Chapter 25 #2
“It’s beautiful. Very green. It rains a lot.
I grew up in the countryside, close to the sea cliffs.
Before the war, Rory, Fionn and I moved to the city, Cliatha, to go to the university there.
I was studying literature and music when it broke out, and we were forced out,” Ciaran explained, “but Erinn has a rich tradition of both. Writing and music—they’re in my blood.
” He paused for a beat. Neither of us wanted to talk about the war.
“Have you ever been to Cliatha?” he asked.
“Never. What’s the city like?” I asked, genuinely curious. I hadn’t travelled much at all. I had lived in our seaside hometown until I was nineteen, and then I had moved here to Lutesse. The entire continent of Ereba was at my fingertips, but I had never been brave enough to explore it.
“Well, it’s much smaller than Lutesse.” He laughed sadly, as if it pained him to remember.
“And it’s a bit chaotic at times. The streets go every which way.
The city is built in kind of a crescent shape, around the bay.
There’s a river that cuts through the city there too, but it’s honestly more like a little creek compared to the Sequana.
It’s so small. But it feels like home. Well, it did.
Before Scion came in with their missionaries and took over everything.
” Ciaran paused again, clearing his throat.
“Do you ever go in?” I pointed my toes, still in those strappy heels, toward the water, changing the subject again.
“What? In the Cistern?” Ciaran sounded affronted.
“Yes, in the Cistern. I’ll have you know I was at a dance class before your show.
I’m still all hot and sweaty. I could use a swim.
” I couldn’t help the smile that spread across my face.
I wanted to jump in. To do something silly and fun and frivolous after all this heavy talk.
The urge was so strong. Tentacled monsters or no.
I had lived my whole life by the ocean and I was a strong swimmer.
It had been forever since I had a chance to swim.
“No, I’ve never gone in. It’s freezing down here. You’re barking mad.” Ciaran leaned back, bracing his muscled forearms on the stone ground behind us, and chuckled. “You’re just like them…”
“Like who?” I demanded.
“There’s this group of old ladies just outside of Cliatha who swim in the ocean every day, rain or shine, winter or summer. You’d fit right in with those old birds.” Ciaran’s eyes shone. I pursed my lips, not knowing how to interpret him comparing me to the old ladies from his hometown.
“I dare you to jump,” I said in a singsong voice. I was feeling bold. So bold and so stupid.
“You shouldn’t have done that.” Ciaran was scrambling to his feet now. “Invoking a dare is sacred magic,” he said, his voice low and solemn. “I cannot refuse it without paying dire consequences.”
“Is that so?” I got to my feet as well, heels sliding a bit on the rough, rocky ground.
“It is indeed. But I have a counter spell for certain.” He held a hand over his heart in mock solemnity. “I double dog dare you to go in with me.” Mischief sparkled in his eyes, and my heart squeezed at the sight of it.
“Double dog dare?” I laughed. “What dark magic is that?” I started to joke, but then I fell silent, because Ciaran was unbuttoning his shirt, shrugging it off. My breath caught and suddenly, it didn’t seem so funny anymore.
“Double. Dog. Dare.” He punctuated every word as he shucked off his shoes and pants, standing in his underwear, looking at me expectantly.
“I guess I deserved that,” I hissed, sounding braver than I felt. “Okay. Here goes nothing.” I shrugged out of my shift dress and kicked off my heels. My lacy black brassiere and tiny shorts were all that remained. For a moment, Ciaran and I just stared at each other.
I had seen Ciaran without a shirt before, but it had been accidental—like when I had first escaped the opera house, or when we bumped into each other on the way to the bathroom in the middle of the night.
This was purposeful. It was intimate. His body was magnificent.
It took all the restraint I had to keep my eyes from roving down to the tight black shorts he wore.
To stop myself from looking at him in too much detail.
Ciaran had no such restraint. He was staring at me with obvious hunger in his eyes as they lingered on my breasts, my thighs, between them. Blush rose in my cheeks as he caught himself and brought his gaze back to my face.
“Ready?” He cleared his throat, as if his mouth had gone as dry as mine had.
“Oh, I was born ready,” I mocked, trying to shake off the sudden tightening in my chest.
Ciaran held out a hand—I took it. “Three. Two. One. Go.” We ran the three steps to the edge and hand in hand, launched ourselves into the air.
The water in the Cistern hit me like a thousand tiny knives. It was so cold my toes went numb in the seconds it took to kick back up to the surface. I held tightly onto Ciaran’s hand as my head broke through, gasping down lungfuls of air, laughing.
“Holy mother of demons, that’s cold,” Ciaran swore as he shook tendrils of hair out of his eyes, water spraying my face.
“I immediately regret invoking the dare!” I shrieked.
My feet hadn’t touched the bottom when we launched ourselves in—I could not stand now.
The Cistern’s depths remained a mystery, and I treaded water.
My knee brushed against Ciaran’s beneath the surface.
My hand was still in his. Dark eyes held mine and we stayed there silently for a few moments.
“You know, it’s not so bad once you get over the initial shock.
” Ciaran pulled his hand away from mine, swimming a few strokes toward the centre of the Cistern and looking back at me.
Water sluiced down his neck, gleaming on the strong column of his throat.
I tipped back, floating at the surface. With my ears under the water, I couldn’t hear anything but the hammering of blood in my veins as I stared up at the ceiling of this underground cathedral.
As I floated on my back I felt Ciaran place his hand at the base of my spine, holding me aloft.
His other hand found my shoulder blade. Any time he touched me it burned with heat, even here in the frigid water.
I closed my eyes and let myself float as Ciaran’s thumb brushed back and forth along my shoulder blade.
I could feel his eyes dragging over my whole body, and goosebumps rose all over my flesh.
I didn’t think it had anything to do with the temperature of the water.
“I’m glad I got to hear you sing tonight.” I pulled myself upright once more, bicycling my legs, knees knocking into Ciaran’s under the water. “Maybe one day we could…” I trailed off.
“Yes?” Ciaran looked eager to hear what I had to say next.
“Maybe one day we could sing together?” My stomach flipped.
It wasn’t like I was suggesting anything intimate—but it felt like I was.
It felt like the most intimate thing we could do.
To sing together. To have our voices intertwined would be more intimate than almost anything I could think of.
After years of being unable to sing in front of anyone it was almost… taboo.
“I would like that,” Ciaran said, tilting his head, looking at me with something that felt like awe.