I love that underneath his cool façade I can see some of his edges.
I wonder who he lets see them.
I also wonder if he meant that to be a challenge, because I’m absolutely taking it that way.
“I’m not most humans.” A vast understatement.
“Or most sages,” Zan agrees wryly. “Fine. I think we will pass most easily for a human couple, if you’re up for it. Partners often visit Crystal Hollow, and it won’t seem odd if you gawk.”
I could manage not to gawk. Iamwell-trained. The rest—
“What does acting like a human couple entail?”
Zan shrugs.
Oh, does he have feelings about this, then?
“Staying close,” he says without looking at me. “Looking like we like each other.”
“I think I can manage,” I say dryly.
Zan does glance back at me then. “Not getting into fights in public. Not that humans don’t do that, but it will draw attention.”
I sigh dramatically. “Spoilsport.”
A flicker of a smile, there and gone.
“Should we hold hands?” I ask. That’s a thing that couples do, right? Though maybe not, five hundred years later—
He hesitates again.
Okay there is definitely something going on with the touching.
“Probably not necessary,” Zan says coolly.
I ignore my pang of disappointment—and what it implies—because I’d much rather focus on figuring him out.
But before long we’ve reached the first buildings, much closer to the foot of the mountain now than they ever were in my time.
And they’re... I tilt my head. “Are all the buildings crooked?”
Zan’s lips quirk, though his gaze is distant. “Yes. When Tasa rebuilt Crystal Hollow, she made every home unique. The city later established a rule that all buildings in Crystal Hollow had to match to keep the same charm. So even as Crystal Hollow has grown, centuries later, her mark persists.”
Even a null can leave a mark so large.
I’m a sage.
I can’t help feeling like I ought to have been able to change more.
I established the Quiet, but the Order didn’t reform. Now that the dampening field has fallen... Nothing of my life before will remain. No memory; no sign of my passing.
Is that what I want? To fade into obscurity?
I try to focus on the present as Zan leads me through the maze that Crystal Hollow has become. Once upon a time, it was a small village, but despite the Quiet, that’s no longer the case.
“Peoplewantedto live here?” I ask quietly. “Even without magic?”
“Over time Crystal Hollow became known as a sanctuary foranyone.” A hint of bitterness in his tone. “Unfortunately that means it no longer is.”
