ACROSS THE MEADOW (book one)

Chapter 19: Alazar Baudelaire

"Shall we be naked then?" Naina says with much confidence. Yewahi is embarrassed for her.

"We needn't go to such extents." He huffs. Though it is probably best they do. After all, this was suppose to be the night he became a man and it is important everyone is aware he was successful in his journey.

Naina ignores him as she begins removing her dress and then, doing the same for Yewahi. His heart begins to deepen in its beating. Yewahi has not been this naked since Meadow. It almost feels like betrayal.

He is quick to get under the covers before any form of insecurity could pollute his mind. Naina however is confident in her self. Yewahi does his best to avoid his eyes from her. He does however, notice her body is much different than he assumed it to be.

They share glances, hesitation in her stare, but Yewahi does not mention it. Instead, he shrugs, lifting the covers for her to get under. And she does.

"Do you find me strange?" She says in the midst of her worries.

Yewahi smiles. "Just a stranger."

The two now sharing warmth. Their backs on the bed and their bodies far apart with their eyes to the ceiling.

The more seconds that pass the more pressure Yewahi begins to feel to say something. Anything to fill in the gaps of the loud silence.

Tick, tick, tick. Goes the loud clock. Yewahi gulps air.

As though Naina could sense his anxiousness, she moves her cold hand, reaching for his and it brings a shiver of reassurance to his body.

She turns her head to him.

"May I speak freely, Your Highness?"

He glances at her and it's enough to answer her.

"What I said earlier at the festival," she looks away. "I spoke out of turn—"

"I'm fine." He coos.

Naina pauses. She searches for dishonesty within him.

"The rumors," Yewahi takes in a breath. "I've never really spoken about them before. I was just being...defensive."

She moves towards him. Her body is cold, and Yewahi holds her in attempts to warm her.

"Defensive?" She says.

"It's not like they are false, but they aren't true either—" he is rambling."—and I've just been in my head the entire day—"

She clasps his mouth. Naina understood. Not that he ever expressed himself well enough for her to, but she knew. The life she had lived up until this point was enough for her to be an expert in these sorts of things.

In this moment, it is only her sister that comes to mind and she feels her move within her as she speaks.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Yewahi." She holds his face. A soft smile plays on his lips and Naina mirrors it. She watches as tears begin to fall from him, and it comforts her just as much as Yewahi.

How foreign this all was to him.

She nuzzles her head on his shoulder. Their bodies entangled with one another.