The Fifth Star - Chapter 9 (3/3) - Confrontations

Of course, Sparrow had known that, but hearing it spoken so bluntly made her heart sink. She let the knowledge wash over her along with all its implications; she would forever be in hiding, always afraid of being discovered. She swallowed hard, then stepped towards Darius, took the knife from his hand and a great handful of hair in the other, and began sawing before she could lose her resolve. Once it was free from the rest, she let her hand drop to her side and released the hair to the ground, a great section laying on the dirt and looking very pitiful and dead. Her head felt far lighter than it should, and when she turned it the comfortable swish of the strands against her back was sadly absent.

“Here, let me do the fine work,” Darius spoke softly, perhaps having some small idea of how hard it was for her to part with it. He took the knife from her hand and began cutting off smaller sections all over, the hair drifting to the ground slowly through the air. Once he finished, he wiped the strays off the dagger and returned it to its sheath.

Without further delay, Darius untied their horse, then mounted and offered her a hand up. She took it and pulled herself up, seating herself behind him and wrapping her arms about his waist. He set the horse to moving once again, this time at an easier pace with no immediate threat urging them forward.

“Elowyn,” she blurted out after they had ridden for about an hour. She’d thought about it since they’d set out, and was sure that this felt proper. “I want to be called Elowyn.”

“A beautiful name, to be sure.”