. “Unless, of course, you have some plan I can help with already?” He doubts it, but he will never feel as if he has done enough for her alone.
“No, but they have not been easy on you either,” he murmurs as her lips touch his forehead. Years spent trying to be one step ahead of The Voice, creating demigods, blessing her followers to keep them safe; Harper can’t imagine that level of weight on someone’s shoulders. “I wouldn’t have succeeded without your blessings. The shifts you gave me, they kept me safe.” And though he certainly hadn’t been alone, the Stargate and her Attunement had kept the King Maker from doing much more than reaching the shore it died upon.
“I’ve had a lot of time to think this past year.” He remains comfortably still in her embrace, arms loose around her waist. “Maeve molds Torchline in your image, but I want to be able to protect it. The staff you blessed for me has no enemies any longer,” no Ascended to defuse or control, no insurgents to defend her land against. “But now is supposed to be a time of peace; I don’t want to keep the memory of war alive in our people by creating defenses, so all I can do is make myself stronger in preparation.” Smiling, a quirked smirk of a thing, Harper huffs a small laugh against her cheek. “Unless, of course, you have some plan I can help with already?” He doubts it, but he will never feel as if he has done enough for her alone.
I shall not live in vain
HARPER
