There is a surprising kinship in this stranger, she thinks. Not of blood, but of mind and spirit. Perhaps their history’s diverge wildly, but still it had brought them here, staring face to face, subtly prodding and testing. Heartfire has seen enough of the woman’s past to know this was not always the case, but apparently her re-birth had settled somehow differently. And of course, Heartfire has never been one to leave well enough alone.
“Of course you don’t,” she replies easily, unperturbed by her denial. “We never find our own stories terribly interesting.” After all, they had already lived them. Of course, there is so much to learn if one cares to look more closely. But no one ever does. Even Heartfire has fallen victim, when it comes to hers.
Her blue gaze is sharply assessing as she eyes her companion, features still inscrutable beneath Kora’s impassive stare. So many have learned the dangers of underestimating her, but she thinks perhaps this woman would not make that mistake. There is a great deal of power in the unseen, and only someone who knows the truth of it could appreciate its import. Does she though? Would she?
For all her skill, she cannot read thoughts. And those are the only questions she truly has yet to answer.
“No,” she responds when asked if Kora should know who she is. They have never met, though their families had known each other once upon a time. But that fact is hardly what interests her. And most certainly not why she hadn’t dismissed her already.
The corners of her lips quirk up, the barely there smile the only indication of the thoughts that lay beneath her still features. Her only outward response to the subtle assessment behind the small pellets of ice flung almost haphazardly her way. Before the frozen droplets can reach her, they break apart, caught by a faint breeze that carries them away. Her gaze doesn’t falter as she shifts her position slightly, her own tail flicking idly against her haunches. “Do you plan on staying?” she finally continues, as though nothing of note had occurred.
i see your sins
and i want to set them free
