Ephemeral and Fleeting

“When that beam fell on me, I thought I was dead. While pinned beneath it, I discovered that one of the things I most regretted—and believe me, I’ve been around long enough to have many regrets—was that I’d not made proper amends to you.” She turned Mara’s way. “Nor to you, she added. “I suppose the truth is . . .” She fell silent, holding her mouth firmly shut.

“Yes?” Mara asked.

Sighing, Lucy twisted her fingers together. “I suppose the truth is that I behaved so badly because I’m . . .”

“You’re what, Lucy?”

“I’m . . . envious . . . that you two were able to follow your hearts. The same has never been true for any Oathtaker before you while his charge still lived. There are those who’ve . . .” Once more, she weaved her fingers together. “Well, who’ve loved and lost.”

Mara took Dixon’s hand in her own. “I’m sorry,” she said.

“You’ve nothing to be sorry about. Once I swore oaths for the protection of my charges, I never expected that the rules would be any different for me than for any other Oathtaker.” She held Mara’s gaze for a moment, then looked down. “Still, I suppose somewhere in the deepest part of me, I felt I might have lost something and . . .” She swallowed hard. “In any case, like I said, I deeply regret how I treated you.”

“It’s forgiven, Lucy—just like we told you earlier.”

“Yes, well, I mean to show you that I understand how wrong I was. I knew my time was running short, yet it seems Ehyeh has now granted me this second opportunity. I can promise you that I won’t allow it to pass by without taking full advantage of it.”