Katniss listens to Asterion and she can see the way his eyes light up at the mention of The Rift. Unfortunately, when one is wearing a mask, the only feature able to be seen is the eyes and they will not hide one’s secrets. She can see the excitement that lingers in them, even if he is trying to hold them back. She wonders, briefly, if he is from The Rift. But before she can ask, he admits that he has heard of the place, that it is where his sister is from. Florentine. Katniss remembers the name, she remembers the child that that had stumbled into Elysian so long ago – at least it felt like long ago. Time on The Rift worked in funny ways. “I met Florentine…when she was just an innocent foal. How is she now?” She wishes she knew more about who might be here. She has only met strangers.
But it is his statement about the friend that might have come through as well that has her eyes softening, sadness illuminating in them. Metaphor was not here. She could not feel him in her heart as she once did. She misses him, but she knows that he is not here. She must give up on him now…to allow herself to move on and grow. Katniss had never been one to be held back by a lover. Now was not the time to begin. “I cannot feel his presence here.” She speaks of him fondly, as if he is more than a simple friend. She wished she had the courage to tell him of her feelings before they were separated again. Now she regrets not telling him. But that is a story for another day.
She asks of his own court, if it needed rebuilding as the Night Court had needed. His words have brought a soft smile to her lips. She does not blame him for not returning back. How can she blame him for something she knows nothing of? “I have no grounds to judge. Surely you have your reasons.” She knows that eventually, he will return to see if his court is still frozen mud and floodwater. If the water has receded and the mud turned to soil, perhaps he would need some help. “When you do return, if you find your court needs aid, I will help you.” He had helped rebuild her own court so it was only fitting that she return the favor.
For a moment she allows her eyes to scan the party. Everyone is drinking the spiked punched and dancing. The music is playing and most of it is beautiful. Katniss is just not used to such material things. “Does all of Novus have such fancy things? Parties and houses and books to read?” There is bewilderment in her statement, as if she cannot believe these things exist. “I have only known the earth and the stars…this is all so foreign to me.” Perhaps she would get used to it some day.
@asterion
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