I fiddled with my hands and continued to straighten my blouse. I was still trying to find the words to tell Paul, but I wasn't ready. Could I ever be ready? How do I tell my childhood best friend, my other half, that not only am I leaving him, but I'm leaving him for someone else?

I hadn't seen him since that night... I didn't expect him to suddenly become more available or anything, it was expected for him to be just as occupied as he was before. A thought stuck out from the back of my mind. What if he hasn't spoken to me because he regrets it? What if he let his hormones get the best of him? If that were the case, was it a good thing I was leaving for someone else?

I stared at my door and planned my next moves. I was going to get up and exit my room to make my way to the training wing where I knew Paul was meant to be right now. I inhaled, trying to find the courage to make the first move.

I found myself exiting my room with more ease than I expected. The hardest part would be having to face Paul, but I wasn't there just yet. I began down the corridor.

"Lia!"

I stopped and turned around to see Paul jogging in my direction, making an attempt to wave me down. His hair was wilder than usual and he was dressed in what I could only recognize as the stillsuits he had mentioned about before. He was grinning ear-to-ear.

"Paul?" I looked him up and down in confusion, holding back my blush. "But- why aren't you training right now?"

He shook his head and threw his arms up. "No training for me today! Instead I've got something better for us to do."

He made his way past me and ushered me to follow him, but I remained in place as I processed his message. I hadn't seen him like this before, and I was surprised by his easy-going nature despite not seeing him since our night together. "No training? Why? Did something happen?"

He rolled his eyes at my questions. "I have my ways. I wanted to take you past the wall today."

My eyes widened at this. I felt a rush of mixed emotions - flattered he thought of me, but concerned for his training. I didn't want him to be breaking any rules or jeopardize his schooling just to give me a fun time. My stomach sunk remembering the news I still had to share with him.

"That's..." I breathed in awe before the realized settled with me. "... Wrong." I gave him a pointed look. "I'm grateful for the thought but I don't want to hold you back from your education. I know there's no way your dad would give you this time off."

"Lia," Paul stopped moving and turned to face me, his smile soft and reassuring. "I'm going to be okay, don't worry about me." He shrugged and extended his hand to me. "The desert will be mine to care for one day, so I want to be the one to share it with you."

I smiled, accepting his hand. I laced my fingers with his and I felt the friendly warmth spread from the tips of fingers and up my arm until it reached my chest, numbing me with a relaxing fuzzy feeling I wasn't familiar with.

I pushed aside the revelation of my to-be marriage, deciding it could wait. It felt like ages that the two of us had been able to have real, unconstrained fun. It felt like even longer since I'd seen Paul smile so genuinely.

We reached the warehouse and he led me forward, tugging on my arm as he pulled me along. I giggled as he made exaggerated movements, acting as if we were trying not to be seen by jumping behind crates and pulling me along as he rushed towards one of the ornithopters off to the side of the room.

He opened the door for me and helped me inside before stepping in himself. The both of us got settled in the two-seater and I watched him fidget with the different 

I watched him with a smile, almost jealous of his ability to operate an aircraft. "I didn't know you knew how to fly one of these."

"Of course I do." He grinned. "You've just never seen me do it."

We pulled up and flew out of the warehouse. Flying in an ornithopter was much different from a large ship. We flew with so much more agility and movement, the slightest change in direction was very easy to feel.

I looked back and watched the palace become smaller and smaller until it was nothing but a speck in the horizon. We flew in silence as Paul took us somewhere 

I jumped at the feeling of something touching my hand, but I looked down and realized it was Paul taking my hand in his. I let him, letting his thumb caress the back of my hand. His eyes remained straight ahead but I could see the slightest smile from the corner of my eye.

After seeing nothing but sand, I could see that we were flying towards a small cloud of grey smoke. I realized it was coming from something on the ground. As we got closer I recognized it to be part of the spice production.

"Spice harvesters." Paul confirmed what I was thinking. "They move along the spice fields and pick up the spice from the surface of the sand."

I watched the machine in awe. I hadn't realized how incredibly large the machines were. If I were to stand beside it, I was certain that I'd be frightened of its size.

"That incredible." I whispered. I could faintly see the change in colour of the machine's path as it crossed over the sand, leaving the sand a slightly lighter shade than it was before. 

"Ah," My friend spoke again and raised his arm to point to my left. "That's what I wanted to show you."

I stared out my window into the desert, not seeing anything other than the sand. "What is it?"

"Look where I'm pointing, super far away." 

I followed his finger, trying hard to see what it was he wanted me to see. After a moment of staring at nothing, I spotted the small movements of the sand as it made its way in our direction, moving at an incredible speed.

"What is it?" I asked him feeling slightly uneasy at the sight of it.

"A sand worm." He laughed almost as if he were excited. "Oh and see that small thopter there? That's a spotter. They've already notified the harvesters, see? That's one right there."

A sand worm? I followed his finger again to see a small ornithopter flying around in the distance. I noticed the worm was getting closer.

"What do they do?" I asked him with a slight tone of panic. "That thing is coming closer really fast."

He nodded. "The carryalls will come grab them until the last moment. You'll see."

I watched anxiously as the worm approached the harvester. It was still a few ways away, but wouldn't want to be on the machine if I knew a worm was coming at me.

Suddenly a different aircraft appeared, reaching to a stop overhead of the spice harvester. To my surprise, it lowered itself until it touched the roof of the machine before connecting the two together.

The worm had almost reached the harvester and I was on the edge of my seat. I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding when I saw that carryall pulling upwards, bringing the huge harvester with it before flying away.

I jumped in my seat as the sand worm surfaced where the machine was just seconds ago. My eyes widened at the disturbing sight of the 400 meter long... worm move up into the air. Its teeth were like small little claws that lined the inside of its mouth.

Paul laughed at my reaction, pulling away from the scene and moving further into the desert.

I looked over my shoulder, back in the direction we came and tried to shake the image of the worm. "Where are we going now?"

"Somewhere even further away." Was his only answer.

We flew for what felt like a very long time. I didn't mind, though. I held on to his hand tightly, worried it might be the last time I ever got to do so. My mind was busy with the several things, but Paul was definitely right. The desert was beautiful. The sight made my problems disappear for at least a little while.

The flew closer to a block of sand that I realized wasn't sand but instead a block of rock. He slowed down as we approached the area before lowering us to the edge of one of the rocks.

My heart picked up. I was going to be stepping out? Into the desert? The idea made me excited, but part of me was afraid. Would I get in trouble? What if I burn? What if I get lost from Paul?

"Are you sure this is safe?" I asked him hesitantly.

"I'll be here with you the whole time." He reassured me. "I won't let anything happen to you."

I nodded, grateful for his words. He opened the door and hopped down before offering his hand to me as I stepped out after him.

My shoes on the sand felt odd. Of course I'd walked on sand many times in my life before, but something about stepping on this sand felt magical. I was standing somewhere I wasn't supposed to be, over the spice which was the most valuable essence in our entire universe.

"Here," He leaned back into the aircraft and grabbed something from the behind our seats  He passed it to me. "Put this on."

I held it out to get a better look. I realized it was one of the same Stillsuits he was wearing right now. I slipped my shoes off and motioned for him to turn around while I changed.

Paul shot me a cheeky smile. "Nothing I haven't seen before." He teased, but complied by facing the other way.

I could feel the heat reach my cheeks immediately. His comment caught me off guard but I continued to strip my clothes. Eventually I was able to pull myself into the suit which stuck to my body nicely.

Paul turned back around to help me with the back zipper. He then leaned over and adjusted the various parts of my suit so that they fit me better.

"So," I sighed after he finished making small fixes to my boots. "What now?"

He looked over towards the small mountain of rock at our side which I thought were perhaps badlands. They weaved together, almost in the fashion of a maze.

"No we get to explore." He smiled.

***

hey lovelies how are we today? just a reminder - PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE submit a book cover lol! i want every single one of you to participate, just get on your laptop or your phone and make a cover in 5 minutes.

soooo how do we feel about things so far? anything you want to see happen? any predictions? i like to keep y'all on your toes. 

also i'll do my best to upload tomorrow but i might have to skip tomorrow's chapter just to focus on studying for my midterm friday that's super important to me. we shall see though! thanks for understanding.

ps. sorry for all mistakes and typos - writing this half asleep at 2am because its the only time i have to write lol

with love,
via <3