DEAREST

PART 4: DENSE WATERS, Ch. 3

3

I meet Luciana in the drawing room.

She's leaning, looking inside the large display table placed in the center, a table that shows a map of the area, drawn by hand, much loved by our family.

"Interested in our surroundings, today?" I ask in a lively voice.

The truth is that I am happy to see her wearing clothes that I recently ordered to make for her: a red velvet suit with a black silk shirt underneath. She looks elegant and strong.

Luciana just notices that I'm there when she hears my question. She turns her face towards me, a small smile on her lips.

"Despite fighting in the forest, and having lived all my life in this region, I don't know it as well as I should. I should know all the places you need me to know."

I approach her as she speaks. I haven't looked at that map in a long time. When I was little, I wanted to be tall enough to see it closely, but when I got to be as tall as I needed it, maps weren't of my particular interest. I smile at this curious realization.

It's natural for Luciana to think about me. When I get close to her I can smell her clean clothes.

"The places we need are actually the ones where the enemy might appear," I reassure her, sliding the tip of my index finger along the wooden edge of the display case.

"I thought we wanted to control the battle?" She asks me, looking at me sarcastically while raising an inquiring eyebrow.

"No side controls in this war, I'm afraid," I answer. "It is war itself that does."

"But we should get our intelligence."

"Are you looking for a specific place?" I wish to know, taking a look at the map, but without really paying attention to what I see.

"Last night... I could remember something," she said. "About the dream I had."

I look up at her right away, and I find her face full of confusion.

"My mother, she dove into a lake. I have passed through this room several times, I have glanced at this map in passing, but today is the first time I stop to observe it. When I do, the first thing I see is a lake."

She points a finger at the crystal, without touching it, towards the drawing of the lake.

"Did you know it?" I ask.

"Not quite. But the idea of a lake... makes me uneasy."

Luciana shakes her head and walks to the window, but stops midway between the sofas and other gadgets that decorate the room. I follow her with my eyes.

"Odette, is it possible for me to have a feeling about all this?"

I nod, and ask her:

"Do you think the lake is important to you?"

I follow Luciana, but when I reach her, my eyes wander to the window, and then I approach to open a curtain and offer Luciana a small view of the lake. Its name is Tanzanite. It's a few miles away, but it's a point of shimmering, tinkling light, like a pool of little stars in the sky, and I think it can help her virtualize it in her mind.

"There it is," I say.

Luciana approaches and narrows her eyes trying to define the point of light in her mind. By not getting it—the lake is so far away that it is impossible to detail its shape—she turns her face towards me and confesses with a tiny smile on her lips: