[Complete] Eroh has reached his seventeenth spring and has finally become a man. With manhood comes a gift: marriage to the woman he loves. But when a strange new woman from another world enters his life, he is stuck with the decision to honor his...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
I followed Aqule through the castle and to the mouth of the cave. We moved slowly and kept to the shadows. Never saying a word until we escaped from the mouth of the cave and were in the light of the sun.
Never in my life did I welcome the warmth that met my body. The air that freshened my mouth and cooled my lungs. The smells of pine that made my nostrils twitch. Being locked in a cell, you forget these simplicities. But I prayed to the burrow God's that I'd never forget them again.
"We've made it," Aqule said, smiling brightly. I looked upon her. Sunlight made her hair shimmer like gold while her blue eyes glowed like light off water. She was even more beautiful in the light. "What?"
I wiped the drool from my lips. "I … um … want to thank you for helping me escape."
Aqule pulled her arms behind her back. "You would've done for me."
I scratched the back of my head. "You don't know that …"
"But I do. You're a good man … like your brother." She tilted her head over her right shoulder, rocking forward and back. "A man any woman would be lucky to have."
My body tingled and I tried to hide the red in my cheeks. "And you … you're unlike any other girl I've ever met."
Aqule's cheeks raised and I saw the pearls in her mouth. A smile that drew my eyes to her bright pink lips. She leaned forward, I didn't hold back, pushing out my lips to greet hers. We inched closer and closer, and I smelt the sweet, aquatic flowers of her skin. We closed our eyes ...
Behind me, a branch cracked. I whirled on my heel. Aqule looked over my shoulder. Two small, gray, four-legged creatures with bushy tails scampered across the earth. They leapt from ground to tree, chasing on another to peak in a second. I smiled. Aqule giggled.
I found her eyes and drowned once more, leaning in. She pressed a hand on my chest. "You best get going … you've got to reach them first."
I nodded, feeling the tingle in my body fade. "right."
She pointed. "Follow the trail down the path. You need to reach the loch before my father." Aqule gazed upon my skinny frame, frowning. "Do you have the energy to run?"
I'd hardly had the energy to get out of the castle, let alone run. Being a prisoner took its toll on me. But I could not allow her to learn this truth. Not with what she did for me. Not now. Not when our clans lives were at stake.
"I'll make like the wind." She raised an eyebrows. I laughed. "It means I'll be quick."
"Oh … right."
I turned on my heel and looked down the trail then peered over my shoulder at the blue girl. "Your sister … Marina."
Aqule's lips trembled. "Yes?"
"If she was anything like you then it's truly a shame she was lost so young." I swallowed. "My apologies."
Aqule closed her eyes allowing the tears to run down her cheeks. "She was nothing like me … the exact opposite, really. But she was the greatest friend I'd ever had … and the greatest sister one could ask for. I accept your apology, Eroh. Thank you." I smiled and nodded then turned back towards the trail. Her voice trembled and she sniffled, "And your brother … was he anything like you."
