Ouroboros Spine sisuuk ⊹

for a short while, kukutux's voice failed her. arcturus remained silent, having rather filled the void with his own turbulent thought than his blundering, useless words.

when at last she spoke he thought that at first she was reproachful; he waited for that final strike, the singular line that might pull to the present all the pain he had caused her. instead, the topic shifted -- and the blame, wherever it was put, was not solely saddled to his own shoulders.

arcturus pondered this: both the dancing lights, and how his own selfish heart had done more than simply cause kukutux heartbreak. had he stayed in moonspear, perhaps he might have seen that star from above coming. perhaps it might have been he reduced to ash, while his family lived on.

painful.

"i am sorry for the hurt i've caused you." arcturus felt his throat burn and his voice flicker as if a dying star. "i am not glad for that."

and just what if he had taken her as wife -- what if all that transpired, transpired anyway -- and he had ferried her off of the mountain, where she would never know so precise and painful a grief? if only --