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She was young and stubborn and she had not anticipated being told to stop feeling guilty, which was essentially what Amata said to her. Artemis was not upset by it, though it had taken her by surprise. She was feeling tired and alone and scared for her friend, and no one had taken such a direct approach in telling her that she should not be blaming herself. The young Marino did not know for certain if she believed that Denali would want her to be happy now that he was gone, because he was her best friend and she didn’t know how to be happy when she did not know if her best friend was safe, wherever he was. But Artemis was not going to argue with Amata, partly because of her lack of strength, and also because she wanted so desperately to believe that the words were true. She wanted to believe that Denali had not left specifically because of her or the fall, but she did not, could not.
Cambria had been the only one of her older siblings to not leave for a short while, but Artemis did not know much about Amata or Gotham’s short journeys away from Crimson Dreams. Certainly she had not heard anything about Amata falling in love while she was out training. That was news to her. “What’s it like to be in love? What was his name?” It probably should not have surprised her the way that it did, but the young girl plucked uncomfortably at the blanket in her lap, short movements of only her fingers. It had once been rare for her to not know what to say, but now it was becoming a much more common occurrence and she did not like it. Of course she wasn’t the only one to have ever lost someone they cared about, and though she knew this (she certainly wasn’t the only one in her family to love Denali), it was strange to hear it spoken through her sister’s experience with life away from Crimson Dreams.
Her spirit craved adventure and excitement, something she did not get much from books, though she did know how to read and even did it occasionally. Silvano had brought her an adventure story when he had come to visit her only days after she had awoken from her prolonged sleep, but she found it hard to focus on it when her thoughts were scattered and elsewhere.
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