WaterBlade

Chapter Four

Papa was asleep by the time I got home, which was just as well because I didn't feel like sharing my night yet. Part of me wanted to hold it secretly forever. I gently tucked the dress at the bottom of my wardrobe, hoping the weight of my other clothes wouldn't damage it. With a smile still on my face, I changed and got into bed, falling asleep relatively quickly. Jyn made good on his promise the next morning when guards came knocking on my door, rousing me from sleep to remind me of my change in bathing time.

Sleepily, I sat up and stretched. It was only early morning and still the heat was almost unbearable. As the day went on, it would only get hotter. Even knowing that, I still got up and made my way to the forge to help Papa. On the way, I grabbed a handful of sour berries from a wooden bowl on the table. They weren't particularly good, but it was better than nothing.

I licked the juice from my hand as I stepped outside. It seemed like Papa hadn't been awake for very long either, because he was just putting on his apron. Seeing me approach, he smiled. "Right on time, little blossom."

I chuckled at the childhood nickname and starting putting on my own apron. "I'm not that little anymore, Papa."

"You'll always be my little blossom."

After that, conversation turned nonexistent as we focused on our work. Due to the heat being so intense, we both agreed to call it quits early for the day. Whether or not it was truly part of my blood like my mother used to tell me, but none of the tribe liked the heat, and working by a fire all day wasn't ideal. Work or no, Papa and I both agreed we wouldn't work ourselves to death over a bunch of men and woman in suits. As Papa left for his own designated bathing time, I sat at the kitchen table with the rest of the bowl of berries, trying to cool down.

Looking around our small hut, I tried to imagine how people outside the Southern Sands lived. I tried to imagine houses made from stone that reached to the sky, silver platters and crystal goblets, large and amazing works of art hanging from the wall, sparkling lights hanging from the ceiling, everything my mother told me about in her stories. A light breeze ran through the cloth covering the windows, making them sway and ruffling my curly hair. I blew a piece out of my eye and looked down, trying to focus on something other than the homes of others that I would never get to see. My gaze fell on the bucket of water by the empty fireplace. It was still about half full, just enough for us to make it to our next water ration in two days. Daring a look around, I double checked the windows and doors for anyone lurking. Positive I wasn't being spied on, I raised my hand to the bucket and willed the water to move. It took a few seconds, no doubt because I lacked practice, but soon enough, the water bent to my will floated upward in an orb, hovering unsteadily over the bucket. I was elated by my success, but the amount of effort it took to just hang the water there was enormous. I let the water slide back down, noticing that I was shaking from the effort.

After calming my racing heart and wiping the sweat from my brow, I tried again. Over and over, I did nothing but raise the water from the bucket, let it hover, and then set it back down, until I no longer shook at the effort it took to do so. I was surprised that it didn't take that long to master that technique. Despite my lack of discipline, it still seemed pretty basic.

Once I got the hang of lifting the water, I began to experiment with moving it through the air. This was a little harder, and at first, my hand began to shake, causing me to worry if I might lose control of the water and have it spill everywhere. Gritting my teeth, I tightened my resolve and made more of an effort, and as a reward, the water stopped trembling. Smiling, I began to weave the water around the room, ducking it under the table, arcing it over my head, swirling in around the bucket without touching. The feel of the magic elated me, and I found myself wondering why I had never started practicing before. I knew I wasn't allowed, but I could do it in secret, like I was now.