Can you keep a secret?

Lucie stood firmly before the man, yet her knees were shaking, ready to give up under the sudden revealed weight she had shown Málmr. The second he knelt besides her, tears glittering like shooting stars dripped abundantly on her cheeks between muffled hiccups. A beautiful thing… Yet it felt like a stain, one she couldn’t get off her clothes, even with Mom helping her. She felt like she should be reprimanded for this – though she knew her mother would never do that, she felt as though she had somehow done something wrong. “I-I don’t know how this happened.” She utters, barely able to let that sentence cross her lips. “Did I do something wrong? Why is this happening?” she pleaded, a thousand questions running through her head as her little fist clenched inside Málmr’s hand. Her other hand rubbed her eyes, leaving shimmery sparks all over her skin she couldn’t seem to get rid of.

And then, Málmr pulled down his scarf. The little girl’s eyes widened with sheer surprise when, sprouting from her friend’s mouth grew two unfamiliar tusks – these were a new development. “O-oh! These are new!” she gasped, leaning closer to the man to get a better look at them. “I-I think they look really good on you… Will draw on them like you do your jewelry?” she asks, distracted from a moment from the thoughts that tormented her. A little hand patted Málmr’s hair gently as she smiled. “Your secret’s safe with me, Málmr.” She whispers, gently bumping her forehead against his – a gesture she did with her mother, and all who were accepted as family.

She felt a little safer now- steadier after she had shed tears and had her hand held. Málmr was a living shield to all evil – she knew he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her in this very moment, as she opened up about her budding magic.

“N-no, I haven’t told her yet.” She fidgeted, fingers nervously combing through the curls of her hair. “… Didn’t want to spook her. She has so much on her mind lately.” She knew something had happened a few months ago, when they met Málmr, was never sure exactly what – but Danaë had never been the same since. She had also vaguely heard of the Order, been told by Dogan to never step close to an Order mage. Of course, Málmr was an exception. Málmr was a friend, he had kept her and her mother safe. “… What if my magic is like… my father’s?”

She had wondered all her life about him – who he was, if she was like him at all. She could only ever get half sentences from her mother, picked up fear, regret. This only painted a hollow picture of the ghost that had haunted her since the day she was born, and that her mother had spent her life running away from. She only knew of his magic’s connection to the stars – and felt both horrified and fascinated by those growing on her own skin.