Aata returned to find me listless, too sad to even wait within the courtyard. I kept instead to my chambers, the hottest part of the year now over and the cooler portion starting to roll in. My windows were hung with cloth to keep the sun out, the temperatures sweltering during the day and chill at night. I could find no reason to care, no solace in the life that I led. I had gotten like this before, in my childhood, when I had been separated from my mother upon the start of my bleeding to create my own court.
He came to me late in the night, his ship having just got in, his body caked in salt. I found that I didn’t care, that all I cared about was the way that he was holding me.
He found me staring out into my courtyard, wishing that the insects of the night didn’t sound so lonely. I
