My eyes are wide open; adjusting to the darkness, there crouched beside me is a silhouette of someone gesturing for me to keep quiet with their finger held to their lip. They gesture me to follow them. I do so without even thinking twice about it, despite Shaylo''s mention of planning the proper escape. Very quietly, we exit the barn and creep outside of Newlyn''s gates, my night visitor turns to face me, and without a word, or hesitation they pull me into a passionate kiss. Sit holds me close in his warm embrace; it feels so soothing like the feeling you get when you are home. This is my first kiss. To be honest, I never really paid much attention to anyone before having met Sitrus. The warmth of him feels so sweet and inviting; I realize that I am still completely naked; I left my sheet on the cot. Sit takes my hand and leads me down the path to the ocean, periodically glancing back at me, making sure that I don''t miss a step.
He smirks at me, “Where are your clothes?”
I decide to play it casual and shrug, “I knew you would break me out of my pen for a night swim.”
Knowing that I am being sarcastic he replies, “I see, what else do you care to tell me?”
I hesitate and look up to the dark sky for inspiration, but nothing creative comes to me. “I don''t know. I didn''t think you felt so strongly about me?”
He looks at me, memorizing every feature of my face, “These things just sort of happen.”
I can’t get that weird discussion with Newlyn out of my head when she was hinting that I should start expanding on my relationship skills, which then followed with Sit, conveniently showing up in my bedroom shortly after, “Did Newlyn put you up to this, to break me in so to speak?”
He chuckles, “She asked me to help you get aquatinted with me and with Shaylo.”
“And?” my eyebrows furrow.
“Newlyn bid it, but this side you see is me, it’s not an act; come with me.”
He leads me into the ocean after he has completely stripped down. I did not see it initially, but he has a bar of soap. We go in together about waist deep and wade in the water, just as we did the other day. He is so gentle, it is quite soothing, starting with my shoulders and hair and working his way over my entire body. He massages and I feel relaxed and safe in his arms. He turns me to face him.
“How is that?” He asks.
“Relaxing” I smile shyly; this is all new to me.
“Good” He smiles; he is down on one knee in the water and has me leaning on his bent knee as he holds me steady. He keeps his gaze while handing over the bar of soap. “I want you to do the same thing.” What? He wants me to wash him. He gestures saying, “It is okay.” He encourages in a whisper.
I change positions and slowly glide in the water so that I am now behind him. I start by washing his shoulders, then slowly lathering up his hair and running my fingers all over his body, massaging him thoroughly. I take my time and make sure that I am gentle. I am uncertain of the web that I am in so I do what I can to make sure that this moment in time is special so that he knows I care for him. I don''t think I will ever get used to this. I have feelings for him, but he is my master. I am posing as his prisoner, the catch; Shaylo knows that I like him. She can tell that he likes me, but her spin on things is that I should take advantage of his feelings and use it to escape with Shaylo. The truth is that I don''t know which option to decide on so instead, I am going to continue to play both sides. This intimate moment together ends in the dark of night in the warm ocean water and after we just wade in the shallows.You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.
“Now down to business” Sitrus says, “What did Shaylo share?” Sitrus waits, confidant that I am dedicated to this cause.
“Well, your plan has worked so far. I believe that Shaylo is convinced that I am in the exact same predicament as her. I feel that she believes that I am also a prisoner.”
He nods, clearly satisfied with the news, “Well that''s good to hear. So, you have gotten over that obstacle, please continue.”
“It sounds as though she only had Shrago as an ally on Rosaleen''s ship.”
“Why do you think that?” He asks.
I answer, “Because; Shaylo explained the reason why she feels that no one has come to her rescue.”
Sit seeming happy with this information asks, “What did she say?”
“Shaylo feels that if her acquaintances in the Palace knew the truth of her situation that she is certain she would have already been rescued. If she did have other allies on the ship other than Shrago, regardless that the ship is no longer here and still far away from the Palace, there would have been plenty of opportunity for allies to leave the ship to aide in her rescue and seek revenge for Shrago.” This is logic to me, and I stand by my opinion, and continue with my reasoning, “If Shaylo was lying, then why hasn''t Shaylo been rescued, or at the least have anyone ask about her whereabouts.”
Sit seems to agree with my hunch, “That’s a good point; Newlyn suspected that this was the case. The truth is that there has been absolutely no one that has come looking for her, or any suspicious sightings of strangers in the area.” Sitrus pauses then asks, “Did Shaylo say anything else?” I continue explaining her background, where she grew up and how she came to be a part of the Palace. I try to talk to him as much as possible to make it seem that I am not leaving out any details; I left out the part of an escape plan. I don''t want him to suspect and possibly share with Newlyn; I can''t risk having more eyes on us, or risk being trapped forever. We already have that boy Sid watching us from a far, that is hard enough as it is, and from what I can tell once we are locked up in the stable there are no watchers. I want to ask Sit if we are being watched throughout the night but decide otherwise. I don''t want to draw suspicion in the relationship that we are developing.
“You have far exceeded my expectations Taylan.” He lifts me into his arms, carries me to the shore, setting me down near to the pile of his clothes and then realizing that something is amiss. “Oh yah, you have no clothes.” I nod.
“Remind me, why where you naked?” Sit asks with a smirk.
“I tried to bathe myself.” He makes a face, and I shove him.
He laughs while saying, “I’m just kidding with you. Well, do you feel better now that you have had a real bath with actual soap?” I smile and nod. “Well good, we should get you back to your pen; I can’t have this raise any suspicions.” I say nothing, feeling a bit of disappointment. I miss feeling normal, clean, and not being treated like an animal.
Quietly, we head back through the gates of Newlyn’s and down the path around the servants’ house to the barn. Sit quietly opens the barn door and we both slip in. He opens the stall door and motions me in after reaching into his pant pocket and uncovering a key, the lock on my door seems to have been clicked shut he opens the lock with his key and then clicks the lock shut once I am in. I just look at him, watching as he takes no notice of me, my guess is, he is avoiding eye contact on purpose, just in case Shaylo is watching, it is still the middle of the night. I would imagine that there are a few hours before sunrise. My eyes have long ago adjusted to the darkness, and I can make out his figure moving as quietly as a cat. He says nothing and just quietly exits the barn.
Unfortunately, I am wide-awake and a mess of emotions. This is not a game. This is my life. I am stuck in the middle of someone else’s battle but, so, is he? I touch my clothes that are still where I left them hanging to dry. All I feel is just a few damp spots, so I re-adjust them by flipping the fabric over to dry and retire to my cot.
My eyes close, I should take back the wide-awake feeling that I had just mentioned because my fatigue quickly takes over and I slip away.
I am not sure how long I had drifted off for, but I hear a sound, and it is not coming from Shaylo’s stall, its closer. Someone is in my stall.