“Grandmother said I was corrupted in front of everyone. She would know more than anyone! She's a direct child of Cosmo. She knows how this works!”
I bare my teeth. “Amara doesn't know shit! She's not the all knowing Gift everyone thinks she is! You know this!”
He glances away. “But who else would know about how this works?”
My knuckles ache to punch Amara’s hideous face. How dare she say those things about her own grandson? Especially in front of everyone? “She doesn't know what the fuck she's talking about. You are the sweetest person I've ever known. I've never seen someone so willing to find the truth and help others.”
He looks back into my eyes, his own still black like coal. The pain is still gleaming in his eyes but it does soften. The flowers weaken, the stems drooping, making it easy for me to untangle myself.
“It's not enough.” Amias murmurs as I free myself completely of the stems. I step towards and he flinches back. More black flowers shoot from the ground in front of me. “I don't want to hurt you!”
I scowl. He shouldn't have to hide from me. “I'm not afraid of you.” I step towards the flowers. “You can burn me, and tangle in weird flowers all you want, but I'm not going to run.”
He leans away from me. “Why? You should! Everyone else would!”
I take another step forward between the flowers. That's one sentence I know all too well. Most people in Amara would run from a dreamscreecher too, if they didn't decide to kill it.
I understand.
“Everyone else would run from me too…” I whisper, with another step.
He snorts. “No they wouldn't.”
I hesitate. Should I let Amias know now? The grandson of Amara? Would it be of any comfort to know that he's been friends with a dreamscreecher this entire time? Would he freak out even more? Would it even be safe for me?
Under his shining gaze, I feel his loneliness. I feel how painful it is to be outcasted and made into a monster.
He got into this mess because of me. He made that wish to help me and my people. He deserves to know he's not alone. I know he wouldn't hurt me. “Oh trust me. They would.”
I let my eyes strain as I stare into his eyes. “But you… you didn't run…”
His lips part at my glowing eyes. “Clara…”
“So why would I run from you?”
In a way, I feel naked. He knows now. He knows who and what I am now. I can't undo it.
He could have me killed and the Amara kingdom would justify it. He can tell his family about me, and with just a few words, they would come to kill me themselves.
Yet, I know he won't do that.
His eyes dart in every direction possible. “You're the dreamscreecher!”
I nod, tears blurring my eyes. My body shakes despite my faith in him. I've never trusted an Amarian like this. “Yes. You see? Amara doesn't know shit. She'd call me a monster, like she did you. If we're monsters, so be it! We'll be monsters together!”
His breath quickens, veins bulging under his skin. “How could you… How are you… What?”
There's a jolt of fear in my chest. Did I make things worse? “I hope you're not upset.”
His eyes flash wide. “No! I’m glad it's you!” He reaches a hand towards me but doesn't touch me. “I'm just… It makes sense… but it doesn't…”
A small smile twitches my lips. “I’m sorry I didn't tell you, but you’ve grown so much. I trust you with my life, just as you have when you saw me as a dreamscreecher.”
His face blushes as we stare into each other's eyes. His eyes brighten from black, slowly receding back into his pupils. His breath isn't so heavy anymore.
I take another step towards him, my heart floating with the relief of freedom. “I will always stand by you. Your grandmother might outcast you. The world might. Even Cosmo could outcast you, butIwon't. I’ll be an outcast too.”
I step through the flowers again. He finches back again. I scowl. “I'm not afraid!”
