Violet
"You should see it..." He said softly. "It’s sothing every wolf should experience at least once."
I stared at him, surprised by the genuine passion in his words.
He glanced at , and sadness softened his eyes.
I didn’t know what to say to that. I had never thought much about temples or stars or any of it. Survival had always co first. There had been no room for such wonder in my life.
"Is it really that grand?" I asked him.
His smile returned faintly and he looked at the sky for a mont. "It really is."
He then stepped aside and gestured towards the eyepiece of the telescope. "Co have a look."
I hesitated for a mont, then stepped forward.
The tal was cool beneath my fingers as I leaned down and pressed my eye to the small opening.
Nothing could have prepared for what I saw.
I had expected... I didn’t know what I had expected. A brighter dot of light. Maybe sothing impressive but this was neither of those things.
What I was looking at—whatever it was, was enormous. A swirling surface of deep red and burnt orange, with waves of cream and gold rippling across its surface like rivers of light. Vast spirals that looked almost alive twisted and curled within those bands across the surface and for so long I stared, not fully comprehending what I was seeing.
My breath quivered, and I couldn’t move or blink.
It was beautiful and terrifying at the sa ti.
What was this?
I tore my eyes from the viewpoint and looked at the sky where the telescope was pointing, but I was seeing nothing but the moon and white dots. I pressed my eye back into the hole, repeating this sa action over and over before I finally stepped back from the telescope, my mouth hanging open.
My eyes found Rowan’s, wide and disbelieving.
"What... what was that?"
Rowan moved towards it. "It should be a star, let —"
He leaned down to look through the eyepiece, and I watched his expression shift. A smile spread across his face, warm and amused.
He straightened and looked at .
"Technically, that wasn’t a star," he said. "It’s another planetary body like the one we currently live on. But it looks vastly different."
My mind reeled.
Another world. I had just seen another world.
Rowan moved to adjust the telescope. "Let find an actual star for you to—"
"No." The word ca out sharper than I intended, and I stepped forward quickly. "I want to see it again. That... thing. "
He paused, looking at with delight. "As you wish."
I pressed my eye to the telescope again, and there it was. That massive, swirling surface of colour and chaos. I drank in every single detail.
"I can’t believe it’s this close," I whispered, more to myself than to him.
I felt Rowan move behind , and then his hands were on mine.
"It took decades to perfect these devices," he said softly, his breath stirring the hair near my ear. "But you can control it yourself. Here."
He guided my fingers to a small dial on the side of the telescope.
"I set it to the highest magnification for you," he explained. "What you’re seeing is as close as we can get. But if you turn this..."
He helped rotate the dial, and the image shifted. The planet seed to pull back, growing smaller, and now I could see it in its entirety.
It was a perfect sphere.
It was surrounded by a haze of shimring pink that clung to the areas around it like powder. It looked almost soft and gentle despite the rapid movent I had seen on its surface.
I exhaled shakily.
"It’s incredible," I breathed.
"Would you like to see more?"
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
Rowan’s hands guided mine again, helping tilt the telescope across the sky. The view shifted, stars streaming past in blurs of light, until he helped settle on sothing new.
A star this ti.
It was also nothing like I expected.
The blazing ball of light had so shape and it was a brilliant blue colour, despite it still being a great distance away. Waves of fla spiralled outward from its body, twisting and curling like ribbons caught in an invisible wind. They shot out in arcs, so stretching far into the darkness before curling back, and others erupting in bursts that seed to pulse with their own rhythm.
"That’s a star," Rowan murmured behind . "A young one from what the priestesses said."
I remained speechless.
We found others after that, along with more clusters of tinier lights that Rowan explained were stars so far away they appeared as single points even through the telescope.
Each one filled with wonder.
After so ti, Rowan gently removed one of the smaller telescopes from a nearby stand.
"Here," he said, nodding to the glossy black floor. "Lie down. You can explore the closer bodies more comfortably this way."
I hesitated, glancing at the cold stone.
"It’s not as uncomfortable as it looks," he added with a small smile.
I eyed the smaller one in his hand as he sat down, then I lowered myself to the floor beside him. He laid down flat on his back and I did the sa.
He handed the telescope, and I held it up to my eye, pointing it toward the open do above us.
The sky unfurled before .
Rowan’s hand found mine occasionally, guiding to adjust the focus, helping find new wonders. I had even managed to see the moon up close and it was just as beautiful as I expected.
I lost track of ti.
The cold of the floor faded, replaced by a warmth I couldn’t quite explain. At so point, I found myself leaning against Rowan’s side, my head resting against his chest. I cradled the telescope against my stomach, my mind drifting as I imagined all what I had seen, occasionally even looking through the telescope again and again.
I felt sleepy, but I shook it off, not wanting this to end.
"I didn’t know how beautiful the sky was," I murmured, "It’s more amazing than I expected."
User Comments
0 comments from readers