Author's note: I'm sorry. This was not what I intended. I have Duncan and Gann waiting to speak, plus an Okku story, more Gann and Tarva, maybe even Sand and Safiya. Another Tarva poem was never planned. I can only think it's her revenge for never giving her the POV; she wants to speak up somewhere.
Beneath the Red Tree: Tarva
I know the shadows well, but here
in this dream
he has shaped only light. Each leaf
of this tree blazes.
There are no shadows beneath this tree, none
under our feet
or lying black behind us.
.
His fingers leave a line
of sensation
across my cheek.
.
He looks surprised
as I am; that he should touch me
so gently
that I should allow him.
.
"Brave one,"
he says, this
he has called me before.
.
It's a lie, of course
it's one more piece of flattery
when he bestows a title
I can almost believe.
.
"Don't fear me,"
he asks, and I don't
know anything save that I should.
.
Everything my father taught me
to beware
he is. The seducer weaving words
to ensnare, deceiver -
.
no.
.
Although I do not
cannot, dare not
trust him
I do not think him a liar.
.
The curving line of his touch
is uncertain, tremulous
as his mouth
or the longing in his eyes.
.
I should not let him touch me.
.
Nothing holds me here, I am free
to step back or turn my head
away. He wouldn't follow.
He is a man who believes in nothing
save freedom.
.
He lifts
my face to meet his, and takes
one fragile, fleeting kiss
from my lips.
.
He takes
but it is not theft.
No stolen kiss, this
I know:
I am a fool, and weak.