The End

   “What is it you’re looking for?” he asked.

He heard her soft chuckle, very quiet, in the shadows that veiled her face.

   “You already know that”

   “No, it’s not treasure or adventure, those fireflies of your outrageousness, any of that.  What are YOU looking for?”

He waited for an answer but none was forthcoming.  She was silent, immobile.  On the other side of the arch where they stood in the half-shadows, the headlights of a car lit the stretch of the street they were standing on, before it drove past.  For a moment, the brightness outlined her face against the dark wall.

   “You know what I’m looking for,” she said finally.

   “I don’t know anything.” He sighed.

   “You know. I’ve seen you look at me, I’ve read your tales”

   “you don’t play fair”

   “Who does?”

She moved as if she were going to walk away, but instead suddenly stopped still.  She was one step away from him; he could almost feel the warmth of her skin.

   “There’s an old riddle,” she uttered after a prolonged silence.  “Are you good at solving riddles?”

   “Not very”

   “Well, I am.  And this is one of my favorites.  There’s an island.  A place inhabited by only two kinds of people – Knights and Knaves.  The knaves always lie and deceive, the knights never do…you get the situation?”

“Of course, Knights and Knaves, I get it”

   “Alright, well, one inhabitant of the island says to another; “I will lie to you and I will deceive you.”

“Understand? I will lie to you and I will deceive you.  And the question then is; who is speaking?  The Knight or the Knave? Which do you think?”

He was puzzled.

   “I don’t know.  I’d have to think about it.”

   “Fine.” She stared at him hard. “Think about it”

She was still very close. He felt a tingling in his fingertips.  His voice sounded hoarse.

   “What do you want from me?”

   “I want you to answer the riddle.”

   “That isn’t what I’m talking about.”

She tilted her head to one side.

   “I need help.” Then looked away, “I can’t do it alone”

   “There are other men in the world.”

   “Maybe...” There was another long pause. “…but you have certain virtues.”
   ”Virtues?” The word confused him.  He tried to answer, but found his mind was blank.

    “I think…”

He stood there, mouth half open, frowning in the darkness.  Then she spoke again.

    “You’re no worse than most men I know...” After a brief pause, she added, “…and you’re better than some.”

  This isn’t the conversation, he thought, irritated, of what he wanted to hear at the moment; nor was it what he wanted to talk about.  In fact, he decided, he didn’t want to have a conversation at all.  Better just to be standing beside her, sensing the warmth of her coppertone flesh.  Better to stand in the shelter of their silence, though silence was a language she controlled much better than he did.  A language she had spoken for a thousand years.  He turned, making sure she was watching him.  He glimpsed at the golden flecks in her eyes, framed by her mulit-hued brown tresses.

“And what is it you want ?” she asked point blank.

“Maybe I want you.”

  There was a long silence this time as he discovered it was much easier to say than what he had told himself it would be.  Perhaps because with their faces covered and muted in the darkness, he wouldn't have to see any flash of revulsion in his revealed vulnerability. It was so simple hearing his words before he’d thought of speaking them.  All he felt afterwards was a faint release with his surprise.

   “You are too transparent” she whispered.

She said it without moving back, standing firm even when she saw him inch forward slowly lifting his hand toward her face.  She spoke his name as you would a warning; like a small flare, a strobe flashing from her past.  She said it once…and then she repeated his name again slowly.  He moved his head to one side then the other, gently, sadly

“I’d go with you to the end,” he said

“I know”