Page 87 of The Garnet Daughter
August’s clothes sit in a heap on the shoreline, and I shift back and forth, considering stripping mine off and doing the same. My clothes stick to me, and my skin is covered in a layer of sand and dirt mixed with the sweat that did not evaporate as we climbed to this oasis, where the heat isn’t as dry.
August breaks the surface with a gasp and wipes the water from his face. “All clear from what I can see, small fish, crustaceans that hid as soon as I got close. Barely deeper than my chest.”
I watch him skeptically. My skin is begging to be clean. It’s a big area, but I can still see every detail in his shoulder muscles, his strong arms waving across the top of the water on full display.
“We are safe.” He gestures for me to join.
“We will stay back-to-back?”
He spins quickly. “You have my word. Now join me!”
I hesitate, unsure if this is a good idea, but seeing him dip under the water and scrub at his short black hair seals my decision.
I kick off my boots and choose a smooth rock at the water’s edge to carefully place my outer layer, hitting each item against the side and shaking out some of the grit. We won’t be here long enough to wash and dry our clothes, and putting them back on will already be painful, so I do my best to clear off the sand. I reluctantly peel my top over my head, all while keeping my eyes fixed on August, making sure he doesn’t turn toward me.
“Alright, stay right there,” I call to him. I’m nervous to take my under layers off but quickly do, hiding them beneath my other items and racing into the water.
I bite my lip to hide the matching groan I might let slip when I dip my head back and fully saturate my hair.
“Can I turn around now? Are you deep enough?” August asks.
“No!” I instinctively cross my arms across my breasts.
“I had no idea you were so shy.” His voice is sly.
I force myself to relax and scrub at my scalp, dipping my nape into the water again. “I’m not shy. I just don’t want you getting any ideas.”
“I have more ideas than you could imagine,” he mutters and dunks his head below. When he resurfaces, he is closer to the waterfall but still respectfully facing away from me.
I choose to ignore the teasing comment and wade farther out so I don’t have to kneel to be fully submerged.
Even though we agreed to stay with our backs to each other, I check to see where he is swimming often. He keeps his word as he stands under the spray of the waterfall.
I gently wash my skin where my freshly healed burn scar is still delicate to the touch. The Viathan medicines heal beyond anything I could imagine in such a short time, and it pains me to think of all the patients Ruth could have brought more relief to if my people would just open their minds to other ways.
“Can you fold the rest of the way to the temple? It looks steep to the top.” He moves backward and stops a couple of feet from me, his back muscles moving in a strong but graceful motion, like he can’t stop feeling the water move across his arms for even a moment.
“There is a ward around it. I could feel it push back even as we approached this plateau.” The top is cast in a fine mist, a cloudy ward protecting it from uninvited guests like us. “We will have to climb. It won’t let me fold into it. Even thinking about it makes me nauseous.”
“It’s going to be hard leaving this,” he says flatly. “I hate climbing.”
“You climbed the cliffs of Frith, did you not? For the peace bulb.”
“I may have exaggerated where I found it.” He laughs a little.
“I believed you!” I’m only half offended. We had just met when he told me how he collected the bulb. If I remember right, even then I thought the story was silly. But I secretly liked how close he leaned in to tell his tale when we sat around the fire his first night in my village. I was so fascinated with all three of them. Now that I know he was so nervous to speak with me that he downed his flask, it makes the memory that much sweeter.
“There were cliffs and plenty of bulbs growing on them, but there were also some at the base I didn’t have to break my neck for.”
I splash the back of his head with water.
“I’m sorry! I had to impress you somehow.” He turns to the side just enough for me to see his boyish smile.
“You had to?” I laugh
“Of course.”
I notice how much closer he is now. If I reach out, it would take very little effort to touch his back. I can see the shape of his body under the water but no detail, only tan skin through the rippling surface.
