Ephemeral and Fleeting

Well, I’m sure this will come as something of a surprise to you, but . . .” She removed her tea ball with a sigh, then took a teaspoon of sugar and added it to her drink. She stirred it in. “Sometimes I think everyone believes I’ve no heart.”

Raising her brow, Mara chuckled. “No, Lucy. We just think you keep it . . . well concealed.”

Glancing up, Lucy caught Mara’s eye, and grinned. Then her smile turned down. “You’re not the first to tell me that.”

“Oh?”

“Remember earlier, when I told you that other Oathtakers before you have loved and . . . lost?”

Mara set her drink down. “Yes. I take it that you are one of those ‘other Oathtakers?’”

Pursing her lips, Lucy sighed. “Yes, although I’m sure that’s difficult for you to believe.”

“No, it’s not.” Mara tapped on the table. “So, who did you love and lose?”

Lucy opened her mouth as though to speak, then closed it again, tightly.

“Does this have something to do with who you thought you saw earlier? Before your accident today?”

Lucy stood. “I should be going. Thank you for the tea, Mara.”

“Come on, now, sit down. Tell me.”

Pausing, Lucy wrung her hands, then sat again. “You and Dixon are sure to have a good laugh at my expense when you tell him all about this later . . .”

“That’s not true.”

“No, of course not. You’ve never been cruel. I’m sorry.”

“Who was it, Lucy?”

She sighed. Then, “His name was Petrus Feoras,” she said. “He . . . Well, I guess I . . . loved him.”

“How long ago was this?”

She stood, then paced. “Oh . . . a while back.”

Mara warmed her tea. “But you’ve been free from a life with a living charge for some time. You could have followed your heart. So . . . what happened?”

Approaching a nearby window, Lucy looked out. She seemed momentarily mesmerized by falling leaves dancing in the air in an array of gold and bronze.

“I said I loved him and . . . I did,” she said, looking back. “I suppose maybe I just didn’t love him . . . enough.”