Well, some of us are doomed to live unhappily. It’s too much to expect that a book from a world not our own could change that.

[ still, sierra’s expression seems darker, disappointed, when he explains that he couldn’t write a happy ending for everyone. it would have been easier for her that way, to let herself take the dregs of satisfaction after making sure everyone else got their happily-ever-after. ]

But you are kind for trying.

[ the book no longer radiates the malevolent energy it once did, sierra thinks, when she brushes her fingers across the pages. ]