Disclaimer: The world and characters of Tortall belong to Tamora Pierce, not to me. Written for max, who wanted unrequited love, for the Wishing Tree at Goldenlake.
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Throughout his existence, he had watched mortals fight and die for the elusive, immaterial thing known as "love." It seemed merely a form of affection — interesting, certainly, and perhaps even valuable, but hardly worth the fuss that was made over it.
It was not meeting her that changed his mind; she was merely a child then, not fully matured into an adult specimen. He saw her as intriguing, but nothing more, until they were abruptly reunited at the end of the Scanran War.
He had seen the most beautiful women in the world, so it was not her appearance that stopped him. He had known many warrior women, so it was not her armor either. But there was something — something — the set of her jaw, maybe, or the blaze in her hazel eyes, or the way she walked. It didn't matter that he could never be with her. Nothing mattered.
Tkaa had never known love before, but one afternoon with Lady Knight Keladry of Mindelan changed everything.