He thought of Lan, of the red cord he’d bound for her, a promise and a wish that she’d miraculously granted him. That she could hold feelings for the likes of him had seemed too good to be true…but it hadn’t stopped him from dreaming of a future with her. A future free of persecution and war and suffering, where they could explore what this great wide world held for them. An ordinary life together, in which he could watch her skin wrinkle and her hair turn white. But if he did not make this bargain, she would no longer even survive for them to have a chance at that. His resolve firmed.
