Chapter 30

"Oh my gosh, is that the full moon?"

~*~

Moonlight fell through the bare branches like pale streamers as the group walked towards the promised spring. Maria and Arhun tried to hide that they were holding hands, and Aquila and Ashton were having a hard time meeting each other's eyes, which left Gloria and Alex to not be lovesick.

Gloria moved over to stand beside Alex as they walked, sticking her hands in her robe's pockets so they would stay warm and out of reach incase Alex got any ideas. Alex walked with only a slight hobble as the gravel and sticks scraped his feet.

"That can't be comfortable," Gloria said, nodding down to his feet.

"Being in the middle of everyone shacking up but me? I couldn't be more comfortable," he joked, smirking. "But honestly, I'd rather walk on the grass than on the gravel, but then I can't see what I'm stepping on and there was one time a fellowship mate put poison ivy oil in my socks and I don't want to have itchy feet again. It lasted over two weeks..."

"Oh my," Gloria responded quietly. "But why not wear shoes?"

"And miss out on the chance to show you how strong I am? Inconceivable. What is pain in the face of bravery?" Alex said with a husky tone to his voice and Gloria wondered how long he'd rehearsed saying that.

"You don't need to convince me you're strong, I already believe it. But what is strength in the face of wisdom?" Gloria countered light heartedly.

Alex nodded. "Wisdom is stronger than strength? Or just more attractive to the fair Gloria?"

Gloria rolled her eyes but felt a flush come to her face no matter how hard she tried to let the line roll off of her. "Common sense will always be more attractive than stupidity,"

"So perhaps the prince's wise pen is hotter than the magician's sword," Alex raised an eyebrow. "How is the Gallant Seneca these days?"

"We don't need to be talking about the attractiveness of anyone's pens or swords," Gloria said, her flush deepening. "We were talking about your choice to not wear footwear while on a walk in the woods. I gotta say, not your smartest choice."

"Which means that you find me unattractive, gotcha," Alex laughed. "I demonstrated the lack of brains, so no matter the brawn, you don't care."

"No one could say you're unattractive if they possess eyeballs, but a pretty wrapper doesn't make a tasty snack. Can we change the topic?"

"Gloria said I look like a snack!" Alex said loudly, but not a shout. Everyone turned their heads, and Gloria's eyes went wide.

"Oh my gosh, not like that!" she exclaimed.

"Exactly like that!" Alex said, laughing gregariously. He lowered his voice again, "Don't worry, I'm not trying to make you unfaithful to your prince. That would be treason, wouldn't it?"

Gloria rolled her eyes at having to correct another person. "He's not a prince anymore; he denounced his right to the throne and his mother was elected as Prime Minister. You know all of this, you don't have to make fun of him."

"But seeing you squirm over the misclassification is half the fun. I love seeing you stand up for people you care about. What you're doing for Aquila is valiant, standing by her unwaveringly. Though you know I've now won the bet,"

"I'm aware. I don't recall we set a reward on that wager. What do you suggest?" Gloria asked, skeptical.

"I wager one kiss," he said, and Gloria spun around to face him. Everyone continued walking, giving the two of them odd looks as they went.

"Are you serious?" she asked, incredulous. "Of all the things, all chores you could ask me to do, the duties I could be honor bound to do for you. Wear a silly costume, having to spend an afternoon trying to teach Maria while speaking only in rhymes, but instead you ask for this? A-" she lowered her voice, "kiss? A kiss? I have a boyfriend!"

"A single kiss doesn't have to mean anything, if you don't want it to," he said, crossing his arms and wearing his usual smirk. "But if it means something to you, then maybe I should take you to dinner first."

Gloria stared at him with daggers in her eyes and rats squirming around in her stomach. "I demand a different reward," she said, and then she turned and jogged to catch up with the group. She wasn't going to leave Aquila's side anytime soon. There was safety from predators in numbers.

Ashton was showing the group around the place, but they seemed very disinterested. "There's the springs, and there's the ancient pool that's... covered in leaves. Sorry, Gloria, the water looks like it's not at its freshest."

Gloria shrugged off her robe and looked down at the water. "I can't see the bottom," she said, growing weary of it. She'd grown up to be a strong swimmer on the Islands, but looking into the cold, dark water made her stomach flip.

The other members of their party started to wander off and explore the surrounding area, but Alex jumped into the pool at the other end than Gloria had settled at. Once he surfaced, with a leaf sticking in his hair, he swam over to her. "I assure you, there is a bottom. I can almost touch it, if I let myself sink..." He let his head sink under until the top of his head just broke the surface.

After a few long seconds went past, Gloria got worried he'd been down there too long and tried to nudge him with her foot. "Alex, come on, you're not helping,"

He came up suddenly and splashed her with pond water. "Honestly, the bottom is right there! I can just barely touch it with my toes if I-"

"If you sink, I got it." She shivered and kicked him with some water. "I just can't do any sinking right now, I don't have a good feeling about this,"

"You're never going to get over your apprehension if you don't face it head on and be honest with it. Come here-" he grabbed the foot that she had kicked at him with and pulled her into the water.

She screamed in shock and quickly was submerged in the water that was getting increasingly darker as the sun set. To Alex's credit, the water was rather clean with only the leaves at the top of the water making it look otherwise. The bottom was exactly where he said it would be, and she kicked off of it and reached the surface quickly.

She gasped for air and shivered all over. The water was freezing and the air was now chilling her exposed skin as well. "What the hell!?" she sputtered as soon as she could get out the words. "What are you, 9? Who pulls people into water by their ankles? What if I had my phone in my pocket?"

"What pocket? You're wearing a bikini bottom. Those never come with pockets,"

"I could have hit my head and drowned!" she said as she moved closer to the edge of the pool. There are no ropes around my hands and feet, I am alright. There are no ropes around my hands and feet...

"You have better reflexes than that!" Alex said, swimming closer to the edge of the pool as Gloria climbed out fully, trying to shake the jitters that had started in her chest and were quickly moving to the rest of her body. Her breathing started to rattle and she felt like her legs were going to fail. Where was her robe? Why couldn't she find her robe? It was bright pink!

"Whoa, Gloria, are you ok?" Alex asked.

"I'm fine, no worries..." Gloria said as she frantically scrounged for her robe. She needed her robe, she needed to go home, she needed her robe to go home. She started shaking and her hands weren't working properly. Why couldn't she control her hands?

"Gloria, you're shaking, and you're actually swearing under your breath. A lot. What's the matter?" he asked, concerned.

"I need my robe, I'm cold. I want to go back to camp," Gloria tried to justify.

Alex watched her. "I'm sorry, if I've upset you. I didn't realize that you were so afraid of water,"

"You've been an ass all night!" Gloria shouted, the looked ashamed she'd been hostile. "You- I-" she sputtered. "You don't know this about me, but I was tied up and thrown in a river a few years ago, before the reformation, because they called me a witch. I would have drowned if Seneca hadn't saved my life and dragged me to safety. I nearly drowned. I was nearly killed." She emphasized the last sentence. "And you just pull people into deep water without a care,"

"I'm- I'm so sorry. I feel like a complete ass. I've wronged you, I'm sorry," Alex said, his jubilance gone. He was sincere now, and he climbed out of the pool to stand near her.

"I've had worse assholes in my life, you're hardly the first or worst," she said, not meeting his eye, still shaking, rubbing her hands together in nervousness. "I really want to go home and forget this happened. I can't find my robe, where did I put my sandals-"

"Come here," Alex said, pulling her into an embrace. He held her tightly, warmly. For all the chill that Gloria felt after having plunged into the water, Alex was a furnace and just touching his back warmed her frozen fingers. He was solid and that solid warmth helped steady her nerves. "You are safe; there is no one here who wishes you harm. You are cared for and you are protected,"

Gloria let herself relax a bit, her cold nose against his shoulder. He put a hand on the back of her head, a gesture she always adored when Seneca did it. It made her feel safe and contained, like a small child being cherished. She opened her eyes and looked up at the sky where just a handful of clouds sailed slowly across the sky.

"Oh my gosh, is that the full moon?"

Hey hey! Hello, readers! I feel I should apologize again for my absecence! It's been a hot minute since I last posted a chapter, I blame my boyfriend for being too wonderful and eating up all of my free time :P. Hi Erik!

I moved the camping festivities to a different neighborhood, one of the ones from the Cottage Living pack. I like, it and I think you can hardly tell. And my game didn't feel like dying.

There were so many bloopers! I started out by writing the first bit of the group walking to the springs, and then I would write a bit about what happened when they got there and use the game play as what happened in the story. Thing is, everyone ran off! I had to keep Gloria and Alex on the lot for story, but everyone ran off to do other stuff!

Let's start at the beginning.