The night was slowly waning, the first gray of the day melting into the horizon and heralding the nearing dawn.
Bryn lay wrapped in two blankets, huddled comfortably on the rich green grass that covered the gentle slopes near the fountain. All the night she had danced to a tune she couldn't hear, lead securely by the man who had shown her in so many ways just what she was worth in his eyes. He had let her feel the music that her still deafened ears had hardly heard – turning the mute song into the most beautiful one she knew.
Now she was watching the starlit sky grew pale, enjoying the warmth that still tingled in her veins. Quietly birds began to sing in the distance – a sound that felt almost precious to her after she had spent the evening in silence – and next to her she heard the deep and soft breathing of Doubar.
The two lay at a comfortable distance, close enough to still feel each other's presence yet with just as much space between them as to not start rabid rumours again. Although by now the majority of the crew seemed to have gotten used to the thought of her and the first mate growing closer, she still could do without the snickers and glances that without a doubt Doubar would have to endure if they were found snuggling in the morning.
Thus, she had resolved to just wish him sweet dreams when they had settled down for sleep, brushing a soft kiss against his left cheek when he had insisted she took his blanket while he would make use of the cloak he had brought along. For all she knew the first mate had quickly dozed off then, while she herself despite her best efforts had not been able to take a rest. Too many thoughts were still keeping her awake, too many feelings that she had yet to get used to.
The last few weeks had been almost overwhelming and at some point had even left her confused over the deeds of her own heart. When Doubar had first told her he liked her she had been flustered. Never had she expected him to be interested in her – not in that way anyway. But he had proven her just how serious he was about it and when he had indeed started courting her she had been no less than swept of her feet – just like he had foretold. He had made her gifts that were precious beyond measure, had protected her and offered her a refuge whenever she needed it. He had given her his heart of gold without ever asking anything in return, and the young brunette could not help but feel amazed by this. The rough sailor might not be the most handsome of men she had ever seen, and many would maybe frown at the gentle giant and the petite sorceress, but with each day that went by Bryn felt more and more how her own heart beat in tune with his. Her spirits lifted when he was around and she found herself seeking his company more often than she had ever done before.
Something was changing she knew, something had changed already. Doubar was not just courting her anymore, and he had no further need to win her over for he had already done so.
She had not told him yet with words but as she lay there, revelling in the pre-dawn atmosphere and his proximity she knew that her feelings for him were unlike anything she had ever felt for someone else.
He made her feel safe, made her feel beautiful.
He made her feel precious.
He made her feel loved.
But more than any of those rather selfish reasons he allowed her to see who he really was. And it was this that she treasured. When she looked into those pale blue eyes of him he hid nothing from her – he invited her in, giving her more than she could have ever asked for.
And she loved him for that.
Even as she lay in the twilight of the ending night, she involuntarily turned her head slightly so that she could hide the flush that conquered her cheeks at this last thought in the blanket underneath her. Having no memory of her life before she stepped onboard the Nomad she didn't remember what it was like to be in love, or whether she had ever had been courted before. For all she knew this was the very first time that she felt for someone like she now did for Doubar and in a corner of her mind she silently prayed that her forgotten life did indeed hold nothing that would be able to compare to it. She wanted this to be special, wanted him to be the only one who would ever be able to make her heart beat faster and have her head burn with a sudden heat whenever she was close to him. Not even Sinbad had been able to evoke that reaction from her and somehow she was glad for that.
When she felt that the flush had left her face she let out a shallow breath. She definitely was doing too much thinking while she should have been taking a good rest. Curiously though, just as she was about to turn around and shift into another position, she noticed someone else stir, too.
It seemed she was indeed not the only one not sleeping.
Just a few feet apart from her Sinbad moved in his covers, whispering low words into the darkness that at first Bryn couldn't make out. Although her hearing had almost returned to normal she still found it hard to understand what was being said in such a hushed voice. But eventually she processed what her captain muttered.
He was asking Maeve whether she was awake.
Obviously the Celt did not immediately answer for telling from the soft rustle that followed Sinbad was then shaking her awake gently. For a second the young redhead must have looked at him confusedly because he quietly told her that all was okay and it was just him. And after another moment of silence both sailors suddenly rose from their spots, stealing short glances in their friends' direction before cautiously they left their makeshift camp behind.
"What do you think those two are up to?"
Bryn jumped slightly in her covers upon the sudden voice that reached her unexpectedly.
"Doubar", she breathed into the night, "I thought you were asleep." Slightly she tilted her head as to look at him when he answered:
"Nha, too many things on mind. Or actually, just one..."
While he said this, his pale blue gaze grazed her, sending an almost shy smile to her lips. Their friends knew not about it, but although they had joined the long cue of villagers who all wanted to drink of the wondrous fountain earlier that night, both of them had eventually resolved to not do so yet. The mood had been merry and they had been surrounded by happy couples, but somehow that was not what they wanted. Maybe it had been a tiny moment of doubt about where they stood in their relationship, or the wish for more privacy, but in the end they had left the fountain without having tasted its waters. And now it seemed they both had been kept awake by what had formed between them.
"You regret that we didn't drink from it?"
Bryn's voice almost broke when she asked him. For a reason that eluded her she had not even given much thought to that decision – had rather focused on the contentment she felt. But now she worried that for Doubar things were different and that he saw their choice as a bad sign.
The first mate however just shook his head and then turned to lie face to face with her. A glimmer suddenly appeared in his eyes and he grinned broadly when then he spoke:
"And who says we won't still do so anyway? We'll lie at anchor for another day or two – there's plenty of opportunity for it."
The young sorceress could hear the smile he wore even in his words, and she was grateful that both of them had the same view on the situation.
Releasing a breath she didn't know she'd been holding, Bryn drew the covers a little tighter around herself before she addressed him again.
"You think the two went to the fountain?"
Her forehead was wrinkled as she drew up her brows in deep thought. She wondered why Sinbad would wake their Celtic sorceress and disappear so secretly - just as if they planned to do something the others should better not get knowledge of.
Through the darkness she could see Doubar shrug faintly.
"But that would mean he and the Lass finally sorted things out. Has Maeve told you anything of the likes?"
Now it was on Bryn to shake her head.
"Nothing, no", she began but then remembered something, "although... She's been behaving pretty odd last night. And so has Sinbad when I talked to him about his screw-up concerning the never-going-to-marry-her thing. I almost had the impression back then that he wasn't sure what to answer, as if he'd been scared of saying something wrong."
"Maybe he just didn't want to make things worse?", Doubar offered quietly.
"That's what I thought, too", the young one agreed, but then pinched her nose, "But when I think of it now..."
She didn't speak on but the first mate drew the conclusion nevertheless.
"You think they've been setting us up? They just pretend to still be caught in denial while they have already figured out they love each other?" His voice lowered a bit as he gave words to her thoughts. "But why would they do so? Wouldn't they just pay us back instead of playing a charade?"
Doubar sounded rather confused and Bryn had to admit she didn't quite understand it either.
"Not sure", she mused, "But where else should they have gone now? It's not like there was anything else lying in that direction – just the fountain."
"Quite true indeed. But that still leaves us with the question what sort of game they're playing."
In response to Doubar's reasoning Bryn suddenly smiled brightly. Maybe the answer was by far simpler than they thought.
"Maybe they like scheming with each other", she beamed at him. "And maybe they just want us to have some fun."
Doubar weighed his head slightly while he mulled over what she had just said.
"Sounds like something my little brother would do."
After a second he then added: "You think they realize that with their scheming against us we just get what we want?"
"You mean getting them together?" She almost couldn't stifle the laughter that formed in her throat, "No chance. I bet they're sure to be outsmarting us."
Doubar, too, chuckled then and rolled onto his back contently before he continued: "And what now? We just carry on - give them the pleasure of seeing us grow closer over setting them up?"
To his surprise, he felt the nod that Bryn gave him return graze his very shoulder. She, too, had shifted while he had, being now mere inches away from him.
"Sounds like a good plan", she said with a grin before sobering a little. Her velvet eyes lay on his face and when he let his gaze meet with hers, he saw the unspoken question in them.
Unfolding his left arm he invited her to join him, wrapping it gently around her slender frame when she lay down beside him, using his shoulder as a pillow.
"And we should give them reason to think they are succeeding."
Her voice was filled with mirth as she spoke those words, but underneath that topmost layer there lay nothing than honesty and warmth.
The young sorceress breathed in deeply as she settled down at his side, drawing in his scent which instantly enveloped her. Nowhere else and with no other person had she ever felt this safe, and she decided then and there that never again she would worry about getting rumours started. He was her haven and while Doubar drew her just a little closer, she relaxed visibly in his tender grasp.
Steadily she felt her heartbeat slow down and fall into an easy rhythm. Sleep was daring to claim her but before she slipped off into the embrace of guarded dreams she looked up at the first mate once more.
"You know what I am looking forward to?", she asked him.
Doubar had a feeling it had to do with his little brother and the Lass but he didn't know what she was aiming at exactly.
"The moment when they find out they drank from the fountain before we did."
The smile she then gave him, though tired, was somewhat evil and he couldn't help the snicker that escaped him at the thought.
"That will be quite a shock for them." For a moment he grinned to himself before suddenly he noticed something.
"You wanna drink from it?"
His voice was husk and low, hopeful and yet cautious.
His pale eyes shimmered in the breaking dawn and when she nodded at him he whispered:
"To live happily ever after?"
"Till the end of days."
She said it with a smile – her most beautiful one, the one she reserved only for him. And she poured all the sincerity of an honest heart into her words, inviting him in to see the truth in her own gaze.
Curtly Doubar blinked, and for a heartbeat it seemed there had been tears threatening to form in his fair depths, but as quickly as the moist appeared it was gone again – replaced by the brilliant glow of utter happiness.
"I would very much like that", he whispered before he bent down a little and placed a gentle kiss on top of her head.
Against his chest, the young one smiled. When she had woken up on Cayman's island these many years ago, without a memory and a home she would have never thought to once be blessed like this.
While around her the world was slowly waking in the light of a crimson morning sun, she let herself be claimed by slumber.
In her dreams she was still dancing, moving to a soft rhythm in perfect harmony with the man next to her.
And in her dreams she was seeking out the fountain with him, drinking from the crystal water to set seal on what her heart had already decided on...