A Fragile Enchantment

by Allison Saft

Perhaps it was her finite days that gave her courage, or perhaps it was the seamstress in her. She’d never been able to resist tugging at loose threads.

Perhaps she didn’t know the bite of cruelty herself, but she recognized the shape of the scars it left behind.

By their clothes alone, she could tell which ones came from money and which ones clung to their legacy like a slick rock face.

But sometimes, the mismatch of what her body could give and what her mind and circumstances demanded threatened to drive her mad.

But for someone in need, she could always find something to spare. There was always more of herself to give.

“You’re like me, then.” Like me. Being claimed so casually filled her with a warm sense of belonging.

“It changed him for the worse. But I suppose when you’re dealing with a monster like that every day, you can’t help what you become to survive it.”

The dark earth, redolent and alive. All these stubborn, wayward things, thriving in their neglect.

All his anger and aggression were the sword and shield in the hands of his fear.

As she slid into the encroaching dark, the last thing she saw were his wide, panicked eyes, and in them, the look of a man who had finally realized the worst of his weaknesses lived outside himself.

Here, in the close darkness of Woodville Hall, she wanted more than she’d ever allowed herself to want. The good, the bad, and everything in between: all of life and its ten thousand ways to cut you.

But if nothing else, he worshipped at the altar of reputation.

She had always believed life was what slipped through her fingers while she was idle. That life was something she wasted, not something she had.

His eyes on hers were molten, as golden and bright as sunlight itself. They were poised on the knife’s edge of hunger and frustration.

Here was a man convinced of his competence and secure in his conviction that his careful control was the only thing keeping the world spinning properly on its axis.

feel like I’ve lived a thousand years in the time I’ve known you. I feel like I’m awake for the very first time. Even if you were gone tomorrow, even if you took my heart with you when you went, I wouldn’t regret a single moment I’ve spent with you. How could I? You’ve changed me. I will carry you with me forever.”