Hello again everyone! I was reading some other stories and felt sad that they weren't finished and found myself wishing the author would get on with it, and then I started thinking about how you all might feel when I'm not updating anything, so here you go. I just wrote this part up all special for you. Disclaimer in Chapter 1, thank you sooo much to everyone who reads and especially to the reviewers, it makes me so happy to know I can give you something you enjoy. Lots of love as always, ~Auna.
When I came to, I found myself lying on my side on a bench of some sort with a few pillows laid on it. My dress is soaked through dripping water on the pillows. My hair, however, is surprisingly dry. Kneeling in front of me on the ground is the water angel that rescued me. His skin is pale from lack of sun, and his hair is dark and tousled like he ran his hands through it while it was drying. From his spot resting his chin on his folded arms at the edge of my bench, I can see the beautiful details of his eyes: Viridian, with darker hints around the outside edges. I blink at him a few times, and absently scowl at the darkness of wherever we are.
"You're beautiful." The water angel says to me. I sit up a tad and cough a few times before looking at him imperiously, chin up and eyes narrowed, emulating Dad as much as I can in the midst of my fear.
"Beautiful is a lazy, lousy, abysmal and atrociously inadequate way to describe me."
"Indeed." The water angel says in return, smiling slightly. His eyes seem to glow in the low light, and a soft splashing sound behind him alerts me to the small waves lapping at the open edge of whatever cave we are in. His gaze changes to concern and he sits up slightly to be level with me, raising a careful hand as if to touch my cheek. "Are you, ahem, are you alright?"
"Alright!" I nearly screech at him, sitting up. "What kind of question is that, I near about drowned, of course I'm not alright!" I start to lean forward towards him, intending to use our current height difference to intimidate him, and then all of the blood falls out of my head and lose the feeling there. "Whoa." My vision clouds over and my ears start to ring as I press one hand to my forehead. The other absently feels behind me for the bench, because I am going down, and want to at least land on something soft. The boy says something, I can tell, but it's too hard to make out through the bright sound inside my head. His hands on my shoulders help me to lay back onto a pillow, and I close my eyes and breath for a moment.
"Yeah, definitely not alright, huh?" His voice is soft in my ear, and he brushes my hair back while I rest.
"Mmm, nope." I mutter in return. There's the barest hint of a chuckle. After a few minutes of him tentatively stroking my hair, and me just breathing in recovery, I open my eyes.
"The cave we are in is a deep semi circle with a small platform in the back, lined with a granite bench seemingly carved naturally with the tides. The walls are made of granite on the side at my back, but the one facing the sea is made of coral. Above me, the top is open showing off all the stars and constellations in the sky.
"That one's Talay." The boy says softly. I jerk my head over to him, and the ringing comes back in one ear but my vision stays mostly clear.
"Huh?"
"Talay." He nods at the sky full of stars, and I turn to look at it. "Here, here, there, and that bright star there. Those three, and that one." He points to eight stars in the sky, pressing his shoulder to the side of my face, and I follow the path of the constellation as he shows me. "Talay was my Great something times Grandfather, just like Mab was yours."
"How did you know I'm from the land?" I nearly demanded of him, making to sit up again. He presses his hands down on my shoulders and gives a self deprecating grin.
"Kind of obvious with the way you were drowning there, love." He pokes my forehead gently with a finger and I scowl outwardly at him.
On the inside, I am panicking: no, no, no, I have to get out of here. Dad was right, the ocean is a bad place to go, filled with the dangers of drowning, and strange boys who find that funny. "I... have to go. Now." I tell him shortly, and then sit up as quickly as possible without fainting.
"Um, are you sure about that?" He asks me skeptically. I ignore him as I try to get my feet working again by rubbing them on the rock.
"Very."
"Okay then." He stands with me, one hand on my elbow, and then directs me to stand up on top of the bench. "You can get out through that tunnel there, instead of having to swim." I glance where he nodded, into the dark upper cracks of the granite, and squint slightly. I have my fathers magic, but my mothers mortal eyes. A moment later, a little bit of a passage way I'll have to crouch in just slightly appears to me. Fine. I'll make it work.
With the boys help, I walk along the bench and then climb up into the passageway, which is dimly lit a little further on. I glance back at him as I'm starting to crawl in, and his wistful expression brings me pause. "What's your name?" I blurt, for lack of anything better to say. Great job, little miss silver tongue.
"Kaan." He says, startled as I am. "Kaan Coro."
"What's yours, angel of the earth?" I purse my lips at the clumsy term of endearment, even as he smiles at me like the boy in that seventies rendition of Romeo and Juliet Vivi and Heather made me watch "for culture" smiles at Juliet. It's disgusting, and I tell myself it doesn't make me warm inside to be unashamedly admired by someone.
"Jaden. Jaden Malika Greenbriar." His eyes widen and he leans backward, only to trip on the edge of the stone and fall into the water, arms pinwheeling in a ridiculously obnoxious motion. With a smirk, I vanish into the tunnel and down the path. The thought of him falling over, struck dumb at the thought of my being a Greenbriar, does not, absolutely not, make me giggle like a smitten school girl. It doesn't.
I make my way home with a stupid smile anyways, with no one but the moon there to see.
"Where were you." Daddy is standing in the entryway to the brugh, arms crossed menacingly. He is wearing all black, a simple shirt and trousers with absolutely no adornments. His fingers are absent of rings. His dark curly hair, only a few shades darker than mine, is wet still and missing it's crown. He's not even wearing shoes for seelies sake, just a pair of plain black socks. The cotton ones that he hates wearing, that Mom leaves at the top of his drawer anyway. I've been staring too long, and turn behind me to find the horse I brought to the beach earlier, only to realize it's not with me. I turn back around and close my eyes.
"I went for a ride?" I say hopefully.
"Your mother, the Queen of Lies, cannot lie to me, Jaden Malika. Try again." I open my eyes again to stare at my father, and decide for a half truth this time.
"I was exploring a new tunnel system."
"Why are you wet, then. Do the tunnels pass through the bottom of the ocean, now?"
"No." I very pointedly ignore the water still dripping from my hair and dress. A drop collects on my lashes and I blink it away, staring straight at my father. "It rained, when I came up."
It should be known that Cardan Greenbriar, my father, is the king of the land. As such, he detects nearly all the goings on on top of that land. And so such as that, he knows when it does and does not rain. Cardan Greenbriar is very well aware of the fact that I just lied to his face. I smile at him.
"You know how much I love the rain."
"Indeed. Get inside." He brushes past my insipid lies and turns to walk through the Brugh and the throne room, full of faeries even at this hour, and I follow my father through the palace. When we get to my rooms, he opens the door and gestures me inside. "You will not leave this room until your mother gets home and I've had the chance to discuss this with her. Nor will you expand this room in any way. And Jaden?"
"Yes dad?" I pouted at him and the unfairness of it all.
"Secret passageways, tunnels, or the outside of the palace, do not count as staying inside this room." Dad pulled the door closed with that same flat, frustrated look on his face.
"Argh!" I screeched, kicking the closed door with my foot. Which hurt a lot, and in a few moments I was lying on the floor clutching my throbbing toe. I gave up a few minutes later and resigned myself to counting the cracks in each stone in the ceiling and calculating the average.
When mom got home, all hell would break loose.
So, Kaan Coro is absolutely smitten, Jaden is in denial (Her name, btw, is a mix between Jude and Carden because I'm just that lame), and Cardan knows what Jaden was up to. Let me know if you want to see the next chapter from Jude and/or Cardan's POV about how they're reacting the Jaden's little teenage rebellion, or just keep plugging along with Jaden? This story, I'm writing as I feel like it, and publishing as I get the writing done, so you guys get to lend a hand! Thanks for reading, see you next time, ~Auna.