The Shadow Behind the Stars
Page 18
And there had been many nights when I hadn’t been able to hear our darkness at all, for the sound of Aglaia’s song, catching in my mind. My sisters hadn’t ever known of that; I hadn’t told them, because I had still been sure—oh, so sure—that the girl held no danger for me. That I could keep us safe.
I had been wrong. Even now, I could hardly believe how wrong I turned out to be.
The world did not end, not unalterably.
But it could have. If Hesper hadn’t threatened to kill the boy; if she’d let it all fall then, without that one tearing thread to bring it back . . . Or if we were different from what we are, and we hadn’t loved your world enough to return . . .
I don’t know what might have happened. It is a dangerous riddle, and one that must never be answered.
Oh, you mortals, with your desperate prayers, with your terrible fates. You all want something from us—you all think there must be an easier way, a shortcut through the harder parts of life.
There is no shortcut. There never is anything we can give you. You must live the life you have; it’s all that any of us can do.
I know it is hard to accept this, though, and I know that sooner or later one of you will turn up on our island, demanding our help. And you mustn’t, not anymore. We couldn’t bear it now; we aren’t the same as we once were. Oh, I am still young, and Xinot is still old, and Serena is still middle-aged. We cannot measure our lives in years, not as you do.
We can measure our hearts by how many times they have broken, though. We can measure our love by how much we have lost.
The sun is about to rise; before he opens his eyes, these winds will take the words I have been whispering all this night across your mortal world. They will find you. They will bring my story to your ears, and my prayer, which is this:
Do not seek us out. Do not come looking for adventure or knowledge. Do not come asking for a new spinning of your thread. Stay away. It is better this way.
I know the true danger now.
It is not that you make us forget our work; it is not that we betray ourselves for you. It is that you are everything we already love. You are our glory: bright, breathtaking. You are the wool and the measure and the snap. The death you are weighted with makes your days precious; the pain of living makes you brave. Your questions are beautiful, your dreams are impossible because of the mystery of your fate.
Do not seek us out, mortal. Do not appear one afternoon on our doorstep, with your sea-colored eyes, with your sun-colored hair. You must understand: It is too late for me now. I could not help it if you came, no matter how hard I might try. I could not help it, and the world might fall, this time unalterably.
You must stay away. It is the only thing left to do.
It is too late for me to keep from loving you.
Acknowledgments
To my family, thanks a thousand times for support, for listening, for believing.
To my friends, thanks for enthusiasm and perspective and strength. Special thanks to Sara for pivotal encouragement and to Rob for a necessary world’s ending.
And to Reka Simonsen, thanks always for watching for beauty, pointing to cracks, and fighting.
REBECCA HAHN grew up in Iowa, attended college in Minnesota, and soon afterward moved to New York City, where she worked in book publishing and wrote her first novel, A Creature of Moonlight, on the side. Her fate has since led her to Minneapolis. She misses the ocean but loves to watch stars shine bright. Visit her at rebeccahahnbooks.com.
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Text copyright © 2015 by Rebecca Hahn
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Hahn, Rebecca.
The shadow behind the stars / Rebecca Hahn. — First edition.
pages cm
Summary: Chloe, Serena, and Xinot, the Fates, live on a secluded island spinning, measuring, and cutting the threads of human life but when Aglaia, a mortal, finds them Chloe must try to keep her sisters from getting attached to the girl and involved in her dark fate that could unravel the world.
ISBN 978-1-4814-3571-0 (hardcover)
ISBN 978-1-4814-3573-4 (eBook)
[1. Fate and fatalism—Fiction. 2. Goddesses, Greek—Fiction. 3. Mythology, Greek—Fiction. 4. Prophecies—Fiction. 5. Oracles—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.H12563Sh 2015
[Fic]—dc23 2014026428