Penthos: The Guardian Sea

Chapter Fourteen: What Better a Gift?

Time passed for Arielle slowly, much like the subtle shift of seasons. It was snail-like, sapping away at her will to cause mischief. She missed Germaine, as their meetings had become shorter and less frequent. She intended on meeting him today, though. She hoped that he could explain their growth apart from each other.

     It was about a week or so after her birthday—not that she could remember; she was celebrated by the townspeople, but not her mother, and her father was the only one that could afford to gift her with anything. He had said that her gift was still being processed. With a quizzical expression, she let the matter slide as the party on the mainland had flowed into the night.

     Now, he strode into her room with a smile on his handsome face. She looked up from her conversation with the snow white owl on her arm, and put it on the windowsill to face him.

     “I have a present for you, sei leije,” he said, using the Lu’va phrase for “my love.” Ari sat up and quirked an eyebrow at her father, something that made him laugh. “Come with me, child.”

     Arielle stood and waited until he exited her room to change from her nightgown that she had been sulking in. She tossed the nightgown away and picked out a simple white sundress. It was knee-length, the straps about two fingers thick, made of soft cotton from the Southering Isles. She buttoned into it, going shoeless and leaving her long hair down. Pushing a little silver circlet down on her brown waterfall of hair, she reached for the owl. It hopped lightly on her finger (being a demon, she was strong enough to support it on nothing more than that), and she exited her room and palace, following her father.

     They walked leisurely around the open exterior of the palace orchard, Arielle’s hand on her father’s right arm, with the owl on her free arm. Once at the tree line, Jhordyn paused and stepped away. “One moment, sei arielle,” he whispered giddily, calling her “my little light” in the Lu’va tongue.

     She was still stroking the owl’s unblemished feathers and whispering to it in Lu’va when her mother came up behind her, the oddest expression on her face. She seemed . . . happy. It was so strange. Arielle had never seen her happy when she was around her youngest daughter. Serapheme ushered her forward, and Arielle whispered to the owl once more, sending it flying. Arielle went along silent after that, hoping her mother would reveal the source of her parents’ giddiness. Were they sending her away? Arranging a marriage with some prince from some distant Realm?

     They came to a clearing in the colorful orchard. She noticed that the trees were still in bloom so late in the season. She smiled, eyes wandering around the clearing, searching for this “gift.” When she looked to her father standing only yards away, she saw not a material gift, but the green-eyed boy from the Guard ceremony three years ago.

Jarissein took a deep breath, grasping tightly onto the hilt of his drawn sword. His silver armor seemed terribly hot on this day, but the trees aided in cooling him down some. He had just completed his training, and it was his birthday. The ceremony to graduate the trainees into the Guard was a private ordeal, with only the king and the Guard present.

     He was reminiscing over his conversation a few weeks prior with the queen. Just this morning, before the ceremony, King Jhordyn had knocked on the doors of his year’s house, giving him the answer to his question. He had moved his personal items to his own private room in the Guardhouse, which was just behind the palace. It was a great honor to guard one of the royal children, but it was also a burden and a great responsibility. His uncles and a few cousins had chosen Guard over noble life, and the history of the Guard in his family went back years. But the boy feared failure all the same. Failure meant death.