Light Like Stars

For the second night in a row, she was sitting at the window with a steaming cup of tea. More than once, the thought had crossed her mind that somehow he had been caught returning that night, then questioned by his own family, and then…

Jess had invited her to see a movie tonight, but (Y/N) had declined for reasons unknown even to herself. Between her worries towards Orm and the impending feeling that her town was morphing into something other than her town, she felt inexplicably tethered to this place. It was an uncomfortable and paranoid impulse, fueled perhaps by the thought that if she stayed behind and kept watch, nothing would go wrong.

Her gaze shifted from the quiet bay towards her phone, laying on the table beside the window, for just a moment. Should I text Jess? Has she left yet? It was barely dark out. Jess was probably still around, but not for long. As (Y/N) reached for the phone to check the time, a glint of light caught her eye in the bay. Setting the phone back down, she snapped to attention.

Below her, in the cove, stood a figure with a lantern. He was clad in glinting metal armor and wore a circlet on his head, resting on golden tresses. Immediately she threw the window open and ripped the metal screen from its place in the windowframe so she could poke her head out.

"Orm?" she called, hoping that her stage-whisper would echo off the canyon walls without attracting undue attention for anyone else who might be in the neighborhood. She half-expected the figure to dissolve into nothing.

"(Y/N)! It's me!" he replied, calling as loud as he dared. He raised the lantern to his upturned face, grinning brilliantly. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment—it really was him.

"I'll be down in a few minutes!" she called, setting her mug of tea on the table and racing out of the house. In her haste, she completely forgot to shut the window, and barely remembered to bring her house keys with her. She pedaled down the hill as fast as she could manage, praying no people or cars might show up in her path. At the marina, she dropped her bike next to Theo's vacant shack and raced down the pier, firing up the motor in her boat immediately. When she rounded the cliff into the cove, he was sitting on the sand with the lantern nestled beside him.

As she stepped into the water towards him, he rose to his feet. She hadn't dressed for this occasion—her jeans were instantly soaked below the knees—but she was barely aware of it.

"I was worried," she said immediately, as she neared him on the sand. "I don't know why, but I was worried you wouldn't come back." Orm raised his eyebrows, touched by her immediate honesty.

"Is that because you tried to poison me?" he asked, laughing. Her face went pale.

"Did you get sick?" she asked. "Oh God, are you allergic to chamomile?"

"I guess I am. Or honey. I got sick," he said. "I really did think you had tried to poison me at first."

"I hadn't thought about how trying surface food would affect you." She replied. "In hindsight, it's so obvious. I'm glad you're okay," she said, as he beckoned for her sit. The pair lowered to the sand.

"I didn't think about it either," he said. "But as soon as the doctor told me I wasn't going to die, I knew you hadn't meant any harm."

"Did you tell him about me?"

"No. I didn't tell him anything about us." He raised his hand to push a stray lock of hair out of his eyes.

"I guess that would have put you in more trouble than me, anyways." She replied, after a moment of thought. "I'm so sorry."

"Don't apologize. I'm just glad to be out of my room again," he fiddled with the lantern in his lap while he spoke. It was vaguely orb-shaped, like an opaque seashell, glowing a peachy orange. There were shallow ridges along the surface and tiny holes perforated in it which spilled light onto his face in dots.

"That's a beautiful lantern," she spoke after a moment of silence.

"It makes everything look like the stars," he replied. "While I was stuck indoors down there…I came to miss the sky. And I missed having someone to talk too, as well." She wasn't sure if there was some color in his cheeks, or if it was the warm light of the Atlantean lantern.

"Were you alone that whole time? Nobody came to visit you?" she asked, incredulous. He shook his head.

"Not a soul, besides the physician or one of his attendants every few hours."

"Your father…?"

"Had more important things to attend to." his voice was grim.

"I would have visited you every day, if I could have," said (Y/N), drawing her knees to her chest and resting her arms across them. She knew that there would be some color on her own cheeks now, feeling warmth on her face.

"I would have liked that," he returned. "It doesn't feel the same talking to anyone down there. They're all keenly aware that I outrank them, something you refused to accept altogether." He chuckled. "Sometimes I wish I could meet more people who don't know who I am, or who don't initially believe me when I tell them." She smiled.

"Move to the surface," she laughed. "Nobody would believe you at all."

"What, and fall ill every time I eat something? I'd rather not!"

"There's always fish," she said, watching the lantern light wobble on his face as he set the object back in the sand. The light felt unnatural in that it never wavered or flickered like a fire, but was warmer and crisper than synthetic light. If she hadn't been distracted by the shape of his jawline or the blue in his eyes, she might have wondered how it was produced.

"I could stay with you," he replied, after gazing into her eyes for a moment longer than felt natural. "At least until I find my own living arrangements. Maybe something more ornate than what you currently have," his gaze flicked up the cliffside to her house.

"I would have a lot to explain if a strange man moved in with me," she laughed. "People might get the wrong idea."

"And what would that be?"

"Well, you know. They'd think that we're…involved" she raised her hand to move a strand of hair from her face, but before it could get there, he reached out and gently tucked it behind her ear. He had leaned much closer now, a smile perched on the corners of his lips.

"I've been sneaking out nights to meet a girl for over a month now. I'd say we're definitely involved in something." his voice drifted low and she realized that she had been looking at his lips for too long. She averted her eyes for a moment.

"I thought you had a fiancée," she whispered. "That other princess you mentioned."

"I have no interest in her," he responded. "That plan for a marriage is my father's, not mine—and definitely not agreed upon yet."

"Then, are you saying that you're interested in me?"

"I missed you. More than I had a right to. More than you'd miss a friend." He had somehow managed to lean even closer, until she could barely feel the warmth of his breath on face.

"I missed you too." Her voice was a whisper now as she closed the distance between them. "I missed you in the same way."

Their lips met, and the lantern cast stars across their faces.