NaNoWriMo and a Half

I am grumpy this evening because I went to go update my word-count on the NanoSite (broke 30k tonight) but apparently I was set on Eastern time, so it was showing me as having written five-hundred words "today" (that being tomorrow). Well I got huffy (I like my charts and graphs!) so I went in and updated my time zone to the correct Central time (now that I think about it, I think the damn thing just didn't switch over for daylight savings) and now it's just sort of eaten my word count! Oh, it still says I'm over 30k on my little banner, but my "NaNo Stats" graph is stubbornly staying on the last number I entered this afternoon (which was embarrassingly below the daily minimum). Grrrr! I demand accuracy!

Anyway.

I'm up waaaaay too late. But Nathan is home, so it's all going to be okay.

***

“Sera, I’m still cursed.” He said it aloud, trying it out. “Sera, the curse was never broken. I’ve never found true love.” He dropped into a crouch and put his head in his hands.

“Maybe I’ll never find true love.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” said Sivon. He lifted his face to look up at his sister, who was wearing an expression he could not read. He was in too much turmoil to yell at her for intruding- and what’s more, he didn’t even know that he actually wanted to. It was… good to see her again.

“Will you tell me what you’ve seen?” He knew he sounded pitiful, pleading- but he did not care. Sivon smiled and lowered herself in a graceful seat next to him.

“I have seen a king who has been taking a much-needed break from his relentless pursuit of love. And I have seen him smile, which I have not seen in far too long.”

“That’s not what I meant,”

“I know.”

“Of course you do.” Dramen sighed and lay back until he was propped up on his elbows.

“Dramen- I think it is good for you to spend time in the temple by the sea.”

“But it’s not doing me any good in terms of finding my true love.”

“I think it is helping to turn you into someone who can find true love.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means forget about true love for a while, Dramen." She gestured at him with an elegant hand and continued, "How long have you stalked it like a starving wolf, hoping to force it out of hiding with your howling? That is not how love works; you cannot compel it to do anything, much less appear. I would have thought you’d have learned that lesson four years ago.”

Dramen felt himself flush, but he remembered the calm acceptance he saw on Sera’s face, and bit back angry words.

“Maybe a more intelligent person would have learned it at the time," he admitted, "but I guess it just takes longer for things to sink into my skull.” Sivon reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear.

“Listen to me, little brother. Go back to the temple and just be for a while.”

“But Sera…” he trailed off, not certain how to explain.

“Has become your friend.”

“…yes, I suppose she has.”

“And you feel bad lying to her.”

“Exactly!”

“So tell her the truth.”

“All of it?”

“As much as is appropriate.”

“And how much is that?”

“That I cannot tell you that; every person must work that balance out for themselves.”