Page 42 of The Shape of Monsters
“Pouting.”
Iriset laughs once, softly.
“Never has learned more human emotions, or at least the pretense of them, since it’s been with you than it did with me,” the Moon-Eater says wistfully.
“Why is it sad?”
“You went to be with your husband. Never dislikes him because of what happens to it. Happened to it?”
Iriset stills. “It told you.”
The Moon-Eater hums.
“And you don’t mind us here?Whenwe come from, you’ve been unraveled and imprisoned for centuries. Lyric is the end of a line of rulers who caused it, and imprisoned Never, too.”
“I’ve never been unraveled before,” he whispers teasingly into her ear. “It sounds interesting.”
“That’s so bizarre,” Iriset whispers.
“Ha! Well, I’m not human. Now tell me why you love Lyric Aharté.”
“Are you so sure I do?”
He doesn’t answer. Iriset sighs, very disgruntled. She was only just flying! Why bring up this? “I do love him, but it’s against my will!” she insists. “How can you ask me this without liquor?”
“Tell me!” the Moon-Eater whines like a child.
After a little sigh, Iriset tells the Moon-Eater the entire sordid story about how and why she met Lyric méra Esmail and came to be married to him and love him, and ultimately decide to destroy him. She circles back to Singix again and again, aware she’s giving away more than she intends. She loved Singix; shewas lovedas Singix.
“I was in love once,” the Moon-Eater murmurs. “It did not make me want to destroy anything but myself.”
Iriset sucks a gasp through clenched teeth. “Only once?” she says to be mean. Being mean balances her back out.
“Well, once that I know about.” The Moon-Eater nuzzles her hair.
“Is it possible to be in love and not know it?” It feels like the most genuine question Iriset has ever asked. She stares out at the jewel of the crater city so hard, unblinking, that her eyes burn.
“What isin love? What is love? Another force, a yearning, a loss?” The Moon-Eater stands, pulling Iriset with him.
“You mean loss makes love stronger?”
“Or is it only that we feel it most strongly when it’s gone? Maybe that is something numena and humans have in common.”
“I did not know how much I loved Singix until she was dead.”
“And it sounds like Lyric Aharté did not know how much he loved either of you until he realized neither of you existed!” The Moon-Eater says it with a laugh, like he’s solving a puzzle.
Iriset makes a disgusted sound. “Fly me home, Red God! Old Fairy! Moon-Eater! Fly me home!”
The Moon-Eater scrapes dull human teeth against her cheekbone, hugs her, and flings them off the cliff.
So tired and adrenaline-crashing she feels drunk, Iriset crawls into bed with her husband. He’s on his side, his back to her, breathing evenly. She curls up in a ball, fingers woven together, tucked under her jaw, and she says, “Lyric, are you awake?”
He says nothing, but she hears the rustle of blankets as he shifts, and his head moves until he’s almost glancing over at her. The moonlight shines on one broad cheek, finding a handful of freckles.
“Lyric,” she begins again. There are so many things she wants to say, needs to say, but first, first: “I loved her. I did.”
Lyric takes a long, shaking breath.
