10-16-2021, 12:27 PM
selaphiel
No, he had felt it when Mazikeen had told him that her hunger for power had oriented itself around Gale.
But it becomes something else, listening to his nephew tell him that Gale has been teaching him to shapeshift, that Mazikeen has been teaching him how to perfect it. His breath goes thin but he tries to keep his expression passive.
(And this is easy to do because the boy begins to shift before his eyes—not into another animal, as Mazikeen had done, but into him—and this arrests his attention so completely that he cannot do anything but look on in wonder.)
This is what he looks like, all tinged in ice. He swallows and wonders if he should consider this a gift, a glimpse of himself the way that others see him. He cannot know that the reflection is imperfect because he has never seen himself through anyone else’s eyes.
It occurs to him that he should say something encouraging or congratulatory about Bolder’s work with Gale and Mazikeen, but the words turn to dust on his tongue. His loyalty lies with Mazikeen, even now, but he can’t force himself to say anything other than: “That’s wonderful.” Though he cannot help but suspect that their intentions are not altogether pure. He cannot help but wonder how they plan to use his nephew for something dark.
His question smarts but he only shakes his head. “No,” he says. It’s easier to admit now than it had been in the earliest days of his youth, when he had hugged the border of Hyaline, ready to flee should anyone remember that he was there and cast him out altogether. It’s easier to admit, even if it’s heavy with what Mazikeen had said to him, how Gale has made her suffer in exchange for the angels.
“I have been allowed to stay in Hyaline simply because I am Ryatah’s son.”
I just bite my tongue a bit harder
@bolder