the monarchs flew free;
yet they circled around her.
Asterion… so that is his name. Cyrene grinned a silken smile as she realized with amusement that their introductions had been lost in a rush of swirling lavender paints and fleeting silver destinies.
Yet, they hadn't needed them. There had been an instant connection between the girl of summer-sweet wine and the boy with galaxies in his gaze. Names were transient things, a springtime butterfly on gossamer wings. Echoes upon a roving wind.
Fate, then, was a different matter entirely. It was ancient as the skies, as vast as the ocean. And in the hundreds,
thousands, of futures it wove like a silk-spun web, somewhere, their threads had crossed.
“My, it is a good thing I recruited the help of all of you! I could never paint so beautifully even if I tried,” Cyrene exclaimed, amber eyes bright with delight as they traced the rich, pigmented paints that twirled like cotton candy clouds over the sides of Asterion’s mahogany pelt. As the children chattered away like little songbirds, gleefully admiring their handiwork, she turned away for just a moment to find his twinkling gaze already on hers.
“I have enjoyed myself tremendously. I think I needed this just as much as you,” she mused, looking back towards the laughing children with fondness. Yet as swift as a lark she addressed him again, amber gaze turned suddenly pensive.
“Now, you have someone you need to find tonight, don’t you? Hurry and go, while the paint is still fresh.” Cyrene said to him, a knowing light flickering in her too-keen eyes. She had known since the beginning. The way his eyes had looked away, as if in search for the echo of a laugh among the cavorting crowd, the trace of a smile. There was someone he had wanted to belong for, someone who had finally instilled a sense of home in his vast, wanderer’s heart.
“As for me, I shall have to honor my promise of buying treats for them all,” she chuckled, nodding towards the children who had tucked the paints and pots back to their rightful places in bumbling obedience, their rosy gazes bright as they looked to her in expectation. The sapphire-eyed filly, Elaheh, stepped bravely away from the group, a proud and radiant smile along her sweet face as she softly nuzzled Cyrene’s sides.
“They wanted me to tell you that the cinnamon twists over there smell really delicious,” she whispered, dark lashes fluttering as she looked back over towards the group of fumbling colts.
“Then what are we waiting for?” Cyrene replied with a smile, ruffling Elaheh’s soft curls affectionately.
“To the cinnamon twists we go!”
And to Asterion, she flashed him one last bright, full-lipped smile.
“We will meet again, Asterion.”
It was written in the stars.
@Asterion | aaand that's a wrap! absolutely loved this thread <3 (and the next time they meet they'll both be in the regime! xD)
