“You’re a strange little bird.”
“And you wouldn’t have me any other way.”
“No, I wouldn’t.” I leaned in and kissed her gently. “Thank you.”
She beamed. “You’re welcome.”
I sighed. “Sorry I haven’t been to see you until now.”
“That’s understandable. I was feeling alone for a bit, but Ant and Alvere come to see me regularly to check in, then Silence started coming as well. He… seems different.”
“Oh?” I hadn’t seen him since the fight. “How?”
“More serious.”
Silence had never really been a jovial fellow, always a bit somber. “Moreserious?”
“Yes. I think you need to talk to him.”
“I was on my way there next.”
“Then go. I’ll be waiting, return when you can.”
I nodded, kissed her again, squeezed her hand, then left.
In the next room I found Silence standing. He was dressed in black and gazing out the windows, his back to me. He turned as I entered. Something about him, the black suit, or how he stood with his arms clasped behind him, or his grim features made him seem taller, more of a presence. Certainly, the clothes looked exquisite on his slender form. He seemed… dangerous now, in a way he never had before. Still, he smiled, if only slightly, when he saw me.
“Hello Legs.”
I went to him, embraced him tightly. After a moment he held me too.
“I’m so glad you’re alive and well!” I said into his shoulder.
I felt his head move, nodding, next to mine. “And I for you.”
I released him after a long moment, standing back with my hands on his shoulders to peer into his face. “Sparrow said you were different, but… this…”
His smile appeared again, only for an instant. “Yes, dying will do that to you.”
“Dying?” I furrowed my brow. “I heard Ant brought you back from the brink, but…”
Silence shook his head. “Perhaps that is the case, but that is not what I believe. I believe he reached into The Pits and pulled me from the grasp of death itself. I will forever be indebted to him. I believe it was bringing me back that burned him out.” He shook his head. And in that one movement I understood the change which had come over him. He wasn’t more serious so much as in mourning. Mourning for his lost previous life, his youth, his innocence. Mourning for Ant’s lost gift, which he believed to be his fault. He was a changed man indeed, and I had the feeling this sense of grief would linger with him.
“And what did you learn from death?” I asked. I wasn’t sure where those words had come from and they seemed to shock Silence a little as well.
“Learn?” He blinked. “Ah… well, I learned I didn’t much like it and don’t want to die any time soon.”
I laughed a little at that. “And?”
“And…” He furrowed his brow in thought for a moment before he cocked his head to once side. “I learned that charging in against a foe with rage in your heart is a bad idea.” He let out a self-deprecating laugh. “I honestly thought I could defeat her, myself alone, in that moment. I was filled with righteous rage and felt so powerful and purposeful and unstoppable.” He shook his head. “She… it was so quick. Then I was choking on mists…” He shook his head. “I thought I could get vengeance for what she’d done to Alvere.” Silence cringed at that.
I understood. I still shied away from the memories of when we’d found Alvere. They were too painful.
Silence let out a long sigh. “But now I know.” Again, that fleeting smile surfaced and faded. “I am not a front-line warrior. I’m a thief, I’m… an assassin.” He grew hard then, and I recalled the many guards he’d slaughtered in the tunnels. “I strike from the shadows, from… silence. I am cold, not hot with rage.”
“I think you’re hot,” I said playfully.
The grin flashed again. Raising a hand to my cheek, he cupped it softly, and I leaned my face into his touch, closing my eyes. I felt his soft pull as he drew me close, his lips to mine, soft and gentle. And despite what he had called himself, he was very hot with need soon after that. It was a quick and impassioned love-making a sating of hungers, not a tender moment. We didn’t even fully undress.
