What Is Done

Chapter 18 - Those Who Pursue

King Laverne, Essaerae and Sellion were still a ways from Jimëne. They'd found a smaller lake that was labeled Lake Ërfaren on Laverne's map. They took this opportunity to eat lunch. The remnants of autumn and winter still remained. Red and orange crunchy leaves were all over the forest floor.

Sellion and Essaerae sat on rocks next to the campfire Sellion built, relishing in the flavors of the food they'd just eaten. Laverne, after eating, undressed himself and announced he was going to bathe.

Essaerae poked Sellion's arm. "You could benefit from a bath, too."

"Ha ha, no." Essaerae thought she saw him shudder when he looked towards Lake Ërfaren. Essaerae covered her eyes when she got a glimpse of the back of naked Laverne. She turned red again. She'd gotten better at hiding it. Sellion then said, "Could I ask you something?"

"Hmm?"

"Why do you like him? I mean come on, he has little to no personality. Anything has more personality than him."

"He's got a lot of personality! Name one thing that has more personality than King Laverne." Essaerae put a spoonful of their meal into her mouth. Unlike the boys, she ate slower. Laverne ate quicker than he would at the dining table in the castle. Sellion always ate like it was the last meal he'd ever be given.

Sellion took in the surrounding area. Mostly trees, many rocks along the bank of the lake. Surveying the land, his mouth opens but nothing comes out. Then he said, "How about that rock?" He motioned his head down at an average sized, very smooth rock near his left foot. Essaerae glanced at him in disbelief.

Meanwhile Laverne waded in the lake at an ankle depth before crouching and swimming a bit deeper in. "If I could breathe underwater, you would never see me again," he said to himself as Essaerae and Sellion were too far to hear him speak. They only saw his mouth move as if he were talking to keep himself entertained. His hair floated on top of the water, trailing behind. The bottom of the lake where his feet tread as he swam into deeper water felt unusual. Wet rocks and weeds felt strange compared to dry rocks and weeds. It wasn't everyday he took a bath in Lake Adgränia, either.

He continued swimming deeper, his feet still touching the bottom far out. After treading water for a few minutes, he felt something brush against the smooth part of his foot that didn't feel like a rock, seaweed or a fish. It filled him with an overwhelming sense of dread and he immediately ran back up on shore, yelling, "Something touched my foot!"

Laverne quickly threw his naked self behind a tree a few feet from where Essaerae and Sellion were sitting. Sellion covered Essaerae's eyes so she didn't get any ideas while that image burned into Sellion's mind. Essaerae didn't question what just happened. She knew. She stayed quiet as a mouse, cheeks turning red. Luckily, she hadn't seen anything thanks to Sellion's insane reaction time. Once Laverne was out of sight, Sellion removed his hand from her face.

"Well...I'm going to go bang my head on a tree trunk until that image is erased from my mind," Sellion said, getting up. Sometimes I can't believe he's the High King of Elven Guard.

Essaerae watched Sellion walk away, wondering if there were any tasks at hand that needed to be completed as soon as possible. Meaniwhile, Laverne figured two seconds in the water was good enough to call clean. 

"Will you bring me my finery, Sellion?"

"Well, Sellion walked away...but, uh, sure..." Essaerae picked up the neatly folded up garb from the rocks surrounding their cooking fire. She turned away when handing him his outfit, not daring to peek. Her face was still bright red. Laverne leaned against the tree, examining the underside of his foot when she shoved them in his face. He made a noise, which sounded like a surprised squirrel, and thanked her.