Keepers of the Moon

Chapter 11. Water (4)

Hlér

She looked hurt and barely able to control her emotions. I was angry, angry that she believed that my father had something to do with her friend being in the hospital. It was ridiculous, why would my father want to do that? And who was her friend? She hadn’t mentioned a name, which raised some red flags about the truth in her words.

And yet…

I knew there was something wrong in the way my father had behaved since the party. I had felt the chill when Tane was filled with glee. Something had definitely happened and my father knew about it. And whatever it was, it had put my father into a good mood, which could mean that it was something bad for Caledonia. Though I also knew, that despite what all these people thought, my father would never hurt someone that was not also hurting someone else. He was a good man, though not someone to mess with. If he was treated unfairly, you could bet on it that he would return the favour. So whoever this ‘friend’ was and if my father had something to do with the hospitalisation, he would’ve deserved this.

But being angry with Indigo for believing something else was wrong, I realised now. She had only heard one end of the story. I knew she barely knew these people, that she had been taken in by them because no one seemed to understand where she came from. Or they just didn’t care. I realised now, that Indigo must’ve felt home for the first time in her life and that these people who took her in had won her heart. I couldn’t blame her for her loyalty to them. I would’ve been loyal too. It also explained her odd behaviour around my father, she had been filled with lies. I wanted to tell her everything about him, about that he was a kind man and would never hurt anyone. But I doubted whether she would believe me. At least she had given me a chance, she saw me separate from my father.

This was both a relief and a burden.

Because I could not deny the fact that was my family, yet she wanted to hang out with me despite her reluctance to meet my father. I loved her for that, that she didn’t see me as some faraway Prince, but just a boy. She saw me the way I wanted to be.

I looked over to her, her fingers were folded over the rail, knuckles all white. Her lips were drawn into a thin line, yet her cheeks were rosy due to the wind. Her braid lay neatly on her back, while her yellow jacket fluttered in the wind and the salt spray of the ocean left tiny sparkling droplets on the fabric. Her intense grey eyes were scouring the bay and following the sailboats, who came right for us. Or more precisely the yellow buoy in front of us. She sighed deeply and some of the tension in her shoulders seemed to melt away, though her eyes remained fixed on the competition.

She was the most beautiful girl I’d ever seen.

I needed her close to me, whatever it’d cost me.

I wanted her, with all her flaws and accusations.

She looked so distant, like she had already separated herself from me and a sudden surge of sadness shot through me. My anger had drawn her away from me. I had was so stupid!

‘I’m sorry I reacted so angry. It wasn’t meant for you.’

She looked at me, her eyes bright and shimmering. I could see the bay behind me reflected in them, I drowned a little.

‘I know, but we can’t pretend that the world around us is normal.’

I sighed and looked away from her piercing eyes.

‘It’s a mess, isn’t it?’

She just nodded and turned back toward the race. Everything in my body told me that she didn’t want anything to do with me anymore, but I couldn’t let it go. Not while we were still on this boat.

‘I think we’ve both heard stories from only one side of the conversation and that’s never the whole truth I suppose. There isn’t anything I can do to change that, but I do like you, Indigo. I hope you still want to meet up with me, while I’m still here.’

She turned around again, leaving only one hand on the railing, while the other tucked a few flyaway hairs behind her ear. Her eyes looked at me, calculating and interested. She had no longer that distant look, though something in her had changed. She felt a little more relaxed.

‘I do like seeing you too, Hlér. But the people at Gaeilaí… I am worried what they would think of me if they knew I was seeing you. Whether you believe or not, they think that Nordlys is guilty for hurting Mo Bhean. It’s unfair, I know, but I really need that job.’ She bit her lip while her eyes actively avoided mine.

‘I am here for just this week. After that I’m off home and you’ll never see me again. Promise.’

She laughed, though it sounded melancholic. Like she wasn’t looking forward to that premise.

‘So just for this week?’

I nodded, a little too enthusiastically.

‘Deal, but it’s just you and me and occasionally Abi if I can pry her away from the day-care.’ She extended her hand and I gladly took it with the widest smile I could muster on my face.

‘Though, I cannot get rid of my ‘protection’ so Tane might be joining up with us.’ She pulled up her nose but didn’t revoke her deal.

‘Well, that’ll have to do.’ She smiled at me, her shoulders still tense though her eyes no longer sad.

I knew that I would eventually lose her, she wouldn’t come with me to Nordlys, no matter what I could offer her. But for now I could make memories, and maybe, just maybe if the war never came, I could come and visit her again. And maybe, just maybe, she would want to come with me then.

The sailboats reached the buoy in front of us and my father was cheering loudly for the blue sail, that was about to take over the lead from the red sail. I cheered with him and Indigo joined in, both hands in the air and off the railing.