HAVEN ✓

Twenty-One

The surprise on Luke's face was almost laughable. I would giggle myself were I not so embarrassed. A playful grin forms on his lips.

"No," he answers, his voice dropping half an octave. "There is no one in Keir awaiting me. I'm rarely in the village, and when I am, I try my best not to stay long."

"You stay in Sol's village often?" I ask. For some reason, I can see Luke more at home in a smaller, more personal environment. But at the same time, I have no problem picturing him sitting tall on a throne of stone.

He nods. "It's like my second home."

Home. Such a distant thing, physically, but I'm starting to realize that there are pieces of it I carry with me always. I feel it in the wind, cool like any summer day in Herald. I see it in the trees, their bark rough like Dad's hands. I hear it in the birdsong, so much like the tweets we hear playing hide-and-seek through the woods in springtime. The memory of home is never far.

We sit together in comfortable silence, and eventually the cicadas come out to sing. For a while, we just sit and listen to their chirps fill the night air.

"Tell me about your home. Herald."

Never in a thousand dreams would I have thought Luke would ask me anything about my life. He seemed so content to be distant, but the fact that he is interested now brightens my mood.

"It couldn't be more different from the Outlands. Natio," I clarify, using their terminology. "The governing system, the economy, the people. Electricity."

"Perseca has electricity," he tells me. "It is much more... advanced there." He shrugs his shoulder, where his weapons are slung. "That's where I got my bow."

I've wondered how he procured the arched contraption since I first saw it. I would not have thought the intricate strings and cam systems could be made outside of Herald. Perseca must be the leading technological city in Natio.

"I'm actually surprised I was able to handle living without electricity these past few days," I muse. "We always complain when the lights go out in Herald, but seeing you all live without it every day..." I pause, searching for the right words. "It makes me appreciate your patience and motivation so much more. It's special, working so well with what you have. No one out here seems to be bothered by the lack of electricity."

Luke says nothing, just grins at me. It makes me anxious.

"What?" I ask to fill the silence, trying not to squirm.

He shakes his head, the furrows in his face deepening with his growing smile. "You are going to do great in Perseca." With that, he stands, picking up the mess from dinner.

What is that supposed to mean? It sounded like a compliment. Should I thank him? Oh, wait. He's already gone, probably into the woods to scout the perimeter. We agreed to make rounds every hour.

I lay back on my bedroll. Luke's scent has faded as the day dragged on. I try to ignore the object to my immediate left, his bedroll laying perfectly parallel to mine. I shouldn't be so nervous. We slept in the same room last night, after all. What difference will a few less feet apart make?

Focusing on the stars above me, I marvel at how much brighter they are than in Herald. I've read about light pollution, but I never thought it affected our eyes this much. I wish I remembered more constellations from our Environmental Science lessons.

"I'll take first watch if you want," I offer when Luke returns. Before I even have a chance to get up, he waves me off. I can barely see him in the moonlight, but I can tell there's a disapproving frown on his face.