Heir of Obsidian (A Throne of Glass Fanfic)

22 - Sunset

He was nervous, a fact that wouldn't have been obvious had it not been for the sweat he felt coating his skin. Gross. The land around him was a mess of foggy colour, shifting and fluctuating. A splotch of brown would form an elegant dining room table only to slump into a puddle of indigo. Which in turn seemed to be trying to form an elegant four poster bed. He blinked and half of it melted in a blurred stream of colour. His face warmed, how was he meant to do anything if his mindscape was an indecisive mess? He had waited almost a whole day before diving back in. He wanted to see this girl again and impress her. Which he totally didn't need to do because she already loved him... well, kind of. He was just being chivalrous and noble, besides it gave him something to do, if he could even manage to concentrate for a gods damn second! He sighed and sat down on what remained of the bed, now mostly a sad lump of purple pillows. If he was being honest with himself he wasn't really that noble or chivalrous, he was a fisher boy who sweated too much when he was nervous and spent half his day in his mind and the other half with a demon. Honestly, he barely recognised himself anymore. Swirling clouds of fog faded across his line of sight forming into the familiar coastline of Benjali. Salt seared his lungs as he slowed his breathing, calmed his heart until the memory solidified around him and he was left perched on the sand, the tide swept back, the wind light but with a hint of a chill.

He smiled, just a little, at the familiarity. A thought hit him as he gazed into the horizon. Beaches could be elegant and romantic...he just needed the right angle, the perfect moment. The sun peeked out through the misty clouds and he looked around. There was a dinghy with an oar a little ways up the beach and a hardy tree growing near the rock pools to his left, definitely climbable. He imagined a picnic beneath it and a checkered blanket with a large basket settled underneath its branches. Yes, perfect. Picnics were both casual and intimate.

He stood and smiled. He was not going to pretend he was chivalrous when he preferred to joke. He was just a fisher boy, but he still had a girl to woo.

~~~

It had been a week since he had set his plan into action and every night afterwards he had reached through his mind to find the wall of light behind which she resided. They had developed a routine quickly and their meetings had easily become the most enjoyable part of his day, or night, as it ended up. While during the day the King continued to push him with grueling magical exercises and cryptic sayings and it exhausted him to no end. But at night, that's when he could be free.

Their first picnic he had taken her too, she had been disinclined to sit down with him. However after a couple of minutes of awkward silence, she had relented to stay only when she noticed the shimmering rockpools at the edges of his consciousness. His heart had leapt at the barest of smiles he saw briefly peek at the corner of her lips, as she had trailed her fingers in the water disturbing some crabs which scuttled quickly under the shifting sands. She didn't pay him any attention at all for the rest of the time they spent together before she faded into horizon but he didn't mind one bit. He was just happy she was finally beginning to enjoy herself and accept his mindscape.

When she had again appeared she refused his picnic again and her grumpiness dampened his spirits only slightly, for he had learned her ways and had come prepared. If she would not accept his picnic out on the open beach then he would take her out fishing. An Eyllwe tradition he was sure she would enjoy, like he did, after all they both spoke Eyllwish and she was apart of his mindscape. It just made sense, a genius idea.

He had decided in hindsight he was not perhaps a genius quite yet. His plans had gone more awry than he thought possible. She had managed to both ward off any fish coming in his direction and capsize the little dinghy. But she had smiled again at his waterlogged form even as she kicked him to help her get the boat upright again.