Chapter 21

The Sound of Waves

Camp had set up beside a lake. Most in the former army weren't influenced one way or the other, but Hector was excited. He loved swimming, and couldn't wait to jump in. It seemed others had similar ideas, Lyn and Rebecca had already swam out pretty far, Guy and Sain were taking it easy, floating aimlessly on their backs. Hector knew he should be scandalized by the women swimming in thin dresses, but he was preoccupied with the idea of the getting into the water.

As he was removing his tunic, Florina zipped past him and ran into the lake. Before he could fully register that he had seen more of her slender, shapely legs than he ever had before, she was already waist deep in the water. She turned to him with some untold mischief in her eyes.

"Are you coming?" the pegasus knight asked. He nodded.

"Then you'd better hurry up!" she giggled. Hector found himself chasing after her, swimming to her side as she continued to giggle with excitement.

"What are you up to?" he asked. Florina laughed some more. Her ease around him after all the stuttering and formality (even though there was still a lot of formality…) was comforting to him and he loved her light giggling. She pointed to a rock ledge some distance away. It was pretty tall, but still a relatively easy climb.

"I'm going to jump off," she said. "It's like flying!"

Hector liked that idea; it was fun and adventurous, which was distinctly uncharacteristic of Florina. This only made him more intrigued. Together they swam to the rock ledge and tried to beat each other up the rocky slope.

Upon reaching the top with an unclear winner, Hector was reminded how much he hated heights. Florina seemed to notice for she looked up at him, that impish mischief in her eyes.

"I'm going to do it," he said. "So don't look at me like that."

"Do you need some help?" she asked. Hector had to admit, this side of Florina was…interesting.

"Here's what we'll do: on the count of three we'll both jump," she suggested. He grabbed her hand.

"One…"

"Two…"

"Three!"

The two jumped, sailing through the air and into the crisp waters below. For a few seconds they were submerged below the water, and in a few more they were back to the surface, sputtering and laughing. They swam over to the rock side so they could rest before swimming back toward the others. Climbing onto a large boulder, their clothes plastered themselves against their wearers' bodies, and both "friends" were trying not to study each other too hard.

"What's with you today?" Hector asked Florina. "You're acting…different."

"I'm just being me," she said, seeming to be preoccupied with the clouds above.

"You're being you? Does that mean you're not going to act all shy around me anymore?"

Florina's expression changed, the smile disappeared, "I-I'm sorry. Was I being inappropriate?"

Hector cursed himself for saying anything. "No," he told her. "No, no you're fine."

Florina looked down at her lap, her long wavy hair covering her face from his view. Hector brushed the hair back over her shoulder. He carefully traced the remains of a wound that had scared over on her shoulder. It was deep and his heart sank as he remembered how serious her injuries more and it hurt him even more that he was the cause of her pain. She shivered under his touch but didn't look up.

"Florina…"

He tilted her chin up so she could face him. Her face was already red and her voice was gone. It was almost as though she became fully conscious of where she was, who she was with and what they both were doing. He ran his fingers through her hair.

"L-Lord…Hector…"

He leaned in closer to her, just holding her face near his, their eyelashes fluttering against each other like butterfly kisses. That set the tone, he was moving in slowly. Florina was still, perhaps out of fear and panic. Their breath mingled together and Florina seemed to be leaning in closer herself—

"Florina! Hector!" Lyn cried from some distance away. Damn it. Florina had pulled away and was back in the water headed toward Lyn in less than a heartbeat. It took Hector a lot more than several heartbeats to get over his frustration and start swimming again.

I've been trying to upload this chapter for days, but the system was all, "Yeah, no. Not going to do that." But yes, yes I am aware of how evil I am.