A Sea Like Glass by J. Leigh Bralick

Author:J. Leigh Bralick
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SisterMuses
Published: 2020-12-09T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 2 — Tarik

Iskari found me an hour later standing at the window in the common bunk room. I heard him coming, by now recognizing his stride—a solid, determined pace that never seemed to hesitate or slow down. I listened to his footsteps all the way across the long room, and when he stopped beside me, I didn’t move to acknowledge him.

“Taumir, have you eaten?”

I lifted a shoulder, and pressed my fingertips against the glass. Iskari watched me through a dark scowl until he realized I had no intention of answering.

“You can’t stay up here forever, you know.”

“I can try,” I muttered.

“Don’t be such a child,” he said. “So, you got humiliated. You humiliated Rigvar too. It’s all part of the game.”

“I’m not worried about that,” I said. “I don’t care in the least what Rigvar says about me.”

His brows shot up in surprise, but he just leaned his shoulder against the wall to get a better look at me. “Then, what?”

“Nika…she asked if the person I’ve been seeing might be the mad god, and not Veka at all. I don’t even know how I would know the difference. But the worst thing of all is that…I don’t really care.”

I could feel his uncertainty, his alarm, but still I refused to meet his gaze.

“What do you mean by that?” he asked finally, and when I kept staring out the window, he dropped a heavy hand on my shoulder and jostled me. “Taumir? What does that even mean?”

“I mean I don’t care who it is,” I said. Iskari growled at my non-answer, his fingers tightening on my arm. I shoved him off and turned to glare at him. “Look, I don’t want anything to do with him, whoever he is. I don’t want what he’s offering me.”

“Do you imagine you can survive without me?”

I shuddered and bent my head, pressing my forehead against the cold glass and closing my eyes so I couldn’t see the storm-terrible figure lingering behind me.

“Leave me be,” I whispered. Iskari took a step back, but I reached out and gripped his upper arm. “Him. Not you. Don’t leave me alone, Iskari, please.”

Iskari’s face softened slightly—more sympathy in his eyes than I’d ever seen before. “Come on. Come downstairs, get some food. Maybe it’ll distract you. Maybe it’ll help.”

Suddenly weary, I nodded and followed him toward the stairs, elbowing past the luminous figure who waited for me without even looking at him.

“Tarik.”

The name fell like a hammer stroke in my mind, or in my soul, reverberating against my bones like the stroke of a tower bell. I stumbled and almost fell to my knees. Iskari didn’t notice—he was halfway to the door already, and he never turned to wait for me before heading down the steps. I gritted my teeth and turned to face the figure whose presence I felt like a lightning bolt behind me.

“Well?” I said.

“You doubt me, still?” he said. “You named me Wake, and you named me well.”

He was right in front of me, towering over me, so close I could feel a static charge crawling all over my skin.

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