Andrea Höst: The Towers, the Moon

"That is beauty of it. Not Proserpina, no matter what the Romans say. Persephone, Queen of the Dead in her own right. A Hellenic god. To say that the gods of the Hellenes are not gods of Rome using different names, that is one thing that annoys Rome more than anything else. That is why the Moon always has at least one performance in Latin. It is a defiance of Rome."

"So he ends up in a Hellenic Otherworld?"

"Yes. And, while being in love is not the reason he chooses to stay true to himself, it does add to his strength, his determination." Milo suddenly covered his face, and then swept his hands back over his hair. "This is such a large role. I was so nervous I was ill outside the theatre when they called me back for a second audition. Thank you for reading with me, Eluned."

They read through the final act again, without interruptions. And then Milo asked her, very politely, if she would like to practice kissing a little more, and Eluned decided that she did. No lightning bolts struck, but it was pleasant enough in its way. She would rather see Milo perform, and was sorry she was not staying in France long enough to watch his debut as Tesaire.

Pondering the mystery of why people found kissing so interesting, Eluned went upstairs to find Eleri still sitting at the window of their room, staring out.

Most of the time, Eluned had to admit, Eleri didn’t visibly mope. She tended to stay more in the background than Eluned was used to, but there was no visible cloud of gloom. Eluned was just aware of her sister’s unhappiness, and hated that she could find no way to make the problem go away.

"We should have a plan," she announced.

Eleri, mind obviously far across the Channel, looked at her slowly.

"For what? Going home tomorrow?"

"For Tangleways. For how we get to meet the Gwyn Lynns again."

Eluned hated herself, then, for the faint shift in Eleri’s expression. For the knowledge that she had been too obviously dismissive of what had happened to her sister when she had seen Celestine Gwyn Lynn.

Even if Eluned didn’t understand how anyone could love someone they had met once, she knew Eleri. Eleri didn’t say things she didn’t mean, and Eluned should have given her sister her trust and support, no matter what. Love might bring Eleri strength, or make her a puppy, or just leave her hurt. Eluned couldn’t change any of that.

But she could be a true sister, and help her find out.