#Chapter3
/"What is your sila?/" She asked as she looked into his green eyes, he smiled and took her hand in his, he looked at the wooden bracelets on her wrists and pulled them out gently. He noticed how skinny she was, while his hands were pink and plum, hers were pale yellow and dry. He pressed the bracelets between her small fingers and covered his fingers on hers.
He looked at her face, she was busy staring at his hands, waiting for some miracle to happen, he chuckled and his eyes glowed green and so did his hands. She looked at him and he looked back at her and slowly hundreds of green, glowing butterflies surrounded them. She looked at the bracelet in her hand, now that wooden bracelet was of gold. And her hands were covered with gold dust. He stopped glowing and looked at her.
She slowly moved away from him and looked at the bracelet.
/"How...did you.../"
/"Everything that I touch, I can turn it into any metal I want,/"
/"But then, last time you turned water to bread,/"
/"Oh, I used a spell,/" He laughed, /"I am learning some spells, but my sila is actually just changing anything into a metal,/"
/"...Is that why you are so rich?/" She asked, /"Did you turn something big to gold?/"
His face lost it's smile, /"No,/" He moved away from her and turned back, /"I mean, I did turn something huge to gold,/" He reached an oak tree and pressed his hands on it as if supporting his body against it, his back faced Jevelene.
/"So, what happened?/" She asked, excitedly, /"Were they shocked?/"
He smiled, /"Yeah, they were,/"
/"And then?/"
He looked at her, /"Then what?/"
/"Did they just hug you because you finally got your sila?/" She crossed her fingers together.
He just looked at her smile. She slowly stopped smiling, knowing something was off, /"Oh, they didn't?/"
He pressed the gold bracelets on his hands, swallowing a lump in his throat, /"Can we not talk about that?/"
/"Oh, okay,/" She looked at him for a while, /"I need to go now. Grandma must be worried,/"
He waved at her, /"Byebye,/"
/"Byebye,/" She picked up her bucket and ran away, spilling half of the water on her skirt. He picked up his hat and placed it back on his head. He was about to leave when he felt a gentle tug on his silk robe. He turned back and looked at a pale hand, holding the fabric between two thin, long fingers. He looked up and looked at her red face. It wasn't as red as her hair, but it was definitely more red than her fingers.
/"Jevelene?/"
She moved closer to him and hugged him gently. His face turned slightly pink. She quickly moved away, /"What was that for?/" He chuckled.
/"I don't know, I just really wanted to hug you. You looked sad so I thought it'd work. I'm sorry if I annoyed you again. I'll take my leave, bye!/" She ran away. He looked at her go.
'She never looked nice,' He looked down the forest, into the barley fields. She turned towards him and waved. He smiled and waved back at her, 'She looked like art.'
Jevelene made her way through the golden fields, 'And art wasn't supposed to look nice,
It was supposed to make you feel,
She made me feel,'
The next day, they met again. He lay on the grass while she filled some water in her bucket. He looked at her, /"Where do you live?/" He asked.
/"In that village across the fields,/"
/"Then, why do you get water from so far away?/"
/"Because I'm not allowed to take water from the village well,/"
/"What? Why?/"
/"People say I am a witch, so I am not allowed to drink the water from the village's well,/"
/"Why do they think that you are a witch?/"
/"Because I have no mother. Nobody has ever seen my mother, it was just me and my father, always. He said mom left right after I was born, she went back to Alkamshine./"
/"Where is that?/"
/"I don't know, dad said it's spread over Siberia, Norway and the Arctic ocean,/"
He took the bucket from her hand, /"Let me carry this for you,/" He smiled.
/"But it's heavy,/" She said.
/"Yes, and I am strong,/" He picked up the bucket and walked beside her. He was about as tall as her, but her steps were shorter than his. So, he decided to slow down his pace to match hers. He occasionally looked at her dull, red hair and her red cheeks as she walked beside him. She had pollen dust on her clothes and she smelled like water lilies.
Her gaze shifted towards his hands, /"I've been looking at it for a while, but those gold bracelets are really pretty,/" She said.
/"You think they are pretty?/" He asked sarcastically.
/"Golden things look pretty on your skin,/" She smiled. He looked ahead,
/"What about red? Does red look good on me?/" He asked.
/"Anything would look good on you,/" She laughed as they walked. She looked at the golden barley surrounding their path, /"Look how beautifully these stalks hang, as if nature had the same powers are you, covering the entire fields to gold,/"
As they reached her hut, she took the bucket from him and thanked him,
/"You live with your grandmother, right?/" He asked.
/"Yes,/" She smiled, /"Do you want to meet her?/"
/"Yes, of course,/"
She walked inside the hut and he followed her. Her grandmother turned towards them and looked at Ariel, /"Oh my god, a demigod.../" She whispered.
/"Grandma, you could tell?/" Jevelene gasped. Her grandmother got up from her bed and looked at Ariel, /"My lord, he is beautiful. I never thought I'd actually see a real one in this lifetime,/"
Jevelene looked down in shame.
/"Come here, son, what do they call you?/" She smiled and Ariel walked towards her, /"Jevelene calls me Ariel,/"
She looked into his eyes, his light pink skin, his slender neck, /"What is your sila?/"
/"I can turn anything around me into a metal,/"
/"Oh, can I see?/"
He touched the wooden chest near her bed and it turned to iron.
/"Oh my! Such controlled sila, you must have worked hard to be so good at it,/"
/"Not really,/" He said, /"It just slowly settled in,/"
/"Oh, how talented young man. I wish you were my grandchild,/"
Jevelene clenched her fists, /"I'll go water the flowers,/" Jevelene bowed and walked out of her room. Ariel looked at her.
/"Do you want some tea?/" Her grandmother asked him.
/"Will Jevelene make it?/" He asked.
/"Well, yes,/"
/"Then, I don't want it. She already seems busy, I don't want to increase her workload. I'll help her with watering the flowers, take some good rest, grandma,/" He turned back and left the room quickly. He walked towards the garden and saw Jevelene watering the flowers.
He walked towards her, /"Jevelene,/"
She turned towards him and smiled, /"Oh, you're back?/"
/"Yes, grandma went to sleep so...I thought I'd help you with the garden,/"
She giggled, /"Oh? I say you don't. I don't want you to spoil your expensive silk garments,/"
/"The servants can always wash it for me,/"
/"Yes, oh rich prince,/" She laughed as she walked to another flower. He followed her, slowly pushed a hanging branch of cassia flowers that stood between them, /"I'm not rich,/"
/"So, I suppose paupers have refined tastes now? Or maybe it is silk that has falling prices,/" He smiled.
/"None of them, I am just a normal boy who fancies your company,/" He said.
She laughed, /"Well, I fancy your company too, sir,/" She moved another step away as she hid among the Bougainvillaea bushes, /"I look forward to seeing you every day,/"
/"So do I,/" He said from the other side of the bushes, staring at her face through the little peepholes the bushes made among them.
/"What are your thoughts about love, Jevelene?/"
/"What do you mean?/"
/"Like... How you feel when you look at someone and instantly feel a connection?/"
/"I feel like I'm cursed,/" She laughed.
/"What do you mean?/"
/"I feel like a woman who is cursed by the gods to kill any man she falls in love with,/"
/"What if the man she falls for,/" He pushed the bushes aside and stood right before her, looking into her eyes, /"Is cursed by the gods with immortality?/"
She looked into his green eyes and moved away from him but he moved closer to her. She pressed her back on the Bougainvilla bush and fell into it. He burst out laughing, /"What an idiot!/"
She blushed, /"You distracted me!/"
/"So?/" He stopped laughing, /"Your fault, you got distracted. You are so stupid,/" He mocked her and extended his arm towards her, /"You didn't yourself though, did you?/"
She took his hand and got up. She picked up her bucket and walked away. He laughed and followed her. She walked towards a small earthen vessel. It was filled with water and white stones, a small bud of water lily floated on the water.
/"That looks nice, but why just one water lily?/" Ariel asked.
/"I've grown it for someone,/"
/"Who?/"
She moved the earthen pot towards him, /"For you,/"
He looked at her, /"Me?/"
/"Waterlilies symbolise innocence, purity and peace, associated with gods and spirituality in the language of flowers. I'm reminded of you whenever I look at them, so I planted this for you./"
He looked at the flowers, /"I'm sorry, I...
I can't accept these,/"
/"Why not? I especially grew them for you.../"
/"I appreciate it, but I can't accept it. I am sorry,/"
She looked dishearted for a few seconds then, she smiled, /"It's alright,/"
-To be continued