she didn't want to love
she wanted to b e l o v e d
and that was entirely different
Guilt pangs through her chest like arrows; she cannot help but feel that she is abandoning her sister in an hour of need, leaving her open and vulnerable to the wolves. She wants to cling to Evie, to recapture the wonder of their girlhood when all they needed was each other, when they were young and vibrant and fearless in the world. She would have promised her sister anything and believed in the strength of the oath, but now?she wanted to b e l o v e d
and that was entirely different
Now Amalia has made too many promises only to watch them crumble and die. She has been pulled in too many directions and failed too many times.
The next confession is another blow, striking through the heart. Millicent and her children bring to mind immediately images and faces and smiles, the loss sinking heavily into her heart. But to see the Evergreen blame herself... "Evie... no."
Reaching up with careful fingers Amalia tries to steal Evie's hands, to take them from her face that she might meet those sky-blue eyes. "There was- there wasn't anything you could have done." She should have been there- where had she been? Beneath the weight of her own guilt it is hard for the Shield to stand. "You didn't know. And if the monsters had gotten in... or if you'd been hurt-"
Fierce and sudden the girl wraps her arms around the Evergreen, face buried in her hair. "I can't lose you, Evie. I can't. I've already... please. Promise you won't leave."
Amalia
we are all b r o k e n
that's how the l i g h t gets in
that's how the l i g h t gets in
