Page 150 of A Baron of Bonds
“Don’t let it sweep you in, Moira! I’m not coming in there to fetch you out!” I called across the rush.
She laughed in her tinkling, light way and dove.
“Moira!” I ran to the water’s edge, both Parvus and Rauca beside me watching where she went under. Cursing under my breath, I pulled off my boots, tossing them to the side of the bank and took two steps into the water before she shot above the surface, now naked and laughing at me.
“That was not funny. I was ready to dive in after you and probably drown.”
“I thought it was very funny, Karusss.” She spoke my name in that mocking way, a reminder that she and I were very different creatures.
“How did you manage to not get swept away?” I folded my arms and stepped back up onto the shore.
“I asked the stream not to.”
“Oh, it’s that simple, is it?” I chortled.
“It is if you’re fae,” she replied, diving back in again.
I huffed, looking down to Parvus. “What about you, handsome? Do you think you can swim in this?”
He looked up at me in his usual wolfish grin, giant tongue hanging out of his mouth before he sniffed the water’s edge and whined.
“I know. It sure is fast. I don’t know how Rauca bathed you in this as a pup.” I patted her head.
Moira surfaced again and flew in circles above the water.
At least it had stopped raining.
“They won’t go in,” I stated bluntly, unsure if I could convince them with magic.
“Why don’t you just calm the stream, Karus?” Philius asked behind me, wiping his mouth of spit.
“I don’t know how to do that.”
“I bet you can though,” he replied, raising a brow at Moira who was now digging her feet just above the surface of the water, causing it to splash up over her sage body.
“Sure, I’ll just wade in there and tell it to calm down so my lumens can take a bath.”
He shrugged. “Okay.”
I pursed my lips and stepped back into the water, unsure if I could really calm a river. That sounded like something a Baron could do, not me. I didn’t even know what kind of magic that would fall under.
I held my hands above the surface, closed my eyes, and steadied my breathing. I thought of calm waters, of still streams, gently gliding over smooth stones. I peeked one eye open. Nothing changed.
“It’s not working. Maybe I need to go farther out.” I took another few steps, soaking my skirts up to my waist, my feet finding a hold on the slippery rocks below.
It was freezing. I knew exactly what Dynah had meant in that book about lumens. I tried again, thinking of calm, peaceful water.
Nothing but raging waves came over me, jostling me in place.
“It was worth a try, but I just don’t have that kind of magic, Philius.”
I began to wade back to the shore and slipped.
It happened so fast, I didn’t comprehend it had happened at all. One moment my head was above the surface, the next it was under, water filling my mouth and nose as the rest of me tumbled through the rush, and I lost my way to the surface.
I only heard the gush of water as I tried to reach for something—anything to grab ahold of so I could find my bearings and take another breath.
The water swept me away quickly, carrying me downstream. My head finally breached the surface for a precious moment before I fell under again. The rage of water in my ears muted for a moment as it pushed me over a ledge and I fell fast and deep to the bottom of the riverbed. My head cracked against something hard, and I fell limp, my lungs screaming for air, my head struggling to form thoughts.
