❝ desperate for the last light,
we gasp through frozen lungs -
but never outrun dusk ❞
― 𝐬𝐚𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐞 𝐯𝐢𝐚 𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐛𝐥𝐫
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in which a rogue prince falls to earth and, consequently, falls in love with an earth inha...
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― all sarosians bleed the same ―
"You needn't cry, my sweet boy," Pandora uttered, her syllables soft and her tone tranquil.
The queen of Saros was the most gracious being in all of creation; Orion was sure of it. He'd just explained to her everything he'd done in the past twenty-four hours. He'd repeated in lucid detail the quarrelings of the court earlier that day, and how he'd been vigilant in his protesting against every word his father and the courtsmen had to offer. He'd recalled sorrowfully how he'd forced Titania's hand into bringing her own army along on his impulsive conquest, even though it would've been obvious to anyone how wary she was about the mere prospect of the idea. And lastly, he'd wailed and yelped about the terrible, horrid defeat of two of Saros' most elite armies, and how it was his actions alone that had caused the loss of so many innocent lives.
And yet, in the face of the abysmal happenings she'd just received a full explanation of, she still rubbed circles on Orion's hunched back as he sobbed into her shoulder. As it happened, she even offered her assistance in Orion's great escape from Saros, a word like "cowardice" never once escaping her lips.
Orion was undeserving of a mother as benign as Pandora. He deserved a proper scolding or two in the least. Forgiveness and understanding, of all things, were sentiments he hadn't deserved in a long while.
"Orion, look at me."
Pandora took a step back from her son and cupped his face in her hands, turning his gaze to hers. She couldn't help but smile. Beneath the streaks of dried blood that outlined his caramel complexion, beneath the unfathomable guilt and iniquity that stained his consciousness, she could only see the giggling, kindhearted little boy he once was.
"If you plan to leave," she began, her voice more solemn than it had been since Orion had arrived at her doorstep. "You must leave now. As I'm sure you know, the only ships fast enough to enable your escape are your father's ships. He's recently installed new actinium-based engines, so all of his ships will be under his guards' observation after midnight, and midnight is approaching quickly."
Orion nodded, a slight smile appearing on his cracked lips as his mother wiped a stray tear off of his cheek. "You are too good to me, mother."
"I do not show more goodness to you than what you deserve," she countered. She made no attempt to hide the grin that crawled onto her face as she handed Orion the sword that was strapped to her side. "In case we run into any trouble."
Orion's brow furrowed. He glanced at the violently shimmering metal that lie in his open hands, wondering why Pandora hadn't ordered him to retrieve a sword from his own arsenal. "What about you? If we do run into trouble, how will you defend yourself?"
