Forever, the stranger says, and as Charlemagne looks out at the swells of dunes like waves he thinks, at first, that she’s serious. It’s not until he glances back at her, green-eyed gaze dropping to that grin, that he realizes she’s joking. He snorts as she continues, thinking back to the winged girl he’d met along the sea, and wonders if all females were like this. The ones he’d known were either training to be warriors or raising their children. Outside of those capacities, few (beyond his mother) bothered speaking with him. If they were all like this, perhaps he hadn’t been missing anything. Still, it’s good to not be alone, out here where vultures watch from their circling and the only other creatures are distant specks hardly identifiable as gazelles. The unicorn keeps wearing his smile at her question (often his defense was an expression of vague affability), and this time brings himself to look her in the eyes. They are very big, and very blue, and seem to mirror some far-off sky. “I know where I’ve come from,” he says, and gestures back toward the forests of the Dawn Court. “Do you think that’s good enough?” His words are light, matching the tone of hers, but worry nips at their edges. It seemed straightforward enough - he’d been walking east with the lowering sun at his back, and all it took to go home was to turn around and follow the sunset - but suppose it grew dark, and there was no moon? It wasn’t as though his tracks were still there to follow. And then there was this: once, he’d heard a story about a giant worm that lived in the desert, long as a fallen log, that ate its prey whole. Charlemagne had forgotten it, until now, and immediately wishes he’d failed to remember. Glancing at her again, he takes in her easy posture, her golden necklace, the shades of her coat not so different from the sand as the evening deepened. Had she ever been worried out here? He doubted it. “Where are you going?” There’s a quick beat of silence after the question before he adds, “If you don’t mind my asking.” He could hardly be mistaken for a threat, but even worse would be having someone assume he was rude. @ |
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