He was beautiful, of course.
All of the gods were—or so she had been told. But to see a god in all his shining glory in person, well that was very different. She liked the way he smiled. It was warm as the steady glow of the sun, and as breathtaking as a flower in bloom.
He was summer. Rays of sunshine and white fire seemed to curl across his face, and Yseulte imagined that she could see bright sun-flames licking across his smooth skin. When the cool morning breeze ruffled the loose strands of his hair, she saw instead vast, rippling wheat fields lost in the glare of sunlight, and shimmering waves of heat trembling on a blue horizon.
And those eyes. They were green, like summer.
Every little glance she stole, she saw the wild, blooming gardens of wind-blown roses, scattered trees dappled with ripe August fruit, and lost, forgotten glades swept in emerald-green moss and silence. His light illuminated the wreathed and dewy orchard trees and shone down the quiet walks under them. His soft lips were the dark just before the dawn of this pale, misted morning, and that generous smile was like the sweet gray rainstorms that brought flowers to full bloom.
It was then, with an inwardly sheepish smile, that she understood how her grandmother had been captivated by the wild Fire Lord of Liridon.
"Father Earth," she murmured softly, casting her eyes away from his glowing figure, in a gesture of respect (and although she would never admit it to herself—fear).
She imagined her grandmother's bravery, her father's confidence.
Her father.
Yseulte's heart twisted in on itself, like the molten lava that hissed and spat once the particles of the air greeted it, and she wondered if he could see the darkness lingering in her heart and the bloodied stains on her hands. The secret bubbled within her, oozing guilt and other terrible things. For a fleeting moment, she considered repenting. Begging to be forgiven. But instead, she drew the secret deeper into herself, into the cobwebbed corners of her mind and into the vault of her heart.
"I do not wish to be alone anymore," she said at last, daring another glance at the massive Earth God and this time holding his gaze steadily.
|
.svg/2000px-Google_Chrome_icon_(2011).svg.png){kind=icon}
