Tainted Scars

Chapter Seven

The weeks she spent on a slave ship long ago had permanently scarred her love for the sea. She had long since hated the thought of boarding a ship. Though she completely forgot that she hated it upon getting on the ship. Only when they had sailed barely a mile away, did she suddenly remember that dreadful and horrific time underneath a deck ten years ago, and she began to feel sick. The next few days consisted of her hurling her guts over the side of the ship railing. She had to convince Xander more than enough times not to give the order to return to the camps. The general nearly went out of his mind with worry for her well-being. She was honestly concerned that he would tear the ship apart. Kaleb was no better. For their sakes, she did her best to master herself and made them believe she had been healed. Only then, did they cease their pacing and began to act like normal civilized people. Even then, when no one was looking, she would promptly continue to puke her dinner into the sea. So her days aboard the ship had been miserable to say the least.

Much to Leyna's dismay, they arrived after five days. After being forced to take a detour during a storm, they had lost an entire day. Nevertheless, she was glad to finally be on land again. And the sight of the city nearly took her breath away.

And maybe it was the rustic buildings that seemed to provide a sense of home, or maybe it was the pleasant colors of the flowers that decorated each windowsill and storefront, or maybe it was the sun that illuminated it all, but the town seemed to—glow. Anfang was beautiful to say the least. Though perhaps it was because she had been so secluded from the rest of the world that even the simplest of towns had caused her to be in awe of what it meant to live in a actual city again.

The scent of the breeze sent her a wave of nostalgia as she remembered the familiar smell of brine and fish. It was not a pleasant smell, and yet she welcomed it. She continued to marvel at its beauty even as she felt someone come up beside her.

"So, what do you think?" Xander's voice was gentle, as if he were expecting her to explode if he said something wrong.

"I thought you said it was small," she said, turning to him. And indeed she was not joking. Anfang was much bigger than she had expected and bigger than what Xander had told her to expect.

"Well, in my defense, it is small when you compare it to most cities," he said, pushing off the railing that they had both been leaning against before sauntering off and disappearing into one of the rooms of the ship. She watched as he returned a moment later with a box in one hand.

Her eyes went immediately to the black box and remained there as he came to stand beside her.

"What's that?" she asked

"Just a little something,"he said, with a smile. And knowing Xander, it was anything but little. She watched as he opened the case and revealed a silver chain wrapped around what looked to be a sapphire. A necklace.

She blinked in surprise. She was just about to ask him what exactly it was for when he said, "Happy birthday, Leyna."

She blinked again. Had a year already passed since her last? With everything going on she had completely forgotten. Though she hardly would have cared if she had celebrated or not.

"Well?" Xander pushed, still extending out the gift for her to take. His head was angled in question. She could have sworn she saw something like worry cross his expression. Worry that she wouldn't like the necklace. But she did like it. She loved it actually, but....

"I've never taken you as a gift-giving sort of guy, but thank you," she said, and much to his surprise, she gave him a hug. She hadn't been lying when she said that he didn't seem like the type of guy that would give gifts. He had never before given her a gift on her birthday, much less expensive looking jewelry. She never expected a gift, and she never asked. She didn't expect this time to be any different.