Foretold

Chapter 17

Vasiliki sighed, pressing her nose against Alex’s collarbone. The sun was warm against her closed eyelids, and a light breeze ruffled the canopy of leaves high above them. She could hear the jungle beginning to stir into life with birds singing and cawing to each other and monkeys chattering. Her eyelashes brushed against her cheeks gently as she opened her eyes and blinked to clear the fog of sleep.

Alex was still sleeping, his embrace relaxed around her instead of tight and secure as it had been before they’d fallen asleep. She gazed up into his face. He looked so much more vulnerable and far younger when he slept. She sighed again, yawning softly this time.

Briefly, she wondered if she could wiggle out of Alex’s arms without waking him. He and Daedalos needed their sleep far more than she did as they weren’t as used to this sort of exertion as she was. She could just get up without disturbing them, make breakfast, and wake them when she was done. But that came back to managing to get out of Alex’s embrace without waking him.

She moaned. Like that would happen. Yes, she was stealthy and good at moving without causing a disturbance, but not only did she know nothing of Alex’s sleep patterns, he also had his arms around her. His arms. How was she supposed to get up without disturbing him when she had to move his arms?

She couldn’t. But, she resolved to try anyway.

Slowly, she shifted to start to roll over slowly, hoping to break his embrace naturally as though she was still asleep and just shifting.

It was no use. Alex’s breathing hitched, and he groaned, stirring. She looked up into his face, and his eyes fluttered open, squinting as he tried to adjust to the now prominent sunshine in the mostly open-aired clearing. He looked down at her sleepily. “Where are you going?” He murmured.

She rolled her eyes. Was he really going to play that game? “I’m getting up to make breakfast, Alex. We can’t stay here. We need to press on further into the jungle so that we don’t get caught when the scouting parties come.”

“Mmm…” He mumbled, rolling over to gaze up at the sky and rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

Vasiliki smiled. “You go back to sleep for a little longer. I have to find the stuff for breakfast anyway, and I may go scavenge for some herbs or other plants to add to the food we have.” She touched his arm gently, starting to stand.

He caught her arm, pulling her into himself, and holding her tight. “Why not stay a bit longer? We’re miles away from the village by now, Vasiliki. How far would your mother actually send the scouting parties when she’s trying to help you escape?” He murmured in her ear.

She smiled down at him, laughing softly. “Fine… Probably not outside of our usual three-mile radius. Any further, and they’d risk being cut off from help if they ran into trouble.”

“And how far do you estimate we trekked last night?” He tickled her ear with his breath, teasing now.

She narrowed her eyes, thinking. But she already knew the answer. She just wanted to make him wait. If he was going to play games, she was too. “Hmm… I’d estimate… Probably five or six. We kept up a steady pace, and if my judge of time is right, we didn’t stop until well into the morning hours. So… Probably five or six.”

He looked into her face, still holding her against him so she couldn’t go anywhere. They were flipped on their sides now, facing each other, with his arms around her waist, and her hands pressed against his chest.

He knew he had her now. He grinned. “And if they’ll only go looking within a three mile radius, I’d say that five or six miles will be far enough away to let us rest a bit.”

She shrugged.

“Still too close to be settling down here, of course…” He mused, teasingly. “But… Still… Far enough away that we can afford to spend a day or two resting up and making plans for where to go… Wouldn’t you say?”

She narrowed her eyes at him for a moment. Then she relaxed, laughing softly. She buried her face against his chest, and mumbled into his shirt, “Yes… You win…”

She could see his smirk in her mind’s eye. She just knew he was smirking. It wouldn’t be Alex if he wasn’t.

“What was that…” He prodded.

She muffled a giggle. Why did he have such a softening effect on her, anyway?

He poked her in the side. “Come on… What’d you say?” He pushed.

She looked up at him. Sure enough, he was smirking. She grinned. “Fine… I said that you win…”

“So… You’ll stay here with me a little longer and rest?” He pressed again.

She nodded. “Yes…” She sighed. “I didn’t really want to get up anyway.” She grumbled. “You knew that, and you used it to convince me to stay…” She accused.

Alex laughed gently. “Of course… I would be silly not to.”

She gave his arm a half-hearted smack.

“Oww…” Alex griped, but his tone was dripping with sarcasm, and she knew it didn’t actually hurt.

She grinned up at him. “Did that hurt? Sorry…”

He raised an eyebrow, pretending to wipe away a fake tear. “It hurt very much… I think I’ll have a bruise.”

She smacked him in the same place, harder this time.

And was gratified with a real yelp from Alex. “There… Now it does hurt…” She decided to be snarky with him.

He laughed again. “Point taken.”

She didn’t respond, but instead snuggled up against him, closing her eyes. The sunlight’s warmth filled her body down to the marrow of her bones, and she felt content for the first time since Alex came. No, her discontentment had begun even before Alex came, she knew. Really, his coming had simply been the last blow to an already cracking life. Now, she was here with him, setting out to live life in a free way. A way that she had chosen.

She sighed softly, letting the warmth begin to lull her back into slumber. Alex’s gentle embrace made her feel secure and warmer inside. Safer. She felt him plant a gentle kiss in her hair and smiled sweetly.

“I love you.” Alex murmured into her hair. “And I’m glad that we escaped, and that we are heading off to start a life together somewhere free and happy.” He hesitated. “I’m glad we can share moments like these too… And… I guess what I want to say most is… Well, thank you for saving my life, Vasiliki.”

She sighed again in response. “I love you too… And don’t think I saved you for your sake…” She paused. “I saved you for purely selfish reasons.”

“Really? And what were these purely selfish reasons?” He whispered.

“I can’t live without you… That’s what…” She felt herself beginning to drift into sleep.

Things started to sound hazy as she let slumber pull her into its embrace.

Vaguely, she heard Alex’s last words before dropping off again. “Well, I’m glad to be something you can’t live without… I couldn’t live without you either, Liki…”

She smiled softly in her sleep. Liki… For the first time in her life, she had a nickname, and Alex had given it to her.

Liki… She liked it.

Then she surrendered fully to sleep, and her breathing became soft and regular as she dreamed peacefully in Alex’s arms.