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In the warm sunlight, we all walked towards the beach. One of Ezekiel's friends had invited him to spend a few days there, and since my father also had a beach house nearby, we all decided to spend a few days in the company of the vast, bright sand and its fellow palm trees.
The afternoon sky was beautiful - of course, it always was, but as I felt the rock stairs at my feet and the constant gale coming off the sea, I couldn't think about anything else. "The sky is beautiful, so beautiful" I repeated as I saw that great blue stretching out like a painting "The most beautiful thing in the world". Leon seemed to read my thoughts because he had a goofy smile on his face that was trying to hide behind a facade of seriousness.
Ezekiel didn't seem too concerned about it. "Hey, I think that near those rocks is a cool place!" he exclaimed, already a good few steps ahead, pointing to a distant corner. Iris followed him like a small child, quiet but curious to see what would happen.
"It's a good walk." I commented as I closed the distance.
"Wanna race?"
I cracked a smile. "Sure!"
Leon also joined the conversation. "I wanna go too."
Ezekiel smiled and turned to the jester, "Come on, you too!"
But before he finished his sentence, the jester had already dashed down the stairs, going down as fast as they wwre able.
Ezekiel exclaimed "Hey!!!!!!!! That's not fair!!!!!!!" as he tried to catch up with them.
Soon it was the three of us against the jester. They ran incredibly fast, perhaps because of their small stature or the joy of outmaneuvering two monarchs and a bodyguard, it was hard to tell. The race ended in a tie - Ezekiel and Iris came first, Leon and I came in second.
After catching his breath for a few moments, Leon began to arrange the towels on the floor, while Ezekiel placed the parasols. Iris had already run to get into the water, while I stood still, watching that little slice of life. The boys didn't take long, and soon the two were preparing to enter.
"Are you coming, Dulari?" Leon asked with his understanding voice.
"Soon." I replied, sitting down. "I'm still tired of running."
He made a comprehensive hum, asking me to take care of things and pointing out the bags that had food. His eyes almost looked sad as he left me, but I gave him a smile, as if to say "Go on! I won't run away."
I sat there for a while, catching my breath and watching the three of them play with each other. Iris looked surprisingly bolder than usual, throwing water at Ezekiel and hiding under the surface when he fought back. And just seeing the way Leon shivered all over I could imagine how cold the water was.
It was funny watching them from afar, almost like I was in a play, but it was all real. Seeing their contrasting silhouettes moving and talking loudly to each other was comforting. A rare moment, so simple but so magical at the same time. And it was strange not to be a part of it, even though it made so much sense too. It was almost as if I had disappeared from the world, as if it could go on without me.
"One day the world will go on without me..." I thought to myself.
But before I could bury myself any further in those thoughts, Ezekiel shouted.
"Princess!"
His voice was as strong and warm as ever, and he had a playful smile on his face but impatience in his eyes.
"Aren't you going to come in?"
As if waking up from a dream, I hastily got up: "I'll be right there!" I started walking slowly, until the rush to participate in life pushed me along, to the point where I was almost running to the sea -- Heavens! The water was really cold! -- and when I reached it I felt a huge chill that made the others laugh.
"Long live the princess of Lunnest!" said Iris, splashing water in my direction.
"Yeah!!" the other two followed, to my horror.
Gaahhh!! It was like I was in my own personal snowstorm. But after a while, with the heat of the sun and a little patience, my body got used to the temperature.
"We should have brought a ball." commented Leon, after some time in silence.
"You can throw me." laughed Iris scornfully.
"Oh, good idea!" Ezekiel lifted the jester up with extreme ease. "Leon, take it!"
"NO!!!!!!!!" me and Leon screamed before Iris was thrown. They themselves were wide-eyed, petrified in the bodyguard's arms.
Suddenly he understood. "Ahhhhhh, the Star...." Ezekiel commented quietly to himself, putting Iris back on the ground.
"Not exactly..." I thought to myself, glancing at Leon and his... shall we say... fragile composition.
He glared back, almost offended. "Hey."
I wanted to bury myself under the sand.
"On second thought, Ezekiel, you can throw them. I'll catch." Leon puffed out his chest confidently, wanting to prove me wrong.
"Are you sure?" he raised an eyebrow.
"Trust me."
Shrugging, Ezekiel once again grabbed hold of Iris - who struggled uselessly in panic - and hurled them at the prince. What Leon didn't expect was that the problem wasn't exactly Iris's weight - but the strength of Ezekiel's throw.
Upon impact, the two sank into the water. I couldn't take it anymore and started to laugh.
Leon surfaced in surprise, bringing a stunned Iris with him.
"I... I think I'll go back to the beach." they murmured.
"Me too." Leon followed them.
"I'm getting hungry. Shall we get something to eat, princess?" asked Ezekiel.
"Let's go!" I commented, also feeling it was about time.
Reaching the sand, the wind seemed to create a blanket of cold over my skin. I quickly covered myself with a towel, drying the little drops of water, but despite that I still stopped to admire the droplets that hung in the curls of my hair.
Leon started opening a bag of crackers, while Ezekiel filled a glass of juice, offering me another.
"Have you been to a beach before, Leon?" asked Ezekiel.
"No. Constellax is far away, and my father always preferred the forests." he replied.
"I already did, when I was a kid." said Iris, joining in the conversation. They were lying on the sand, basking in the sun, almost like a lazy cat.
"My parents used to come over a few years ago..." I started to reflect. "But suddenly they stopped. I don't know why."
"Not much to do on the beach, to be honest." Leon said.
"It's because we didn't bring games. It would have been more fun with them."
Leon watched Iris lying down for some time, until he had a sudden idea that made his eyes sparkle. "Let's bury Iris!"
Iris, who was lying with their eyes closed, opened one of them towards the prince.
"You won't even have to move." he argued.
The jester closed their eyes again, which Leon took as authorization. Soon me, Ezekiel and Leon were burying them in the sand, creating a fake mermaid body on the surface.
When we were done, Iris tried to glance at the new form, but their head was a little too buried for that.
"I am beautiful." they stated with a satisfied smile. Then they lay their head down again, closing their eyes.
***
The rest of the afternoon passed lazily. We all ended up dozing off without realizing it, to the sound of the steady waves and wrapped in the gentle breeze. I awoke to the sound of sand being moved, and realized that Iris had risen from their delicate cocoon of sand. Their hair was a mess of dirty blonde strands, but they maintained an easygoing expression.
"Good morning, princess." they joked.
I smiled, getting up slowly. Ezekiel and Leon slept like children, an invigorating peace that was beautiful to behold. It was almost a pity to wake them.
"Time to go." said Iris, heading towards Leon.
After we both woke up, we all started packing up. The sunset was already falling gently over the sea, allowing the night to fill in. Ezekiel offered to carry our things, and when everything was in order, we headed towards the staircase that had brought us there.
Iris started talking to Ezekiel, leaving me and Leon walking side by side behind. Leon was looking distracted, staring at the colorful horizon. The lights reflected in his blue eyes as if they too were part of the sea.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" I commented.
"The most beautiful thing in the world." he said smiling, not taking his eyes off the sun.
It had been the same words I had thought when we first arrived. I blushed a little, taken aback to hear my own passion in someone else's voice. I hoped the late afternoon colors would hide my shyness.
The light cast long shadows across the beach. The drowsiness from before and the rhythmic sound of the waves left me half awake, half sleepy. My body wanted to lean against something, someone, let itself be embraced and enveloped in that peace. Ah, but the shame!... I was afraid of looking needy, even when surrounded by trusted friends.
Leon's eyes, which until now had been staring at the horizon, turned to me and lingered for a while.
"Dulari…" he said in a tender voice, a slight blush rising on his cheeks. "Do you want me to hold your hand?"
An absurd joy took care of me, at the same time that an immense shame almost held me back. "Okay" I said, holding out my hand.
Leon's fingers were delicate but firm, carrying a pleasant human warmth, a gentleness that could change the world. They intertwined between mine, holding my hand a little nervously but gently. Soon my steps in the sand were closer to his, our almost twin tracks writing momentary narratives that would be erased by the sea. But even so, I didn't let the brevity of the present sadden me, like at the beginning.
There was something rare about every second of my life that I wanted to embrace with all my might, a relentless passion for every little moment that expanded my joy to the size of the sky, that multiplied my happiness by the grains of sand of the earth, which stretched upwards like the leaves of coconut palms, and gently bowed me before the passage of the present towards memory. Everything was rare, everything was wonderful - from the colors of the sky to the cold that surrounded us, unable to break the embrace of warmth.
I had no words to say how happy I was for that day, and I don't think even Leon could take them away from me. But when I came back to reality - the four of us walking along the beach, and the feeling of sand, hands clasped swaying in the air, Iris and Ezekiel's laughter, my grandiose feelings were taking form, voice, metamorphosing into a...
"I love you... I really love you all..." I smiled, voice full of joy.
The two walking in front turned to me when they heard the statement. Leon also turned. We took a few more steps in silence, until everyone smiled.
"We love you too."