meet me where the falling stars live
I will wait for you day and night
It's official, Amalia thinks as she listens, bewildered, to Loren's tirade. All the Launcelyns are insane. She tried not to wince as he dug fingers into wounds there's no way he can know about, asking if she wants to escape. Of course she does: she was born in a cage, trapped behind invisible walls, unable to see the world without. Amalia has always yearned for other places, other experiences. She has never been content.But the rant, the venom, the things he spews? This Amalia does not flinch from, though her unhappiness is obvious as leopard fur sprouts on her neck and claws grow off her fingers, digging anxious furrows into her wrist. Of all the things the baker takes unnecessary responsibility for, threatening his life is just little too far. Maybe if he'd led with a more reasonable accusation she would feel the guilt he seems to crave.
...maybe she still feels a little.
With a start, though, the Shield releases her wrist, unaware until he brought it up that she'd been rubbing it raw. Clicking her teeth together Amalia clenches her fists, talons cutting into the skin, leaving little bites of blood. She has no answer to his rant, no witty retort or verbal barbs to throw back in his face. But there is fire in her eyes as she meets his icy stare, the tension of a wild animal ready to spring, of a wounded thing backed into a corner. "Are you going to hurt me, Loren?" she asks almost mildly, though her alto voice comes out unsteady, a clear indicator of her underlying fear.
Amalia
