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[an_evening_star]

It had taken a while - and a good deal of cursing to herself - to maneuver the sleeping boy from on top of her, fingers curling sleepily at her waist, and into a far more respectable position without waking him. She did, however, allow his head to remain resting in her lap, her own fingers carding lightly through his hair as she watches him sleep.

She's not particularly surprised to find herself smiling anymore, to feel the gentle tingling skimming its way along her fingertips. It's almost strange just how much it isn't strange at all, and she wonders where her hatred had gone. She knows that it was there, she had felt it - low and hissing - but now there was nothing more than that rising tenderness that she can't quite rid herself of.

She doesn't particularly want to either.

There's a soft rustle in the grass behind her and her head cants slightly, eyes casting over her shoulder upon the figure of the dark-haired woman from the caravan. The star nods a silent greeting as the woman stops at her side, gazing down at the boy in her lap.

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[an_evening_star]

"Do you?" the star asks, gazing over at her with eyes dark as the sky. "Really?"

She doesn't look particularly convinced.

[nosequels.livejournal.com]

Her violet eyes bore into hers for a brief moment, then she looks away, back at the boy sleeping in Yvaine's lap.

"No," she replies. Of course not. How could she?

[an_evening_star]

"He once caught me with a chain much like yours," the star says, dropping the chain and toying lightly with his hair. "Then he freed me and I ran from him."

She shakes her head wryly, "But he found me and bound me with an obligation, which binds my kind more securely than any chain ever could."

[nosequels.livejournal.com]

"Did he now," she half-inquires, scrutinizing him.

And where ever did he manage to find one? she wonders, turning her gaze back to the star.

A soft, somewhat chilly, breeze passes by them, stirring the bushes and leaves of the trees so they rustle and whisper.

[an_evening_star]

"Well, he is nothing short of resourceful," she replies, still with that soft edge to her usual sarcasm.

"Though I am thinking that most of it is sheer stupid luck."

[nosequels.livejournal.com]

The woman smiles a wistful smile. She wishes she could have had the chance to know him, to see how he grew up to be the man he is today, a man she doesn't even know.

But there are other things to worry about right now.

"You are under a prior obligation, are you not?" she asks the star, her expression growing serious. "You have something that does not belong to you, which you must deliver to its rightful owner."

[an_evening_star]

The stars eyes harden once more at that, back straightening almost regally and lips tightening in displeasure.

"Who are you?"

She might already have some ideas on the subject.

[nosequels.livejournal.com]

"I told you. I was the bird in the caravan," she says. It's not time yet for her to know who she is. She will likely tell him, and she doesn't want him to know just yet.

"I know what you are, and I know why the witch-woman never knew that you were there," she explains. "I know who seeks you and why she needs you. Also, I know the provenance of the topaz stone you wear upon a silver chain about your waist. Knowing this, and what manner of thing you are, I know the obligation you must be under."

Now, with a little more daring, she reaches out to touch him. With her delicate fingers, she gently pushes the hair away from his face. He doesn't move, or respond.

[an_evening_star]

"I do not think that I believe you," says the star - and, really, it's not so much that she thinks she's lying as she thinks that she's not telling the whole truth. "Or trust you."

The lonely cry of a night bird sounds in the trees, unexpectedly loud in the stillness, and the star watches the woman's thin fingers quietly. She makes no protest, though she isn't quite certain why.

[nosequels.livejournal.com]

"I saw the topaz about your waist when I was a bird," she explains, getting to her feet. Her eyes never leave Tristran.

"I've seen it on you, and quickly recognized it for what it was." She gestures to her waist.

[an_evening_star]

Yvaine wonders, for a moment, where all of her unnatural jealousy has gone. Not that she misses it in any sort of way, just - she's gotten used to it a bit.

"How?" she asks pointedly, because that's what matters. "How did you recognize it?"

[nosequels.livejournal.com]

The dark-haired woman doesn't answer. She watches the star for a moment, her expression vague and almost blank, then shaking her head she turns to walk back the way she came.

She turns to look over her shoulder, then spares one last glance at Tristran, before she walks on, slowly becoming a silhouette.

And then she is taken by the night.

[an_evening_star]

The star peers after her for a few moments, watching the empty night air that she had disappeared into vaguely.

With a sigh her gaze returns to her lap and she smiles softly, leaning down to brush the obstinate locks of hair out of his eyes once more.

"Even worse than you," she whispers against his skin, lips lingering against his temple a bit longer than necessary.

He sleeps on nevertheless.