The God's Game

Chapter 13 - Princess and the King make a deal!

On a rockbed, overseeing the Saltstand shore , sat a lonely figure.

He hugged his knees close to his chest, to brace himself against the cold and gusty wind. The wind bullied him, messing up his long , dark hair. It whipped mercilessly against his cheeks until they flushed red.

But his eyes were bright, widened in awe. Infront of him was the vast expanse of shimmering darkness. Moon glowed down on water, painting it a bewitching tapestry of silver ripples, stretching as far as eye could see.

The sea!

Waves rolled in and crashed against shore , a sound so loud yet so pleasant to ears. He was starting to realize the sheer magnitude and beauty of this uncharted world and how little of it he had seen.

Who else could this be, if not River Verlice ?

He had been ten,when he first read about sea. It was a rather thick book called Adventures of Captain Seraphina. He did not understand majority of the plot about the fiesty sailor who cruised the tyant seas,back then.

It was only after he read the book again,many years later,he finally understood why.

The book was filled with filth his pure, ten year old self had no business witnessing !

Despite the scarring,the book always struck with River. It left him breathless, engrossed in its vivid descriptions about the violent,untamable body of water that streched out till the end of the world.

He spent many hours,daydreaming ,trying to fathom how such a thing could exist.

Now, it was right infront his eyes. And it was more beautiful than he could have ever imgined it to be.

Another figure approached him in the dark , his steps nimble as he jumped from one rock to another. River turned around to see the Southern king looming over him , his gaze fixated on the enchanting view before him.

He silently sat beside River and held out something to him. "Eat"

It was a fried...some kind of animal...or a bug..skewered on a wooden stick. It had a revolting amount of legs...? Are those legs?

"Its an fried octopus" Raven rolled his eyes "now tell me you have never eaten one "

"Im ..not hungry "

Raven was in a pair of loose black pants and a white shirt with puffed long sleeves. His hair was in its customery low messy tie, eye patch in place.

God probably hand made this man and mass made rest of humanity. He appered to be carved of marble under moonlight. From the bridge of his nose to slightly fuller bottom lip to angular and sharp bone structure.. no matter how much River stared he couldnt pick out a single thing disagreeble .

Gods really do not make flaws.

Raven ripped out a large chunk of the fried creature with his teeth, smearing the oil and sauce all over his lips and chin . Before River could protest he wiped it with his pristine white sleeve .

Never mind.

River thought back to previous day. He had asked for a day to consider if he is going to help Raven with his search.

"You have a day " Raven had said untying his binds. "Im going to put a sigil on you meanwhile "

River and Aithan both looked at him with widened eyes. " I cant afford having you run away "

He hovered two of his fingers over River's forehead. A blinding light shone and he felt a burn between his brows. It went away as quickly as it came.

"Done " he said smugly " you can run. but there is nowhere you can hide from me now."