As a child, she’d had the opportunity to learn whatever interested her. Happy as she was to see Sol enjoying himself, a small part of her heart ached for the serious little boy who had been too busy trying to survive that he never had time to do something unnecessary.
She longed to give that to him. To give him the time and space to explore something because it interested him or fascinated him. Even though she missed his company and attention, she was happy to stand back and watch him become a sailor for the brief time they had aboard.
It was not his fault that she had fallen in love with him.
Feeling her cheeks turn warm, Meena quickly twisted her body around, slamming her stomach into the railing so that her back faced Sol.
She did love him.
She’d only been married to this stranger for a handful of days and her entire body wanted to be near to him. Her heart wanted what was best for him. Her mind wanted to know everything about him, on this day and every day in the future while he grew and changed.
A shadow blocked the bright sun from her eyes and she turned to see Sol standing next to her at the railing.
Her skin tingled at the sudden lack of sunlight falling on it. Pretending that it was too bright to look up into his face, she started scratching on the railing in front of her with a piece of the broken splinter.
It was the first time he had sought out her company since the kiss. But, in typical Sol fashion, he merely stood next to her and said nothing.
Meena tossed the piece of splinter over the rail and into the water below. She still had the other half to spin between her nervous fingers.
Hopefully he could not understand what she’d been thinking when she realized she loved him.
Or at that moment, right then.
She was thinking about being in love with him, and he was even closer. If he could read her mind, it would be in closer proximity. Perhaps there was something about magic users where they could read thoughts with their magic.
Meena’s heart raced, and she shook her head in an effort to free herself from her spiraling thoughts.
Everyone had the potential to wield magic. She was being fearful and ridiculous.
He still hadn’t explained why he approached her, and Meena was done with her thoughts.
“Falqri truly is beautiful,” she said, focusing her eyes on the red coastline, which was slowly coming closer. “I was here as a child, but all I remember is being overheated and constantly asking for something to drink or a fruit to eat. There was this delicious yellow one, I forgot what it was called, but it was sweet and tangy at the same time and I couldn’t get enough of it.”
“Foreboding,” Sol said.
“The fruit?” Meena asked, confused. “It was delicious. I’m sure you’ll love it.”
“The landscape,” Sol responded. He pointed to the looming cliffs ahead. “It looks foreboding.”
Meena stared out at the soft rounded sandstone which lined the shore as far as she could see in either direction. She tried to imagine seeing the layers of yellow, cream, and red through Sol’s eyes. The height of the cliff itselfcouldbe described as ominous, but Meena also thought it was more than that. “Majestic,” she said, speaking the next word which came to her mind.
“Uninviting.”
“Strong,” Meena said. “The sharp edges and rounded corners have withstood the test of time. Powerful.”
“Blood red,” Sol responded instantly. “Tired. Worn down.”
“Now you are just being wrongheaded because you enjoy it.” Meena looked up at the man standing next to her. This she felt comfortable with. Perhaps she was the one being wrongheaded.
Sol returned her gaze. He was not smiling, but the lines in his face were relaxed. “I wasn’t being wrongheaded, I was being honest.”
“As was I.” Meena tilted her chin up ever so slightly.
The corner of Sol’s mouth tilted up. “Whose words are true if the words contradict each other?”
“We were not contradicting each other,” Meena said quickly. “We were ... discussing things from a different point of view. But I still stand by what I said. You were being contradictory for the sake of quarreling.”
“Which you shouldn’t mind because you enjoy quarreling,” Sol said, his eyes still on her.
