“I know! No more wasted time or energy breaking backs to carry water from the river just to sort and carry somewhere else. A day's work could turn into a matter of minutes. It would take a while to find enough clay to mine, but we could make it work.”
“You said it holds water right?”
“Well, yeah. More so in the winter and spring I would think, since the ground stays saturated with rain and snow.”
“If you took me to the place you found, I could determine how much water it holds, look for the similar spots, and mark it. Then we wouldn’t have to search. We could focus time and energy gathering it rather than finding it.”
“You can do that?” Ruby came alive like a mad scientist, and Xia was her partner in crime.
“Yes! It would be easy. As far as I can tell, my connection to water is infinite. I love it and, well, it loves me back. It’s a bit wild, actually. It’s like we’re drawn to each other.”
“You must have a crazy amount of chaos running through your veins.”
Xia pulled back, cleared her throat and attempted to cover the awkwardness with a laugh. “I wouldn’t say that. My father was a gifted nymph. Just following in his footsteps, I suppose.”
“Either way, you’re a real prize, Xia. We will be lucky to have you.”
***
Xia climbed the hill leading to Nyx’s house. Blisters lined her palms from carrying pails and her feet ached, but the pride and satisfaction were worth it. She would prove to Nyx that she wasn’t a useless princess.
She questioned for the millionth time why she cared what the bitter girl thought of her, but every time she asked she knew the answer never changed.
When she and her sisters were younger and happy on Anthemoessa, life was bliss. The love between them ran soul-deep. Like every relationship, it wasn’t always sunshine and rainbows. They bickered often and sometimes bickering turned into fights. When it was really bad, the fights morphed into endless days of silence.
Since there were three of them, it typically meant someone was always caught in the middle. Xia learned early not to take sides when her sisters fought. Two against one was never fair, and women had the ability to hold grudges for millennia. Xia watched her sisters fight a hundred times, and each argument consisted of smart remarks and surface level insults. When Brooks and Nyx bickered, it was like diving into a piece of her past. They acted just as her grappling sisters had, petty anger and taunting jabs.
Xia realized then why she was drawn to Nyx. It was more than a shared bond through trauma. Nyx reminded Xia of oldest sister, Molpe.
Molpe was dangerous. She had a spirit composed of fire and acid but was the coldest of them all. Molpe was hard on Xia. If Xia stumbled and scraped her knee, her sister would punch her in the shoulder and tell her to stop feeling sorry and stand up.
“Don’t let anyone see you cry. If you show them weakness, they will break you. You’re either a fighter or you’re dead, Xia. Do you understand?”
Nyx was Molpe reincarnated. It both warmed and shattered Xia’s heart. She couldn’t save her sisters, but maybe she could help Nyx save herself.
Xia shook her head and looked to the sky hoping to dry the tears before they fell. She didn’t want to think about those years. Moving on meant remembering the good and the bad, but it didn’t do any good to dwell on the nightmare.
Xia walked up the steps and chewed her nails as she used her last seconds forming a plan to mend what Brooks may have broken. He had breached a major line of trust, but Xia hoped the line was bent and not broken.
Nyx would have to understand that he was new to this world. As all knowing as he was, he was ignorant to the complexity of relationships and feelings. Brooks may have been soft-hearted, but Chaos was an unforgiving force with no such compunctions.
Xia pushed through the door and found Brooks sitting at the table staring at the bloody piece of parchment from the night before. Her heart squeezed as her thoughts flickered back to the panic that held him tight as a vice.
“Hey, you,” she said gently so as not to startle him.
Brooks looked up and she caught the remnants of haze clearing. “Hey, Sunshine. Did you enjoy your morning?”
“I did. I helped Nyx prepare the water for winter and then…” she trailed off, unsure as to whether or not she should mention Nyx’s behavior. That was what couples did, right? Confided inone another? “Nyx got kind of upset and left, so Ruby came to help me.”
“I’m going to have to meet this Ruby you’re spending so much time with to make sure she’s safe to be around.”
A small flame of agitation sparked in her chest as her Siren hissed, but she tried to brush it off. Days ago he couldn’t trust anyone or anything. Why would she expect him to just let that go?
“He was joking,” she thought. “He’s just having a hard time adjusting from the asylum.”
He is testing our patience.
Xia shook her off before saying, “No need, you big bully. I am completely capable of judging someone’s character all on my own.”
