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After dinner it was completely dark outside and the wind was beginning to gust strongly, but as yet, it had not started to rain. When everyone was finished eating, Mille and the rest of the girls stood and began to clear away the remains of the meal.
“Mille, take Gwaynn out and fetch more firewood before the rains start,” Shari said to her daughter, but gave no indication that she was in on any conspiracy. Deirdre visibly pouted, but Shari ignored her. As a mother, she understood all too well which way the wind was blowing at the moment. On the island, the facts were simple. There were very few eligible men available to her girls. Oh, there were a number of boys in town, but as a family they did not get away very often and then there was Getty Reed, the eldest boy of Tom and Jovana Reed. He was of a proper age for Deirdre, and Jovana seemed to think he was sweet on her, but Deirdre had yet to notice any of his charms. Up until the time Gwaynn had arrived, Deirdre seemed to have her mind set on a student…any student. Throughout the year she cycled through most of them. First she fancied William and then Stephen and then Krys. Getty, the son of another caretaker, was not even close to strumming her heartstrings.
But Mille was a bit more particular and had shown little or no interest in the boys surrounding her, unlike her older sister who flitted from one to another like a hummingbird feeding. Well, Mille’s mind had finally settled on a boy, and Shari was not about to let Deirdre distract him. And besides, over the past few months Shari had grown fond of Gwaynn. There was something exotic and mature about the boy. Even though he had a tragic past, what with the shipwreck and all, Gwaynn still managed to exude a quiet inner peace that would have attracted her immensely had he come along when she was younger. All in all she wanted Gwaynn to be happy and felt that Mille was the best match for him.
Without a word Gwaynn followed Mille outside, where she smiled shyly at him then took his hand and led him away from the house, and much to his surprise, away from the firewood.
“Let’s check the storm first,” Mille said, speaking loudly to be heard over the noise of the wind.
Gwaynn was less enthusiastic than the girl who led him by the hand, but he did not resist. She walked swiftly down the path to the beach, pulling him along. As they moved he watched the wind attack her blonde hair, working hard to pull it from the thong that held it back and out of her face. The thong was losing, but Mille paid it no mind. She stopped at the top of the rise that overlooked the ocean. Her hair broke loose and was now whipping nearly straight behind her, but they both ignored it, their attention riveted on the sea. The main part of the storm was still out near the horizon. Lightning lit the night sky brilliantly, briefly illuminating the distant waves. Near the shore those same waves, large and powerful, crashed against the beach and rode up high onto the sand.
“Isn’t it…” Mille shouted, but paused to watch the force of nature with wonder.
“Unspeakable,” Gwaynn finished for her, but he spoke barely above a whisper and she did not hear. He was remembering that last time he was in a storm on this very same sea. But even so, he allowed the girl to lead him down the pathway and closer to the pounding surf, such was the power she held over him. Once at the bottom of the hill they walked out on the beach, but not overly far, and well away from the surging water. The noise of the waves was tremendous, though down closer to the shore the wind was somewhat lessened however it still came in violent gusts.
“Gwaynn,” Mille said and pulled him to her. They stared into each other’s eyes for several moments before moving into a mutual embrace. They kissed hard and long, pressing closer and closer to one another, oblivious to the noise and wind around them. They dropped to the sand as one, first to a kneeling position and then Mille was on her back and he moved on top of her. They continued to kiss and explore even as the first raindrops hit the sand around them. The rain became steady before they finally noticed and broke apart, sitting and panting and glancing around. The rain grew harder as they stood. They instinctively ducked from the lightning, which was now all around them, thunder boomed as they ran back up the path, laughing, neither noticing the lone female figure watching them from the top of the ridge.
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The next morning Gwaynn was up before Lane came to wake him. The three ate in silence as usual, but Gwaynn was barely aware of the other two men. His mind was swimming with thoughts of Mille and he lingered as long as he dared to see if she would wake, but she did not.
“We’ll be busy checking the storm damage, don’t dally after the race,” Leek said as Gwaynn moved out the door. He was a bit disappointed with Mille, but still feeling high about the previous night never the less.
It was much cooler as he stepped out into the dim morning air and made his way down to the beach. The rest of the students were already milling about, stretching and running in short bursts to get warm. The sea was much calmer than the previous evening, but a large swath of sand was still heavy and wet. Nearly all of the students greeted Gwaynn, but Vio just stared at him strangely and said nothing. Gwaynn wondered at her behavior, but did not have time to dwell on it as B’dall lined them up and they began to run without any signal.
From the very beginning of the race, Gwaynn felt light and strong and he took up position directly behind Vio, which was his normal tactic. Today however, through the first half of the race and all the way to the turn he did not slowly fade behind, as was usual. At first he thought Vio was just having an off day, but as they made the turn he noticed that Krys and the others were well behind. As a group, the rest of the runners gave him little signs of encouragement as he and Vio passed by on the return run, all of course except B’dall, who merely scowled and would not meet Gwaynn’s eyes. Even Vio, from her position just ahead, spoke short words of encouragement every now and then.
“Here we go Gwaynn,” she said when they were within half a mile of the finish, and she began to speed up and finally pulled away from her new shadow. Gwaynn found he had nothing left and was unable to increase his speed though he tried desperately. He finished in all nearly a hundred yards behind her, which was much closer than anyone else had in quite a long while. She waited for him at the finish, still moving about to cool down. When she joined him, he was too winded to speak at first so they just walked together and slowly caught their breath. They both stripped and plunged into the sea, and were just emerging when Krys finished his run and was followed shortly thereafter by B’dall. Both Gwaynn and Vio were half-dressed and Krys was nearby, bent at the waist when B’dall reached them. Without a word he swung out and struck Gwaynn in the face with an elbow as he passed by.
Gwaynn, who had not yet pulled on his shirt, was watching as B’dall approached and was even aware of the blow coming, since it was not disguised all that well. But he forced himself to take it; otherwise he ran the risk of exposing his private sparring sessions. Though the blow caught him flush and hurt, not being able to defend against it, hurt more. He took the elbow almost directly in the mouth. His lip split and was starting to bleed even before he hit the sand. B’dall stopped and turned, intending to stand over Gwaynn, but to his surprise both Vio and Krys jumped between him and his victim, each of them crouched and ready in a fighting stance.