Celesta took the stick from Meena’s hand and furiously dug into the dirt.
Meena smiled over her bent head. Celesta effortlessly joined in every game Meena came up with. They didn’t need words to enjoy spending time together and she loved it.
“You are enjoying this more than she is,” Sol whispered.
Meena laughed. It was just like one of her brother’s to jest at her expense. Lifting her arm in the tight space, she gave Sol a gentle punch in the shoulder.
She pulled her hand away quickly, however, her fingers tingling uncomfortably. They didn’t hurt since she’d hardly touched him. But she had made physical contact with him. Her stomach felt light and airy and her cheeks suddenly felt a little warm in the stuffy space.
His head snapped toward her. His forehead was wrinkled in confusion, but his mouth had the slightest quirk of a smile.
Meena rubbed the back of hand against the small of her back. The tingling sensation didn’t go away despite the slightly rough texture of her linen dress. She heard herself laughing still, but it sounded hollow and loud and she couldn’t remember what she was laughing at.
She looked away quickly.
Sol was just a boy. A boy like any of her brothers.
“Very good digging,” she said to Celesta.
The girl was still intent on her task and hadn’t seen the interactions taking place behind her back.
Meena kept talking to cover her embarrassment. “I’m sure you’ll find something soon.” Her eyes remained glued on Celesta, keeping Sol out of sight.
It was just ... he wasn’t a boy. He was a man. And he most certainly was not one of her brothers. In her most secret dreams, Meena imagined wedding an adventurer who would take her across the five kingdoms. As a child, she’d believed that her life as an adult would be more exciting than the games they played. The older she grew, the more she realized those games were childish fantasies. Fantasies that weren’t true.
For a single moment, she imagined joining Sol on his mission to Falqri. She would wear a dark cloak which covered her silk dresses from view. And she would help him uncover the clues which would lead straight into the heart of Gareth’s strongest fortress.
Meena didn’t know how many moments her mind had wandered, but she was saved from further embarrassment by the sound of the stick scraping across a hard surface.
Moments later, a very excited Celesta held a dust-covered wooden chest in her hands.
From the corner of her eyes, Meena could see that Sol was still watching her, his face as expressionless as always. This old tree had been large enough for several children to play inside of, but it was far too small for two adults. “Let’s head back to the castle and we can open the treasure there,” Meena said.
Sol lifted his eyebrows, then looked pointedly at the girl between them.
Meena followed his eye line down to Celesta.
She was sitting on the floor, the wooden box already open in her hand as she reached for the treasures inside.
“Or we could wait a moment,” Meena whispered, her heart melting.
As usual, Sol did not respond verbally.
Celesta lifted the first item from the box. It was a carved wooden donkey. Meena had freshly cleaned the softly sanded surfaces of its short, round body. The toy had been hers for as long as she could remember. While she felt a small twinge of regret at giving the beloved toy away, the look of joy on Celesta’s face was completely worth it. Besides, Celesta was family now. Meena had outgrown the toy and was giving it to her younger sister.
As Celesta reached into the box for the next item, Meena looked up again at Sol. Rather than watch the excitement of the treasure, his eyes scanned the opening of the tree and the long cracks near his head.
Meena wanted to tell him that they were safe for the moment, they were deep in the very heart of Iseldis. But it seemed that Sol was a person who was always on guard.
Sol frowned.
Meena instantly felt more alert and her eyes darted to the opening of the tree.
Then she heard it too. A sound from the road.
Just as she had when she was a child, Meena turned and squinted out of a crack in the bark. Her throat swelled shut as a group of travelers rounded the bend. She squeezed her eyes tightly shut, hoping that she was dreaming. Opening her eyes, she looked again.
If she was dreaming, then this was a nightmare straight out of her childhood.
