Dreadful

by Caitlin Rozakis

The roses would need to be replaced. Oh, interesting—when he thought about it, he knew that any dried flower would do. He didn’t know much about roses. They were a summer flower, weren’t they? But surely something still bloomed. Maybe he could send an order down to the mayor. Someone in the town surely knew where to find some flowers. Little girls were supposed to pick them all the time, weren’t they? Maybe little girls had something to hide. He thought of small girls armed with fireballs and wondered if it would make for a safer or more terrifying world.

Terwyn’s lips looked as if they had heard of this thing called smiling, and briefly considered it, before rejecting the plan as too ostentatious.

He didn’t know what that made him, if he wasn’t evil enough to be a villain or good enough to be a hero.

But you’re worried, too. And you’re smarter than I am.” She had been toying with a lock of her hair, but at that, the hair dropped from her limp fingers. She stared at him. “I have literally never heard a man make that statement before in my life.” He shrugged, uncomfortable. “We both know it’s true.” “Obviously, it’s true, but it’s not the kind of thing men notice. And if they notice, they’d rather one of us die than admit it. Preferably me.”