The dream released him. Jacob stumbled back, his head flamed in pain and anger. He locked his arms around a wonderfully solid tree, his breath coming in ragged, harsh gasps. He was alive, his family was alive, Irini was alive. But those memories--locked away for so long--haunted him again, pained him. He hated that.
It was easier to breathe now. Jacob pulled away and climbed to the top of the dune, the whole desert sprawling before him like a deceptively blank pale canvas. He sighed and lay down, head resting on folded arms, and his eyes, bright and indigo as the sky, traced the constellations. Sleep, of course, refused to come, and he didn’t miss it either.
Something touched his shoulder, and Irini lay down next to him, her head near his, staring up at the same stars. She didn’t say that she’d heard him calling out, didn’t say anything, just held his hand like an old friend. The hours passed, and she dozed, and Jacob watched the stars fall. As the sun rose, she woke up, and together they watched the grayness of the desert warming to a dusty pink.
“I am in self-imposed exile, an outcast like my father. But I’m a free man, and my fight is against Thirio and so against all his men, against the darker side of me. A side I am ashamed of, a side I fear and loathe. A side I hope you never see.”
Irini saw the feverish, fierce look in his eyes, and squeezed his hand. “It’s everyone’s battle,” she replied. “You will win.” And that one, she wished she could say aloud, matters more to me than any revenge you will seek from with your father’s murderer.
His eyes gazed behind her, into a past and a future she couldn’t envision. The sun burned away the mist, and bathed their faces in copper light.
"I lied to you because I had to. I would not do it again."
I know, she thought. “I thought you were an overall good man. And if you don’t mind, I’d like to view you as one still. It wasn’t as difficult to trust you.”
He closed his eyes and felt the morning breeze caress his hair.
Keep trusting, he prayed.
"Angreek87"
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