Page 48 of Vows of Sacrifice

I accepted it, just as I had entrusted my life to him on our wedding day.

* * *

It was what the Osacanians called an oasis. A watering hole bordered by tall trees with braided trunks and enormous triangular leaves shaped like fish tails.

“You can cool off,” announced Dovah, pointing to the large expanse of calm water.

The night seemed peaceful, with a clear sky of a thousand stars and the moon, as round as a loaf of bread, shining brightly. What a wonderful place! I took one step forward, then another, until the tips of my toes brushed the deliciously cold water. I smiled, strangely happy at the idea of swimming. This was rarely possible in Muvaria.

“I can’t swim very well,” I warn him without turning around. “Just enough to avoid drowning when our lakes freeze over, if ever . . .”

I paused. Dovah was behind me: very, very close, in fact. Again. I often had the intuition that he couldn’t help it, or even that he hardly noticed his own behaviour.

“Stay where you are. I’m here anyway. I am a very good swimmer.”

He kissed the back of my neck. A quick kiss, but gentle. Yet it seemed as if I now had an indelible mark where he had pressed his lips. I was reacting to his touch. There was no denying it. It was beyond me.

Unsettled, I didn’t dare turn around, so I just listened to him shed his armour.

“Do you need help?” I finally asked, out of a clear conscience.

I knew from experience that removing this kind of heavy equipment was usually no easy task. He laughed kindly.

“No, I’m afraid not. I’ll have you know that I asked the blacksmith to make it so that I can remove it myself if the situation calls for it. Alright, it requires . . . a . . . little . . . effort . . . but . . . voila! I can do it.”

He exhaled a genuine sigh of contentment.

“Don’t wait for me, go first,” suggested Dovah, as magnanimous and good-humoured as ever.

I gladly obliged. It was a delight. The coolness of the water against my hot, clammy skin made me feel alive again. Like a phoenix reborn. I advanced forward until the surface of the small lake was level with my shoulders; I still had a small margin of safety left.

Suddenly, I heard the sound of water and discovered that Dovah was no longer on shore. Had he joined me? When I saw his head pop up beside me, I got my answer.

He smiled broadly at me, then pushed his hair back with a wave of his hand. There was something mesmerizing about seeing his wet hair and watching the water make his face shine under the pale moonlight.

“Aren’t you better off here than under your woollen cape?” he asked me with a mischievous look.

“Certainly,” I agreed.

For a moment, we were content to watch each other, with only the gentle melody of the lapping water in the background.

“What were you doing in the outer hall at this hour?”

I studied him for a moment.

“You don’t think I was looking for you?”

He raised an eyebrow. So, that was it.

“It’s the truth,” I assured him. “This isn’t the first time you’ve gone out at night only to come back at dawn with blood on your clothes. It’s enough to make you wonder, as a wife, don’t you think?”

He smiles at me. An undeniably seductive smile.

“I’m touched that you’re worried about me.”

“I’m not worried about you.”

“Oh?”

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