Black Sea [English Edition]

CHAPTER 6

"It's not as bad as it looks, Elf," the soldier said. I glared at him, and, with a ghost of a smile, he added, "I suppose the prince is already on a ship to come and fetch his little sister."

I doubted it, I thought frowning. Because deep inside I was aware that Araton had not moved a finger as the sea took me away. Deep inside I knew he stood by and watched.

To punish me.

"Were you conscious after the fall?" I asked.

The man lifted his eyebrow. "Who do you think kept you from drowning?"

I peered at him with hostility, trying not to blush at the thought of his hands on me as he brought me back up to the surface. "Why didn't you swim to the nearest beach?"

"I tried," he replied with a lenient look. "The currents were too strong."

I didn't hesitate to believe him. Even the most experienced among our sailors couldn't sail near the southern shores of the Eastern Lands and had to circumvent them from afar so as not to be pushed against the cliff.

"So," the man went on, "I decided to swim back to our loyal tree and use you as a counterweight—although you are light as a feather and have not been of great help, honestly."

I stared at him, searching for the lie in his eyes. But I found none. I breathed out through my nose and looked away, suddenly uncomfortable.

"Thank you," I said softly. I turned my attention back to him. "For saving me."

The soldier gazed at me too hard, too long. "As you saved me before."

I watched him, and watched, and watched. I couldn't stop. The sound of his voice, warm as a flame and intimate as a lover's, echoed in my mind. My brain yearned to record every detail of his face, from his high forehead to the fine wrinkles around his eyes. Every cell of my body seemed to lean toward him, attracted by something I did not understand.

Something I did not know.

Suddenly, he took a sharp breath and looked away, frowning. "Can you see the land with your eyes?"

At his distant tone, I pulled myself together. Annoyed by my reaction, I ordered my heart to quieten and inspected the horizon in all directions. "No," I replied.

There was only an endless expanse of calm water, blue sky, and white clouds that moved placidly.

We were lost in the middle of the Thalion Sea. I wondered how far north, how far south.

All because I had passed out. In three thousand years, the times when it had happened to me could be counted on the fingers of one hand. How could I be so distracted as to hit my head on the trunk?

The man released an angered sigh. "Then we're screwed."

The sudden desire to shorten the distance between us lashed out at me like a whip.

What was happening to me? I had to leave this human to his fate. I had already pushed back his death once, there was nothing more I could do for him. His people would never come looking for him.

He was doomed.

And it was time for me to accept it.

I closed my eyelids and addressed the Spirits the same prayer I had reserved for all the young soldiers hit by the flood. Then I took off my white armor with gold carvings and threw it into the water, contemplating the gilded cape floating on the surface and darkening before the weight of metal dragged it down.

"What are you doing?"

I met the soldier's worried look, then started to untie my bracers. "I'm leaving."