we live in a world someone else imagined
The problem, of course, was that Ronin was already making the comparison. Because much as Seren was made and blessed by starlight, the Star had made his contributions. And he saw it in her little face, her lips, her cheeks. His daughter - his first daughter - and Seren at a distance, in the dark, could have been Aoife if she'd lived just a few more years. Already without his permission, fractals of light began to pulse out of him, uncontrolled and unsteady.
And then Safrin really plunged the knife in and confirmed her as being otherwise, other, different, not Aoife, tying him in knots with the stillness of her gaze. It spoke of caution, of danger in being anything but what she expected him to be, and his heart was beating too quickly in his chest for this, his fingers too cold, his mouth too dry.
He stepped forward stiffly, feeling the sand somehow yawning away beneath his feet, like he was about to slide off the earth. "Hello, Seren," he said softly to the girl. "I wasn't expecting a visit from you."
And then Safrin really plunged the knife in and confirmed her as being otherwise, other, different, not Aoife, tying him in knots with the stillness of her gaze. It spoke of caution, of danger in being anything but what she expected him to be, and his heart was beating too quickly in his chest for this, his fingers too cold, his mouth too dry.
He stepped forward stiffly, feeling the sand somehow yawning away beneath his feet, like he was about to slide off the earth. "Hello, Seren," he said softly to the girl. "I wasn't expecting a visit from you."
the dark star
