Page 78

Chapter 78

Saelyn

I was fifteen and convinced I was in love.

I was so incredibly flustered that summer, avoiding Thevin’s persistent requests to swim in the Great Stream . What if I slipped and fell? What if Moira decided at that exact time to dive naked into the water as she loved to do? What if Thevin still saw me as just the child he grew up visiting a few months of the year and not the young woman I was blooming into?

Surely , I was blooming.

Hopefully . Probably .

My long, gangly legs were filling out along with my hips and chest, and I found myself staring at Thevin constantly that summer, admiring the pale blue of his eyes, the dimple at his left cheek when I made him laugh.

He wore me down eventually, chiding me the day before he and his parents were to leave back to the Hallow Marshes . I wasn’t too unhappy about it, since I had convinced my own parents to let me visit his family in the Hallow Marshes . Then , I would get to see the Spire for the first time while we sold rhyzolm at the markets.

I would see Thevin again in three months, but I could not deny him a dip in the Great Stream that summer.

We stood on the edge of the bank while Boros splashed in the water, chasing a stick I’d thrown. My mother had taught me how to calm the stream just by asking—something to do with the fae blood we shared from the woman who had given some of her power to my mother.

“ What are you waiting for, Sae ?” Thevin asked, gazing out over the steady stream.

“ You’re the one who wanted to come so badly!” I scoffed, nudging his arm. “ You jump in first!”

He smirked, looking me over and frowning slightly. “ It’s funny,” he started, “ I don’t remember your eyes matching the color of this water.”

He’d been saying more and more absolutely embarrassing statements like that all summer long, and once again, I felt the color rising in my cheeks, suddenly more than happy to escape his gaze and jump.

I dipped my foot into the stream, splashing him playfully. “ I’m not surprised. You never notice anything right in front of you.”

He took my hand, threading his fingers through mine, mumbling, “ That’s not true. I’ve always known your eyes were blue, Sae , I just…didn’t know they were this blue.” He gestured back to the water.

I gulped and bit my lip.

“ Shall we?” he asked, bending his knees to jump.

“ Yes ,” I answered, “let’s jump in together.”

With a synchronized shout, we leapt into the Felgren breeze and splashed into the Great Stream of Felgren .