KUMANDRA (Short Story)

Chapter 7

Raya observed as Boun confidently played his flute seemingly flawlessly. She couldn't really tell because the Princess had no idea what the melody was to sound like but Raya was still enjoying it, nonetheless. "How was it?" Boun asked as soon as he was done playing it. The Princess smiled and nodded, while Tong laughed wholeheartedly, tousling with Boun's hair. He chuckled too, his eyes suddenly fixating on certain someone standing behind Raya. Apparently, Boun's audience was larger than he previously anticipated. "Come. Sit with us, Princess Namaari." He waved at the Princess and motioned at the table.

"Namaari's fine too." She smiled and gently placed her hand on Raya's shoulder. The Princess shivered under the touch, her first instinct being to reach out and grab Namaari's hand too. But Raya froze midway, realizing that she couldn't do that here. "You are talented, kid. But I still heard you cheat near the end." Boun grinned and stuck out his tongue. She snorted and stared down at the Princess who was sitting perfectly still. Namaari's smile quickly turned into a frown. "Do we need to talk, Raya?" She asked, a bit concerned.

"No." The Princess shook her head. "I'm good." She reassured Namaari. But Raya was mostly reassuring herself. She was being childish. The Princess might as well have gotten jealous of Chief Virana because Namaari's mother was allowed to see Namaari without a decent reason.

"Okay..." She sighed and sat down next to Raya. "If you say so." Raya nervously glanced at Namaari who obviously didn't notice or mind the lack of distance between the two of them. The Princess's cheeks flushed even more when a dark hickey on Namaari's neck caught her attention. Raya's hands moved on their own, messily hiding the hickey behind the Princess's collar. Namaari raised her brow in perplexity and turned her head around, facing Raya whose face was left only a few inches away. Raya gasped and immediately moved away, trying her best to concentrate on literally anything else other than Namaari's lips. She suddenly saw Boun shift his gaze between the two with visible confusion on his face and then nudged Tong who shrugged his shoulders in answer. Raya was getting extremely embarrassed by each second passing and only wished she were anywhere else. Preferably in her room... With Namaari. No. The thoughts that crossed her mind, made the Princess even more nervous.

"You should try this mango from Spine." Tong proudly announced and grabbed a slice. "It's divine." Boun nodded too and snatched the slice right out of Tong's hand. He gasped in disbelief and shook his head at Boun's mischievous actions. "Right when I thought the Ongis were the worst ones." Tong and Boun laughed, the former grabbing more mango slices for the two of them. Namaari, too, grabbed a slice and took a bite.

"You should definitely try this." The Princess noted and waved the slice in front of Raya reassuringly. "It's so good." She then closed her eyes in delight. "It's been a while since I've had anything from Spine. Only now I realize how much I've missed this." Raya didn't take her eyes off the slice Namaari's been holding the whole time. She loved seeing the Princess get excited over the simplest of things. Namaari's gaze soon fell on Raya's face who was blushing tremendously. "You can have this." She smirked.

Namaari's breath hitched when Raya took the rest of the slice with her mouth. She felt the Princess's soft lips touch her fingertips, even her tongue, gently brush against them. She was caught off guard because Namaari genuinely didn't expect Raya to get this bold. The Princess's face also became bright red, struggling to keep her heartrate in check. "You were right." Raya whispered a bit seductively and brushed her hair to the side. "It's good." Namaari's mouth hung wide open and the Princess started to take deep breaths to calm herself down.

"Anyways..." Sisu cleared her throat to get the two's attention. "I think, you should be truthful to yourself, Captain Boun. And maybe also get her a gift. Something simple. Like... Build her a temple. Oh, wait. A shrine. No. A temple with a shrine in it."

"What do you think, Raya?" Boun asked and the Princess turned to him nervously. She wasn't really paying attention to them. And didn't want that to show. "How do I get a girl to like me?" He repeated himself and Raya was finally able to understand the context.

"I-I wouldn't know." She chuckled, once again, nervously.

"Oh. Really?!" Namaari smirked and bit the bottom of her lip. Raya instantly faced the opposite direction because the Princess was blushing too hard.

"Maybe you should answer instead of me, Namaari." Raya mumbled under her breath. "Since you are an expert and all that." Namaari raised her brows at the Princess's last remark.

"You two are acting weird." Boun sighed and scratched the back of his head. "I mean, even weirder than usual. And that's saying something." Sisu now stared at them, grinning.

"I... We are not acting weird." Raya nudged Namaari. "Haha. Why would we act weird?"

"Captain Boun, when mommy and mommy love each other very, very much, they..."

"Oh. Dragons. No. Please. Stop." The Princess groaned and covered her face with both hands.

"Raya, I think they already know." Namaari chuckled and placed her hand on her girlfriend's knee.

"Oh. We know, alright?" Boun innocently shrugged his shoulders. "We've known for a while. Actually." Tong glanced at him and then nodded. "Just do us a favor and stop acting weird about it. Please?"