Glow

Rolf's POV:

I had turned my back a while ago, and since the island would no longer be there but ocean, I knew there was no reason to look back. But she did. In fact she hasn't looked away since. Even resorting to making herself comfortable on the floor, with only the soft blanket I had made for her some time ago.

"Are you hungry?"

I had guava in my hand, offering her the one I hadn't bitten into already. She looks up at me and smiles, and once the guava is taken with such a reception I couldn't help but join her on the floor of our ship. I watch her take a bite out of the ripe, exotic fruit. She is quick to wipe away the juice that slips down her chin.

"Rolf, I feel like there is so much to do. I don't know why. Things feel so incomplete."

By the time the second stream flows down, it is by my finger it's caught.

"I know. Come." I beckon her to sit between my legs so that she is close to me. Once she settles, I take in the infinite view of sky and sea and the smell of her hair, with guava on my tongue.

"I need to talk with your father. I still need an explanation for many things." My words cause her to fidget, no longer eating away at the fruit I provided. I can imagine the furrowed eyebrows and the stubborn tilt of her lips.

"What many things? What do you mean?"

"You remember that night I came back for you?"

She stills, and I swear she could feel how fast my heart is beating as I can feel hers. My arm around her front tightens as I have taken us back to that night. It's hard, but there are things I need to know about why things happened the way they did, and why to my brother.

"I was supposed to die that night. Not Ivar." Her hand grips my forearm but she says nothing, resting her head deeper into me.

"Yet he did and I need to know why someone had to die. I have been asking my gods and I'm sure you have asked yours. No answer has satisfied me, so I must find it myself. That starts with Micah."

"My father spoke of a mole. That mole was of course Xavier. I still can't believe he betrayed us. He was so good to our family, our people. He has his brother who he loves more than anything. Still, Oko got to him."

"That's the problem. It wasn't Oko."

"How do you know that? He was paid by him."

"Oko simply used Covas' head guard as a way in before the fight. It's nothing new. He wanted your old home and he knew how to get it. The man understands treachery better than anyone."

"I read about his parents." She says softly.

"Xavier acted alone and he made that clear when he mentioned your father."

Again she stays quiet, eager for my next words.

"Your father has answers to questions I didn't know existed." I almost stop myself but I force myself to ask,

"Did he tell you anything else?"

The warmth of her embrace vanishes as she sits up and away. Turning her head to me in disbelief.

"I would keep that from you if he did?"

Her face is red and hot, and I realise I have yet again humiliated her.

"That was not what I meant Fahmeen. I had to ask." Of course I knew she would never keep things from me, but something may have slipped her mind. Something that seemed insignificant. At this point, anything seemed like an opportunity at an answer to all of these questions.

"Let me make this clear Rolf. I am loyal to you. My king is you. If I thought my father had anything slippery about him, that could hurt you, our people or anyone, I would tell you. And all because you're my husband first."

Fahmeen's POV:

I don't know how to feel. Am I overreacting once again with Rolf? Or is he in fact questioning my loyalty? Either way it didn't feel right. His face looks shocked, confused and defeated. I first want to go to him and reassure him that everything's fine but he is walking towards me, and yet I can't do it. My father? Maybe why I feel so hurt is because I know there is truth to what my husband is confiding in me.

"Fahmeen".

His voice is comfort and home, warm and soft to hear amidst the darkness of confusion. My arms slowly unfold from its act of guarding myself. I don't look him in the eye, even though his lips are urgently kissing my forehead and I pick up on the hurt in his voice. I am unsettled, rattled, deeply disturbed.

"You are right." I look up at him finally and there's something dark and bright that settles in his eyes.

"Something's wrong."

...

It is night and I watch the stars in the dark blanket above our heads.

"I love them so much. It feels like I could be back in Poseidon's Drop."

Rolf pulls off his shirt and pants, lying beside me and watching the same view.

"It's much like the moon. Anywhere you go, it is the same thing." Seemingly losing interest, he faces me. My eyes linger on the skies however, enraptured as always by nature and the raw, untainted beauty. I feel his hand on my stomach. It slowly but surely strokes up. I hold back my smile as it tickles and he knows it.

"That was a shooting star. I've read about those. Some people make wishes during this time and they believe them to come true."

"Your eyes are brighter than any star." He says, a hand on my side tugging till I face him too.

"My eyes are brown, they hardly sparkle." I laugh, though his compliment makes me happy.

"Like your skin they glow, and I am in love with it." His soft hand isn't gentle at all, it's unyielding and strong as they pull me into his body. I seem to land on his lips and the hand appears on my back, holding me against his kisses. His hardness is welcomed by me, I stroke his cock and he moans into my mouth. I sit up and he helps me pull up my dress. He swallows down hard and his hands wander my skin.

"See how you glow."

I am now, wrapped up in his love I lean down for his lips and guide him inside of me.