deep into that darkness peering

The way she so suddenly changed her mind confused him. Why did she do that? Had she not meant it? The lute... even when the strings lay silent and untouched it sang to him. Of times long past, of moments that had been good and bright. Full of laughter and love, in a time when a dark haired woman not entirely unlike this one had been laughing until her honey brown eyes danced. He had promised himself to never forget that. Had sworn to never for a single moment allow a beautiful girl with a bright future be reduced to dust, a mere footnote in history at the precipice of change. But... but he had. Today, here, in the rapture of music... he had not thought of his sister even once. The lute... such a blessing. What a curse. Clutching the golden gemstone like a tether thrown for a drowning man, Korbin poured all the confusion and relief and regret into it. As a star shot up to join so many others, the heave of his shoulders slowed, and mounting tension bled out. A pustule drained, a wound cleansed. Music could do that too... but first he needed the courage to accept kindness from a stranger. Only very slowly did the young man look up. The nod was hesitant, a fight within barely won, and for all that the light in his eyes shone brighter for it... there was so many shadows left to haunt him that it was hard to tell if this really had been a favor. K O R B I N It's a lie for a lie and I'm getting tired An old lullabye, drifting through the sky