She listens quietly to him, taking in all the information that she could about this new court. She longs to learn everything she can about this place, it’s people, it’s history. Some hate the subject of history and yet, Katniss finds that she can learn more about a place from where it’s been then from where it’s going. History holds so many truths, truths that she enjoys learning about.
As she walks, she listens to his description of the Night Court and she cannot help but think that he is right. While she doesn’t know much about this particular court, she remembers her past homes. All were equally as passionate about their ideals, their people, and their goals. It’s what made the lands unique and allowed them to grow further.
Katniss thinks about Elysian and what her own ideals had been as their queen. She had wanted her land to be a refuge and it had been just that. So many had come looking for shelter and so many had come to find Elysian home. It had been a beautiful place. God, she missed it.
She talks about where he’s been and where she’s going and he seems to understand. He knows that so many lands have been built up only to fall. Katniss has been there for several. She’s helped make them great and she’s grieved when they fell. It was a cycle she wanted to stop, but she was only one person. She couldn’t do it all by herself. Perhaps that is why she keeps on rebuilding. Perhaps she still has hope that at some point, a place will thrive.
Katniss speaks of Metaphor, of her diligent search for him and yet, she has started to lose hope that she might ever find him. Perhaps it was best to move on. She had opened her heart to the stallion and now she felt the pain of his loss. She didn’t feel his presence here and she knew that finding him here would end in heartbreak. Perhaps it was best if she closed off her heart again. Love made her weak, it seemed. “I cannot feel his presence here. I do, however, feel someone…” She thinks of all those that she’s met in other lands, but she cannot be sure who she feels. Perhaps she would find them sometime.
Their conversation has turned solemn and Katniss can feel the weight of the conversation weighing heavily on them both. She gives her name, hoping to break up the tension and onto something a little lighter. He says his name is Asterion, of the Dusk Court. “I am happy to have met you, Asterion.” Perhaps it is best she does not know he is a king. Perhaps it is a good thing that he does not know that she was once a queen. The two seem like an unlikely pair and yet, Katniss cannot help the way conversation flows so easily with him. It’s refreshing. It had been a long time since she had simply talked with anyone like this.
Once her slings are unloaded, she picks it up once more and balances on her withers before she turns to head back up the mountain. At first she is silent, but then her voice carries towards him. “So tell me, Asterion of the Dusk Court, what has brought you here.” She pauses a moment. “I suppose the same can be said about your own willingness to help a court that is not your own.” He did not have to help Night Court and yet, here he was rebuilding.
@asterion
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