"We were talking," Nyssa said.
"I know," Lex said. "I'm not sure I understand what the problem is or why you two are dancing around this. I thought for sure he'd have taken you on that beach last night."
"I don't want people thinking he is favoring me," Nyssa admitted. "You should have seen the stares they gave me yesterday... Even before he asked me to speak with the serpent. If his people think there is something between us, they will undermine him. Commander is the only thing he's ever wanted to be. I don't want to be what comes between him and that honor. Nor do I want to be what makes them question him."
"Noble, Princess," Lex uttered, considering Nyssa. "I'm not sure I like it."
"And I don't want to be another burden on someone," Nyssa said. "I am already enough of one on you."
Silence rested between them, and the fact that Lex didn't argue made Nyssa's heart break. Even if she had already known the truth of it. She glanced back up at Nadir heading towards them and her gaze traveled over every flex of him as he walked.
"He does look good in those pants, though," Nyssa agreed, her head tilting as she took in his body.
Lex huffed amusedly under her breath. "An image for you to take to bed instead then." Lex stood then and gave Nyssa's hair a ruffle before heading down the steps once more. Nadir caught her on his way and gave her a firm handshake. Whatever Lex said, Nadir feigned hurt, and then he grinned before continuing the stretch to his home.
Nyssa pushed the book in front of her face, curled up, and leaned sideways against the back of the couch as she pretended not to see him. But she couldn't help her eyes from dancing over the top of the book when he reached the porch.
"That's two, Princess," he called without so much as a look at her. His hands tapped on the top of the doorframe, and she had to let the book sag in her hands as she chuckled at his comment.
She was quickly consumed in the book of short stories he'd lent her not long after. There was one she had concluded was her favorite. A short story of a woman who combated the sea serpent at the end of the jetty. She knew it was a fairytale, a story of a warrior from the past or possibly one that had never existed, but it sparked something in her, and she found herself comforted by such a story.
Perhaps she would share it with Lex later.
She was so lost in the written words, she didn't hear Nadir come back outside—not until he'd sat down beside her and pulled her leg into his lap, gently massaging her calf. "Let me guess," he said, noting the book in her hands. "You found the one about Soli."
Nyssa ignored the goosebumps rising on her flesh. "She sounds so heroic and fearless," she replied as she looked up from the book. "Combating the serpent with nothing more than her strength."
"She is," Nadir agreed. "She knows it too."
"What?"
"Soli Amberglass. One of my greatest warriors and General of the Flights legion. The author of this book has a special place for her. A bit exaggerated as far as what happened that day, but when are stories not?"
"Wait... You're saying she's real and she lives here? And you were there when she did this?"
Nadir stretched his arm against the back of the chair behind her, his other hand still delicately swirling her ankle. "Do you want to meet her?"
"That sounds like a terrible idea," Nyssa said, anxiety swelling.
"Why?"
"Because she...She’s a warrior."
"She's a normal person with flaws just like everyone else. Believe me."
And the way he spoke made her stomach knot.
She tucked her hair behind her ear, shrinking into that space she'd found herself hiding in for half her life. "Maybe another day," she decided.
Nadir nodded. His hand clapped her shin before he leaned forward to kiss her kneecap. "Come to dinner with me?" he asked, looking as though he was going to stand.
Nyssa flipped the page in her book, her heart suddenly aching for a reason she wasn't sure of. "I don't think so."
Nadir settled back into the chair slowly. "What were your plans?" he asked, and she noted the drop in his voice.
"Reading," she drawled, eyeing him over the cover.
The corner of his lip quirked, and before she could find her place again, his mouth pressed to the inside of her knee.
