SENTENCE STARTERS / accepting.
@mercysought said: ❝Love, for you, is more than the usual romantic love. It’s like a religion. It’s terrifying.❞ from maxima to efraim about the priestess, and only because I couldn't think anyone else to say it about both of them I just love them
The words do not offend him, quite the contrary actually. In fact, it is almost as though she has at last put his more primitive feelings —from which this divine love stems— into words. Finally. In gratitude, he pays her a soft chuckle and a smile that reaches his eyes, a rare sight so far from The Priestess’s line of sight.
❝ Terrifying indeed.❞ Even now, across the room and amidst the buzz, he finds her with ease once he raises his gaze. He could find her anywhere, and even afte all these years, he is still immediately hit with the urge to run to her each and every time. ❝ You give one person every key to your defenses. You hand them the power to bring you to ruin, and you do so willingly. And once you do, to take it back is nearly impossible.If they break your trust, you may never survive it. ❞
They have, of course, received similar reviews. The head of their ministry herself had said that there was no magic as powerful as that which Efraim shared with The Priestess. He never doubted it for a second. Buidling a family with her was as simple as bringing the pieces together, and falling in love with her and that life was as easy as breathing. To love someone this much, it is terrifying. And for that, it is the most prestigious blessing one could receive.
❝ You know, I believed in absolutely nothing before I met her, certainly not love. I only knew what I had seen as a boy, and what I had seen was not good. This life, our life, it was not even a dream I cared to have. And now, I would wither away in any other. She saved me, in more ways than simple healing spells. It was the first time I saw past myself. Loving her made me strong, strong enough to take in Harry and then Manala and then Blaise. To raise my boys, my daughter, in a home built on nothing but love? Something I was taught never to believe in ? My every fear lays wary , but my joy eclipses it all. Do you think you can love this way ? ❞
He turns back to her, still smiling. He asks not for her to answer him but to answer herself. It may not be today, but one day, she just might need to. ❝ I only hope my children are able to love like that. You know, Blaise, he came to us later. We had to break old habits, create new ones. I want to believe that we succeeded , but sometimes, I still see traces of a fear. Still, I have hope he will find his strength too, even if it does not look like mine. ❞
Though some days, he himself does not understand it, this miracle. He remembers being unable to stand in the same room together without bickering —or worse, not speaking at all. Now, they are more in love each day, and every moment spent together is done so with a palpable dedication. And it never gets old. He never gets tired. ❝ Will you find your brand of love? Or your brand of terrifying ? ❞
He thinks of his sons and what he’s tried to teach them, who he’s tried to be for their sake. He thinks of his daughter and all he’s devoted to her. All the things that could have torn him and the Priestess apart had been the things which had bound them together. Now, he knows that even if every single one of those ties fell away, the bond would remain. Loving her was in his nature, in his very DNA. It was what he was made to do. He wouldn’t know how to do anything else without it. He would become a stranger in his own body. He wishes it on no one and everyone.
❝ Even so, loving like this is not for everyone. She and I went to hell and back together, twice. We can love each other no other way. ❞









