At the question, Nausy closed her eyes. Shiraz had voiced out the very issue she’d been agonizing over. “I do. And... I don’t.”
She sighed, staring down at her hands. She’d decided to clasp them together, if only to prevent herself from clenching and unclenching them, a nervous gesture that often got painful quickly. “The last few years haven’t been easy for me, Shiraz. The war on my world... it destroyed my home, ruined my name, estranged me from my family, left Marc without a father. Then I came here, and Paris showed this lonely widow and her son nothing but kindness, even if their presence had been forced upon him and his family...” She had to smile. “Hard not to love that.”
Her gaze once more drifted to the waterfall, her expression turning distant. But there was a longing so profound on her face that was impossible to miss. “But he’s the Cajuzinho. He has a duty to the world, to Vita, to the people. The stuff of kings - and I should know. My late husband was one.” She glanced at Shiraz. “Between his longtime Bonded partner and a strange alien girl who’d just recently arrived, there’s no question who’s the better match. A king deserves no less.“
Nausy then hastily added, before she lost her nerve, “That, and, well, two other things. One, I don’t age. It’s a curse I’m afflicted with. I don’t get sick, and I heal fast. So unless the magick of my world is somehow neutralized by Vita’s powers, or I’m injured in a manner I can’t recover from, I’ll end up outliving Marc and everyone else. Two...”
She closed her eyes as she admitted, “I still love Arzei.” She stumbled a little at the name. “Marc’s father.”
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She sighed, staring down at her hands. She’d decided to clasp them together, if only to prevent herself from clenching and unclenching them, a nervous gesture that often got painful quickly. “The last few years haven’t been easy for me, Shiraz. The war on my world... it destroyed my home, ruined my name, estranged me from my family, left Marc without a father. Then I came here, and Paris showed this lonely widow and her son nothing but kindness, even if their presence had been forced upon him and his family...” She had to smile. “Hard not to love that.”
Her gaze once more drifted to the waterfall, her expression turning distant. But there was a longing so profound on her face that was impossible to miss. “But he’s the Cajuzinho. He has a duty to the world, to Vita, to the people. The stuff of kings - and I should know. My late husband was one.” She glanced at Shiraz. “Between his longtime Bonded partner and a strange alien girl who’d just recently arrived, there’s no question who’s the better match. A king deserves no less.“
Nausy then hastily added, before she lost her nerve, “That, and, well, two other things. One, I don’t age. It’s a curse I’m afflicted with. I don’t get sick, and I heal fast. So unless the magick of my world is somehow neutralized by Vita’s powers, or I’m injured in a manner I can’t recover from, I’ll end up outliving Marc and everyone else. Two...”
She closed her eyes as she admitted, “I still love Arzei.” She stumbled a little at the name. “Marc’s father.”