More doom and despair yet to befall our utopia. Xandra chewed her lip with a slight nod of dismissal as her eyes searched out Arrosiah. He was already staring at her, his writing stylus dangling from his mouth. When their gazes met, his teeth clamped on the implement and it protruded outward as he grinned. Her stomach tightened and she pretended to scribble on her tablet. The sermon of misery ended shortly after, and the students milled around the chamber.
“The destiny of all civilizations, to rise and fall,” Ava murmured aloud, a tuft of golden hair falling over blue eyes.
“‘What one day may be known as the dawn of history might be our distant future’.” Xandra offered the professor’s own quotation dripping with sarcasm as she gathered her stylus and tablets. “Perhaps our beloved country of Amenti will be no more than a legend, as our motherland is to us now.”
“Master Varex chooses to leave out the fact that the Shyam brought Nero here to cause this disaster,” Ava said hypnotically as she stared into the darkening waters. The ruins were still visible, but the dingy light attested that it was far past noon. “In fact, our esteemed teacher blatantly lied. Nature did not do this. We all know it was the Shyam and that cursed Black Skull!”
“Politics and fear complicate eachother.” Xandra tucked a wisp of hair behind her ear, then rearranged some papers in the leather bag at her feet.
“Tell me, Xandra, will you lie to the people to protect them when you are ordained to the High Court?”
“Ask me not of things I cannot give answer.” Xandra’s cheeks burned, her voice dropped to a whisper as she stood up. “Nor might I.”
“No matter.” Ava’s eyes were alight with devotion. “I will pledge my allegiance to you with my heart and soul, for you are a true friend.”
“And you are mine.” Xandra flushed. At least some things at the Academy brought her joy. “My chosen family.” She slipped her arm through Ava’s while they walked to the gallery windows. “Though I fear that the old city of Arnava is not the last of our losses if the Shy get Nero again.”
Together, they strolled into the circular pavilion, the heart of the underwater viewing tunnels. Xandra craned her neck to the domed glass ceiling. A storm of pink and green fish poured over the glass, stifling the faded sunlight filtering into the grand chamber. She stopped walking and Ava glanced at her quizzically.
“I’ll join you on the surface.” Xandra winked.
“Ah, I see.” Ava bit her lip and raised her brows knowingly before she turned away. She waved casually over her shoulder. “See you up top.”
Leaning against the clear wall, Xandra waited until the remainder of the students dispersed and began surfacing to the City. Her eyes rested in the streets outside the viewing tunnel, now even gloomier in the wane of the day cycle. She knew it was a matter of time before Arrosiah would find her. Then they would speak freely, and she didn’t have to worry about anyone thinking she swooned over him.
It took a moment more before he was beside her. He leaned on the glass, facing her as she pondered the waters over his shoulder. Xandra smiled knowing he could read the heat of her flush. She finally looked at him and his blue eyes traced the contours of her face, as if memorizing it. Then their gazes flickered away.
“I have had another dream.” She pressed a hand to the cool glass. “Or perhaps a vision. I just don’t know the difference anymore.”
Now it was his turn to sigh. “I continue to have them as well.”
“I am afraid that it may be a shadow walk and not a dream at all.”
Arrosiah placed a tentative hand over hers and Xandra’s insides rocked.
“Sometimes dreams are just dreams.”
She shrugged in answer, her eyes remained fixed on the watery nothingness. Inside, she tried to deny the earthquakes caused by his touch.
The moments wore like ages, silence feeding an even greater silence. Finally, his shoulder nudged hers.
“Will you miss me, Xan?”
She stepped backward and he took one closer, until his body was only a whisper from hers.
“Don’t you want to kiss me good bye? It will be seven years until we meet again.”
Arrosiah’s voice dipped, and Xandra inhaled, the proximity of him-- utterly intoxicating. Of their own volition, her lips parted. He leaned toward her. His partially opened mouth hovered nearer and nearer to hers.
“Arrosiah, you presume too much,” she croaked. She smoothed her hair in an attempt to break the spell.
“If you wanted me to say that I wanted to kiss you, I might have.” He laughed, unfazed, twirling a strand of her dark hair around his finger. “But now I don’t think I will kiss you at all.”
Xandra’s chest screamed for air as his grin widened. He released the lock of hair, eyes darkening with something she could not quite identify.
Suddenly, she could read his mind without trouble. He acknowledged the rosy tinge spread across her cheeks and a surge of masculine need pulsed through him. Someday, she read in his thoughts, I will give you something to blush about.
“Did you read my mind, Xan?”
“You know I did.” She moved back until there was nowhere left to go. He splayed his hands on either side, creating a box around her as her back pressed to the tunnel window.
“Would you like to read my mind?” She grinned despite the fact she could barely breathe.
“I don’t have to.” All traces of humor in his voice had been erased. He inhaled deeply, as if he was trying to fill himself with her. “You wanted me to back you up right her against this glass and kiss you until you couldn’t breathe.”
“You mustn’t flatter yourself.”
“I’m right, aren’t I?”
Curse him! The blood hurtled through her veins when his mouth lingered still closer to her lips. Gods! How she thirsted for the heat of his kiss! But she would not offer herself to him, by the Halls. He would have to make the first move.
And damn him for that, for he would not give her the satisfaction. The need would remain unslaked. He cocked his head in triumph, but then seemed to think better. Suddenly, he pressed his cheek against hers. Xandra gasped in surprise when the heat of his face scorched hers. Soft lips brushed over her ear and she thought she would slip to the floor as he wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her against him. This intimacy would surely undo her.
“You should know that I don’t care for you that way,” she muttered. “At all.”
“Of course you don’t.” He pulled back to pin her with his stare. Drawing her hands to his face, he placed a tender kiss in the center of each palm. “Why would you when you know we belong together?”
It was true. They did belong together. Her heart turned over in her chest as he released her hands. But he walked away as if their exchange had no lasting effect on him. Truly, Arrosiah was gifted in the arts of deception. Tomorrow, he would leave for a seven-year mission. This was probably her last chance to see him, her last chance to press her lips to his and...
Regret rolled over her in waves as she watched Arrosiah’s receding figure fade into the blue shadows. She half hoped he would turn around, but he didn’t. The thought of his absence launched her spirits into a downward spiral. No, she would not call out to him. She would have to wait. Perhaps for seven years.
