AMALIA
THE SHIELD OF SAFRIN
i think it's beautiful how a star's light
This is not a fairytale, Amalia.travels the universe long after it dies
"You're wrong, Safrin." Despite the danger, despite her fear, there is a smile on her face and tears in her eyes as she finally understands. "It is a fairytale. My whole life has been a fairlytale, since you blessed me."
Becoming the leopardess. Finding the library. Fixing the perch. A year of trying, a year of striving, a year of crawling from the dark- it has all led to today. "A girl afraid of the dark, now conversing with stars. Becoming Attuned, seeing the world, finding Jyoti, falling in love- that sounds like a story my grandmother would tell. And I never would have dreamt those things, had it not been for you." Showing a tulmhainar the stars. Making a king.
Being a shield.
All because of her.
"I am a mere mortal. But this past year you... You have let me see that my mortal life is worth something. Everything I am, Safrin, I owe to you and Vi, and I would give it all up to help you." I would give myself back to the dark, if only to preserve your light.
Still smiling, the girl swallows one last time, her glittering onyx eyes never leaving the goddess who holds her allegiance and her heart. "Please, Safrin... Do one more thing for me. Take the flower. Touch the thorn. If it helps... Then all of this will be worth it. My fairytale will have had a purpose.
"And if it fails... I will never ask you for anything again."
That's what I want to be in this world —
someone whose light lingers after I'm gone
