Page 65 of Kingdom of Rot & Ruin
Shava spit out a stream of water at me. It landed short, but the point was taken.
“You are foolish and take perilous risks,” I huffed, but Iwalked toward the edge of the water towards her, like a moth drawn to flames.
She laughed throatily. “I went my whole life without a bath until I was reaped. A stone girl taught me how to float and not panic, saving my life in the bathing house. Now I am obsessed with baths. You cannot tell me there is a warm bath somewhere andnotexpect me to get the dust out of my hair.”
Her head disappeared under the water again, this time for much longer.
And still she didn’t surface.
Uneasiness churned in my gut. I knew the basics of treading water, but had never done it in practice; I’d always gotten bathed in my mother’s small tub as a child, and when I was reaped I was tall enough to touch the bottom of the pools in the bathing houses.
Would I be able to touch in this pool? What if I couldn’t?
The ripples on the surface of the pool went still.
“Shava? SHAVA!”
Damn it all.
I splashed into the water fully clothed, thrashing around a bit and trying to keep my feet under me. Forcing myself out towards the middle, I tried to keep my head clear as my toes lifted from the bottom and I was forced to use my hands and feet to keep myself afloat. I reached out blindly for Shava, not having a clue what I was doing.
My head bobbed under the surface, warm water flooding my mouth.
A hand grabbed my shoulder and pushed me up. Glorious air met my skin, and I coughed. Shava shoved me back toward the edge until my feet touched again. Shaking and unnerved, I clutched onto a rock ledge that jutted out from the side of the pool, attempting to collect myself.
“Don’t you Nobles grow up in the bathing pools?” Shava sidled up next to me, reaching up with one hand to hang off the rocky ledge with me. The angle exposed the curve of her breasts poking out just above the water. I would have given my left hand for a little more light in the cave.
“Scribes are allowed in there once a week and only with limited time. I was always tall enough to touch,” I bit out, still embarrassed by my shortcomings.
“So you dove into a pool blindly in some kind of attempt to … what?” she asked.
“Make sure you weren’t drowning,” I mumbled into my chest.
Shava hummed to herself.
“What?” I shot back, self-conscious and out of sorts in my sodden clothing.
“I can’t figure you out,” she continued, eyeing me warily. “You damn a child to death, then risk your life for me. It’s confusing.”
I gripped the rock hard, the pads of my fingers scraping against the rough surface.
“I’m not confused at all about you,” I blurted out.
One dark eyebrow arched at me. “Oh?”
I couldn’t tear my eyes away from her breasts. And she knew it.
Her hands slid to my chest, making quick work of the few buttons on my tunic. The wet fabric slid off my shoulders and made a heavy TWACK as she threw it up onto solid ground.
Her hand on my bare chest was warmer than the water.
“I still don’t like you.”
Her hand went further and further south. My mouth went dry.
“But you’re not atotalasshole.”
“Fair enough,” I croaked out. I’d agree I was the scum of the earth or a dragon turd if it meant she just kept doing what she was doing. Clover had been fun, but never had she taken charge like this before. It was intoxicating and intriguing.
