"The heart of a star?!" he scowled at her. Maybe he shouldn't have mentioned that. She could make up for him sharing his hard-earned pay with her, though, and certainly not after she had brought wounds to his tender skin. 

"Yes, yes, that's the reward once I get you and this book back unharmed! Aren't you listening to me?!" Havir was offended, he was trying so hard to explain something to this birdbrain of an elf and she wasn't even listening! Ingratitude was the world's reward! He was so busy being annoyed with her that he didn't notice Phoenice staggering backwards onto a chair and staring out the window, chewing on her lower lip.  

 

The heart of a star echoed incessantly in her head. Even if he had no idea, the council mages would grasp the situation. She was faced with a choice between her life and her sister Mariken's. Of course, if they had managed everything in Mius, she could try to ascend again, but she highly doubted she could put Havir in twice. As she had done with Aved the healer with the book. The mage might be self-absorbed, but he wasn't stupid, and his powers were leaps and bounds stronger than hers. Another option was to tell him the truth and hope that he would renounce the heart. A quick glance was enough and Phoenice knew that was doomed to fail. Why should he of all people renounce eternal youth on the "beautiful"! Her only choice was to live with the consequences of her journey or, in her case, to die. Desperately she tried to suppress the tears. The tears of a star turned on earth into something that people called diamonds. The mage would certainly not take her back to Mius to her sister when he knew that he had the heart of a star long before him from her tears.