by Stone, Leia
I looked at Seth.
"I can't. I'm sorry," I told him.
Fear crossed his face. The men were halfway down the mountain. They had thousands where we had hundreds.
"No, I am sorry," Seth told Kyler.
"What?" Kyler asked, confused.
Seth strode over to me and grabbed the back of my neck with one hand and the small of my back with his other. He pressed me firmly to his body. "I want you. I’ve wanted you since the first time I laid eyes on you. The harder I try not to love you, the deeper I fall," he declared, then he kissed me. Deeper and hungrier than ever before. I felt like my emotions could shatter the earth. The rain poured as joy bubbled up inside of me. It was coming down in clumps. My hair stuck to my face, my feet sunk in the muddy ground. Seth pulled back and looked in my eyes. I smiled.
"How could you? After I came to you the first night I met her and told you my intentions with her?" Kyler’s face was red, his fists balled.
"I'm sorry! I had the same intentions with her a week before you ever met her!" Seth told him.
"You should have told me! Now I look like a fool!" Kyler roared over the pounding rain.
"Kyler, I'm sorry." I reached out for his hand as the rain pelted us from above. He pulled out of my grasp.
All of a sudden, a huge cracking sound thundered across the valley. I looked and saw the North Mountain had become a mudslide. The men who were on it, were crushed or trapped at the bottom. The men at the top couldn't get down because it was now a steep drop off. A landslide.
"Oh Fates. What have I done?" My hand flew to my mouth. Men were hurt, or dead, because of me.
I looked at Seth, my eyes burning with regret. "You made me a promise in Mule. I'm ready."
He seemed to consider it. "With or without you," I added.
Kyler interrupted. "Both of you get out of my sight!"
Seth looked at him. "Forgive me, brother. I should have told you. I only wanted your happiness, so I pushed mine aside."
Kyler looked on the verge of murder or tears; it was hard to tell. "Go!" he roared.
We began to walk away. Seth slipped his hand in mine. We mounted the horse together and he turned back to face me as the rain let up.
"Where do you wish to go, my love?" he asked.
My love, my heart soared at his words. He was going with me! I lifted my chin. "Wheat Valley."
The surprise showed on his face, but he brushed it aside.
"Lake?" he queried.
"Leave her. She will be safer here." I would miss her.
He nodded and kicked the horse lightly. “If we leave now, we can never come back and live, this is treason.”
“I have no loyalty to a king who murders his Water Blessed,” I stated.
Seth pulled the horse over beyond the group of guards and behind a stone wall. He turned to face me, eyes wide. “What are you saying?”
“Your father came to me after Maggie died. He smelled poison on her breath the morning he found her. The king had her for wine the night before.”
Seth’s face looked pained. “Why didn’t my father tell me?”
“Because you were too loyal to the king.” His father’s voice boomed from behind us. He was on foot, holding a travel bag.
Seth looked confused. “Why would the king do that?”
His father tossed the bag high up in the air and Seth caught it. “He intercepted letters from Maggie and Seraphina. Go now. I will stall them.”
Seth nodded and motioned to the bag. “Thank you.”
He nodded back. “Keep her safe. Maggie said she was the key to end the drought.”
Seth kicked the horse and we rode off toward Jewel Mountain. As we rode, I turned to look behind me. I killed a hundred men. Oh Fates. If the future of the realm had any chance at peace, it was with Seraphina and I working together to bring water to everyone.
Flee
The day was long and tiring. We had ridden out of town and were approaching the Jewel Mountain. Seth pulled the horse over to the shade of a tree and handed me his empty canteen. I filled it without question.
We set up camp for the night at the base of Jewel Mountain. Seth’s father had packed basic provisions for camping. After setting up our tent, Seth took off his armor. He was caked with dirt and sweat from the long horseback ride. I dug a small hole in the ground and filled it with water for our horse. I was sweaty and dirt lined my finger nails.
"I would kill for a bath," Seth told me.
I grinned. "No need to kill for one." I gave him a smoldering gaze.
His brow creased, but then he smiled as it dawned on him. In one quick motion, his shirt went up over his head and he dropped it to the ground. My heart started pounding. His body was tan and littered with hair line scars. His muscles were rock hard from years of wearing heavy armor and sword fighting. Men in my village had no need for muscles. Our women were the strongest; the water fetchers. He dropped his breeches and stood before me in a loin cloth. He walked over to me and took the top knot of my wrap dress in his fingers. "May I?" he asked.
I could only nod. He untied my dress and unwound it, letting it fall to the floor, exposing my bare breasts. But he kept his eyes trained on mine. He pulled his loin cloth off and we both stood there naked as I raised my hand up above our heads and willed water to trickle out. It fell down on us in a steady stream. Seth moved his face under the stream to wash it and I did the same, finding his lips. We kissed as the water glided down our faces and onto our naked bodies. His hand snaked out and pulled me close to him, pressing my body to his. I felt like I had been waiting for this moment since the first time he kissed me. Seth and I were meant to be together.
Rain fell around us and I had the faintest tingling feeling in my head. I chased that feeling and willed it to go away. The rain stopped. My breath hitched. I could control it! That feeling was the rain. I searched for that tingling feeling and it came rushing back, bringing rain with it. Seth lifted me up and I straddled his waist, putting my arms around him, stroking down his back gently. He moaned.
He pulled back and looked me in the eyes and the rain fell on us. "I didn't mean what I said before. About going to bed with you one night and then getting over you. I'll never be over you."
I squeezed my strong thighs around him and smiled. "I know."
My response was met with a toe-curling kiss. Then he lay me down in the tent and made love to me.
A while later Seth stroked my scar, along my neck, and down to my arm. The rain hadn't stopped since our passionate display.
"Can you turn it off? I fear the king will find us if he sees where the rain is coming from."
I nodded and felt for that familiar tingle. I took a deep breath and the rain stopped.
Seth looked at me quizzically. “I’ve been thinking. Why would the king kill Maggie? A Water Blessed. It’s unheard of," he said as he rolled up our tent.
"You heard your father. Because he has me now and she was planning to run away and take me with her," I declared.
I explained in more detail about the note she left me and the things she told me. Seth listened with patience.
"Did you know the king actually asked me to stop making it rain?” I told him incredulously. “The people were collecting rain water in pots and not paying at the wells. He only cares about money!" I shouted.
Seth's eyes locked on mine. "… and what do you care about?"
I didn't hesitate. "Free water for all."
He frowned. "It's a nice idea, but how?"
"I don't know, but Maggie did and Seraphina does. She will know what to do. We need to go. I’m sure that nothing holds a future for me here.”
He stroked my cheek and gave me a smoldering look. “I’m your future and you are mine, if you will have me.”
I nodded and kissed him.
"I have planned a route. We go through the Jewel Mountain pass in order to escape detection at the entrance gates," I told him as we packed our tent into the saddle bags on the horse.
Seth gave me a look. "Oh really, just glide right through Jewel Mountain pass?" He gestured to the huge mountain.
I swallowed. "Well, I have water and we can find food."
He laughed deeply. "You think I'm worried about skipping a meal? Jewel Mountain pass is teeming with thieves and thugs. They belong to neither Jewel Mountain nor Wheat Valley. They try to steal rubies from the mountain and live in caves and cliff dwellings. We will not just be strolling through the pass, we will be fighting and paying our way through it."
I looked down at my feet. "Oh. Well, I guess we could disguise ourselves and go through the front gates."
Seth put a soft finger on my chin and tilted it up, forcing me to look into his eyes. "No, Jewel Mountain is the only way we can get through without fighting the palace guard."
"But …" I protested. He just said it was basically impossible. Seth unstrapped our saddle bags from the horse and threw them over his shoulder. Then he gave the horse a hard smack on the backside and it took off running.
He pulled out a small dagger and nicked the bottom of my long wrap. Then he began to tear a strip off.
"What are you doing?" I asked him.
He took the strip, and covered my eyes, tying the two ends at the back of my head, blind folding me. "I would love nothing more than to gaze in your eyes this entire trip." He was so close I could feel his breath on my face. My heart was beating hard, a light rain began to fall. "But if the thugs and thieves see those eyes, you will be taken from me and I won’t have that, not ever again."
My lips parted in anticipation, and I was not disappointed. He pressed his lips to mine and kissed me gently at first and then harder. Even without sight, my hands expertly roamed over his hair, and down his back. He pulled back and held my hands firmly.
“Let’s get moving.” He started the hike.
My homelands were flat and dry. I was in good shape, or so I thought. Walking flat lands was nothing compared to an uphill hike. Blindfolded only made it worse. There were muscles in my legs I didn’t know I had. They screamed at me. After an hour of walking, I could feel the sun burning my shoulders. Seth patiently held my hand leading me up the zip zag pass.
“Thugs up ahead,” Seth whispered to me. My body went rigid, but I continued to walk.
“Hello there! My wife and I wish to pass through Jewel Mountain and over to Wheat Valley,” Seth said in a friendly voice.
I tried to hide my smile at the ease in which he referred to me as his wife. Seth had sadly left his armor and chainmail behind, carrying only his sword and the saddle bags from the horse. I had made a satchel out of an extra wrap and had my dagger strapped to my inner thigh hidden under my dress.
“What do you have to offer?” A gritty male voice echoed back.
“We have a travel canteen full of water. It’s yours for safe passage,” Seth bellowed.
I could hear scurrying on the rocks and then footsteps padding closer. I hated not being able to see! One of the girls in my village was born without sight, she still was able to get by and fetch water, but I felt for her. You never knew what was coming at you!
I smelled a rank, salty stench, then the man’s voice was closer.
“Hand it over and you will get safe passage,” he said.
I heard Seth do so.
“How’d she lose her sight?” the man asked.
Knowing that he was looking at me and I couldn’t look back was unnerving.
“Acid burn. I’m a blacksmith,” Seth said quickly.
Then I heard scurrying. “Safe passage!” the man shouted loudly for the whole side of the mountain to hear.
Seth gripped my hand and we continued walking. I smelled campfire, and heard people talking as we passed, even a child laughing. Oh I wanted to see so badly!
After an hour, Seth finally spoke. “We’re alone. I’m parched,” he said, taking my left hand. I felt it touch his lips. I slowly let the water trickle and I heard him gulping. Then he rubbed my hand over his hair, wetting it.
“Okay,” he said and I stopped it.
“I want to see,” I told him.
He placed a gentle kiss on my lips. “No, it will be dark soon. We will make camp and thieves will come in the night to steal my sword. I can’t have them steal you too. Keep your eyes covered until we get to Wheat Valley, even if I’m taken.”
Fear coursed through me. “What? I thought you just paid for safe passage?”
He gave a short bark of laughter. “That was one of many, my dear. Jewel Mountain is large and there are many tribes who claim to own it.”
Dread hit my stomach. Coming through Jewel Mountain was a stupid idea. Maybe there was another way. But Seth grabbed my hand and we kept walking.
Suddenly, he squeezed my hand three times, hard. I took it as a signal trouble was ahead.
“Well, well. What do we have here?” a husky male voice asked.
“My wife and I need to cross to Wheat Valley. Her mother has fallen ill,” Seth said.
I heard feet shuffling closer. “Why not go through the front gates?” he queried.
Seth paused for too long, revealing he didn’t have an answer. “You got me,” he said, letting go of my hand. “I stole this sword from a king’s guard. I was hoping to fetch a fair price in Wheat Valley. If I try to sell it in town, they will find me.”
The other man whistled low. I heard a few other voices talking. “Don’t worry, I’ll take that fine sword off your hands for a fair price.”
I heard a scuffle and Seth grunted. Oh how I wanted to rip off the blindfold!
“The price is your life. Keep walking.” He sneered.
I heard Seth breathing deeply. I’m sure he wanted to throttle the man and take his sword back, but instead he took my hand and kept walking.
I was beginning to feel the pangs of hunger. I had no thirst. Seth stopped and put a handful of something in my hands and helped me to sit on a rock. “It’s an edible root. Not the best tasting, but it’s food,” he declared.
I nodded and heard him shifting about.
“I’m setting up the tent. We are being watched from high up. You will sleep inside and I will take watch outside.”
I opened my mouth to protest, but I couldn’t offer any help. If I took part of the watch to give him sleep, my eyes would glow in the night and give us away. I sighed and chewed on the root. It was gritty with dirt and had a stringy texture, but it filled my stomach.
I heard Seth walk closer to me and sit down. I inhaled. He smelled good, even after a day’s walk in the hot sun.
He leaned close to my ear and whispered. “I would kill for a shower.”
I laughed and leaned into him as he draped an arm around me. He began humming a tune and then sang with a rich baritone voice.
“The nights, the nights, the nights are long and lonely.
Without my queen, without my queen.
The nights, the nights, the nights are long and lonely.
I dream of her, I dream of her, my love with soft blue eyes.”
I grinned. “Where did you learn that? You have a beautiful voice,” I told him.
He traced circles on my palm. “I have spent many a night guarding the territories far away from the castle. You learn to pass the time.”
I smiled, feeling sleepy and yawned. Seth laced an arm under my legs and one behind my back and carried me into the tent. He kissed me gently and then I filled his mouth with water.
“Sleep well, my queen,” he whispered and left.
I rolled over and let the drowsiness take me.
I dreamt of the Fates that night. For the first time I saw them. Standing there in billowing dresses, perched on a large cliff, looking down on a huge body of water. One of them turned to look at me. “With love, comes sacrifice,” she told me and then I followed her gaze and saw Seth on the shore of the water, bent over and weeping.
A shout woke me. I sat up panting, drenched in sweat. My blindfold had come loose. The tent was glowing blue from my eyes and I saw two shadows fight
ing outside. I heard Seth grunt. I sat there frozen unsure of what to do. Put the blindfold on and run out there unable to see or do anything, or rip it off and fight?
“Kill him and let’s see if his wife has any jewelry,” one snickered and I recognized it as the voice from before; the thug Seth gave his sword to. Seth was defenseless. I ripped off the blindfold and reached in my dress, brandishing my dagger. I crept out of the tent, squinting my eyes to reduce the glow. I saw Seth in a headlock with one thug and the other was advancing on him with his sword. I quickly came up behind the one who had his back to me with Seth in a headlock and pressed my dagger to his throat.
“Let him go!” I roared and pressed hard enough to draw blood. If either of them made one move toward harming Seth I wouldn’t hesitate to kill.
Seth grumbled. “I had this handled.” He huffed and elbowed the guy in the stomach. I released my knife as the guy fell to the ground, but the thug holding the sword was staring at me in shock. Seth used that distraction to yank the sword from him and train it at his stomach.
“I know who you are,” the thug said before I could close my eyes.
My mouth was open. I didn’t know what to say.
The thug fell to his knees and made the sign of the Fates, touching his third eye.
Seth glared at me. “Now I have to kill them both. You should have stayed blindfolded.”
The blue glare from my eyes fell to the thug on his knees. I approached him slowly as Seth eased up the sword on his belly a little.
“If I convince Seth to let you live, how do I know I can trust you?” I asked the thug.
He looked up at me and even though he must have been forty winters old, he looked like a child. “I would never bring harm to a Water Blessed. Ever. Or the Fates would strike me dead and curse my children.”
Seth gave me a look that said he wanted to kill him either way.
“Stand,” I told him and motioned for him to join his friend who was moaning behind me.
They stood before me and Seth, ready to meet their fate.
“Do you have a water storage tank that I can fill,” I asked them.
They both grinned and bowed deeply, leading the way.
