The Beauty of the Monster

The Beauty of the Monster
“He’s beautiful.” Zaya murmured, from where she stood on the second floor of the castle watching as Shazir ran through the gardens his white fur shining in the light of the moon. 

“I’ll try not to take that as an insult.” Njall muttered, as he looked up from his papers. 

Zaya turned to him a light smile on her face. Njall’s smile widened. “You look happy, should I be worried?” He asked with a raised brow.

Zaya shook her head. “You worry?” She murmured as she drifted closer to where Njall stood, throwing he hands around him. Bending down to lay a kiss on his neck. “It was a good talk. I guess I never realized how much I needed to actually talk to Shazir. To put away my fears.” 

Njall smiled, leaning into her embrace. Zaya’s sobered slightly as she happened to look down at the desk. She looked at the array of old tomes open at his desk, along with the blueprints of a castle he had been marking, and the scroll of notes he’d taken. “are we planning for war?” She asked. 

“Not us.” Njall murmured. 

Zaya dropped her arms turning Njall to face her. “This is for Shazir?” 

“More like protecting our own arses, when Seraphina finds out that Shazir had made it to this plain, and told us of his plans, and we didn’t stop him.” Njall pointed out. 

“I’m making duplicate copies,” He murmured tapping the map, and looking back at Zaya, his hand, caressing her jaw slightly. “One is for Shazir, but the other is for Seraphina. In case she makes it back in time to go after him.” 

Zaya hummed, sinking into Njall’s embrace as she looked past his tomes, and maps to the single envelope, with Seraphina’s name written in Shazir’s curved handwriting. “I never thought I’d see this day.” She murmured quietly. “The day I felt sorry for Shazir…” 

Her eyes went back to the window, where far off in the distance she saw a beautiful pearl-white tiger running through her gardens, the hint of antlers on his forehead glinting in the moonlight. “he has done more harm to many in his lifetime, and still, I would not wish this fate on him. Perhaps the ghosts of your parents will guide him into being successful. He still has more penance he needs to make to ever pay back the pain truly of all the years you were alone in that castle being overcome by a monster.” 

“Monster.” Zaya mused. “Perhaps that is what life is? A long journey into becoming a monster, or having a monster thrust upon us.”