TearsUnderMoonlight[Gillian continued from As the Worm Turns] Gillian felt herself swallowed by warm arms, lips and hot tears touching her cheek. Seabhac held her tight; flooding her with the scents of gun smoke and blood. Around them, bodies lay strewn about the high balcony like broken toys, discarded by some cruel child. They were atop the Castle Amber, gazing down at the battlefield - a nightmare landscape. Beyond the walls, the city burned in far too many places. But the skies were clear, almost pristine. "You did it," he said softly, hugging her all the tighter. "We did it," she corrected, then burst into tears. She covered her face and rested her forehead against his chest, shoulders shaking as the tears ran down her forearms. "So much destruction. So many died. It feels like a pyrrhic victory." “That comes with victory, Gilly,” Seabhac said. “Good people die for good reasons. But it doesn’t make the sacrifice any less painful.” He sat them down, leaning against the stone balcony. His hand drifted through her hair, “You did all you could. We all did. And tomorrow, we’ll wake up and start all over again. Looking back and wondering if we could have done will only eat you, and change nothing.” He kissed her forehead, “Have you ever seen the Lake of Fire?” She gazed at him quizzically, momentarily distracted by the question. "I don't believe so. What is it? And is it germane?" "Oh, it's relevant," he said. "It is a Shadow where words and names are magick. Every word has a scroll, placed within an ivory temple at the center of a great lake. How they get there, no one knows. The sun never sets fully, turning the water a brilliant orange and gold... as if it were flame. Hence, the name. "I'm taking you there," he said. "So you can lose yourself in that magick, and put all this behind you. You've earned your rest." A sly smile, "Besides, it'd make for an amazing final thesis. So you won't obsess about grades while you're 'resting.'" Gillian smiled softly. "Sounds nice. Will you stay with me?" She took his hand in her own. Seabhac squeezed her hand, staring at her. “Gilly. I have no intention of leaving you again. You’re stuck with me for the next century or so. At least, until I drive you completely mad with my knock-knock jokes and we take a decade or two off.” "I will never tire of knock-knock jokes. Ever." Gillian took Seabhac's face into her hands and kissed him soundly, leaving smudges of dirt and blood on his cheeks. He returned the kiss deeply, wanting, hungry. He tugged her closer, letting the shadows curl around them - obscuring them from the world. "Good," he whispered against her lips. "Because they're quite terrible, indeed." [Continued in Sins Best Forgotten] |
