[private] a falling star fell from your heart; ciri

[Astrophel]

A soft smile tugs on his lips as she says his name is fitting. He couldn’t agree more—his love for the stars was endless, and he loved them more than anything. The celestial world was his guide, his religion that gave him hope for better things. She sighs as if contemplating something deep he guesses. Perhaps it had to do with his question, the meaning to be a Thane. It sounded strong to him, someone that was well-thought-of within a kingdom. His father would have had a better idea than him but growing up in a kingdom long ago he had learned a thing or two about. Such titles were not always given without great care, and those that held the title found honor in it. But she seems to be complexed by his question, unsure if she herself was no longer deserving of it anymore. Her voice comes, answering both of his questions about her home and role. The white stallion had been right in his assumptions, but he wonders why she is no longer certain about it either. Something within her struggled, and Astrophel wonders if it is the darkness within her, the black magic that binds her to such questioning thoughts of who she is. “No, I have not,” he answers back when asked if he had ever been there. “I use to live in Tephra. Well, just outside of it.” Astrophel had noticed her hesitation, and he pushes a little to ask further. “Maybe you could show me around there sometime.” It was a friendly offer, and he was more curious about Ciri and the places he has never bothered to explore within this new Beqanna he now lives in. Astrophel’s ear flickers forward, waiting to hear her what she had to say. He doesn’t push when she pauses and feels uncertain. She touches the dark magic, concealing something precious he has gathered from now, and he feels the flick of magic. It is dark and chaotic, but it is well protected. Astrophel watches as it pains her, reflecting in her swirling silver eyes. He takes a step forward and reaches out his muzzle to touch her, to comfort her from the pain that jolts from the dark magic within her. She gasps, pain within her voice, trying to understand what is within her. He isn’t quite sure what it is within it, but he knows it is important to someone. “I don’t know exactly,” he says softly, trying to find words to describe what he has learned about it. “I know it is magic, some sort of dark magic. It seems to be protecting something. Maybe something important.” He falls silent for a moment, and then he realizes he never asked where it came from. Had she always, had it? “Did someone put it in you? And why?” It would give him more of an answer, to understand why it was hidden away and so well-guarded.

@Ciri