Очарование тьмы

It doesn’t matter how many universes come and go, I will always remember who we were together.

I walked over and greeted them. “About time,” I said. “What took you so long?”
“Stubborn physician,” Griz grumbled.
“He got lost,” Eben explained.

Time circles. Repeats. Ready to tell the story again. And again.

Правдивость оказалась искусством куда более сложным, чем владение мечом.

Я не собиралась становиться человеком, который будет настолько поглощен исполнением своих обязанностей, что перестанет жить в мире, которым управляет.

Я ненавидела, когда что-то было к лучшему. Эти слова всегда означали противоположное, чем было на самом деле. Фраза лишь приукрашивала оставшиеся нам крохи возможностей.

Темнота прекрасна. Она, как поцелуй тени. Как ласка, нежная, будто лунный свет. И всегда служила мне приютом, местом, куда я сбегала, прокрадываясь на крышу, которую освещали только россыпи звёзд, или в полуночный переулок, чтобы присоединиться к братьям. Темнота была моей союзницей, уводившей из мира, где я жила, в грезы о неведомом, другом мире.

«Распали свой гнев, Лия. Используй его», — говорил я ей, понимая, что чувство вины её уничтожит.
Мысль, что ей придётся страдать ещё больше, была для меня невыносима.

I am yours, and you are mine, and no kingdom will ever come between us.
A very long while.
I knew what was in it.
Something white.
Something beautiful.
Something that had been tossed out long ago.

In an age before monsters and demons roamed the earth …
There were cities, large and beautiful, with sparkling towers that touched the sky …
They were spun of magic and light and the dreams of gods …

Love didn’t end all at once, no matter how much you needed it to or how inconvenient it was. You couldn’t command love to stop any more than a marriage document could order it to appear. Maybe love had to bleed away a drop at a time until your heart was numb and cold and mostly dead.

Together they will attack,
Like blinding stars thrown from the heavens.

I left and went to the roof, where it was only me, a thousand blinking stars, and the beauty of darkness stretched to the ends of the universe, snuffing out the endless games of courts and kingdoms.

Gwyneth heaved out a generous whuf of air. “Well! I’m glad you didn’t call him a buffoon.”
“Or pompous,” Pauline added.
“Or ignorant,” Jeb chimed in.
“Or an ass,” Kaden said.
“I didn’t call him an ass.”
Rafe grunted. “You may as well have.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I guess I was waiting for a note.”
“I recall you telling me not to send any.”
“Since when have you listened to me?”
“Since when have you paid attention to my notes?”

Once upon a time,
Long, long ago,
Seven stars were flung from the sky.
One to shake the mountains,
One to churn the seas,
One to choke the air,
And four to test the hearts of men.
Your hearts are to be tested now.
Open them to the truths,
For we must not just be ready
For the enemy without,
But also the enemy within.

The universe sang your name to me. I simply sang it back.

It is connection. It is the world reaching out to you. It flashes behind your eyes, it curls in your belly, and sometimes it dances along your spine. The truths of the world wish to be known, but they won’t force themselves upon you the way lies will. They’ll court you, whisper to you, slip inside and warm your blood, and caress your neck until your flesh rises in bumps. That is the truth whispering to you. But you have to quiet your heart, Natiya. Listen. Trust the strength within you.

I am choosing my destiny now—not a book, nor a man or a kingdom. If my goals and heart coincide with something in an old dusty book, so be it. I choose to serve this goal, just as you are free to choose yours!