The Book of Terrus: A Land of Sunlight

Chapter 14 - From the Depths

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The next morning, Lhara was ready and waiting to pounce before Jath ever so much as put a foot on the stairs between the StormRider's decks.

"What are we now?" she demanded, cornering him beside the quarterdeck ladder.

Jath, narrow-eyed against the glare of dawn at sea, was already protectively tucked beneath the hood of his threadbare cloak. The bluntness of Lhara's question startled him, and he instinctively drew his hood up even further.

"Erm...your pardon? I'm not sure I understand..."

Undeterred, Lhara pressed on. "You and I. What are we to each other now? You kissed me...well, I guess we kissed each other. I mean, it's not like I haven't kissed people before, but I get the feeling that what happened last night wasn't just for kissing's own sake. Or are things different in – where did you say you grew up? – Vaelona, or other Gorian cities?"

"Well, I suppose-"

"Because in Trosk, a kiss doesn't mean much of anything, unless you agree to make it more. But we also didn't just go around passing them out as friendly gestures. The butcher's son and I kissed once, but that was more because I was curious than anything else. With you, last night, that was more than curiosity, at least for my part. If we were in Trosk, we'd be deciding now if we wanted to court, or if we actually didn't mean anything more by it. Which is fine, if that's what you want! Not every kiss has to lead to courtship, in fact most don't!"

"Erm, I'm not-"

It was at that exact moment that Reyson, who had already been up since before dawn, passed by carrying an armload of canvas with Ebn. The eyebrow he raised at the two of them provoked an immediate blush from Jath. Lhara was quick to read into the rather frantic expression on Jath's face.

"You needn't worry though; I promise I won't be upset if you didn't mean anything by it. In fact, it's not my usual habit to go mooning after boys...erm, sorry, men. I won't lie and pretend not to like you, Jath, because I do. Why, I'm still trying to figure out, especially since we met the way we did. I've never met anybody like you before though, and perhaps that's part of it. All the boys around Trosk were always so loud and busy and practically like extended kin. You're so different from any of them, with your voice and your manners and your secrets. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, while of course I don't expect anything of you that you don't want to give, I would like our kiss to mean more than just a kiss. You understand?"

All the while Lhara had been talking, Jath's pale, sunburnt face had gone from startled to shy to wondering. Just then, Yidu came popping up from the hold, all bright teeth and dark cheeks quirked in a cheery grin. Startled, Jath and Lhara scuttled out of the way into the shadow of the captain's cabin. Whatever she had been about to say, it didn't take Yidu more than a second to realize that she had surfaced in the midst of a rather intense conversation. With a quick sidestep she changed course, veering off in search of breakfast instead of company.

At length, Jath finally seemed to recover enough to find his tongue. Reaching out, he took Lhara's hands in his. A hopeful light began to shimmer in his colorless eyes as he led her toward the relative privacy of the port rail.

"Lhara...will you marry me?"

Lhara was so taken aback, she couldn't help it; her mouth fell slack open. Even less could she prevent her next reaction. A giggle of incredulous laughter came rushing out of her chest, high-pitched and childlike. To her immediate guilt and horror, Jath quickly dropped her hands and stepped back, looking thoroughly ashamed of himself.