Penthos: The Guardian Sea

Chapter Eleven: Recognition

     He spoke his name, and she nearly fainted. A Banviete? Could it be the boy she met on the mainland a few years prior? She remembered leaping onto the fountain, closing her eyes to listen to the music and voices of the people. She had opened them to look down into the emerald eyes of a young noble boy who was watching her. It had been three years since then, she recalled, but she never forgot those deep green eyes.

     This couldn’t be the same boy . . .

     But then, on the mainland, the boy was dressed in the colors of house Banviete. It had to be.

     The boy looked up as he finished the Oath, his future set. Their eyes met, and the feeling from years ago rose in her chest. Her heart raced with recognition. His eyes were so bright, so deeply green they didn’t look real. She felt her cheeks burn bright red. She looked away, catching a glance from Germaine at her expression as she bit her bottom lip. He turned and left soon after. Why, she didn’t know.

     Finally, after her father spoke some more on the Guard, he dismissed his children, and Arielle ran out into the sunshine.

She flopped onto the shore after a relaxing swim in the Sea of Dreams. It was rightly named, for it you stayed long enough, creatures and ethereal beings, like ghosts, would appear next to you, gliding through the water beside you. It was said that if you stayed underwater long enough—until you were nearly dead from lack of oxygen—you could see anything you wanted to see. Past, present, or future. Arielle had tried it before, but after a few minutes (she had fairly strong lungs) of submergence, she came back up. She was afraid of drowning. And it wasn’t worth dying to see the future, was it?

     She felt the sand bite into her flesh through her knee-length under-dress, which was soaked through with Penthos waters. Her braid, which came down to the bottom of her shoulder blade, was coming undone. It left strands that tangled down to the small of her back, the knotting Penthoseren braid taking inches off its actual length.

     She listened to the footsteps and breathing for a few moments before smiling and panting, “I can hear you.”

     Germaine stepped out from behind a sand dune, his boyish face grinning. “Every time, Ari. I always underestimate your senses.”

     He sat down next to Arielle, lying back on the fine white powder. His violet eyes glistened in the eternal sunlight. His black hair threw purple hues at her eyes. She grinned at him, then frowned.

“Germaine,” she began. He gave her a worried look. “My mother’s been telling me to be more ‘ladylike,’ and I think she wants me to tell you to bugger off. I’m afraid she’s going to force me away from you.”

The dragon boy smiled his sly smile, his once-childish face thinner and seemingly made of angles now, much like his mother’s sharp face. His eyes lit up at the challenge. “Let her try, princess.”

Arielle smiled again, then sighed and looked up at the sky.

     Germaine rolled onto his side, sand clinging to his black and purple dress attire. She guessed he hadn’t changed since the ceremony. He propped his head up on one hand, elbow resting in the sand. “So, how did you enjoy the ceremony? I didn’t count how many boys gave their futures to guard the royals and keep you from having fun.”

     “Fourteen,” she grumbled, ignoring his first question. “I’m supposed to get one of them for personal Guard duty when they come of age.”

     “Great,” he said, smiling that knowing smile. “You have three years before your freedom evaporates, like the ocean under the intensity of the sun.” He smirked, laying back in a relaxed manner that said, You won’t get to have fun, but I sure will.

     She snorted. “They’re all my age. It’s weird to know I’ll have a Guard my age. Usually they’re older.”

     “Ah!” Germaine exclaimed, half-startling her. “Potential suitors!” He laughed his deep laugh as he sat up to take up his former position on his side.

     Arielle scowled at him. “No man, soldier or civilian, can handle me. Besides, they’ve taken the Oath!” She waved her hands dramatically. She and Germaine had always made jokes about the promise the boys made to feel no emotion, to stay away from the temptation of women to protect her family.

     “You know half of them will break it by the time they’ve seen eighteen turns of the summer.”

     Arielle sighed. It didn’t matter. She could care less about the Guard. “Well,” she sighed, dropping her hands and rolling over to take a posture similar to Germaine’s, facing him, “what shall we do today?”

     Germaine’s grin was devilish, sinful. His smile was so beautifully handsome now that he had matured. Arielle had expected him to be courting by now. She felt like the annoying little sister when he was around girls, and she tended to melt into the background until the flirtatious girls brought up that he was keeping company with the princess. She thought them all dumb floozies, but could that be jealousy talking?

     He broke her reverie by answering her question. “Shall we torment our new friends?” he said in a velvety voice, referring to the new Guard members.

     Arielle broke away from her staring contest with his grin and smiled up at him. “Let’s.”