Page 13 of Black Sea

“Were you conscious after the fall?” I asked.

He arched a brow at me. “Who do you think kept you from drowning?”

I glowered at him, trying not to blush at the thought of his hands on me as he brought me back to the surface. “Why didn’t you swim to the nearest beach?”

“I tried,” he replied with a lenient look. “The currents were too strong.”

I believed him right away. Even the most experienced among our sailors couldn’t navigate close to the southern shores of the Lands of the East and had to go around them from a distance to avoid being pushed against the cliffs.

“So,” the man continued, “I decided to swim back to our loyal tree and use you as a counterweight, though you are light as a feather and haven’t been much help, honestly.”

I stared at him, looking for the lie in his eyes. But I saw none. I exhaled through my nose and looked away, feeling suddenly uncomfortable.

“Thank you,” I said softly. I turned my attention back to him. “For saving me.”

The soldier gazed at me too hard, for too long. “Just like you saved me before.”

I watched him, and watched, and watched. I couldn’t look away. The sound of his voice, warm as a flame and intimate as a lover’s, echoed in my mind. My brain longed to capture every detail of his face, from his high forehead to the fine wrinkles around his eyes. Every cell in my body seemed to lean toward him, drawn by something I couldn’t understand.

Something I didn’t know.

Suddenly, he took a sharp breath and jerked his gaze away from me, frowning. “Can you see our land with your eyes?”

At his distant tone, I pulled myself together. Annoyed by my reaction, I ordered my heart to quiet down and scanned the horizon in all directions. “No,” I replied.

There was only an endless stretch of calm water, blue sky, and white clouds drifting peacefully.

We were stranded in the middle of the Thalion Sea. I wondered how far north, how far south.

And it happened because I had fainted. Over three thousand years, I could count the times it occurred to me on just one hand. How could I have been so careless as to hit my head on the tree?

The man let out an angered sigh. “Then we’re screwed.”

The sudden urge to close the distance between us struck me like a whip.

What was happening to me? I had to leave this human to his fate. I had already pushed back his death once; there was nothing more I could do for him. His people would never come searching for him.

He was doomed.

And it was time for me to accept it.

I closed my eyes and prayed to the Spirits, using the same prayer I had for all the young soldiers hit by the flood. Then I removed my white armor with gold carvings and tossed it into the water, watching the gilded cape float on the surface and darken before the weight of metal pulled it down.

“What are you doing?”

I met the soldier’s worried gaze, then started untying my bracers. “I’m leaving.”

He stayed completely silent as I took off the rest of my armor, watching it sink with a more and more somber expression.

I took off my dagger belt and temporarily placed it on the tree to remove my chain mail, leaving only my white tunic, split at the hips, and my pants. I threw my leather boots into the sea as well and tied the dagger sheath back around my waist. Finally, I stood up and focused on the man in front of me.

“I’m sorry I led you to an even worse end,” I said sorrowfully.

If I had left him in the plain with his comrades, his death would have been fairly quick. Instead, he should now face a long and terrible suffering ahead.

“You still have your weapon.” I glanced at it briefly, then fixed him in my gaze. “Use it when you’re ready.”

So, at least, his pain would be over in a few moments.