Stars

It was a quiet night as Harr and Arianna rested outside under the stars. They had been staying in the village of magic for a few months now, and while they much preferred to sleep with a roof over their head, they found it oddly relaxing to spend some time under the night stars. It was how they had spent most of their time together, seeing as how before the walking storm had arrived they had barely ever even seen each other. They had learned much together, about themselves and one another, that had things not transpired as they had, they may have never learned. That was not to say that they were happy about how things had happened - far from it - but it had in fact happened, and there were oddly a few good things that had come from it.

"Harr?" Arianna asked, her voice quiet not because she was shy or afraid, but because she did not want to disturb the night air. "Do you know much about the stars and the constellations?"

The princess' uncle turned to look at her, lifting himself up onto one elbow. "A little," he replied. "Why do you ask?"

Arianna hadn't turned to look at him - she was still staring up at the night sky, her eyes slightly narrowed as she stared at the stars she was asking about. "I remember, back at the castle, of all the lessons Perman would try to teach me, the stars and constellations were always my favorite. But it's been so long, and I had so few chances back then to actually look at them, that I can't remember any of the names or shapes. I realized it while I was on my own. I would look up at the stars as the fire burned out every night, and I would try to remember what he taught me. But... it's all gone. I can't remember any of it."

"Well, you never were much good at listening to your lessons."

She gave a half smile to that. "No, I wasn't. And I feel bad about it. Perman... Saved me. I'd like to learn what I can about the stars, so that at least those lessons won't have been wasted on me."

"We can work on that. And I'm sure there's someone else in the village who would be happy to help with what I can't."

Arianna finally turned to look at her uncle and smiled. "I'd like that."