The Heir of Depths

Those three days passed by slower than she would’ve desired, Arline was more excited than she thought about going out in the ocean, and the mere thought that she could have something special within her made her restless. Arline had always admired the sea from the distance, but the thought of being surrounded by water with nowhere to go, made her nervous. As every other person on Earth, Arline admired the sea, but respected what she couldn’t see beneath her feet.

Zeroun and Calix payed her a visit and heard the news of her little trip ahead. She found out Zeroun was joining the crew which made her feel more comfortable and helped her calm down her nerves. Larsin decided to spend every second possible with her, paying close attention to her and keeping her away from his brother as much as he could. She liked that someone treated her like a gift sent from above, but would never admit it.

They decided to spend the afternoon before her departure on the shores of the lake, in the depth of the woods, so no one could disturb them. Thin and pale rays of sunlight escaped from the trees, bathing their figures and reflected the water.

“I will miss you, you know?” Larsin confessed to her.

“You are so dramatic” she laughed “I’ll just be gone for three weeks”

“That is a lot of time for some people Arline” he couldn’t keep his eyes from her.

Lately, Larsin had been feeling more self-conscious around Arline. Something as simple as a glance from her round, brown eyes or a small smile forming on her lips, made his cheeks go pink, his heart to start jumping and his stomach turning upside down. Yet she seemed oblivious to every kind of attempt he made to court her.

“I’m pretty sure you’ll find something else to entertain you during this very hard time”

“Very funny” he looked at her with a grin and his green eyes sparked as he scanned her figure.

Arline looked away quickly, feeling nervous he was fixating on her. Larsin was known within the social circles to have a talent for being overly seductive with women. That was how he approached Arline, with confidence and boldness.

Larsin lifted up her chin, making Arline’s eyes to focus on his “Why?” she managed to ask him, a little out of breath.

“I like it when you look at me” she was lost for words “I think I never told you how beautiful you are” he was testing the waters.

“All right, that’s enough” Arline mumbled.

“Please don’t tell me you think I am lying to you” she didn’t say anything and hugged her knees “Arline” he called for her name soothingly. She hummed, avoiding any kind of visual contact she could have with Larsin, and started playing with the calm water “You don’t get praised a lot, do you?” he grabbed her small hand.

“Do I look like I should be?” She let him play with her hand, despite hers being freezing cold.

“Yes” he said without hesitation and she rolled her eyes and laid her back on the ground, focusing on the leaves above her.

Larsin stayed on the same position, he wanted to admire every single detail of her from that angle. Yet, he continued to caress her hands, going slowly to not make her more uncomfortable than she already was.

“What?” she asked him, noticing how he was looking at her.

“Have you seen yourself?” he smiled.

“I look like everyone else Larsin” she shrugged.

He frowned his eyebrows and was about to start contradicting her and if she knew what crossed his mind, she cut him off before he could even begin “Don’t you even start” Arline chuckled.

“You’re very hard to flirt with Arline” he admitted to her “But I don’t mind a challenge” Larsin softened his gaze.

They were facing each other and were entirely alone in the woods, not even the dragons were around to interrupt them. The soft wind slightly messed her hair, made her eyes water fairly and made her cheeks have a pinkish shade.

“How dare you look that perfect?” he whispered at her, brushing a strand of her hair behind her ear. He left his hand there, but brushed her soft cheek with his thumb. She didn’t stop him. His hand continued a path to the back of her neck. She started getting tingles in her stomach but he stopped “I can’t go further” he said very close to her.

“What do you mean?” She also whispered as if elevating the tone of their voices could wake something up in the woods.

“Not if you don’t want me to” he was a breath away from her lips.

“But I do” she rubbed her small nose against his.

He didn’t need any other kind of invitation. He softly pushed the back of her neck, directing her to meet his lips. They were warm and soft. She couldn’t help it and started playing with his curls and he tried pulling her closer by her waist.

When they pulled away to catch a breath, they giggled like little kids who had just done something they weren’t supposed to do but enjoyed it. She hugged him with her arms around his neck, still playing with his hair. He just embraced her tiny figure.

“I don’t want you to go with him” he enhanced the last word while still holding her waist.

“I have to, Larsin” she looked at him “If I’m really as special as all of you think, he might be able to instruct me”

“Then don’t let go yet” he sighed and grabbed her tighter and was caressing her back.

“I won’t, I’m too comfortable” he laughed and then kissed her again.

“At least promise me you’ll give him a hard time”

“Don’t do that” he was smirking “Trying to put me against him”

“You can’t really rely on him dear”

“You two are literally the same person Larsin” she laughed.

“Now that’s offensive” Arline just rolled her eyes with a small smile forming on her face. She felt happy and special and he had every single one of his sense boosted for what had just happened.

Larsin had a tendency to brag about his conquests. But he certainly wasn’t going to share this or anything regarding her anymore with anyone, she was too precious for him to go around showing her off like a prize. It was going to be their little secret.