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Night of a Thousand Stories
Dynamic Drabbles — #5
“Love?” She laughed. “You speak to me of love? That tangle of lust and deceit?”
He cleared his throat. “I’ve been told love is the greatest gift any man can gain — ”
“And has this gift ever landed in your lap?”
His cheeks colored. “Well, no — ”
“Then you cannot tell me of things you have never experienced yourself.”
“I thought all fair maidens enjoyed talk of love.”
“Obviously I’m no fair maiden.”
“Why?”
“Why not? Must I be the simpering woman-child you expect me to be? Be as lovely and charming as a woman yet as quiet and timid as a child? No, thank you.”
“I did not say — ”
“You may not have said, but I heard what you meant nonetheless.”
His jaw clenched. “We’re not getting anywhere with this bargain.”
“You’re the one who claimed to be the storyteller, not I.”
“I had always heard your kind valued stories above all.”
“Stories that set our minds alight, yes. Stories that make us want to drift to sleep? No.”
