She had been looking out of her bedroom window in the palace, her eyes focusing on something far below, beneath the thin layer of the clouds, when something quite unusual caught her eye.

A boy around her age was walking to the edge of a pool not too far from her own home. Did he not know this was the place of the gods?

Annoyance crept up her spine as she watched him, her lips pressed tightly together.

Without knowing he had a viewer, the boy dragged the hem of his shirt up and over his head, the toned muscles of his back and abdomen flexing under her gaze. She flushed, embarrassed to be watching such a private moment. She had half a mind to look away, but something about him kept her eyes on his every movement.

She did look away when he slid off his pants and trousers, glancing back only once he waded halfway into the pool.

He dipped his whole body under the water, then threw his head back to slick his hair out of his face. She let out an audible gasp, quickly covering her mouth in a panic, worrying she'd alert someone to her whereabouts.

Her head swung around and, when she didn't hear any noise of approaching footsteps, she sighed in relief, turning her eyes back to the window.

He was beautiful.

She hadn't been able to see his face fully until that moment, and the light had hit his face and body perfectly, making him seem lit from within. It reflected off the water that covered him, highlighting the curves of muscle beneath his skin.

A tingle of some feeling ran down her lower back, thighs, right down to between her legs. Shocked by the sudden sensation, she looked away from him. He had to have been doing some sort of magic on her, she didn't know what in the world was happening to her.

Glancing back to him as he ran his fingers through his hair, she felt a sudden urge to be touched. Right, she realized in the moment, between her thighs, where it ached. She had no idea what strange possession caused her to perch on her window seat, back against the wall, lifting her hips to slide off her long, thin skirt, fingers slipping down her torso to rest snugly in the space of her legs.

She had no idea what she was doing. She had never felt this before, except maybe once, in a dream that she woke up sweating afterwards.

She just let her imagination take over, sliding her fingers against her skin. A shiver ran its course along the length of her body.

Testing, she moved her fingers further. They brushed over something that caused her entire body to jolt in reaction. A broken breathe escaped her lips, followed by a sound that was something like a whimper.

The sound of padded footsteps came from behind her large oak door. In a panic, she jumped up, hiking up her skirt and stole one last glance at the boy before yanking the drapes closed. She threw herself on her bed unceremoniously, grabbing a book to make as if she had been reading and not touching herself down there to a boy bathing moments before.

Just in time, she opened the book right as a fist rapped gently at her door.

"Come in!" She called, trying to calm her ragged breathing.

The door opened a crack and a head of dark brown hair peeked in. She forced herself away from letting out a sigh of relief. Just Mina.

Although she wasn't fine with her best friend walking in on her while she was half naked, she was glad it was her and not someone else.

"Miss Y/N?" She asked tentatively, stepping through the doorway. "Are you all right?"

Y/N nodded, gritting her teeth slightly. "Yes, just reading. Why do you ask?"

Mina looked a little uncomfortable. "I just... thought I heard a noise, that's all. I'm glad you're okay."

She shook her head, waving her away. "It must've been one of the birds, they like to perch on my windowsill. I thought I saw one before you came in."

Mina visually relaxed, as if her whole body had let out one big sigh. Y/N wondered if she had been suspicious of her doing exactly what she had been just then. "Alright then, miss. I'll let you read now, goodbye."

With a click of the door announcing her exit, Mina left the room.

Y/N waited for what must have been five minutes after Mina's departure before heading to the window.

Damn it.

In the time that Mina had spoken to her and Y/N had waited, the boy had left his spot in the pool. Nothing about the water betrayed the fact that he had even been there to begin with.