The Prince of Ilios

Ellora awoke. There was no reason for her to be awake, but she could not get back to sleep. It was still dark outside. She decided to get up and go for a walk. She looked at the armoire, sadly. There was no way that she could put on one of those dresses by herself. Since it was early morning and she was going on the walk alone, Ellora figured there would be no harm in wearing her native dress until a maid could help her get into a different one. That was going to be a pain, she hated asking for help.

She pulled on her skirt, corset, and tied her shoes. Ava and River snored softly in their sleep. Ellora did not want to run into any maids or servants. So, She went over to the balcony and began climbing down the castle. It was a lot easier than scaling the cliff back home with Bracken and Violet.

Landing on her feet, Ellora began walking across the soft grass to the pond she spied last night. She sat on the bank and took off her shoes. Her toes wiggling under the clear cool water. She waved a hand bringing the water up in a ribbon, she made beautiful designs in the air. Ellora knew she needed some practice in the training that she and Alyn had practiced on the way in. She walked out to the middle of the water. Walking on water was one of the first things that her mother had taught her. It was a unique skill all its own. One had to move and arrange the actual molecules of the water to condense their formation and harden them. Alyn walked on water by making the water more tempermental. He would make the currents stir and form underneath his feet until he could stand on them. Ellora never like the way that it felt under foot. The water moving so quickly tickled her feet and she always lost focus, falling in. Raising her arm out, she gathered her focus and felt the familiar tingle along her fingertips. The water began to swirl next to her. The blues and dark purples were beautiful to Ellora. Her focus waned and the water settled. She tried again, this time as the water swirled she began directing it upward. The water bubbled and flowed, creating a small fountain in the middle of the pond. It reminded Ellora of a beautiful waterfall, glimmering in the dusky morning hues.

"That is an interesting trick." His voice echoed behind her.

Ellora jumped, her focus completely gone. The fountain dropped and she fell through the water with a splash, the natural order returning. Her head broke the surface, sputtering and coughing. She looked to where the voice had come.

Nicola was practically rolling on the grass laughing. He was wearing a pair of dark gray pants, black boots and a light gray linen shirt and a black overcoat.

She swam to the edge. He tried to compose himself, offering her a hand up. Ellora covered herself with the water. Her top was nearly see-through now that it was wet. She opted to staying in the water.

The Prince raised a brow, hand still out, "Are you refusing help?"

Ellora's face began turning pink, wondering how she became so easily embarrassed around him, "I... I came out to swim, so that is what I am doing." She came up with a quick excuse.

"In the formal attire of your village?" He scoffed. Caught you! "Come on."

"I..." She was going to have to tell him, "I can't. Not while you are here."

"What?" He crossed his arms and sat down, making as much trouble for her as possible.

Seeing that he was immovable, Ellora sighed, "I, uh. My blouse is white." She looked away sheepishly.

Realization dawned on Nicola's face. He unbuttoned his overcoat, threw it on the bank, and turned away, "Use my coat." He heard her splash up out of the water, "If only you knew wind magic, then you could dry off instantly. Or, if you had been better with your own, you would not have fallen in to begin with."

She could hear the amusement in his voice as she wrapped his large coat around her. The water had been colder than she anticipated. Ellora spoke through shivering teeth, "Thanks for the advice." Her voice coated with sarcasm.

He turned back toward her, looking through split fingers and then letting his arms fall to his sides, seeing that she was covered. He looked at her from head to toe, smiling, "Miss Brooks will scold you again for wearing that."

Ellora wanted to stomp away and leave Nicola behind, but her friends were right. She had been rude to him and this was payback. The thought didn't stop her from hating it. She knew he was fishing for a thank you and she did not want to oblige him, "It is rude to surprise someone when they are doing something important."

"It's my garden. I go where I please." He smiled arrogantly. His hands rested against his back as he paced around her, "I believe you are supposed to be getting ready for the day. What are you doing out here?"

As though you are actually interested, well done. She looked up at him, grimacing. She was most certainly not going to fall for any tricks. She took in a deep cleansing breath, straightening her face, "I was practicing my skills. We train every day to make sure that we can defend our Island."

Nicola nodded, "Hmm. How did you get down here without running into someone?"

"I climbed down the castle wall." She pointed to her balcony.

Nicola had to hide his amazement, "That is two stories up."

"Climbing helps build endurance. We have a cliff twice the size at home." She shrugged. What is the big deal?

The Prince smiled, "You're different." He muttered as though he hated admitting it.

"Uh, thanks." She could feel the cold seeping into her bones. She was now full on shivering, "Look, I am only going to say this once: I may have been rude to you after we met. I'm, uh, sorry"

Nicola stared at her eyes wide in shock, he recovered quickly enough, "You're forgiven."

Ellora grimaced. Clearly, she had been hoping that he would admit he was in the wrong as well, but he didn't. But I am trying to play nice so I don't get sent home too soon. She remembered and smiled back at him.

The sky was cloudless, but the morning was cool, "No clouds today? Maybe I will finally get to see Ilios for the beauty that everyone has been telling me it is."

Nicola scratched the back of his head, "Yeah, I have been in a bad mood, sorry."

"You make it cloudy?" Now it was time for Ellora to hide her amazement.

He shrugged nonchalant, "I'm a lightning-bearer. Storms come with the territory."

"S-Sure." She began shivering uncontrollably. Ellora didn't really know what was happening, but she wasn't about to show weakness in front of the Prince.

He glanced down at her, "Look, you better get inside. You're shivering. If you stay here you will get sick. You need to get out of your wet clothes."

"What? I'm fine." Maybe he was right though, she was not feeling well. Her body had never done this before, "I don't know why I am shaking like this."

He smiled, "It must be warm in the Southern Isles."

"Tropically."

"Well, yes, here you get cold when you get wet. It causes you to shake uncontrollably, called shivering. You need to get warm before you get hypothermic." He wrapped the coat tighter around her.

"Sounds serious." She admitted, "I'm not feeling well. I will do just that."

"Make sure the maids bring you some hot tea to drink. It will help warm you up." He waved as she headed back to the castle.

"Right." Is he pretending to be nice to me for some reason? Ellora started walking away and turned back to him, "Wait, your coat..."

"Just give it to one of the maids, they will get it back to me." He waved her off, "Get going."

She grimaced. Ellora didn't mind doing what she was told normally, but when it came from Nicola she just wanted to break something. Her shivering brought her back to the reality of her situation. She needed to get back inside.