The girl was gone. The only trace of her was a small shift in the sand.

  “Do you intend to lurk in the shadows till the black abyss consumes you?” Coara asked as she walked back to the daybed.

  The water rippled. First a leg, then an arm and a torso. A man wearing black leather from head to toe stepped into the circle. He had a half cap the same dark blue as her dress, draped over his right shoulder. A smirk made his cheekbones as sharp as glass. His wavy dark hair flowed down to his eyes.

  Jiian stood on the ocean floor, unencumbered by the flow of water like her.

  Sitting on the daybed, Coara tilted her head to the side, watching him approach. He lifted his left arm and a bottle of wine appeared in his hand, the label tilted towards her. Two wine glasses appear between his fingers. He cocked an eyebrow at her.

  “Care for a glass?” He asked, his deep voice washing over the entire space.

  She nodded in response, watching as he strolled around and leaned against the back of the daybed. He handed her the glasses, opened the bottle with a pop and poured them both a drink.

  “A toast.” He said, lifting his glass towards the dark sea beyond. The fluid started to drift out of the glass. “To the high lord Cazien for allowing us to hide in his domain.”

  “To the high lord of the mortal realm.”

  They both took a sip from their glasses, letting silence fall between them.

  “So you finally figured it out?” A soft smile graced her lips. She watched her wine settle back into the glass as she twirled it back and forth.

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  “I can’t believe it was so simple.” He looked down at her. His eyes searched her face before landing on her eyes, waiting for them to find his.

  “Ha! So Jiian finally learnt how to ask permission?”

  “Ah! Your jest wounds me like an arrow to the heart!” His voice strained in fake pain, his hand holding his chest. A laugh shared between them trickled off into comfortable silence, accompanied by only the sound of their sips. Moments passed before he broke the silence. “Why not simply give her the answer?”

  “She must learn to survive on her own.” Their eyes met. Coara turned her head to the side. “I wanted to give her the tools to survive in the future. If she can’t hide herself, history will only repeat. No matter the age there will always be power hungry people. And although you may think me callous and sometimes cruel, I don’t think it’s fair that this bloodline should continue to suffer due to their ancestors’ folly.”

  “Will there ever come a day when the world is no longer scarred by their flames?” His voice was so quiet his words barely made it to her ears. He looked out towards the dark sea, his mind adrift in memories of the distant past.

  “Mortals will soon forget as they always do. It only seems like the world is stuck repeating itself because we have lived far longer than we should have.” She caressed his cheek and he turned to face her. She waited with her eyes on his until he looked back. “We are both bound by bigger forces than our own desires.” The conversation was no longer about the mortal world, nor a girl who held the power to reshape it. It never was. They danced around one another longing to be selfish but blocked by duty. She could not bear to lie to him. But she could never be his alone.

  He let out a humourless laugh. “Will they always come first?”

  She gave him the only answer that was true, one that meant a thousand words and none at all. Silence. Coara gently leaned up and placed a kiss on his cheek. His question was left unanswered. The answer he was constantly left with. She knew the words left unspoken hurt him more than pretty lies. But she refused to break her promise even if it hurt them both.

  Coara stood and placed her wine glass on the edge of the bed. The red fluid drifted up like a steam of blood. She refused to look back at him.

  “Thanks for the drink. But I have pressing matters to attend to.”

  Coara waved her fingers and a leather bound book with a glowing symbol materialised in her hand. She walked across the sand into the abyss beyond. His eyes lingered on her silhouette as she faded into the ocean.