>>5375828Jazkarmel says nothing, so you look up to see the reason for her silence. You find the dark elf cupping her mouth, trying to stifle laughter. You narrow your eyes.
“You… Disagree?”
“No, no, I agree!” she says, waving off your concern and choking the words out between chuckles. “You are just… So dramatic. I had forgotten how young you are!”
“You think me… Silly?”
“Not at all,” she assures you, placing her hand on yours gently, before withdrawing it—a casual act for her, but one that fills you with a certain warmth despite yourself.
“It is a difficult thing, to speak up in defence of a thing you know is wrong,” Jazkarmel says, a pall falling over her face and voice. “It is a skill I must cultivate, for my return to the court of my great-aunt.”
The two of stand there in silence for a time, illuminated against the dark only by the cloud-rimmed moon and your sword’s reflection thereof. The earlier hopefulness is dampened by the dark turn, by the weight of your actions to get to this point and by the uncertain future. The moon is swallowed up; you wonder if you shall be, also.
[THREAD END]
