Zale has tried. He’s not sure he’s much of a father figure, really, a strange boy (stallion, but he still seems a boy sometimes) made of stars and star dust. But he’s there when they call, he’s always there in the distance watching, and he tries to teach what he can. What little he knows of the world. In truth, he’s never spent much time in it. No, that’s not true. He’s been through quests and lived with magic and has lived in the Deserts for quite some time. But he’s never gone on diplomatic missions to other kingdoms or sought any sort of power or prestige. The boy has been content with his life thus far, and so he keeps on with it.
It’s been some time since he’s seen his girls though. Small and beautiful, each of them, in their own way. It’s been long enough that he’s got a surprise for them, and he’s been lurking about waiting for the two of them to be together. He doesn’t approach though, but rather finds a spot just far enough away that they aren’t likely to notice him off in the distance (even with his coloring).
He smiles slightly as the lilies begin to grow. They won’t last long in the Desert, under the hot sun and without enough water, but they will last long enough to serve a purpose today. They start out just around him, but begin to spread out all around becoming a field of colors. He grows everything he can think of – yellow and white and orange and purple, multicolor as well. It doesn’t take long before the lilies stretch out all around him, and almost as far as he can see. But not so far that the girls are likely to have noticed yet.
Then, a white lily pops up beneath their tree. Then another, a few yards away, this one yellow. Another, just a few more yards back, purple now. They keep popping up, a different color each time, a trail leading to the present he’s made for the girls. Something to do for a little while, a brief and hopefully wondrous marvel in the Deserts. And then he waits, painted with the stars among a field of lilies in the middle of a Desert. What a sight he must be.
I have loved the stars too fondly
to be fearful of the night
zale
