TFM 7

Chapter 7

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His hands were white. They were almost as white as hers. And they were very graceful and beautifully shaped.

Talia was about to reach out her arm toward him when she felt the bird crouching in her grasp flutter its wings, and she shook her head in dismay.

“No. What are you holding in your hands right now?”

She could see the boy's eyes narrow beneath his rain-soaked hood.

His gaze dropped to her hands, which she clasped together over his chest.

"Is it important?"

Talia thought for a moment, then shook her head.

"It's not important."

"Then throw it away."

"It's not important, but I can't throw it away."

The boy's smooth brow wrinkled at her outburst. He looked a little annoyed. Maybe, she thought, he would leave her alone.

But then the boy did something completely out of character for his seemingly cold demeanor. He bent down in front of her and quickly picked her up, her body covered in rain and mud.

Talia let out a small squeal at the unexpected behavior, and the boy wrapped his arms tightly around her squirming back and said bluntly, 

"Hold still."

Talia immediately complied with his command.

While she was carefully looking at the bird she was holding to her chest, relaxing her grip so that it wouldn't get hurt, he quickly moved his legs and climbed up the steep slope. His gait was catlike and swift.

But even his nimble, swift exit from the quagmire hadn't prevented his clothes from getting dirty. His brow furrowed as he glanced down at the mangled hem of his pants, boots, and robes.

"This is terrible."

"It's .................. for helping me, so I'll reimburse you. I'll even buy you a new one, much more expensive than the one you're wearing, because I am the daughter of a very, very great man. I'll tell the servant to make sure you get a generous reward."

She said it in apology, but he seemed somehow offended.

The boy took a few more steps, avoiding the mounds of dirt around the pit, and said bluntly, 

"Quite a mouthful for a little thing."

Talia blushed. Ordinarily, she would have slapped the boy in the face for his insolence. How dare he speak to the Emperor's daughter like that.

But for some reason, she couldn't say a word. Her face burned like it was on fire, even though the cold rain was constantly hitting her forehead and cheeks.

The boy stopped beneath a large maple tree that Senevere hadn't yet uprooted, and the bird emitted a faint cry.

The boy bent down as if to set her down, then stopped, his gaze dropping to her hands clasped together over her chest.

"What are you holding?"

He asked curiously.

She hesitated for a moment, then carefully unfolded her hands.

"A bird?"

He muttered, unsure.

He had good reason to be. The tiny baby bird, with its flimsy, mud-caked wings flopping open to reveal the pink flesh of its chest, looked more like a street rat than a bird.

Talia's cheeks flushed red. The bird was horribly ugly, but somehow she felt humiliated.

"It's because it fell in the mud. It was originally......."

Maybe it was prettier.

She was about to say that. The bony brown bird didn't seem to have been very pretty to begin with. It would have been just another ubiquitous starling.

But the boy felt compelled to show the shabby, ugly bird some kindness.

He supported her with one arm and pulled the bird's perched hand into the crook of his hood.

Talia's eyes widened. His skin was warm against her fingers, like the glow of a fireplace. The bird pressed itself against the boy's neck, seeking warmth.

"Your fingers are like ice. How long have you been standing in there?"

The boy looked down at the bird under his chin and turned his head toward her. This allowed Talia to peer right into his blue eyes that were hidden beneath thick, rain-covered eyelashes.

Up close, his eyes were very unusual. They were like tiny flakes of silver scattered across a clear winter sky.

As she stared at them, Talia muttered absentmindedly.

"You know............... there's a silver crown in your eyes."

The boy's eyes widened slightly.

His lips parted slightly as if to say something, then closed again. Talia realized that this nameless boy was also looking into her eyes.

She wondered what he found in her eyes.

As she pondered this, she heard a familiar voice in the distance.

"Miss!"

It was the nanny.

The nanny hadn't quite gotten the hang of saying 'Your Highness' yet, and had gotten into trouble with Talia’s mother and the other maids for calling her that. But it didn't seem to have stuck. Her pleading voice echoed in the distance.

"I have to go."

Talia muttered a small whisper, not sure why, but she hated to say the words. Maybe the boy didn't want to hear it either.

He stood motionless for a long moment, then slowly, like he was reluctant to do so, lowered her to the ground.

As his arms left her, Talia could feel a chill creeping through her bones, and it was only then that she realized how warm the boy's arms had been.

She hesitated, then held the young bird out to him.

"Will you take it with you?"

Because my hands are so cold, and yours are warm.

He bent down and carefully took the bird, holding it to his plaster-white cheek and pulling his hood forward as if to shield it from the rain.

Talia, staring at him, asked.

"Do you think that bird.................. can live?"

"..................Yes."

Blue eyes, crowned with silver, lingered on her face for a long moment.

"It’ll live."

The boy's face was expressionless, but somehow Talia thought he smiled.

She turned and started running through the rainy garden.

She didn't know how long she ran through the uprooted  trees and shrubs and the mounds of dirt that formed little graves, until she turned her head, as if drawn by something, and saw him standing still beneath the maple tree.

Why didn’t he leave?

Perhaps he was waiting for the rain to stop.

Perhaps he was watching her leave.

Talia was suddenly overcome with the urge to go back to where he was, to get out of the rain with him, to sit side by side in front of a warm fire and watch him nurse the bird back to health.

But while she hesitated, the nanny burst out from the back of the building, her round face gaunt as if she had been looking for her in quite some time.

"Where on earth have you been! Do you know how long Empress Senevere has been looking for you?"

The nanny grabbed her hand with her plump one and yanked her violently into the annex.

"What a mess you look like, you're supposed to be going to see His Majesty soon, and you can't get your clothes dirty like this!"

"..................I was out for a walk and fell."

"Oh my, what kind of walk is in this weather!"

The nanny exclaimed in exasperation, and began to stomp off down the hallway that led to the palace.

Talia glanced back, feeling herself being dragged by the boy’s hand. But there was no sign of him anymore.

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