The Island: Lady Mareena Chapter Five

So for those of you new to the blog, every so often I write about my love life, but instead of facing up to all the awkwardness of reality I have been writing it as a periodic romance novel– The Tale of Lady Mareena and her Torrid Troubles.  So, to catch you up, last we left her, Lady Mareena had a new friend named Percival.  He had written Mareena a love letter, declaring his desire to be close to her.  And that was… four months ago.  What has happened since?  Well many things, but I’ll tell you of story of an island.

Chapter 5

Mareena sighed.  It had been four months since she had written Percival the fateful letter.  The letter that said that, maybe, just maybe there was hope.  The letter that said she hoped they could be together.  It was a big step, and scary.  But she was glad she had done it.

A month after sending her letter she had received a gleeful reply.  Percival was coming back to her country to live… for a long time.  Mareena was a little worried about what she had done—what if things didn’t work out, what if Percival was unhappy… what if her choices had ruined everything?  But she tried to be strong and not look back.  She knew that sometimes in life you had to take risks.

So Percival had arrived with all his trucks to his new home, the castle by the sea–just a few hours on horseback from where Mareena herself lived…. And it had been great.  Percival had his duties for his father the Earl, and  she had her own tasks as a noble Lady, but they still managed to spend a lot of time together and write each other many letters.  Sometime he even held her hand.  Percival had never kissed Mareena, but that was okay, since she was a little scared too.  She knew it would happen when the time was right.

Well, one weekend Percival invited Mareena to come with him for a trip into the wild Northern part of her country.   There was a little island up there, pretty and full of purple flowers—a place where years, centuries before, men of God had lived and prayed together.   Some people called it the Holy Island.  Mareena had always wanted to go, so when Percieval suggested a trip, she begged: why not this place?

Percival, of course, said yes.

And the trip was amazing! She and Percival walked along the beach, and among ruins of the old monastic house, and through fields of purple flowers.  It was all perfect.  Deep in her heart Mareena wondered:  could this be the time?  Maybe Percival would kiss her here, in this beautiful place…

The last night before they left they sat together, watching the waves. The world was quiet and the sun was setting.  Mareena knew this was the moment.  Their moment.  So she waited…. and waited…. and waited… the sun was now almost set.  She  peeped over at him– he didn’t seem to be making a move.

Mareena was confused.  What could she do?  But surely this was the perfect moment… She gathered her courage, took a deep breath.  ‘If you were going to kiss me, this would be your opportunity,’ she said boldly.

Percival blushed and smiled.  He looked surprised but happy.  He leaned towards her—it’s happening, thought Mareena—but then he paused.  He looked into her eyes, nervous.  ‘Mareena… I just thought.. I worried… well, I thought,’ he paused trying  to find his word ‘well I thought… this is the holy island, I thought such a thing wouldn’t be permitted…’

Mareena gaped, pulling away.  Percival always had strange notions of what she believed, but she hadn’t realized that he would think the fact that they were on a ‘holy island’ meant that there could be no kissing.   Was kissing really unholy?  She voiced these opinions aloud, wondering at Percival’s strange prohibition.

Percival blushed.  He could see he had gone wrong.  Really, he had only ever been worried about offending Mareena, not defiling the island. Now he wanted to amend, but it was too late.  They both knew it—the moment was over.  He had evoked the judgement of dead monks, one of the least romantic of images.  There was just no going back to the sunset and the beach.

Mareena sighed.  Their romantic moment had been lost in a ocean of awkwardness—but things were mended that night when they both could laugh over it.  How they, the Lady and the son of the Earl were surely the most awkward of people in the whole country.  And it was true.

So, it was alright.  Mareena knew there would be another time—just not, it seemed, on this most perfectly beautiful island.

Will Percival ever kiss Mareena?  Or will Mareena die alone, unkissed, surrounded by a family of cats?  Tune in next time, for the next chapter of the Tale of Lady Mareena’s Torrid Troubles    .