Page 21 of Ocean of Silver

“I’m glad you find it amusing. I bet if I shoved a long silver object up you to test if you had sex, you wouldn’t be laughing.”

“Long silver object?” he asked, looking perplexed. He stopped laughing immediately once he met my hard, tightened gaze.

“Whatever object he shoved inside me to do thetests. I have no idea what he called it, something like aspecul—I don’t know. It was long and looked like a duck’s beak when it opened up, and it had absolutely no business being inside of me. I can assure you that you would not be laughing if it was done to you.” I cradled my lower abdomen thinking about the stupid device. It seemed more for torturing than to determine the nature of someone’s virginity. My pelvic area gave way to an immense round of cramping afterward.

“Did Semadar hurt you?” he asked, his tone turned serious. His eyes flicked down to my stomach.

“Forget it,” I said, not wanting to discuss it further and trying to hide my blush from his assessing gaze. “What are we working on today?”

He brushed it aside but worry still dotted his face, which I couldn’t understand. “Running first. Then, I want you to start weight training. After lunch, we will work with your water abilities again.”

I nodded as I made my way toward the door that held the gym with the track a floor above. My legs still ached from yesterday, and I couldn’t imagine how added weight training would amplify my soreness, but I didn’t complain as I climbed the steps this time.

I was drenched in sweat by the time I finished. Even more than yesterday, and I didn’t think that was possible. The running went slightly better than the day before, and by that, I mean I still ran at the speed of a turtle, but I didn’t fall flat on my face.

The weight training was the real embarrassment. It was made worse when Tezya decided to train with me. “What?” he smirked when he caught me staring at his now drenched shirt as he began working out alongside me. It was sticking to his abdomen, exposing ripped muscles beneath. “I figured if I’m stuck in here with you all day, I’d at least workout.”

I nodded and tried my best to focus on the whopping five pound weights I held—and struggled with—while purposely not looking at what he was doing. After our workout, when we were both covered in sweat, we moved to abilities training.

The rest of the week followed in a similar manner. Physical training in the morning, lunch, then ability training in the evening. Afterward, Patricia and I ate dinner together in my chambers. I usually asked her about her life, and I swore that she had a different story every single night and stuttered every time I asked her to elaborate. But I enjoyed her constant presence.

Then, I would dreamlessly sleep from pure exhaustion. Which, in turn, made me train harder and harder every day. I pushed my body to its breaking point, thoroughly exhausting myself with every single training session both physically and mentally. The thought of not having a nightmare kept propelling me to dive headfirst into my training with Tezya. If I kept exerting myself, if I kept pushing, I could escape what haunted me. I could outrun the shadows that crept into the crevices of my body and clung to my existence.

The first week was only focused on discovering the extent of my water powers. Tezya claimed there was no use finding out what other abilities I had if I couldn’t even control the power I already knew about. I still refused to go in the pool, so it limited what I could do. Tezya hounded over and over that he wanted to see how long I could hold my breath, how deep I could submerge myself, and if I swam faster than normal. Which, due to my still current fear of the water, we could do none of those things.

At least by now I managed to feelalrightsitting by the edge of the pool, and on some days, I created a small wave or moved the water into the palm of my hand.

By the end of the first week, Tezya remarked, “You know this would be a lot more enjoyable if we actually went in the pool.” I couldn’t deny that cooling off in the water sounded appealing. We were both drenched in sweat from our workout this morning, and the room was growing sticky, but every time I thought about jumping in, my lungs would burn, and Kole’s laughter would fill my ears.

I shook my head, trying to get Kole out of it. “You can go in if you want. Don’t let me stop you.”

I expected him to refuse my offer, but he didn’t. My mouth gaped open as he reached up and pulled his shirt off, then shrugged off his pants, tossing both to the side. Cool water splashed me as he jumped into the pool. I watched as he dove under and waited with my breath held until he re-emerged on the surface.

He shook out his hair, some water droplets spraying off him before he ran his fingers through it, pushing the wet strands out of his eyes, revealing the full extent of both scars on his face. The one was a small knick through his right eyebrow, stopping just above his pale eye. The other was all consuming. I had to force myself not to stare at it. I wondered if he got that a lot, people gawking at his face. I wondered if he hated it in the same way I hated when people stared at my zero brandings—I was the only Advenian with two.

I forced my eyes away from his scars as they drifted down his body still submerged in the pool. I’d never seen another Advenian of Lux in water before. I’d gotten glimpses of his markings during training from the sweat clinging to him, but this was different. His black markings were scattered across his body like paint, so vivid and purposeful. A mixture of thick black flames and spirals expanded over his broad chest, entwining up his neck, and crept over part of his face, covering the bottom half of his beautiful scar that continued past his jaw.

“It’s nice. You should come in. Wash off some of that sweat,” he smiled when he noticed me staring.

I swallowed once. Twice. Then shook my head and tried to focus on manipulating the water again. I asked Tezya earlier what Sie had said about my water abilities—how he thought I could only manipulate water that was already there and not create.

Tezya remarked that most Luxians could only manipulate if they possessed one of the elemental powers. He said that if someone couldcreatean element, it automatically placed them at a rank four or five for how rare and powerful that was. So the likelihood that I could only manipulate was looking more and more prominent. Especially because every time I tried to create water without using the pool, I failed miserably.

So I continued to stare at the sunken tub, and now, actively trying to avoid staring at the half-naked male swimming in the water. But it didn’t work. I could barely think straight, nonetheless concentrate on manipulating the water.

“Do you mind? I’m trying to practice.” I finally said by his tenth lap.

“You were the one who gave me permission to swim.” He smiled, his scar sparkled with the water.

“Right, but I didn’t think that meant you would do so naked.” I didn’t mean to blush when I said it, but I could feel my cheeks heat.

“First off, I’m not naked. And secondly, you are going to be in for a rude awakening if you are this embarrassed about seeing me in my boxers.” He laughed at me again. Then added, “Actually, this will be rather enjoyable for me.”

Frustrated, I stopped concentrating on the small drop of water I moved from the pool and turned to look at him. The water made a small splash as it landed back into the depths of the surface. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that most Luxians prefer to not wear much of anything. It’s blistering hot here all year round. And they especially don’t like wearing anything when going for a swim. Many of our beaches are clothing optional.”

“And that will be enjoyable for you, how?”

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