“Every year that I was Under the Mountain and Starfall came around, Amarantha made sure that I... serviced her. The entire night. Starfall is no secret, even to outsiders- even the Court of Nightmares crawls out of the Hewn City to look up at the sky. So she knew... She knew what it meant to me.'

I stopped hearing the celebrations around us. 'I'm sorry.' It was all I could offer.

'I got through it by reminding myself that my friends were safe, that Velaris was safe. Nothing else mattered, so long as I had that. She could use my body however she wanted. I didn't care.'

'So why aren't you down there with them?' I asked, even as I tucked the horror of what had been done to him into my heart.

'They don't know- what she did to me on Starfall. I don't want it to ruin their night.'

'I don't think it would. They'd be happy if you let them shoulder the burden.'

'The same way you rely on others to help with your own troubles?'

We started at each other, close enough to share breath.

And maybe all those words bottled up in me... Maybe I didn't need them right now.”