Below the Peak (Sola)(91)

She shuffled the drawing and looked at another one. It was elves dancing in the dark with white light hovering over them. They had a euphoric expression on their faces.

“It’s done,” Calemir said.

Nara looked at him. “May I?” she tentatively asked.

“Sure” he muttered after a second of reluctance, then passed the paper to her.

He captured the elk and the hills tastefully despite using only black and white charcoal

Nara’s mouth parted. “You drew me?” she glanced at him.

“Well, you saw him,” Calemir said, rubbing his neck feeling suddenly embarrassed.

Nara sucked in her bottom lip. He had drawn her pointing to the elk and with all minute details. She looked at him again. “It’s beautiful”, and she said it not because he had drawn her, but the drawing itself was good. He skills were impressive.

“You can keep it” the corner of his mouth twisted upward.

“Oh, thank you,” she said. “Mind holding it for now?” she had no place to keep it. And she really didn’t want to fold it and cram it in her quiver. Nodding, he took the drawing and the others from her and put them back in the satchel.

****





Chapter forty-three


In a very long time, Calemir had the urge to be reckless. To just forget everything, all the good and bad and just enjoy the act of being alive even for just a short while. He closed his eyes briefly and breathed in, chest rising and falling. His eyelids fluttered open, his green eyes sparkling. His wife warily looked at him. Calemir responded with a crooked, mischievous grin. He bent over and started with his boots, pulling one then the other off. The coldness from the wood prickled his feet, sending a tingling up his legs.

“What are you doing?” Nara asked.

“Going for a swim” Calemir gave her a lazy grin as he untucked his shirt from his waist and shrugged it off from his body. Her eyes widened by a fraction, surprised by his sudden decision. He didn’t miss the way her eyes slid down from his face and down to his shoulders and chest before going back quickly to his face with a faint pink coloring her cheeks.

“Want to join me?” Calemir offered, cocking his head to the side. If he had been alone, he would’ve taken off his trousers too, but he didn’t want to shock her.

Nara’s breath hitched at his invitation. “Uhh, no.”

“Alright,” He turned, giving her the view of his defined back before diving in. Nara jerked back as the water splashed, a little of it getting in the boat. She wiped small droplets that had landed on her face and watched as his dived back up and met her whilst floating. He gave her that lazy attractive grin again before flipping around. Her eyes fixated on his shoulders, flexing back and arms as he stroked and moved forward.

Nara smiled and shook her head. He was making it difficulty tempting to just give in and jump in the lake the way he was swimming languidly. Letting a contended sigh, she scooted closer to the edge of the boat. She folded one sleeve of the blouse she wore and dipped her hand into the lake. Goosebumps broke over the skin on her hands. The lake was cold. She swirled her hand in the water absently. It was when she stopped her little play and straightened that she noticed Calemir was nowhere to be seen. Poking her tongue in her cheek, she unrolled her sleeve. Probably he just dived in. She sat there for another five minutes and still no sign of Calemir. She frowned. Nara glanced around again, her stomach knotting. The lake was calmly still with its small natural ripples and the boats. She moved again to the end of the boat, eyes scanning the water extra carefully. “Hey” she called, worried.

Nothing.

“Calemir”

Silence.

“Calemir!” Nara called louder. She nibbled on her lip, eyes searching. He couldn’t have swum back to the land for her not to notice. Could he have drowned? But he knew how to swim. Nara’s features morphed into worry. She could swim, but she wasn’t one you called an excellent swimmer. As you all know her favorite hobby, swimming was at the bottom list. She had only learned to swim when she joined the military, and that’s because it had been part of training. Standing, she was just about to take a deep dive and search for him when his familiar voice called. “Hey.”

Nara spun around. Her heart leaped into her throat as her face broke with relief. There, not far away, Calemir floated without an utter care in the world. She narrowed her eyes at him. “Where did you go?”

Calemir lifted one hand from the water. “To get this.” In his hand was green, blue and red strange looking flowers with their roots still on them.

“To get flowers?” Nara asked incredulously.

“They are not any flowers” he replied and explained no further. Nara huffed. She couldn’t believe she had worried for nothing, she had been about to risk her life for nothing. Nara shook her head as he swam toward the boat. Nara looked at flowers as he deposited them inside first. They were belled shaped with translucent petals giving a glassy reflection and black stems. They were gorgeous, but still, she couldn’t help but be slightly irritated. The least he could have done is told her before he disappeared. She was probably overreacting, but she did it anyway. As he was hoisting himself over the boat, she pushed him back to spite him.

Big mistake.

With incredible reflexes, Calemir had his grip tight on her hand, pulling her back with him. Her eyelids flew wide, brows hitting her hairline as she sank in.