BTS: A Sword of Glass

8: Aramore

There was not a space in the horizon the sea did not reach. Maren heard about the scholars that protested the edges of the earth, attributing shapes and planes to the surface of their vast world. But from this view, the sea was a bottomless expanse--a body of water that never ceased to end. Sparkling with different glints of sun, stealing strips of light from the blue and white sky, it glistened and lived. It rolled and crashed. It remained in constant state of movement, never at rest.

She had never dreamed of seeing it. For only months ago had she planned to remained a maid, accepted that the paintings of the Highmore's frescoed ceilings would be her greatest adventure. And as she reflected, that would have been perfectly fine then. She was going to be well and loyal, committing to her duty and hopefully passing Juniper in the process. But she leaned over the mast, her hand reaching into air--as the sea was too far below the galleon's belly--near tears in her eyes as the mist kissed her hands. 

It smelled so salty, but was so gentle. Was it always this way? 

The ship collided with a larger wave, seafoam leaping into the sky. She laughed from her stomach, kind hands grabbing her by the waist and pulling her away. Happily, she glanced over her shoulder at one of the ash servants. The young lady smiled politely even if her complexion seemed pale.

"We would not want you casted over the edge, Lady. Please be careful."

Maren nodded, too eager to concentrate in one place. There were too many places to look--the fat clouds in the sky, the flock of honking birds, and of course more and more water. Before the ash servant could return to her post, Maren grinned with all her teeth. "Have you seen the sea before?"

The servant flushed, looking down at her feet. "No, Lady. But I am honored to venture with the royal party."

"Isn't it beautiful?" Maren ran back to the mast, beckoning her with a hand. The servant joined her after a beat, her smile far more strained. 

"It is very vast."

"Vast! That's the perfect word!" She turned to the waves, her voice raising to the top of her lungs. "And you can be as loud as you want and no one can hear!"

"On the contrary, Maren!" Namjoon yelled back. She found him on the bowsprit, his balance kept perfectly even through the siren carving at the end of the ship bobbed with the current. The sea mist had already dampened his hair, the sunlight painting him gold in his amber satin ensemble. Still, he smiled without turning to her, his focus so lost on the horizon she wondered if he needed help from not being lost over the edge. "Everyone on the boat can very much hear you!"

"Do you love the sea?" She shouted.

He let his arms stretch to his sides, and for a second, he appeared as a king. A leader of the world. "I do! While I love Adara, I find no fun in being landlocked for too long!"

"You're quite the adventurer, Advisor. Who would have thought?" 

"Neither did I think you would be this way!" He chuckled, a sound almost lost over the fray of the ship. "Are you eager to arrive?"

At that Maren gathered her skirts and ran to the very front of the ship, ready to climb onto the bowsprit with him until he held a hand up. He said, "Now, now. Let us not allow excitement to be the death of us." 

"I want to try what you're doing!" She wondered how he crawled up there in the first place. The carving was slippery from dew, and even then the bowsprit was about as sturdy as the plank. About ready to jump up and down, she contained it when Namjoon expertly backtracked and climbed down, his eyes more alight than she'd ever seen.

"In time, faeling. Until then, recall that you are as stable as a doe."

The sun caught hold of one of the sails, shade engulfing them both. She reveled in the bit of cool while she rolled her eyes. "I have gotten better."