On Mount Alyppia

Musings

Assuntina's father and Vivalius the shape-shifting nymph talked about titans for a very long time. Titans lived inside the earth, he said, underneath them, were there was nothing but darkness and oceans of burning rock. Now they were trying to claw themselves out, causing earthquakes and floods and who knows what else. The earth would shift, Vivalius said, then crack, and then the titans would burst from the peak of a mountain, venting their rage and covering everything in ash and molten rock.
    It would be bad. It sounded interesting. And of course, Assuntina wasn't allowed to stay for the good part. Her father had Vivalius escorted to a map room by an armed guard, and reminded Assuntina she had lessons to attend. As if she didn't know that already...
    She didn't mind, really. She had things to think about.
    Everything the nymph had said matched what Assuntina had dragged out of Arista. He seemed honest. And kind. Her father didn't seem to think so. He was playing along, but she could tell he didn't believe that the nymph was being genuine. She did.
    Perhaps she was naive, or too optimistic. She knew herself well enough to know she saw the good in people far earlier than she saw the bad, while her father did the opposite. Perhaps he was cynical, and harsh, or she was gullible.
    But the look on the nymph's face when he had first mentioned his child. The slight tremor in his voice. That could not have been faked. She could not distrust someone who spoke of a loved one one with such haunting eyes.
    And he had helped Arista. True, she was a Lippian, half his kind, but he had spoken of her as if she were just anybody, and it would have been perfectly ordinary to help anyone at all. Not enough people had ever helped Arista, she thought, remembering the alarmed look the girl had given her the last time they had spoken. Assuntina had the utmost respect for anyone who would help Arista.
    So for now, Assuntina thought as she ducked into her room to change into a riding habit, she would trust Vivalius.