Fanfare

Diamonds

The night is thick and heavy on his shoulders. He keeps a tight grip on Kina's hand as they make their way through, his eyes narrow and alert, searching for a flash of pale hair or the glint of sapphire eyes. The problem here is that one of those features is common, and bodies move too fast for the eye to catch.

His skin itches so intensely that he wants to scratch and scratch at it til his nails draw blood and it falls away, nothing left to entertain the feeling. But he restrains himself, knowing that will get him nowhere. If he wants the feeling to stop, he has only to leave this place.

He clutches Kina's hand tighter as she tries to pull away, drawn towards the fire by a woman with glistening cobalt eyes. When she turns to face him, her eyes are wild, catching the light of the market. He frowns and pulls her away, and the woman's eyes follow him.

He has heard tales of the night markets since he was young. Stories of the pleasures offered, the strange and purely frightening disappearances. It offered him no temptation from the first mention, not even because his parents asked him never to go there. The fact that it was forbidden only made him more wary. So being here now with Kina, his skin crawling as the market twists around her, trying to wrench her from his grasp, only makes him hold her closer and walk faster, wanting nothing but to leave.

Kina tugs away from him, murmuring nonsense about the fire and wanting to dance. She pulls harder, wrenching her arm to try to get away. He grabs her shoulders and turns her to face him, knowing she'll have bruises where his hands are but not caring at the moment because if he doesn't hold her tighter she'll get away. Her eyes are glazed over, glistening a bright green-gold. She stops struggling and reaches up, lacing her fingers behind his neck. "Dance with me, Joss," she murmurs, almost drunkenly. He freezes as she moves closer, pressing herself against him.

It's the market, he reminds himself. He gently takes her hands and steps away. "Come on," he says, tugging her through the people, careful to keep a tight hold on her hand. She seems happy enough to trail behind him. He imagines this is the most relief she has felt since Trenna went missing. He knows the momentary oblivion won't be worth it. He never wants to forget anything. Ever. Knowing the truth is better than all the empty lies the market can offer.

He draws a sharp breath as a whisper drifts across his neck and turns; blonde hair flashing in the moonlight, an older version of Kina with flashing sapphire eyes spins and spins around the fire.

He feels Kina stiffen beside him, and when he looks at her, the glaze has disappeared from her eyes. She watches her mother, her mouth slightly open before a cry escapes her. She tears herself from Joss's grip and flings herself at her mother. The other woman looks down at the head of the slim girl with her arms wrapped around her. Then her eyes lift, the light in them dying as she catches Joss's eye. Realisation dawns, along with panic as she keeps an arm around Kina, hurrying her daughter over to Joss before grabbing him too and dragging them over to a dark corner beneath an old, unused stall.

"Why did you bring her here?" she hisses, looking up at him, her fingers digging into his arm. Kina holds onto her mother's hand as if she'll never let go for fear of her drifting away. This is the most lucid he has seen her since her husband passed away. 

"I'm not the one who brought her here," he says, perfectly calm, composed, his expression like stone.

She flinches as if he has hit her. "Mum? Why are you here?" Kina seems to have found her voice.

Her mother turns to her, and a soft look steals over her face for a moment; she looks regretful, tired. "This is my home, Kina," she says softly. "And without you and Trenna and your father, there was nothing left to hold me there any longer."

Kina frowns, not knowing what to say, not knowing what her mother means. And Joss doesn't know what she means, either; he doesn't need to. He doesn't have a thirst for knowledge, burning curiosity like Trenna, or the need to know why like Kina. He just is, like the air and the earth and the wind and the sky. 

"I'm here," Kina says, her body trembling. "I'm still here." Joss's heart shatters at the pain on her face as he looks at the two of them, knowing what comes next. 

"Sweetheart," she says, her hands on Kina's shoulders, her eyes an unnaturally bright blue. Her words are a whisper as she brushes a lock of pale hair from her daughter's cheek, a single tear against her skin glistening in the firelight. "You have to let me go."