Page 20 of For the Ghastly and Beautiful

We drag ourselves from the water as the sun begins to dip lower in the cotton candy sky. Ecaeris stares at the small pile of shells on top of my skirt and gives me a curious glance.

“When did you collect those? I didn’t see you leave the water.”

“Indigo gave them to me.”

He shakes his head. “Of course she did. And what will you do with them?”

“I don’t know.” I shrug. “Maybe set them on the window seal? Or find some kind of vase to keep them in? I’m not sure what I can do with them, other than put them back in the water… But that feels rude.”

“Rude?”

“You know, impolite or—”

“I know what it means. Why would it be rude?”

I tie the skirt around my waist, pulling the end up to hold the dozen of so glimmering shells as I contemplate an explanation.

“They were a gift, given with no ulterior motive or agenda. She was excited about them and wanted to share. I think it might hurt her feelings if I didn’t take them.”

We begin walking to the treeline, both of us stopping to check on Indigo. She lounges with Jade on the water’s surface as if she hasn’t noticed our disappearance.

“I want to come back in a few days to check on her.”

“We’ll come back… If she hasn’t made it to the village by then,” he teases, his grin illuminating his mismatched eyes. “She’ll soon be too big to leave the water without causing damage to herself or others. There are stories of another kraken coming from the deep to aid in the last Mongrel war. I can’t imagine what would happen now with the two of them.”

“What happened to the other kraken?”

“He destroyed the village but saved his queen and the tribe. It’s said that Spiran healed him, and he never left the water again. But no one really knows. That was well over a thousand years ago, when the four tribes were all at war. The history that we do know is in one of the books you have.”

So far, I’d only begun reading about the island’s surface. How much information was I missing because I was taking my sweet time to finish the material Isolde gave me? Everything I need to know about this world could have been hiding in my wardrobe for weeks.

The thought plagues as we walk in silence. I don’t know why, but getting back to the village feels like it takes half the time it took to get to the coast. Traveling on Spiran seems to work in strange ways, or maybe it’s just me.

Ecaeris guides me the entire trip back home, his hand a feather-light touch against the small of my back. We step into the palace as the sun disappears completely from our view.

I enjoy having him so close to me, but I don’t know what to do with that thought. I get the feeling that he wants me even as he pushes me away.

“I’ll walk you up, and then send someone with food,” he tells me. “I need to check the rotations before the next shift.”

I nibble at my lower lip, contemplating my question, but decide to ask it, anyway. “Why haven’t you been living here?”

“It’s too big for one person. Cold, lonely.”

“It doesn’t have to be lonely.”

“Yeah?” he smarts. “And who would make it lively?”

I start to say that I could keep it warm for him but stop myself. If he’s finally moving past the shade insults, then I won’t keep bringing it up. I watch him from my peripheral vision and realize that he’s being serious.

“You’re too stubborn for your own good,” I comment. “You know that, right?”

“I’m not the only one,” he mumbles under his breath, a slight growl in his voice.

Something in his tone triggers the memories of his behavior in my darkness induced dream. He had feared me leaving, been so concerned with waking me up.

Why doesn’t he act the same now?

This question is one I already have the answer to. I just need to set it in motion by shoving this mongrel over the metaphorical cliff. Although, sometimes I wish it were a real cliff… but like a short-ish one. I don’t want him to die from the fall; I only want him to open his eyes.