Amalia
the shield of safrin
"Thank you." There is relief in her voice as she speaks to Loren, though she is still concerned for the well-being of the cardinal. By the time he returns Amalia has made her promise, and is slipping fingers beneath her scarf to draw it up over her nose. The smell is putrid, pungent, nearly overpowering, but Amalia uses every ounce of willpower she has to keep herself from reacting as it washes over her like a miasma wave.Loren ties a cloth around his eyes, and Amalia turns hers to the ground. "I'm going to keep them open right now - just so I can grab the gifts I brought - then I'll close them. Okay?" Slowly, carefully, she pulls her pack off her back, laying the staff upon the ground and reaching in to secure her bounty. "I didn't know what you would like, so I brought a few things." One by one she sets them out: a loaf of bread, a small meat pie, and the paperwasp queen in its small cage.
Then the girl sinks down to the floor, heedless of the dirt, her onyx eyes falling closed as she tugs Loren gently to join her. It is for the Prince to come out now, to feel comfortable and approach. "Okay. Our eyes are closed."
someday we'll find what we're looking for
or maybe not
maybe we'll find something much greater
