Chapter 144: Moments

We didn’t talk about it anymore.

The boats reached the shore not long after, and there was no point dragging the subject along with us. We pulled them onto the gravel, found a large rock that leaned out over the ground like a roof, and pitched two tents beneath it.

Then I stood there for a second and listened.

Nothing.

No growl, no wet breathing, no claws on stone. In my two trips to the Realm, I had never once stood on ground this quiet.

There were no Unorthodox creatures on this shore.

None. I could feel something, though.

A heavy, sour pressure, like the air before a fight, and it was coming from close to the mountain.

Not from the shore. The creatures were all over there, packed beneath the palace, and none of them were coming down here.

It made sense once I thought about it.

As G-18, I had access to information most people in the Realm never saw.

One of those pieces was about the lake we had just crossed.

It was Black Water, the liquid that flows through the Realm of Evil, and Unorthodox creatures were afraid of it. Not wary. Afraid.

Some theorists said it was because something lived under the surface, something strong enough that even the big fish didn’t want to meet it.

I looked back at the lake. Flat, black, silent.

’Something lives under there.’

I had just rowed across the top of it. I decided not to dwell on that. Some questions are better left at the bottom of a lake.

Now there was the question of the tents.

Two tents, four people.

The natural split was simple: me and Khan in one, Eva and Petra in the other. That was how we had always done it.

But Khan had said "Yes" out loud, in front of a sea lion, in front of all of us. And Eva had spent years biting her cheek about it.

I thought it was better to let them be.

So I said nothing and walked to the tent that was supposed to be Khan’s.

Petra read my face, said nothing, and followed.

Khan and Eva stood there, both of them were embarrassed and neither of them were able to look at the other, and then they quickly ducked into the second tent without a word.

I let out a slow breath.

Let them say what was in their hearts. It was cute. It really was.

It was a beautiful time. I want to remember that part. I really do.

Inside the tent, the canvas smelled of old rain and rope. I got changed into my pajamas and lay down on my mattress. The mattress was somewhat cold, but it was the first time all day my shoulders had dropped. Petra sat near the entrance, not saying anything yet.

"So, what do you think?" Petra asked.

"What?"

"Well, definitely Khan and Eva!"

"What about them?"

The look she gave me could have cut me into twenty pieces. I’ll admit it.

I was trying to provoke her. I wanted to see what her face did. Nobody had told me how dangerous that could actually get.

"I am angry with you!" She said, folding her arms.

She was sitting right at the entrance, back straight, with her chin up. It was almost impressive.

"Alright. I am sorry," I said, and raised both hands in the air.

She pursed her lips and didn’t answer. For a while she just stayed there, glaring at the tent wall.

Then she crawled across the floor to her own mattress and dragged it over until it was pressed against mine. I started laughing, and she reached over and slapped the back of my head.

It didn’t hurt. It was almost gentle. Petra never hit anyone she didn’t trust.

I stopped laughing and she nestled into the curve of my shoulder.

"I love you," she said and I could feel her breath on my neck.

"I love you too, Petra." I kissed her forehead.

I was about to close my eyes when something small and wet landed on my shoulder.

A drop of water. It slid down my collarbone.

There was no leak in the tent. I knew that. I had checked.

"Petra, are you crying?"

She looked up at me. Her eyes were red around the edges, and I realized she had been holding it for some time.

"I am scared..."

That stopped me cold. In all the years I had known her, I had never heard her say that word. "What? Why? I thought you were the most fearless person in the two worlds?"

She laughed, a short, wet laugh, and brought her lips close to mine. "I don’t... I don’t know, ever since I have been with you I just worry all the time. I like... You know..."

"Scared for me..." I completed her sentence.

She nodded.

I read romance novels sometimes. I’m not proud of it, but I did. A line like that showed up in them over and over, and I always thought it was something writers made up to fill a page. I never believed that a person could actually say it, for real, to another person, in the dark.

It turned out they could. It turned out I was the person someone could say it to.

I didn’t know what to say, so I didn’t say anything. I just kissed her. She kissed me back, and the shaking in her shoulders eased little by little.

I was sleepy now, the kind of sleepy you only get after a very long day, and I laid down with her in my arms. Her head rested under my chin. Her hair smelled faintly of the lake.

Outside, the Black Water lay still. Somewhere up on that mountain, a palace sat waiting, and the thing in my chest that had been tugging at me all day was quiet for once. Even the wind had gone silent, as if the whole shore was holding its breath for us.

I wish that moment never ended.