azrael
He understood her – for though the two had come from different places, their stories were not that unlike. Azrael recognized the pain in her, just as he recognized the resolve to move forward. It would not have been easy for her, he decided, to come to this place alone with only grit to keep her standing. It would have been far easier to allow the grief to cripple her, and yet here she stands, on a gilded lake beside a stranger, speaking of her past with a clarity that could only come with tenacity. He respected her for that, even as his tongue clicked quietly at her words and he considered their weight.
“You are always welcome here, to Denocte. The stars are closer here, the nights long and the darkness deep.” While it wouldn’t help with the wondering, at least it could offer a place of solace to the fellow stargazer. For himself, Azrael had always found comfort when he could find his stars, and he expected Stellanor would feel the same way.
He noted the longing in her voice when she speaks of those who had been lost, bowing his head in a silent memory of his own, unable to fathom where the lost were now. “Our people believe that those who are lost become part of the cosmos – that they watch over us from above.” It was a lovely thought, one which had gotten through the darkest times. Their names and their faces would be etched in his mind always, memories living on in dreams even when their earthly forms were lost to the passing of time.
“Take solace in the stars friend – and I do hope you’ll come to the mountains.” He offers her a smile of encouragement, looking once to the moonlit lake with a sigh before resigning himself to return to his mountain home. “And do stop at the festival – there’s much to see and experience.”
Azrael nods to Stellanor then, turning back toward his mountains and leaving her at the lakeside, alone with her stars and her memories.
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