Dance of Thieves

sometimes you can’t begin to know everything you’ve lost until someone shows you what you might have had.

“I love you, Jase Ballenger.”

“My tomorrows are yours, Jase. I want them all to be with you.”

But then he looked at me, and my mind became
a windstorm, memories whirling in a riotous tunnel, and I saw it all sweeping away, out of my reach.

“and I won’t take it back. I love you, Kazi of Brightmist, and I will never stop loving you, not through a thousand tomorrows. Come back with me. Please.”

Some said it began with the stars.

They brought a magic the world could not contain.

Running is all I remember.

Years of running.

I will never run again.

Sometimes it seemed the timing of the entire world was off, our
intentions coming too soon or too late, life crowding up to blur our vision, and only later when the dust settles can we see our missteps.

His expression was strained, as if he couldn’t stand to be next to me. I thought there was nothing left inside of me to crumble, but I was wrong. His contempt was more than I could bear.

Truth that came too late was as useful as a meal to a dead man.