Page 3 of Enchantment of Silver and Sea
“So maybe I’ll see you two at lunch then,” Zander said as we reached the foot of the stairs. He continued walking backwards toward the heavy glass doors that led into the city.
“Yes! See you then!” Brielle waved as we turned to head in the opposite direction, toward the Knowledge Center.
A few seconds passed. I realized they were waiting on me to say something. “See you then,” I echoed. Awkwardly.
As soon as we were out of earshot, Brielle grabbed my arm with a strength that could only come from endless hours of kneading dough. “Maila Gray!” she half-scolded, half-whined. She only used my full name when she meant business. “When are you going to just accept that he likes you?”
“He doesn’t like me,” I said lamely. He did, and we both knew it.
I gave her a sheepish look. Then we dissolved into laughter.
“What are you so afraid of?” Brielle demanded between giggles as we stepped through the back entrance of the living quarters and into the courtyard.
The Knowledge Center loomed roughly half a mile ahead, beyond immaculately maintained gardens. Every mass of magenta bougainvillea, every smattering of Blue Daze, every cluster of bubblegum pink pentas were meticulously tended to by the Wildlife Preservation department.
“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. The sweet scent of the flowers filled my nostrils, mingling with the salt air.
The salt from an ocean that we weren’t allowed to see.
Thank goodness I had my books. I sometimes wondered what the general public imagined when they heard of this mysterious ocean that lurked beyond our walls. Then again, maybe it took a lifetime staring at old photos in books to make a person even care about such a thing.
“Don’t you think he’s just…painfully handsome?”
I laughed again at Brielle’s wistful sigh. “Of course I do.”
But I didn’t, and that was the problem. Handsome? Absolutely.Painfullyhandsome? Not so much. Not to me, anyway.
My logical mind could look at Zander and appreciate all the things that made him nice to look at. But the girl who had grown up with Irene and her books of fairytales wanted more than “nice to look at.”
I didn’t ache for Zander. And I wanted someone who made me ache for them, in more ways than one.
“Is he not your type?” Brielle pressed.
I shrugged. “I don’t think I’ve ever really had a type. It’s not like we have a lot of options here.”
Brielle scoffed. “You need to start living in the real world, Maila! Even if we were born hundreds of years ago, before The Awakening, it’s not like all the men on the planet would be lining up for you to take your pick. All those stories you read mess with your head.”
She was probably right. Again.
“Eventually Zander’s going to get bored of pining for you, and some other woman is going to lock him down. And with any luck, it will be me.” She sighed again.
I could certainly picture Zander walking hand in hand with Brielle, like two beacons of warmth and light that were always meant to find one another. I knew that deep down, it hurt Brielle that Zander had never considered her in that way.
“He doesn’t like me like that, though.” It was as if she read my thoughts. “He’s asked out just about every single woman inthe Knowledge Center. Including Trena now, apparently. But I think he must see me like a sister.”
“I actually hadn’t heard about the Trena thing until you mentioned it earlier.”
“I know you didn’t.” Her smile was smug. We were at the front doors of the Knowledge Center now, and I held the door for her as we walked inside. “I have to keep track of these things for you since you refuse.”
“Thanks,” I said, my voice thick with sarcasm. “I don’t know what I would do without you to keep me up to speed. It’s a shame Cyllene doesn’t have gossip magazines like the old ones in the Library. That could have been your work assignment instead.”
“Absolutely!” Brielle exclaimed, so animated that her braid flipped around and dropped over her chest. “Who truly needs my cooking when you have my juicy gossip to sustain you?”
We paused in the main hall. The Library was on the right-hand side of the compound, the Culinary Preservation department to the left.
“Well,” I said after a moment. “I guess I’ll see you and Zander at lunch then.”
I took a step toward the Library. But just like earlier on the balcony, I suddenly had a strange urge to turn back around.
