her heart was made
of liquid sunsets.
of liquid sunsets.
S
he did not back away, not even a step, even when he bared his teeth and snarled like a caged wolf. “Your promise means nothing to me, little fox.”
She almost laughed at the name, taking to it instantly — and she would’ve if laughter did not hack like a woodcutter’s ax at her aching ribs. Instead, Cyrene smiled at the man wryly, her head tilting like a curious bird as she studied him. “If you can’t take my word for it, then at least take in my appearance. Even if I wanted to hurt you, I doubt I could — and my guards,” she raised a brow towards them, and they did not so much as stir — “despite how they hold themselves, are as dead on their feet as I.” She ignored their collective sigh of exasperation as she turned back towards him, her eyes pressing into his without a tendril of hesitation.
“You are in a no-man’s land here. There will not be another party passing through for days — and pardon my assuming so, but I don’t think you’re in the state to wait.” Though her words were blunt, a marked difference than the emissary’s usually overflowing cheerfulness, her amber eyes held genuine concern. Beneath the dirt and grime, dried blood stained her pelt an even darker shade of crimson — a reminder of what she had seen, and what she would do anything to avoid.
“I am not alright.”
She watched as his chest rose and fell like an ocean tide. His honesty, the way his eyes dimmed with the weight of… something lost, with no hope of it ever being found… too much did she relate.
“Neither am I.” The confession slipped from her lips unaware, so soft that only he could’ve heard it. She did not have the strength to take it back. She did not have the heart to explain.
“You would not understand.”
Try me, Cyrene wanted to say with another painful laugh, but she stayed her antics with a sigh. After another moment of weighty silence, her curls rustled as she turned and nudged at the satchel slung low over a dusty shoulder. A skin of water floated out, still full from the spring they had stopped by just a bit ago, and the girl held it out towards him with weakening telepathy.
Her strength was truly leaving her, water spilling out from the skin as her grasp shook. But her eyes hardened with focus, and with an intake of breath it stilled. With a smile, Cyrene moved it closer towards him. “Here. Water.”
@Raam | "speaks" | notes: sorry if this tagged you again I switched the table!
