Flashback Surface Tension (Solo)

[Nyela Carum]

54th of Spring, 509 The Blue Grotto Nyela let the warm lapping water soothe her aching muscles. She kicked her feet gently at the shallow end of the pool, thinking about what she wanted to say as Sadira slipped out of her clothes and slid into the shimmering pool next to her. “Why don’t you like Dashiell?” Sadira voiced the question, but she plucked it from Neyla's mind and saved her from having to bring up the tension between them herself. She studied the serious lines of Sadira's face. The angles were much too hard for someone who was only sixteen. Her gold eyes narrowed, pinning Nyela's gaze with accusation. It was then that she realized she must have been wearing every thought she was thinking clearly on her face. She and her sister shared a unique bond, but it didn’t run deep enough for Sadira to read her mind. Drip... Drip... Drip... Water dripped from a stalactite into the pool. It was the only sound that she could hear besides the rush of blood behind her ears. Dashiell was not her favorite topic. “It’s not that I don’t like him. It’s that I think you’re too young to be so serious about anyone.” Sadira sucked in a shaky breath and was silent for a chime. When she opened her mouth to speak again, her voice quivered with the same hint of anger. She wasn’t very good at swallowing her emotions. Nyela's statement had been simple, but she could tell by the storm brewing behind Sadira's long eyelashes that it was anything but simple to her. “I love him. You’ll have to get used to having him around.” Nyela snorted. That’s what she was afraid of. Sadira was too young to be carrying such a heavy burden. She wanted her love to be infatuation—something that would pass in time, but it had been three seasons and she was still clinging to her relationship with him. In Nyela's mind, if he really cared about her, he would have let her go already. That was her opinion anyway, and the sooner she saw it, the better they'd both be. Their romance was taking a heavy toll on her relationship with her sister. “Bittara, you’re too young for love.” “Good Viratas. Do you hear yourself? You’re only eighteen. What do you know about love? The only thing you care about is the Place of Purging. You’re never even home.” Her nails dug into the stone edge of the pool. She drug the tips across the dips in the surface. Sadira's head was as hard as the walls of the pool. Harder. Nyela blew out a frustrated breath and sunk down below the surface of the water. The bottom of the pool was calm in comparison to the ripples on the surface. If she could have held her breath long enough, she would have anchored herself to the floor and not come back up. She knew Sadira was up there with her building anger, waiting for her to surface so she could take another dig at her. Things were not going the way they were supposed to. Nyela hated fighting with her sister. She loved Sadira. A petch of a lot more than Dashiell. Just thinking his name made her want to spit venom. She opened her eyes under the water and looked up at her sister. Her body was rigid. So much for a relaxing trip to the Blue Grotto. Nyela may not have wanted to fight with her, but she was going to have to see how ridiculous she was being. She kicked off the bottom and headed for the surface.