It was the perfect morning for a dive. The sun had warmed the sky before it had even emerged over the horizon. Ravena got to the water especially early to set things up. She wanted everything to look just perfect. She arranged the tea and the cake and the bread to perfection and tied her hair up in a soft green ribbon, to match her eyes. She knelt at the river’s edge and swished her hand in the gentle current. It was chilly enough to send goosebumps up her arm, but it had rained overnight, and the late spring rains were warming the earth. The White Forest looked magical this morning. Everything was covered in dew, and the birds seemed a little more cheerful today. And so did she.
Soft footfall between the trees announced Thal’s arrival. Maple nickered in greeting.
“Good morning,” he smiled, hair mussed from sleep.
“Morning,” she beamed. “No boat today?”
“I tied it up downriver a bit. The waters are high today.”
“Speaking of, the temperature’s perfect, ready to swim?”
He glanced over her shoulder at the river. “How deep is it around here? Can you touch the bottom?”
“About an oar’s length. I should know.” She rubbed her still-bruised ribs and Thal grimaced. “But the depth doesn’t really matter. We’re swimming, not standing.” She slipped off her shoes and climbed one of the larger rocks near the waterfall. “It’s nice and deep over here so you don’t have to worry about hitting your head. Come on!” She swan-dove into the jade-green waters.
She emerged moments later to see Thal standing on the riverbank, looking uncertain. She wiped water out of her eyes. “Are you coming?”
“I’m, uh, not a great swimmer,” he scratched his head. “I’m actually not much of a swimmer at all. Maybe you should just swim without me.” Her face fell, and he stepped forward as if to catch it. “Well, ah, hmm. Maybe you can show me what to do?”
She immediately brightened, and met him at the edge. “Come on,” she held out her hand.
Thal pulled off his shirt and laid his shoes at the foot of the great tree. Ravena averted her eyes from his strong, broad chest, but only managed for a minute, because when Thal reached for her hand, he tripped over a root and fell face-first into the river.
Ravena couldn’t help her laughter. But Thal didn’t surface. A swear slipped out of Ravena’s mouth as she dove to meet him. It was only when she saw him flailing like a beetle stuck on its back that she realized ‘not much of a swimmer’ actually meant ‘entirely inept to do anything in the water but drown.’ She hooked her arms beneath his armpits and hoisted him up to the surface.
“So, not much of a swimmer, huh?” He thrashed in her arms, and she struggled to keep him afloat.
“Yeah,” he said between coughs, “I’m more of a sinker.”
Ravena had to laugh. “Yes, you are. Now, for Pete’s sake stop kicking me and I’ll help you.”
The swimming lesson that followed did indeed involve plenty of kicking and Ravena had more than one bruised shin, but after some time, the kicks led to successful water treading, and Thal managed to swim from shore to shore without inhaling a lungful of water. Finally he pulled himself up on the rocks near the waterfall to rest. Ravena continued to swim and play, enjoying the feeling of the chill on her skin.
When the sun was high in the sky, she swam to the corner of the riverbank that she knew he would remember well. “You know, this is where I met you for the first time. I’ll never forget how kind you were.” Sarcasm oozed from her lips.
“You should be honored, I don’t just go around stabbing all the girls with oars,” he grinned devilishly.
“Hey, tell me if you can see me from where you’re sitting now!” She sank down into the riverbed grasses just like she had that first morning. But this time, just out of arms’ reach, something glimmered at her from within the swirling silt and sediment. She fingered the loose earth, and freed a bronze ring that had lay buried in the dirt. She pushed back up to the surface.
“I could totally spot you,” Thal laughed. “You can’t hide from these hawk eyes.”
Ravena barely heard him. The ring was unlike anything she’d ever seen. The top was engraved with a skull and ornate scripting. She turned it over and noticed a “TG” carved on the inside.
“What is that?” Thal’s voice finally found her attention. She tore her eyes from the ring and swam over to him.
“I just found this down there,” she said. “Do you know what it is?”
His golden eyes paled.
She studied his face, unable to read him. “Thal?”
He cleared his throat. “That’s an unusual ring,” he said quietly, his voice almost stilted. He plucked it from her open palm. “I can’t say I’ve ever seen one like it before.”
“I think it looks like something you’d find in a pirates cave or a mercenary’s lair,” she said, eyes wide. “Do you think the historians at the palace would know anything about it?”
His mouth opened, but no sound came out. Finally, he shook himself out of whatever trance he was in. “Why don’t you let me take it to them?” He finally responded. “I’ll see what I can dig up for you.” He winked and pocketed the ring. “Now, get back out there and show me how it’s done.” He kicked water in her direction and she giggled, pushing herself off the rocks.
She demonstrated the freestyle stroke and the breaststroke. He pretended to be unimpressed after she showcased her strong lungs in a seven-minute free-dive, and she pretended to be mad at him. She pulled him into the water by his ankle and this time he didn’t drown and they swam and splashed in the chilled waters.
The afternoon came before they knew it, and the spring sun dried Ravena and Thal through as they laid side by side under the arbor of the White Forest. Thal thumbed through the newspaper she’d brought, and Ravena just closed her eyes and let the dappled light soak her body. Her stomach rumbled. “Hungry?” Ravena pulled out the loaves and the cake and the tin of lemon tea.
Thal’s eyes widened. “Ravenous.” He boiled some water while Ravena served him a slice of cake.
“I bet you eat better than this every day in the palace,” Ravena said between mouthfuls of bread and butter. “I’ve always wished I lived there. Queen Tressa seems so wonderful.”
“Oh, sure. Kindest queen I’ve ever met.” Something about his tone didn’t seem quite genuine.
“Have you really met more than one?” She stopped munching and leaned in, “I haven’t even met ours.”
He leaned back onto his arms. “My mother was a lady’s maid to Queen Hester—Queen Tressa’s mother. And my father worked as a defense lawyer in the High Courts. His whole life was spent defending and covering up the absolutely monstrous behavior of royals from all the different kingdoms in front of the High Council,” he gritted his teeth. “He justified so many awful things over and over again for so long that eventually it was like his empathy and basic humanity were just… gone. Like his conscience had been seared. He died shortly after I was born. I’m afraid I’m more like him than I want to be.”
“Thal, you’re nothing like him. You’re honest and brave and kind…”
“Ah, stop, come on.”
“No, I mean it. You’ve made an incredible life for yourself. I don’t know what regrets you carry but I see that you care.” She leaned over, placing her hand on his chest over his heart. The pounding in his chest knocked against her hand. “You have a good heart, Thal. I know it.” He swallowed, eyes locked on hers, and she removed her hand, cheeks pinking.
“Here, I want you to have this,” she searched in her bag and held up the piece of jade she’d found a few days before she’d met him; a vibrant green. “I love the way it carries light, even when there’s darkness all around it.” She placed it in his palm and closed his fingers around it. “I see that light in you, Thal.”
She thought his eyes looked misty, but he just cleared his throat. The wistfulness in his face brought a lump to her throat.
“All right,” he shook the emotion off. “Your turn. Tell me about your family.” He sat up a little straighter now.
“Well,” she sank back into the tall grass. “My parents worked as miners—also under Queen Hester. They didn’t really make enough to live on, so when Mother found out she was pregnant with me, my father left mining to try and get work as a blacksmith, which, actually didn’t make him very much money either. My mother…”
She trailed off. The birds in the forest filled in the silence as Thal waited for her to keep talking. “My mother died the day after my tenth birthday. Father figured I was old enough to take care of myself at that point, so he kept working. But he was just… different.” She sat up and grabbed another piece of cake. “About a year after she died, he got it in his head that everything would be all better if he could escape across the Glass Sea. I think he thought he’d finally be able to make his fortune, but he didn’t really know what he would do when he got there. So, he left me the house and caught a ride on a frigate heading north. He told me he loved me and he’d make sure when it was time, I would know where to find him.”
“Did he make it?”
“I haven’t heard from him since. I’d go and find him, but I could never afford passage. I don’t even know if he’s alive any more.”
“That’s… awful. I’m so sorry, Rave.”
“It is, thanks. But father’s friend, Mr. Haven, has been so kind to me. He has a wife and daughter of his own but he still finds time for me when I need him. He says I remind him of his daughter, Charlotte. Somehow, after all these years I’ve still never met her, though.”
Thal smiled. “He sounds like a good friend.”
“He’s wonderful,” she said softly.
His eyes settled on hers and neither of them felt the need to say anything else. The wind whispered through the branches and the grasses and the afternoon heat melted them into the soft mosses of the forest floor. They laid there languidly together for a while until the rhythm of the waterfall lulled them to sleep.
They slept through the mid-afternoon until the hum of the cicadas roused Ravena from her slumber. Thal still slept, and she watched the rise and fall of his chest and listened to the soft snoring that escaped him. It was comforting, in a way. She’d never experienced the vulnerability and intimacy of watching someone sleep—let alone sleeping beside him—and she liked it. As if feeling her eyes on him, Thal suddenly awoke with a start and smirked when he realized she was watching him. “You’re so silly.”
She laughed and he stood and held out his hand to her. “Come on, the light’s gonna be gone soon. One more swim?”
. . .
The sun had now fallen over the horizon and once again Thal stirred the fire he’d built while Ravena changed behind the knuckled oak tree. They’d swam the sun away and Ravena had shown Thal how to empty the lobster traps. There weren’t many, but at least he wouldn’t be returning to the palace completely empty-handed. She emerged from behind the tree clothed in her warm, dry trousers and one of Thal’s shirts. Her blouse hadn’t quite dried yet. She’d undone her braid and let her hair tumble down her shoulders. It was almost dry, and the light glinted off her waves, framing her face in light. Thal blinked before clearing his throat.
“Wow, Rave. You look… beautiful.”
“I bet you say that to all the poachers.” She chuckled.
“I mean it,” he touched her hair almost automatically before pulling his hand away. “You’re radiant. And I love…” He swallowed his words. “I love spending this time with you.”
She felt her cheeks flush. “Thal,” she joined him in stroking Maple’s nose. “I just want to say thank you for… everything, really. I mean, you could’ve turned me in, but you helped me and you actually care for me. I mean,” she inhaled sharply at her poor choice of words, “maybe not care for me, but you are taking care of me, and I feel like we’re kind of friends now, and…”
Thal moved nearer and she trailed off, that unfamiliar warmth flooding her whole body. His sharp eyes had softened, and she found herself staring at his beautifully shaped lips.
“I do… care for you,” he said under his breath.
“Me too,” she whispered.
It happened all at once—she stepped into him and he met her lips with his and Ravena found herself lost in the sweetness of her first kiss. It built slowly, but soon his hands were in her hair and around her waist and her arms were wrapped around his neck and she knew at once that ‘care for’ could maybe even mean love.
The kiss ended too soon and Ravena found herself tangled in his arms, basking in the light of his gaze.
“So, now will you swim with me again tomorrow?” Her words were full of light and sweetness.
Thal laughed with such warmth she thought her heart would burst. “Tomorrow and every day.”
Ravena’s eyes shone in the glow of the fire. She felt entirely, perfectly happy for the first time since she’d said goodbye to her father, and she kissed him again. She kissed him again as she untied Maple and he kissed her as he loaded the boat and they kissed one more time as he stepped into the boat and rowed away up the river. She missed him the moment he waved goodbye and rounded the bend toward the palace.
She packed away the tins and the remaining cake and collected the newspaper she’d bought for Thal by the last light of the fire. She was floating. As she folded the newspaper and tucked it in her bag, she skimmed the headlines: “Commodore’s Home Burgled, Guards Suspect Grimscar Hit, pg. 1”; “Piracy Prevails on High Seas, pg. 5”; “Lobster Numbers Continue to Plummet, Near Extinction, pg. 7’.”
Wait, what? She checked the front; the paper had yesterday’s date on it. She turned to page seven and read: “The palace is reporting record low numbers of the golden lobsters… critically endangered… breeding efforts have been unsuccessful… predicted extinction by the end of the year.” How could this be? Thal had just told her a day ago that the lobsters were thriving. Maybe it was nothing. Should she confront him about it tomorrow? Shove the paper in his face and demand an explanation? No, that was too harsh. Maybe it was all a misunderstanding. Maybe the writer was misinformed. Thal wouldn’t lie to her, would he? No, no. Something must be wrong. The memory of his kiss now felt hollow on her lips. He hadn’t told her everything. Maybe he hadn’t told her anything. Tonight she would do some research of her own.
River of Glass is a lighthearted fantasy novelette about lies, loyalty, and the price of redemption, with a slow-burn romance beneath the current. This is a tonal departure from my usual work, written just for fun, and it will be shared here in eleven installments.
Chapter Five coming on February 3rd, 2026.
© Sophie Alexander, 2026. All rights reserved. Do not repost without permission.
