Miranda was already moving before anyone else had fully processed the plan.
Vastarael noticed her near the edge of the meadow. Her voice carried clearly across the field as she gave orders to his daughters.
"Alright now, c'mon, c'mon, no dawdlin'. Shimmer, Runner, if you don't get those goats into the shed right this second, I swear I'll make you muck the stalls twice over tomorrow."
Shimmer groaned dramatically while Runner laughed, already herding animals. Asenane was off to the side, guiding the sheep away with a stiffness that made it clear she was focused on the task and nothing else. Vastarael approached Miranda slowly.
When she turned to him, he caught it immediately. Her accent was different. She talked normally to him before but not now. Maybe because she trusts them?
"You're a country girl," he said before he could stop himself.
Miranda blinked, then laughed. "Well, ain't that somethin'. Took you long enough."
"Which era?"
She leaned against a fence post, crossing her arms.
"Old West. Or Wild West, dependin' on who you ask. Grew up on a farm with horses, dirt, hard work and not a whole lotta time for complainin'. When I got trapped here by the Sucking Void, I ran into Reynolds. Man was already half-lost by then. He took me here. We made this place livable. Centuries passed and somewhere along the way, we got married."
Vastarael stared at her. Millennia. She said it like she was talking about seasons.
"I'm immortal so I stayed with him."
He hesitated, then asked, "Why did he give you authority over this place?"
Miranda chuckled. "Oh. He just… shared what the meadow came with. They listen to me more then they did to him so he gave me authority over the farm."
"That's impressive," he said honestly.
"Why you askin'?"
"Because I'm amazed that someone like you found peace in a realm with nothing."
Miranda's expression softened.
"I love my husband. That's enough. He's been alone for centuries before I showed up. I wasn't about to leave him that way. We tried findin' the Sustainer of this realm, y'know. Never did. Reynolds told you, I'm guessin'."
He nodded.
"Figures. Anyway, time to move. It's been a while since I made the big guy stir."
"The… big guy?"
"You'll see. And before we go, you should talk to the dragon beloved. We might die in this you know. Best not to leave things unsaid."
"Thank you."
She waved him off. "Go on now."
Vastarael turned and headed toward the sheep barn. Asenane was calm as she guided the last of the sheep inside. She didn't look at him when he approached but she knew he was there. He stopped a few steps away. His heart—mechanical or not—was beating heavier than it had any right to.
"Hey."
For the first time since he had woken up, she didn't walk away.
He stood there like an idiot.
That was the simplest way to put it.
Vastarael opened his mouth once, closed it, shifted his weight, leaned slightly against the wooden beam of the barn, then straightened again like none of that helped him find the words he needed. His hands hovered uselessly at his sides.
"Asenane, I—"
He stopped and tried again.
"I just wanted to— well, before we leave, I thought maybe we should—"
Nothing came out right.
"That's enough," she said, turning toward him at last.
Her voice wasn't cold. It wasn't angry either. It sounded tired. She dragged a hand down her face, then groaned loudly.
"I can't do this anymore. I really can't."
He froze.
"I can't be mad anymore! I've been trying—fuck, I've been trying—but it hurts too much. Not when you look at me like that with those stupid eyes like I'm something precious. Like I didn't—"
She broke off, turned away, then abruptly sat down on a pile of hay.
"I'm sorry for distancing myself, for walking away every time you tried to talk and for not helping you adjust to your arms when I should've been the first one there. I'm the most durable one among us. I should have been the one helping you test limits and I didn't."
Vastarael blinked, genuinely stunned by her confession. She lifted her head slightly.
"Will you… forgive me?"
"What?"
"What do you mean 'what'?"
"That's not— Asenane, you don't usually apologize for things that are my fault so this isn't that. This is something else."
That stopped her. She stared at him for a long moment, then looked down.
"You're right. I'm not sorry for distancing myself. You deserved that. I'm guilty for making your life a living hell."
"What are you talking about?"
"Because of me, you were in agony. I took your heart and your eyes. Back in the Obsidian Runic Spire, I used them to create a physical body for myself without knowing and checking what state you were in. You were in constant pain all because of me. I blamed you for a behavior I caused. I got angry at you. I judged you. And all the while, you were suffering because of my choices. So yeah. I'm sorry for that."
Realization clicked into place.
"That's why you've been avoiding me."
She didn't answer.
He stared at her for a second longer. Unexpectedly, he laughed.
"I forgave you a long time ago."
Her head snapped up. "Don't."
"I mean it."
She stood so fast the hay scattered, crossed the distance in a blink of an eye and slammed him back against the barn wall hard enough that the wood groaned and nearly cracked. His back hit first, then his shoulders. Her hands gripped either side of his shirt.
"Yell at me. Tell me I'm a monster. Say it."
"Asenane—"
"Say it! I made you suffer. I didn't care back then. I hurt you."
Her fists balled up, then struck his shoulder a few times. They were not hard enough to injure him. She pressed her forehead against his chest, gripping his shirt tighter.
"Why are you like this? Why are you always so kind to me? You should hate me. You should be angry."
She hit his shoulder again and again. Her voice was breaking.
"You've never been angry at me ever since we met. Please, just… say something. Anything."
He gently lifted his arms and let them rest around her, as if afraid even the idea of pressure might hurt her.