🌊ELYSTIA🌊

Sidra sits on the edge of her bed with her arms crossed and her body slightly rocking. She's traumatized.

I sit in silence on my bed, staring at the lantern that gently glows. The night started off so peacefully. I ate delicious food with Sidra, joking that the massive amounts would give me a heart attack. But the joke is on me. Because it turns out that the heart attack wasn't caused by food but by the dozens of couples that started fucking under the moonlight. Not to mention that over the past few days, I've unknowingly made a fool of myself in front of The Captain. Treating him like he's a peasant like I am.

Sidra and I weigh our options.  She is worried about leaving her friends and the camp's safety, but I'm determined to not lose our home. Without access to the forest for hunting, I have no means to provide for us.

We'll have to stay in this camp one way or another.

As shocking as the entertainer's job is, I'm not offended by it. It's only natural for the masters to need fuel to prepare for battle. The entertainers are selfless for volunteering, and although I will never be brave enough to bend over for any male who crosses my path, I admire the women's dedication to the war.

I'll have to figure out how Sidra and I can contribute, because neither of us will be entertaining any male.

Although The Captain is terrifying, I have no choice but to meet with him tomorrow. I can only pray that he took no offense when I insulted his character and boot with my spit. I hope that we remain friends, but that's becoming increasingly difficult. His constant teasing is confusing, but I don't think he's serious. He must merely be amused. I'm sure that whenever he flirts with the confident entertainers, they match his energy. They wouldn't foolishly blush and tremble like I do.

His flirting with me can't be serious. I wouldn't know the first thing about entertaining a man like him. My focus is on hunting and learning about the customs of Zolan. I have no business getting entangled with a Captain.

"How long have you known The Captain?" Sidra asks, unable to look at me. Angry that I've kept secrets.

"I don't know him. I thought his name was Za and that he was just a master. I gave him some archery lessons in the forest. He hid his identity. Tricked me"

"Please don't anger him, Elystia. I don't want to be kicked out of camp," she whispers.

"Don't worry. We're not going anyehre," I reply. "We'll pull our weight and earn our keep."

"How? We're worthless entertainers if we're not willing to sleep with the masters. Can you please ask The Captain to assign us jobs as servants?"

I sigh. "Get some rest. I'll have news for you tomorrow."

We fall silent, but the peace lasts only a few minutes before moans from outside penetrate the thin tent hide. A master an entertainer fuck outside, reminding us of what's expected of Sidra and me.

I shudder at the mere thought of being bent over before a seven-foot, broad, growling master. Za comes to mind, and I duck under a blanket, ashamed of my curiosity.

I always felt a thrill when I sat by the coastline of Terra and stared out to the sea, imagining the rest of the world. The thought of exploring Za strikes me with the same feeling. And that's pure danger.

– • –

Sidra and I spent the day cleaning up the camp. The banners are taken down and the trash is picked up, but last night's wildness is evident on the dirt paths covered with random bits of clothing, jewelry, and beads. There's still a faint smell in the air. Sweat and sex.

I don't go hunting, afraid I'll run into Za. I know that I must meet him tonight, but I dread walking into his tent. The tent where I sleepwalked into his arms and said god-knows-what. The night is blurry in my memory, but I'm sure he remembers it clearly.

Sidra and I clean our tent, dusting the straw mat and hand-washing our furs. I scrub until my fingers are numb, and I can't remember what it was like to touch Za's forearm as I directed him to hold my bow. I'm anxious. The thought of exploring the vast, wild planet doesn't overwhelm me. But being in The Captain's broad, dark shadow is as thrilling as it is terrifying. He's wilder than any forest or sea.

When the time comes to leave my tent and march into The Captain's domain, the lamps have been lit along the camp's paths, and the moon hangs full in the sky. And yet, the night seems darker than ever.

I step outside wearing my oversized hunting clothes, trying to hide myself. I walk toward The Captain's tent, lingering on a corner while waiting for the coast to clear. I don't want anyone to see me entering his tent.

When no one is lingering, I jog across the path and enter the tent, nearly tripping and taking down the entire structure when I find Za sitting on the bed, his fingers untying his tunic. Flashing the middle of his toned chest.

He rises from the furs, walking past the lanterns that light the tent. "You came," he says, scanning me from head to toe. My oversized, plain hunting clothes seem to shrink.

"Of course."

He walks to the massive wooden desk on the left side of his tent. He sits on the chair and waves me over, handing me a sheet of parchment that is lined with words I cannot read.

"Here. Hand this order to the headmistress. As of this week, you will offer archery classes to entertainers. They aren't obligated to train, but I want them to have the option."

I'm as shocked as I was last night. He wants me to train the entertainers?

"But I can't... I'm not a leader. I–"

He raises a hand, cutting me off. "I won't hear it. You will do this, and your friend Sidra can work in the kitchens."

This is too generous for me to believe.

He unrolls a larger sheet of parchment and says, "Come closer."

My legs are weak as I inch around the desk, away from the protective barrier. I feel more vulnerable the closer I get to him.

He extends his palm, silently asking for my hand. I slowly give it to him, noticing the stark difference in the textures of our skin. His skin is rough and hot, unlike my soft and cold one.

He runs a thumb across the back of my hand, studying it unashamedly. Then he leads it toward the parchment and says, "Trace the characters. The erect lines and swirls."

I do as he orders, the ink smudging beneath my fingertip. My lips dry at the thought of having to read these letters. Of humiliating myself again.

"I want you to take this with you and memorize the shape of these letters. When you're done, return to me, and I will teach you how to read them."

I pull my hand back, panicked by the direction of the conversation. I don't want to acknowledge my weakness. I wish he didn't even know how inferior I am. How stupid.

"It's late," I rasp, ready to run and hide. "I should leave and–"

He grips my wrist and stands so quickly that the desk is pushed away a few inches. "Don't try to hide," he orders. "Don't feel ashamed."

"Please," I whisper, unable to look at him.

"You are brave and skilled, Elystia. The best archer in the camp." He grips my chin and forces me to look at him. "You are not less because it took a bit longer to learn how to read. Do you know how long it took me to learn how to swim? Twenty years. I was a grown man, unable to swim. Now I'm a Captain. It is never too late to grow."

His thumb finds my bottom lip and strokes it. My heart thunders harder, spreading an earthquake through my body that reaches my sex. I throb and ache, taken by the sensations.

"Say that you're enough," he orders.

I'm compelled to obey. Right now, under the stare and touch of this man, I'd give him anything.

"I–I'm enough," I whisper.

He releases me as if realizing that I'm one stroke of his thumb away from fainting. I remain standing on shaky legs, watching him walk to his bed and pick up a sack.

"These are for you. New dresses."

I lick dry my lips. "I don't have much money to–"

"They're gifts. The dress you wore last night fit you well. It would be a disservice if you kept hiding your beauty behind your hunting baggy clothes."

He called me beautiful?

I need to get the hell out of here before my face catches fire.

"Thank you," I blurt, eager to return to the safety of my tent. I pick up the parchment and approach him to take the sack. He holds it in his fist and bends at the waist. He then whispers, "there are new sets of underwear in the sack, too. Something tells me you're in frequent need of changing them whenever you're with me."

I snatch the sack from his hand with surprising strength and blurt a final "thank you." Then I run the hell out of that tent.

Even when I'm far away, my pulse doesn't calm because I know I'll have to return to The Captain's tent and face his ferocity again.