Page 9 of The Ascended
Perceptive,I thought again. Too perceptive for his own good.
"Walk with me?" I asked, needing to be somewhere less confined.
He nodded, setting aside his tools without hesitation. "Where to?"
"The cliffs. I need to see the sea."
“A day of fishing didn’t tire you out?” He cocked a sly smile.
“Never.”
We left the village behind, following the winding path that led up the coastal headlands. The sun hung low in the western sky, painting the water gold and purple. We walked in comfortable silence at first, but I could feel Marel watching me.
"Tell me something about yourself," I said suddenly, needing to focus on something other than my own fears.
Marel smiled. "Like what, exactly?"
"I don't know. What did you want to be when you were a child? Before you became a fisherman?"
"A sailor," he said without hesitation. "I wanted to see the world beyond Saltcrest. Explore distant shores, meet strange people."
"What changed your mind?"
His expression grew serious. "My father died. Someone had totake care of my mother, and she needed stability more than I needed adventure. So I kept fishing, learned the trade properly."
"Do you regret it?"
"Sometimes," he admitted. "But then I think about the life I've built here, the people I care about." He glanced at me. "And I think maybe adventure isn't always about going somewhere new. Sometimes it's about finding something worth staying for."
The words made me stall, as they always did. "Marel?—"
"I know something's eating at you," he said quietly. "I can see it in the way you hold yourself sometimes. Like you're bracing for the worst."
I stopped walking, turning to face him. "How do you?—"
"Because I've felt that way too. After my father died, I spent months waiting for the next disaster. Wondering when the other shoe would drop." He reached out, taking my hand in his. "What has you so worried, Thais? What are you afraid of?"
I tried to divert the conversation.
“Sometimes I dream of leaving this place.”
Marel simply looked at me.
"But my family is complicated. They need me here, and truthfully, I need them. A part of me wants to leave this place and never look back, but I feel so weighed down. I don't know if I truly have a choice," I murmured.
"There are always choices," he said firmly. "Maybe not easy ones, maybe not good ones, but there's always a choice."
We'd reached the cliff overlook—that secluded pocket of grass and wildflowers where I'd spent so many hours alone. Standing stones rose around us, and the endless sea stretched out below, reflecting the fire of the sunset.
"You're right," I said, settling onto the sun-warmed grass. "There's always a choice. But sometimes all the options are terrible."
Marel sat beside me. "Then you choose the least terrible one. And you find ways to live with the consequences."
I looked at him, really looked, taking in the strong line of his jaw.He was beautiful in a quiet, understated way, solid and real and honest. And mine, if I dared.
"What if I told you that being with me was a terrible idea?" I asked, but immediately regretted it. Too much truth.
He was quiet for a moment, considering. "I'd say that sounds like you're trying to scare me away. And I'd wonder why."
