Page 76 of A Conduit of Light
Herepeated the line he had spoken toRevichoften and though he couldn’t agree, he grinned, allowing himself to bask in the praise of the only father he had ever known.
Chapter37
Karus
“Howabout this one?”
“Tooorange.”
“Andthis?Letme guess—too red?”
“Yes, but that one does make a nice paint.Weuse it to decorate our bodies on the longest day of summer.”
“Soundsintriguing.”
“Ofcourse, you’d think so.Nohumans have ever seen the celebration, and besides, our singing would hurt your ears and our beauty melt your eyes out of their sockets.”
Karustilted her head back and laughed but not before seeing a small smirk creeping from the corner ofMoira’slips.
“Somethingdark.Agood show of my depression here.Areflection of its walls and all that.”
Karusrolled her eyes and went back to the bouquet of flowers she had picked this morning.Moirahad requested that she find her new attire that did not involve fabric or ribbons if she was going to have to stay in theFortressto heal.
Shehad spent the better part of the morning in the forest searching for patches of flowers or bushes adorned in them so thatMoirahad a variety to pick from.
Thefaerie fascinated her.Heremotions and movements were so human-like at times and so foreign at others.
“Whatabout this one?”Shepulled out one of her favorites—a calla lily.Thecolor of this patch had been the closest to black she had ever seen with a hint of a hue of purple.
“Yes.Thatone will do.”
Transfixed,Karuswatched as the faerie shimmied out of her ribbons and began to peel strips of the calla lily leaf into pieces, humming as she weaved them together with her long fingers.Shebraided them so quickly,Karuscould not follow the pattern.Withinonly a few minutes,Moirawas fastening the strips around her chest, her new clothing for her torso finished.
“I’venever realized how perfect a calla lily is as a skirt.”
“That’sbecause you don’t take the time you should to realize a lot of things,”Moirasighed, stepping into the flower’s single petal. “But,Isuppose you are young.Andyou don’t have much of a teacher, either.”
“CanIask how old you are?”
Moiralicked the palm of her hand with a pointy green tongue and wiped her saliva across the flower at her waist.Shedid this several times, and finally,Karus’scuriosity took over.
“Isthat…is that some kind of adhesive?”
Moira’sviolet eyes looked up to hers and she nodded. “Yes, and thirty-seven summers.Thirty-eight by the end of this one.”
“Oh.Youdon’t count time in years?”
“WhywouldIcount time in your years whenFelgrendoes not follow them?”
“Goodpoint.”
“Iwould guess that my almost thirty-eight summers is equal to…Idon’t know, a good hundred of your years?”
“Isee.”
“Yes, that’s a great estimate.Ofcourse…well, do you know that seasons here are not the same in time outside of the forest?And…you know there are four seasons, right?”
“OfcourseIknow there are four seasons.”
