The juniberry flowers closed at night. But if you brought a light against them, you could see the little stamens inside, the places where the petals overlapped, all silky like a curtain.
Lotor put his light to the nearest blossom.
The Ancients believed the juniberries were the souls of the dead. It was where they went to say goodbye before they left for good.
The castle was dressed in pink that night, and so was the field. It might have been cold out.
In his hands, the juniberry glowed like a paper lantern. Bright and pink, and warm like a house. He could see all the veins going through, one stamen there, two more when he moved the light.
The life here was so much softer than on Daibazaal.
"Prince Lotor. There you are."
He hadn't heard the footsteps.
"Everyone's been looking for you."
It was Sendak. He was standing on a juniberry.
Lotor turned off his light.
"Please, don't worry," Sendak knelt down beside him. "You're not in trouble."
That was the least true thing he had heard all day.
"Get off the juniberry," Lotor said.
Sendak looked down and moved his foot.
"Are you going to come back to the castle with me?"
"No," Lotor said.
"Well. Your father has asked me to bring you back."
"Not now."
"All right," Sendak sighed. "I'll tell him it took me longer than it really did."
Lotor didn't answer that.
"So. What are you doing there?" Sendak asked.
Lotor turned the light back on and cupped it to the flower.
"Mother showed me."
"Ah. I see."
"She says the Ancients were wrong about the juniberries."
"She did, huh?"
Lotor paused. He put down the light.
"I don't want them to be wrong."
The wind swept the flowers in the field. The close one bent and touched his hand.
"You know, Prince Lotor," Sendak said. "The universe is too big for anyone to know everything about it. There's a lot no one's ever going to know."
"Some of us know a lot more than you."
Sendak coughed. "Well, yes, that's true."
Lotor was quiet again.
"Hey," Sendak picked up Lotor and sat him on his knee. "Why don't you tell me more about the Ancients?"
"They thought the juniberries were here to say goodbye."
"I see," Sendak said. "It's never easy saying goodbye."
Lotor clung to Sendak's arm and cried.