There was no moon that night, when Lucian tapped on the ledge of Platina's window. He couldn't see the gleam of her hair or the outline of her figure nestled underneath too few sheets.

"Platina, wake up, it's me, Lucian," he whispered, pushing his hand in and searching for hers.

All of a sudden she jumped in surprise, pulling back with a frightened gasp, and Lucian could barely separate the darkness from her eyes.

"What are you doing here?" she called softly, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Please…I want to talk to you," he begged. Any other person may have spat at him in anger, but Platina merely sighed in weariness and accepted the hand he offered her. They didn't speak when her feet touched to the ground, nor did he let go of her hand. The lawn was littered with small gardening trinkets and they were menacing dark objects set upon the shadowy ground. Lucian helped Platina walk carefully around them, and once more they set off to the small, quiet clearing in the woods behind her house.

"You laughed at me," she whispered sadly, when he helped her climb upon the stone.

"I wasn't laughing," he returned quickly, a break in his voice, and he struggled to meet her gaze in the dark. When he was sure she was settled comfortably, he climbed up beside her, but instead of letting his legs dangle over the edge like hers, he sat cross-legged facing her. She seemed not to notice.

"You were with so many who were," she sniffed.

"I promise you Platina, I had no intention of listening to them. I didn't believe any of it," he croaked, absentmindedly reaching up and tucking loose hair behind her ears. She closed her eyes to his touch, or maybe because she didn't believe him.

"Why did you not come to me then? Why did you stay with them as they…said those things?"

Lucian let his hand fall into his lap and he bowed his head, "I don't know, I was just so stunned and overwhelmed I…I don't know why I stood there and listened," He could feel sobs rising in his throat and yet Platina remained still and calm, looking into the darkness.

"This is a village of evil," she breathed in despair, and several silent minutes passed.

Lucian still had his head down when her small white hand glided over his, and stayed there. He looked up suddenly, and her face was turned to his, her posture poised and proper, and he, slumped down and forward. She seemed so still, so regal and shame flooded through every part of him.

"I have dreams of leaving this place," she went on, in the same, melodic tone of voice that she never used outside of the clearing, "of just flying high up and letting the wind take me wherever it goes. To be free and without purpose…I look through the eyes of the body my dreams give me and I experience the life I should have had, away from the fight for material possessions and survival,"

"Platina…" Lucian began and she shook her head, silencing him.

"Sometimes I lose all sense of direction of my life here in Coriander. I could never wish ill on anyone, nor damn the path I have travelled so far. But just…those few sometimes I…I think of what might have been. I feel as if there are parts of me yearning to break free of this, this earthly chain," she cried softly, looking down at herself, "then I would truly be able to live the way that I feel I was meant to,"

Lucian could make out her face in the dark, her mouth parted slightly in fright. His heart beat fast for her.

"Then why…why don't you?"

A tear glistened down her cheek and she said, barely audible, "Because these feelings frighten me sometimes. I feel as if they aren't mine, as if I shouldn't be having them. I don't know what to think because they take me to a place for a small time in which I can truly rest and be myself…but then I think of all the people here…you, and my mother of course. How can I just leave this world behind? So many people need me…"

"No one needs you Platina, that's the reality of it," Lucian cried with her and softly wiped the lone tear away from her cheek, "everyone here just takes advantage of you. That's how this village thrives,"

"But if no one needs me, then why do I have any reason to stay…? Why can't I just leave this place then…?" her voice was shrill and weak and unsteady now.

"Because I need you," Lucian whispered, letting his hand linger on the side of her face, "and you know that. You've known me ever since you were born and we're still here, together,"

"Yes," she said, sniffling.

Lucian pulled his hand away gently and reached into the pockets at his sides. "When I was away, you never left my mind," he breathed, and pulled out two small objects that glistened in his flattened palm. Platina regarded him with curiosity.

"What are…what are these?" she asked meekly.

"Something beautiful, that many of the women in Crell wear," he answered vaguely, enjoying her reaction. She leaned forward and touched them gently.

"Why, Lucian…they're earrings! Mother has a set, though not as grand as these, and…" she trailed off and searched his eyes for an answer.

"They're yours," he finished. She pulled away and gasped, hands pressed against her lips. When she lowered them away she said, "Mine?"

"Yes, I just said that," he laughed softly and held out his hand to her, nodding.

"They cost everything I had. Everything. I saw them and thought of you. They're made from the light blue crystals found in Hai-Lan. They reminded me of your hair," he explained, and pulled Platina's hands forward.

"But…I have no holes in my ears," she wept, and Lucian again laughed softly, and dared to press his face against her bowed head. After a moment's hesitation, he kissed the top of her head and drew his face back, as she slowly looked up in wonder.

"They don't go through your ears. They clip on tightly. Just watch," Lucian let go of her hands and Platina sat up straight. Moving more loose hair that had escaped from her plait, he nimbly unfastened the claps on the back of jewels and clamped them onto her ear. She laughed softly as they snapped on, and moved her head from side to side when he was finished.

"They feel wonderful. New, but wonderful," she smiled, as the small crystals dangling through her ears glistened in the dark. When she was done shaking her head playfully, she took his hand again and said, "Oh thank you, Lucian. I've never…never had anything like this before. Nothing has ever been given to me,"

"I know," he whispered. The slight, pleasant ache in his body suggested that they were speaking of an entirely different subject altogether. The race in his heart knew so, when Platina slowly let herself lower back onto the stone's surface. Lucian lowered with her, laying on his side, her head cradled in the crook of his arm.

For a long, long while, their hearts beat together as one as she lay sleeping beside him, her earrings resting against her smooth marble face. From time to time he even trailed his fingers against her cheeks.