“I believe you,” I said. And then, I gave away a secret. “Night resets the world. It is a blank page for a story to be writ upon. But I have no hand or voice in the matter. That is why I envy you.”
He stopped walking, and reached for my hand. “Is that what you want?”
His face bent to mine. This close, it was impossible to ignore the nocturnal beauty of him. This close, it was impossible to break his fathomless gaze.
“I do,” I said. “And now that I’ve told you what I want, it’s only fair for you to tell me what you want.”
“Fair?” He laughed. “No one is guaranteed fairness. Not in any life. And not by any god or goddess.”
“Fine,” I said, waving a dismissive hand. “Keep your secrets.”
I turned away just as his hand snaked out for my wrist.
“It’s no secret that I want you,” he said. He bowed his head to mine, and his eyes burned black. “Come with me. I will make you a queen among storytellers. I will give you a kingdom. A place full of mirrors where you can step into any world you please. With your perspective and my position, we could rewrite the world.”
I want you…
We could rewrite the world…
It was more than tempting. His offer sang to me. When he stood this close, my heart didn’t race. It slowed. As if my heart and mind had conspired to live in this moment forever.
“As your bride?”
“As my queen,” he said. “What can I offer? What can I give to persuade you?”
For one glittering moment, I wanted to press my lips to his. Totaste all that he offered. But then I stepped away, and the moment between us broke.
“I will freely give away my opinions and perspective,” I said. “But I will not marry without love. Not for all the power in the world. Life, for us, is too long to live without it.”
“Love,” he repeated. He thought it over. A strange expression drifted over his face, as if he was remembering something.
“What do you have against it?”
“Nothing.”
“Have you been in love before?” I asked. The question had burned inside me ever since I met him. Had his heart already been bruised and that’s why he wouldn’t consider giving it away once more? Which forced another question in my head: did I want his heart?
“Never,” he said.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“The problem is that I can’t. I… just can’t.”
He dropped my wrist.
“If it’s my perspective and opinions that you want, I would give that to you freely,” I said. “As a friend.”
“I have no need for friends. I have enough of those.”
“You do? How many do you have?”
“One.”
I laughed, choosing to drop the subject. “Come, I want to walk farther along the shore.”
And just like that, his offer seemed swept away by the waves. Once more, we lapsed into conversation. He told me of the places he had seen in the mortal realm. Places where lush jungles pulsedand swallowed ancient temples and kingdoms with forgotten names. And I told him of the people I had met in the Otherworld. People who sold fantastical ornaments in the Night Bazaar and sung prophecies in reverse or got drunk on bottled lightning.
“There are people with curses too,” I said. “Oneapsarawas cursed to lose her beauty for half her life for the next five hundred years. Her husband had to choose whether he wanted her beautiful by day or beautiful by night. It was said the right answer from him could break the curse.”
