Souls of Aredyrah 3 - The Taking of the Dawn (11 page)

Reiv considered staying out of it—Jensa was a
girl certainly capable of defending herself—but then he saw the man
grab Jensa’s arm, and a surge of fury bubbled in his throat.

Reiv sloshed out of the water and stormed in
their direction. As he drew nearer, he saw Jensa try to work her
arm free, but the young man gripped it even tighter.

“Get your hands off of her,” Reiv ordered
upon reaching them.

The young man glared at Reiv, but did not let
loose his hold on Jensa. “This is none of your concern,” he
growled.

Jensa turned her eyes to Reiv. “I can handle
this, Reiv,” she said.

“No doubt,” Reiv said. “But I will see no man
put his hands on you like that.”

The man scoffed. “Your hands have been on her
often enough!”

“That was out of line, Lyal,” Jensa said.

“Was it?” Lyal retorted. “I’ve heard the
talk.”

“And what talk would that be?” Reiv
asked.

“As if you don’t know,” Lyal replied.

“As a matter of fact, I do not.” Reiv took a
threatening step forward. “Now, you had best tell me or—”

“Or what?” Lyal said. “Will you assault me
with those pitiful fists of yours? Or will you simply transcend and
have Agneis do your fighting for you.”

“Enough!” Jensa said. She wrenched her arm
free. “Lyal. You would do well to ignore the idle gossip of a few
old women.”

“It’s not idle,” Lyal said. “And it’s not a
few old women. Everyone is talking about it.”

“Talking about what?” Reiv asked.

Jensa rubbed her arm and averted her face
from Reiv’s probing gaze.

“Jensa?” Reiv said, commanding a
response.

“There is talk that you and I are…mates. You
are an unrelated male living in my hut. Naturally people think the
worst.”

Reiv was taken aback.
The worst
? The
thought of her being with him was
the worst
? True, he didn’t
think of Jensa in that way, at least not since their first meeting
when he thought her the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. But
that had been months ago and since then he had come to think of her
only as a friend. But for him to be considered
the
worst
?

“That’s right,” Lyal said. “Everyone knows
what’s going on between you.”

“That is the most ridiculous thing I have
ever heard,” Reiv said.

“That’s what I’ve been trying to tell this
arrogant oaf of a Shell Seeker!” Jensa said.

“Then why has Reiv not yet taken another
woman?” Lyal demanded of her. “Enough feminine heads have turned
his way. Why has he not responded to them? I’ll tell you
why—because he has you!”

“Have you no sense at all?” Jensa said.

“What? You think a man who’s had as many
women as the prince would take no notice of you?”

Had as many women as the prince?
Reiv’s pride swelled. So Lyal thought he had been with a lot of
women, eh? Fine, let him think it. No sense confessing that he was
still pure in that regard. That would be more humiliating than
being described as “the worst.”

“And you, Jensa; why do you avoid me?” Lyal
ranted on. “You act as if I never even existed for you!”

Reiv eyed the young man with distaste. He was
obviously jealous of Reiv’s supposed relationship with Jensa, yet
Reiv had never witnessed the two of them together until now. He had
seen Lyal around, of course, and was well aware of the handsome
Shell Seeker’s charisma. Perhaps Reiv had turned a few girls’
heads, but if Lyal happened to be anywhere around, the heads always
swiveled from Reiv and instantly turned to Lyal.

“Who are you, anyway?” Reiv asked.

“You know full well who I am,” Lyal
practically shouted.

“No, fool. I mean who are you in relation to
Jensa? I do not recall seeing you with her, nor do I recall her
ever mentioning your name.”

Lyal’s face went blood red. “Why…she is my
woman!”

“I am no such thing,” Jensa said coolly. She
turned to address Reiv. “Lyal and I knew each other for a short
while, before you came to Meirla. But he is not the sort of man who
can be with only one woman. I will have no man who cannot be
faithful to me.”

“Well, Lyal,” Reiv said, “since I am
acquainted with so many women, Jensa obviously would have no
interest in the likes of me.”

Lyal remained silent, sorting through the
defense Reiv had tossed his way.

“There you have it,” Jensa said. “The prince
is too much of a ladies man for my taste.”

Reiv felt like beaming, but he kept his
expression in check. “I will not lie to you Lyal. I did find her
attractive at first. But after seeing her every morning for the
past several weeks, I can honestly say she no longer appeals to
me.”

Jensa shot Reiv a look, but he winked at her,
aware that Lyal’s eyes were turned momentarily elsewhere.

“Well,” Reiv said with a pretended yawn, “if
you will excuse me, I have some seeking to do. You know, with all
this talk about women, perhaps I will do my seeking outside the
waters today.” He turned to leave, but paused to look back over his
shoulder. “But if I see your hands on her again, Lyal, you will
learn that my scarred fists are not as weak as you think.”

As Reiv sauntered off, he could not help but
replay his own snappy comeback.
After seeing her every morning I
can honestly say she no longer appeals to me.
He laughed to
himself, but then he thought of Jensa and how she truly looked in
the morning. Her long, light brown hair would be a tumble of locks,
and the thin dressing gown she wore would barely conceal her
feminine curves.

He shook his head, trying to fling the image
of Jensa from his mind. There could never be anything between them;
he knew that. Besides, what about Alicine? She was the one he
wanted—wasn’t she? But Alicine was gone now, returned to Kirador
and not likely to come back. It was true that Shell Seeker girls
had expressed an interest in him, but Reiv had remained faithful to
Alicine, just as he had been faithful to Cinnia before that. But
saving himself for true love did not seem to be paying off. How
long was he expected to wait?

He suddenly became aggravated at the state of
his love life, or lack of it. Cinnia had abandoned him when his
hands were burned, Alicine did not think him worth staying for, and
Jensa thought him “the worst.” Lyal and the others thought Reiv a
man. But Reiv did not feel like a man at all. Right now he felt
like a boy—a pure, stupid, inexperienced boy.

He marched on furiously, turning his anger
toward the women who had rejected him, and funneling even more of
it toward Lyal who had more than his share of partners. What made
Lyal so special? Reiv wondered. The bastard was good looking
enough, but that arrogance of his. It wasn’t fair that girls turned
their eyes from Reiv when that conceited rooster named Lyal
strutted by. Maybe it was Lyal’s confidence; he did have a
confident walk. Perhaps Reiv could practice his walk…and his talk.
Reiv ground his teeth. Women were so much work. Why were they so
much work? Regardless, he would save himself no longer. He would be
more like Lyal. He would strut and brag; he would be a rooster,
whatever it took. Yes, he determined, he would have his way with
the first girl that came along.

And then she came along.

Reiv recognized the young woman strolling
toward him; she had commented to him once that she liked the kohl
design he painted around his eyes. She wasn’t beautiful, not the
type he was normally drawn to, but at least she was female. And
right now any female would do.

“Hello, Reiv,” the girl chirped as she drew
near.

He stopped, facing her, and smiled his most
charming smile. But his charm evaporated in a hurry when he
realized he did not remember her name. “Hello, um…hello.”

“Cora,” she said. “My name is Cora.”

“Oh yes…of course. I knew that—Cora,” he
said.

He ran his eyes over her, assessing her
features. She was an unusual looking girl, with a friendly,
freckled face, and hair the color of straw. Her body was round and
ample, especially her breasts, and Reiv found his attentions
lingering on them for a moment.

“What are you staring at?” Cora asked, her
expression indicating she knew full well what.

Reiv felt his face blush. “Nothing…I
mean…sorry…I was just going to my hut. Would you like to—would you
like to—” His words froze. Gods, was he insane?

“Join you?” she asked with a playful arch of
her brow.

Reiv’s heart raced. Yes, that was what he was
going to say, but now that she had said it in his place, he could
not help but wonder what she meant. Did she mean she wanted to join
him, or join
with
him? And what if he misunderstood? The way
the village gossiped about him, why, he would be a laughing stock.
Reiv felt a case of nerves gurgle in his belly. “Would you like to
see my bump?” he blurted.

“Your what?”

“My hump. I mean, my hut.”

“Well, of the choices you’ve offered, I would
have to go with the hut,” Cora said.

Take her to the hut. Just do it.
Reiv
grabbed her hand, pulling her behind him as he marched on. Perhaps
this really was going to be his lucky day. But as he headed in the
planned direction, he realized he didn’t have a hut to take her to.
Not one to call his own, anyway. And what did he expect to do with
her when he got her there? He didn’t have a proper bed, but even if
he did, there was little chance for privacy. Brina would be there,
and probably Torin with his second haul of the day. No, the most
Reiv could hope to offer the girl was a mug of tepid tea.

“Reiv! Reiv!” Kerrik came bounding up, his
hair wet and plastered against his head, his feet frosted with
sand. He grinned and flipped a large pink shell into the air. A bag
filled with even more was clenched in his other hand. “You’ll not
find one bigger than this, Reiv!” he said, beaming. “No sense in
you even going out today.”

Reiv’s mind scattered to retrieve a response
to the challenge (and prepare for a defense of his rushing along
with Cora in hand.) But he had no time to respond before Kerrik
asked, “Are you two heading to the hut?”

Reiv felt flustered. “Wha—I mean…uh…no, of
course not,” he stammered.

“We’re not?” Cora asked, turning her eyes to
Reiv. “I thought it was either the hut or the bump, and we chose
the hut.”

Kerrik laughed. “What do you mean, bump?”

“I’m not sure. Perhaps it is a Tearian term.”
Cora tilted her head. “What
did
you mean by bump exactly,
Reiv?”

“I misspoke. That is all.” Reiv felt his
throat go dry.

“Well, I’m going to the hut whether you two
are or not,” Kerrik said. “I’m thirsty.” He trenched up the sand
toward home, leaving Reiv and Cora behind.

Reiv folded his arms and stared at his feet.
Then he lifted his eyes to Cora, surprised to see amusement on her
face. He studied her, realizing he had never really looked at her
that closely before. She was not what a typical Tearian would
consider attractive, but neither was she an ordinary girl. Her hair
was bleached stiff with sun and salt water, and though an attempt
had been made to pin it, it sprang from her scalp like a spiky sea
urchin. Her eyebrows were white, and her eyes green, or were they
blue? It was hard to tell; the color of them seemed to vacillate
like the shades of the sea. And her figure, so round, so feminine,
so…Reiv felt his stomach flutter and his groin ache. He hated to
admit it, but he quite liked the look of the girl.

“Well,” he said, glancing at Kerrik in the
distance. “I suppose we could go somewhere else.”

Cora sighed and shook her head. “I’m sorry,
Reiv, but you’re too beautiful.”

“Thank you, I think,” Reiv said awkwardly. He
wasn’t sure he should be thanking her at all; girls didn’t usually
say those things, did they?

“I have to be honest with you,” Cora
continued. “I do find you attractive, but there can be nothing
between us.”

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I know what you were thinking when you
grabbed my hand and started marching this direction. But all the
while I was trying to think my way out of it.”

“Think your way out of it? But you were the
one that asked if you could join—”

“If you’ll recall, that’s not exactly how the
conversation went, and if I understand things correctly, there is a
big difference between a hut and a bump. You really meant to say
“bump”, didn’t you?”

“No, of course not.” Reiv suddenly felt
confused. The girl was twisting this all around, or maybe it was
him doing the twisting. He readied a quick defense. “You are
mistaken, Cora. I was only taking you for tea. I knew my aunt would
be there, and now Kerrik of course. I—”

Cora placed her fingers on his lips,
silencing him. “Please, Reiv, do not try to explain. Thank you for
inviting me, but I fear that for me you would just be a big
shell.”

“A big what?”

“Shell. A big shell, Reiv.” Cora sighed
again. “You and I are too different. You hunt for big shells, I
hunt for small ones.”

“I do not see the relevance in that
distinction.”

Cora pulled a necklace from around her neck
and draped it around his. Then she kissed him on the cheek. “I’m
sorry, Reiv, but it was not meant to be.” She turned and walked
away.

Reiv stared after her, his jaw slack. What
had just happened here? What was not meant to be? And what was all
this about him being a big shell? Was that better than being “the
worst?” His skull ached. Gods, girls were so much trouble.

He headed home, but the image of Cora stayed
with him. He fingered the shell necklace she had placed around his
neck, and lifted it to take a look. There were spires of
peach-colored cockles and fan-shaped shells as transparent as tiny
fingernails. There were swirls the hues of the sea and starburst
shapes the color of the sun. He grinned in spite of himself.