A/N: Numair on Daine, though it could be a lot of people, I guess :)
Disclaimer: characters and their world belong to Tamora Pierce.
On Beauty
Sometimes
I look at her
(sleeping
beside me,
walking
beside me,
smiling
at me from across the room)
and
I think,
There
is the most beautiful woman in the world,
The
most beautiful woman
I
have ever seen.
And
then I think,
No:
Objectively
speaking,
Not
so.
I
have seen
Eyes
bluer,
Cheeks
rosier,
Skin
whiter,
Lips
redder,
Hair
glossier;
I
have felt
Hands
smoother,
Skin
softer,
Flesh
more yielding;
Objectively
speaking,
I
have seen many women
More
beautiful than she.
I
have, in fact
(Though
I try not to think too much about this)
Shared
my bed with many women
More
beautiful than she.
Objectively speaking.
Fortunately,
On
this subject
I
am anything but objective.
And
so,
There
she is
(absorbed in a book,
talking to chipmunks,
stringing her bow):
The
most beautiful woman in the world,
The
most beautiful woman
I
have ever seen.