I swear I still believe but I don't know
He remembers holding her like this just a couple of nights past, when she had fallen asleep downstairs in Remi’s shop. Only she was warm then, her breath hot against his chest and her curls nestled beneath his chin. Nothing like this; a bundle of not-Aoife, a weight with all the magic sucked out.
Ronin holds her for a while, silent tears streaking his cheeks, and the urge to rock her is unfathomable; whether he is trying to wake her up or send her to sleep is beyond him. Finally he leans in, pressing a kiss to the blankets covering her head, as if to say goodnight. Then he turns, a broken man made by a goddess and found wanting, and approaches the pyre Remi has made.
”Send her to Vanya,” he mutters. ”Let her play in the stars.”
Ronin holds her for a while, silent tears streaking his cheeks, and the urge to rock her is unfathomable; whether he is trying to wake her up or send her to sleep is beyond him. Finally he leans in, pressing a kiss to the blankets covering her head, as if to say goodnight. Then he turns, a broken man made by a goddess and found wanting, and approaches the pyre Remi has made.
”Send her to Vanya,” he mutters. ”Let her play in the stars.”
the dark star
