A Dark and Drowning Tide

by Allison Saft

She didn’t envy Sylvia, exactly; she had never wanted to be beautiful. Still, it sometimes stung that she couldn’t even claim to be conventionally handsome—or at least classically Brunnisch, with fair hair and pale blue eyes.

Far better to be disliked for who she truly was rather than what she represented.

“I have no place in the Brunnestaad you’re building.” Her voice trembled. “We Yevani are rootless. We belong in the city, flourishing there like vermin. We’re nothing but a blight on this pastoral fantasy your silly little travelogues are helping create. That is why I despise you. We would never have been friends. We will never be friends. There is no crossing this gulf between us.”

“How could you not know I wanted you?” Never in her life had Lorelei been subjected to so many emotions at once. “How could I have possibly known? If you truly wanted me”—she stumbled over the words—“why have you been such a menace all this time?”

“Because you despise me! You think me beneath you. I could see it in your eyes, and I…God, I would have done anything to earn your respect, your attention. I just wanted you to look at me.” Sylvia floundered for a moment. “When you do, I…It’s terrifying. It’s exhilarating. You’re like something out of a nightmare.”