Page 25 of Ocean of Silver

Sighing, I walked back out to Tezya, who had already changed. His pants stopped mid thigh and were tighter than his usual loose attire, and I tried not to notice his corded muscles showing beneath them.

“What’s wrong?” he asked once he saw me still in my half wet clothes.

“Um, my maid didn’t pack any swimming attire for me.”

“I’m sure she did.”

“No, she didn’t. There are only undergarments. I checked the bag three times.” My face reddened. I didn’t even have another outfit to change into.

He laughed again, but this time it was deeper as his scar inched higher on his face. I was growing sick of him mocking me. “Rumor, if a person from Lux decides to wear anything at all, it does tend to resemble undergarments. It’s hot in Lux year round. Really fucking hot. Things are different here than in Tennebris. No one is going to swim in a bodysuit.”

“I’m not wearing that,” I gasped as I realized that the thin black piece of material was, in fact, my swimming attire. “It… it won’t cover anything.”

“Well, unless you want to swim in your clothes and walk back to the castle in that barely-covering swimming attire, I would suggest you put it on. I doubt your maid packed you another outfit as we’re supposed to leave tomorrow.” He paused, probably knowing full well she didn’t. “Besides, I want to look at your markings for myself, and I can’t do that with all your clothes on.”

My mouth hung open as I gaped at him. But I didn’t dare move. He seemed to sense my unease. I was getting deja vu from the lake with Sie. It felt so similar, yet completely new, and I couldn’t pinpoint why.

“Rumor, I’m here to train you because of the King’s orders. That’s all. I can promise you that I don’t care whether we do it naked or in your suit, but we are going to train today, and that’sallwe are going to do.”

Slowly, I turned away from him and stalked back toward the hut. Point taken. Not that I wanted to do anything with him. I honestly didn’t know if I could say I hated him or liked him. No. That wasn’t true. I didn’t hate him. I enjoyed being around him, but I wouldn’t consider him a friend. He was just someone who I was stuck spending my time with. So why was I so disappointed with what he just said?

I was probably just feeling this way after not having any Advenian contact in months. I would like anyone that was around me right now after being so lonely for so long. That’s all this was. I craved not being isolated because whenever I was, it brought me back to all the things Kole had done to me. It brought me back to the nights I’d spent alone in the cage, to the darkness.

When I was training with Tezya, I didn’t think about all the things that haunted me, at least, it wasn’t all consuming like it was at night. And Tezya just happened to be easy to talk to. He also happened to be super, unnaturally attractive. And he was the only male in my life at the moment. He was the only person I even talked to at Lux, besides Patricia, and she was definitely not a guy.

I wanted to be near Tezya as much as I wanted my maid around, and for the same reasons—I didn’t want to be alone. Ironic how at LakeWood, being alone and soaking in a bath was my release, and now they became my nightmare.

I would have asked Patricia to spend each and every night with me if I knew I wouldn’t sound so desperate. I’d thought about asking her many times to not leave at night, but I bit back the plea with my pride.

Once I was back inside the hut, I pulled the velvet curtains closed enough to give me privacy while still allowing some light to flow in, knowing full well the black suit did absolutely nothing to cover myself. It would have been almost the same as if I was swimming naked because it barely concealed anything.

I took a deep breath before sliding the glass doors open and walked back to where Tezya waited in the water. I was thankful the hut didn’t have a mirror because I probably would’ve run back inside out of embarrassment if I had seen myself. It didn’t matter if Tezya made it clear this was just training. I felt as ridiculous as I knew I looked, and it did nothing to quench the lingering self-consciousness.

When he saw me, his eyes widened for a brief moment. It was so fast that I thought I had imagined it. I probably did. Instinctively, I covered as much of my stomach as I could manage with my hands, which wasn’t much.

He swallowed. “Do you think you are able to go all the way in?”

I nodded my head and slowly waded out further into the water. It was cool against my bare skin. Everywhere the water hit me felt refreshing to the contrast of the blazing heat. When the water lapped at my hips, I dove under as a large wave came barreling toward me.

The salt water stung for a moment as it met with my still-healing flesh on my forearm and back. My tallies were almost all healed except for the newest marks closest to my wrist. But my back was worse. The healer who had visited me in the dungeons kept me from death, but she never mended me fully. I could still feel the bite of the whip when I moved a certain way, and I still opted to sleep curled up on my side rather than flat on my back because of it. The salt dug into the crevices of the wounds and cemented itself there. I pushed past the burn and swam deeper.

Opening my eyes underwater, I was surprised that I could see clearly. Just as vividly as if I was looking on land. Better even. I opened my mouth to breathe. It still startled me when I felt the immediate relief in my lungs as the water filled and poured into every inch of me. It was nothing like my nightmares.

I didn’t want to risk having a flashback from being in the tub, so I kept my mouth open as I swam, not wanting to hold my breath at all. A sense of calmness overtook me, similar to how I used to feel taking baths back in LakeWood before everything happened. The water finally started to soothe. I swam around, studying the various sea life with fascination. I dove further, deeper out, surprised I was at ease swimming near the bottom. The sand looked nothing like tile. I searched for shells and rocks along the seafloor. A crab inched its way past me as I wiggled my toes and looked up. A pair of legs were hovering far above me. I could make out the slight glimpse of the sun through the deep blue.

When I finally broke the surface, Tezya was smiling softly at me. “You were under the water for a while.”

“Sorry,” I replied as I swam over to him. “I didn’t realize how far out I swam.”

“Don’t apologize. I’m glad you did, but water isn’t my specialty, so if you don’t mind, let’s practice closer to the shore.”

I followed his gaze and realized we were at least a mile off from the hut. I started to make my way back before he grabbed my arm to stop me. “What?” I asked.

“Race me.”

“What?”

“Race me,” he grinned. “Consider it part of your training. I want to see how fast you are in the water unless you’re scared of losing.”

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