18.

This girl, they say, drives men to despair.

He says, I can't come too close or you will burn me up; I would halo you with ashes. He wants to hold her but the heat of her body repels him and he dances at the edges, a moth attracted by the false moon.

When she speaks the flames spew from her lips and floor him; he shields his eyes against the blinding brightness of her regard. His face is hot and his heart beats fast, forcing his sluggish blood through starved capillaries, reddening his cheeks and beading his forehead with sweat.

He says, I am scared of you, sorceress, witch, with your burning skin and your heart of ice.

She is radiant, bathed in her own light.

She says, my heart would shatter against your bones. You would cage me and stamp out my flames; you would diminish me for the sake of your pride.

She walks away with the sun in her hair.