He listens quietly as she talk about her memories, saying that they were not unpleasant, just painful. He understands what she means even before the words leave her lips. He had lost so much and he knows that he feels comfortable in Dusk. He should hate himself. He should feel like a shall of an individual with a past that haunts him each and every day. And yet, he is happy and he hates himself for it. Some days he wishes he could talk about his past, but in the same breath, he doesn’t want to be a burden nor does he want pity.
His eyes rest on her and he can see the way she looks at the fire, the way she fears it. He wonders what her history has been that makes her fear something that makes him feel so alive. But he says nothing. He could not be rude and ask her to discuss her past when he cannot even open up about his own.
He sighs for a moment as he looks back up at her. "I can put it out if it would make you more comfortable." Already he has tapped into his magic, bringing a title wave of sand towards the flames. It towers high, ready to crash and smother the fire or fall back into a mound at his feet. He wants to see her relaxed. He wants to see her less on edge.
She asks if much has changed, and he tells her life is continuing on just as it was. For formalities sake, he asks her the same question and is given the same response. They are both simply surviving. It doesn’t sound like either is living life to their fullest. He tells her nothing has changed and he assumes that is the end of that conversation.
But he was wrong.
After he speaks, he looks up at her, waiting under baited breath for what she will say. He wants her to elaborate, to put his mind at ease. But little does he know exactly what she is thinking for if he did, he would try to tell her that she did not deserve him. She deserved far better than a washed up king who could not even succeed as a king, a father, or a lover. She deserved so much more.
@Luvena
