Opposites Attract


Briar muses.


Long after she had fallen asleep, Briar gazed at her peaceful face. He remembered a time long ago, when they were just an ebony-haired boy and a honey-haired girl. He remembered her stubbornness and determination. He remembered her bravery, her willingness to fight for what she believed in. He remembered the puppy. Perhaps that's when he had first fallen in love. No, not in love yet. In like, maybe. He smiled at the childish word. As a child, there were no boundaries. Noble or not, he didn't think of the future. You see a pretty girl, and what did you do? You kiss her. And that's what a ten-year-old Briar did. Except he didn't quite know how, or where, and ended up pecking her ear, his face in those soft, thick braids. They both giggled, and life moved on. But it was his first kiss, and he would always remember it. Looking at Sandry now, he realized how much she had changed from that obstinate little girl with plaits. Her hair was loose now, thick and long, spilling over the both of them like sunlight. He could see the shadows that were embedded in her soul, and knew that there was something she wasn't telling him, just as he hid things from her. Perhaps she hadn't been so safe at home after all, he thought. Briar had grown up and seen the world, seen war and destruction, seen evil at its worst. He thought none of the girls would understand, least of all Sandry, who was holed up in Duke's Citadel. Maybe I was wrong, he thought, and wondered when his childhood crush had blossomed into a deep, blooming love, then laughed at the absurdity of it all. Since when did I become so mushy and romantic?

He sobered up quickly, though. This was real. And he wasn't ten anymore. Now, more than anything, he could see the consequences. It was wrong for Sandry to be with him like that, and he doubted that she would even want to. He had been with a different girl every night, and from what Tris and Daja told him, Sandry had kissed less boys than the fingers he had on one hand. She was pure, and he was anything but. She was destined to be ruler, and he had been born a street rat. But he could also see that there was no noble worthy of her. They were all stupid, preening kaqs, unworthy to rule by her side when the time came. Hope glimmered in him, and that was enough. To know they might have a chance, though he had no idea whatsoever what her feelings were toward, was enough. He was going to make her love him, and that was that. He grinned, and promptly fell asleep.