Arranged Marriages

August, Prince of Yililia

I stuck close to the lake's edge, already missing the ocean back home despite the lack of days spent here. I don't know how Aris would ever last in the desert, so far from our beloved ocean. 

"Watch out for water snakes." I warned Saja, glancing quickly at her small hand drowning in my own. 

Unsettled, I slid my hand from hers and reached in to the pocket of my trousers for a leather tie to pull my hair back. Rather than take back her hand when I'd finished, though, I gentley nudged her arm and motioned for her to sit with me. 

A cloud of dust settled on my boots as I dug my toes in to the dirt. Looking around nervously, I tore a blade of grass from its home and brought it to my mouth, cupping my hands around it and blowing to mimic the sound of a harmonica. I looked over to see Saja's amused smile and chuckled, dropping the grass to the side. 

"Give me anything and I'll make music, Saja." I said, rubbing the side of my cheek for lack of something to occupy my hands, feeling the rough stubble. Between the late meeting last night and today's early morning I hadn't found the time to shave - Aris had to pull me up and out of bed just to get me dressed on time to leave. 

Narrowing my eyes through the sun, I dropped my hands to my sides to hold myself up and moved my gaze to Saja. Damn Travis for bringing up how young she was. 

Looking her up and down, ignoring the fact that it would be considered bad manners, I took in her appearance. She didn't look that young, that was for sure. She looked older than some of the elder princesses. Perhaps the thought was sinful, but if any sort of God disapproved He would not have made me a man. 

Sighing, I averted my gaze to the lake, only to have my attention brought back with a nudge from her notebook. 

~What's wrong?~ she asked in her well-practiced, beautiful script. 

I could have lied or I could have said nothing was wrong, but if I had I wouldn't be myself. I instead asked, "How old are you, Saja? Fifteen? Sixteen?"

~Fifteen~ she wrote, narrowing her eyes at me in question. 

Squinting, I brought a hand back up to my face and rubbed the back of my fingers against my cheek self consciously, dropping my hand once more before saying, "Do you know how old I am? I'm sure you do. I have twenty years to my name, twenty-one coming in a couple months, this August. Clever name, huh? But I suppose that's beside the point."

Turning my body to face her, I leaned closer and whispered, "I'm nearly six years your elder. When I started thinking about girls you were still playing with your dolls, do you understand?" 

A frown creased her forehead as she quickly scrawled on her notebook, the unhappiness tugging at the corners of her mouth exposed as she showed me her note, ~You don't want me because I'm too young, is that it?~

The moment I finished reading I snatched it from her hands and hurled it behind her, scooping both of her hands in to one of mine to silence her and rushed out, "Don't you put words in my mouth, Saja! I never said I didn't want you. I just fought eight sets of royal parents to keep you, don't you ever think I don't want you."

Releasing her hands I turned abruptly to face the lake again, tears stinging my eyes, "Do you know what I did when I was fifteen, Saja? Nothing. I was trained for war but it was abstract to me then." Tears shamelessly began to flood over my lids and I made no effort to keep them back, always being partial to showing emotion. "When I was fifteen I was out running in the woods, hunting, teaching myself new things, discovering my surroundings. Five years later and your fifteen, great. My childhood ended the second I went to my first battle but that was years after I was fifteen. But you...what does everyone expect me to do, take years from your childhood so you can be my wife and rule by my side and bare my children? I can't do that to you! But how do I keep you for myself and not touch you, Saja?"

She looked at me hard for a moment then began to tear at the grass to reach the dirt, on which she began to write.