Melita
Eating fire is your ambition
to swallow the flame down
to swallow the flame down
The feathers didn’t matter. They were only a distraction from the echoes, from the hollowed bits that threatened to bite and tear, and she wondered if she should be retreating into herself before the plumage became bits of dust and emerald in between her grasp. But she forged onward in her stillness, in the coming wave of storms, in the ominous plunge his voice exuded, putting them back in her bag as if they’d never be unfurled or unveiled –
Things at home would be tense (when weren’t they?). Nate came back from the Grounds different (how? What did that mean?)
But it was the last few sentiments that really stuck and struck. Melita had nothing against the beautiful herald, knew the starry goddess was Sunjata’s favored – but it took her mind a few moments to catch up. A deal. A cousin to meet.
For a few seconds thereafter, she was simply quiet, taking it all in, cranium whirling, gilded gaze flat, then narrowed, upon her uncle. A deal for a child? Some innocent babe, meant to be brought into and upon this earth, and for what? “You’re such a fucking idiot.” She shook her head, and didn’t know who to be heartbroken for. Nate? Hotaru? Sunjata? It was like a rotten fairy tale – where witches bargained for infants cradled away, and all because the adults were too stupid, too ridiculous, too numb. Her hands balled into fists, but she otherwise stood quite still, as if assessing and weighing out her options. “What is this child in exchange for?”
Things at home would be tense (when weren’t they?). Nate came back from the Grounds different (how? What did that mean?)
But it was the last few sentiments that really stuck and struck. Melita had nothing against the beautiful herald, knew the starry goddess was Sunjata’s favored – but it took her mind a few moments to catch up. A deal. A cousin to meet.
For a few seconds thereafter, she was simply quiet, taking it all in, cranium whirling, gilded gaze flat, then narrowed, upon her uncle. A deal for a child? Some innocent babe, meant to be brought into and upon this earth, and for what? “You’re such a fucking idiot.” She shook her head, and didn’t know who to be heartbroken for. Nate? Hotaru? Sunjata? It was like a rotten fairy tale – where witches bargained for infants cradled away, and all because the adults were too stupid, too ridiculous, too numb. Her hands balled into fists, but she otherwise stood quite still, as if assessing and weighing out her options. “What is this child in exchange for?”
to be lit up from within, vein by vein
to be the sun
to be the sun
