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She still had a crush on him, Lysander mused, and the thought filled him with satisfaction for some reason.
"So..."
The studied casualness in her voice made Lysander's lips twitch. This should be interesting.
"The French words you spoke earlier...what did they mean?"
"That's another secret for me to keep," he said lazily, and when Star made an adorably cute face at this, Lysander drawled, "I could be persuaded to change my mind though."
"Like how?"
"You could beg for it," he suggested wickedly, and just as he predicted, the innuendo was more than enough to have Star jerking and sputtering in her seat.
"Y-you...I-I...a-ah..."
"Oui?"
"Never mind." She tore her gaze away from him and went back to pretending to read. He glanced at the book she had brought with him, intending to tease her about it, but instead he felt his face harden when he realized it was about the Great War.
He had lost his entire family because of it, and his fists clenched involuntarily as memories tried to invade his mind. The details had faded over time, but the pain had not. And it was why—-
"I'm sorry."
When he glanced back at her, he realized that she had been looking at him for some time, and his jaw hardened even more.
"The Faes...your race...I'm sorry about what you all had to endure."
His lips tightened. "It was a long time ago." He waited for more words of useless platitude to follow, but instead she simply nodded, almost as if she was attuned to what his soul did not need.
A moment later, she started talking, her voice awkwardly determined. It was as if she was consciously battling her introverted tendencies in her need to distract and comfort him.
And it worked.
He could feel the tension gradually leaving his body as he listened to Star speak of her sisters, of how much she loved them but how much she also hated the way people constantly compared the three of them.
I'm not as smart or as brave as they are. I don't think I'll ever be.
It seemed like the usual coming-of-age story until Lysander realized what Star was leading to.
My personal shortcomings made me realize what I could be really good at...
"A military tactician?" He definitely hadn't seen that coming. "That's what you want to become?"
"And you're the only one who knows it," Star confided, "along with my brother."
"The one you're taking lessons from?"
She nodded. "Do you think it's stupid?"
He didn't answer right away, not wanting to make light of her dream. "The book you're reading," he said after a while. "You're close to finishing it, aren't you?"
Star nodded even as her gaze turned questioning.
"Then you should know enough about the Great War to have formed an opinion."
Star began fidgeting in her seat. "I do have one, but..."
"But?"
"It might make me seem heartless."
Now this I have to hear, Lysander thought. "Go on."
"When people write about the Great War, they often say that your race lost because your allies didn't come to your aid."
"And you don't agree?"
Star slowly shook her head. "It's not that I'm excusing your allies - it was horrible and unforgivable, the way they hadn't been able to come to the Faes' aid. But at the same time, I also didn't think it was right for the Faes at that time to have pinned all of their hopes on other people. They had so much to defend themselves with, if they had only believed in themselves more."
"You're speaking of our ability to turn invisible?"
"Actually..."
He saw her bite her lip and knew she was hesitating in fear of offending him. "I am not easily wounded by words," he said gently. "So speak."
"It's nothing mind-blowing, really..." She started gnawing at her lip. "I just thought that over-reliance played a huge factor, adversely, during the battle. Like your ability to turned invisible. Many overly relied on it, even knowing how much it drains you of power. It should've been used strategically or more like a last resort or a final blow. And there were all other things the Faes could've done, too, than just wait. They could've made the fortress more impregnable—-"
"Those things are easier than done," Lysander cut in flatly.
"I know that," Star acknowledged quietly, "but I'm also saying that if you truly look at it, you know they could've done so much more."
The words were difficult for Lysander to hear because a part of him remembered how he had used to say the same things to his own father. But because he had been the youngest son, no one had bothered to listen to him.
It's always folly to rely on an enemy not to attack...
He only realized he had murmured the words out loud when he saw Star turn towards him, startled.
"Sun Tzu," she exclaimed. "You read him, too?"
They talked endlessly after that, and it was only when he saw Star trying to hide her yawn that he realized he had kept her with him for hours.
