Page 55 of Tashama
“Later.”
“Now. Do I need to have my guards help you to stand?”
She clasped her arms together. “Can you not sleep, Your Highness, as you desire to see me so?”
“See you swim, you mean.” Aleron motioned to his guards.
They helped Tashama to stand, and she teetered on her tiptoes.
“Do they still hurt?” Aleron took her arm and waved for his guards to step away.
“I’m afraid to touch them to the floor.”
Aleron smiled. “Why do you not tell me what bothers you instead of behaving as though you intend to undermine my authority?”
“I wanted to sleep longer. My dreams were disturbed last night.”
“By?” Carissian asked.
Aleron said to the healer, “Is there a risk that her feet are still too tender to walk on?”
“A dream,” Tashama said in reply to Carissian.
“Of course, but we won’t know unless the princess takes her first step,” the healer said to Aleron.
“A dream.” Carissian’s gaze caught Aleron’s.
“I will help you.” Aleron encouraged her to take a step with him. She walked on the tips of her toes, and he smiled. “You cannot walk like that forever.”
“Certainly, I can. It feels very comfortable up here.”
“All right, then. Perhaps after you show me you can swim, you can walk.”
“Can you tell me about this dream ?” Carissian asked.
She shook her head. “I cannot remember what it was about. Just that it woke me last night and I couldn’t get back to sleep for a while.”
Aleron led Tashama to his bath with a quickened step.
“Are we in a hurry, sire?” she asked.
He glared at Carissian. “Quit reading my mind.”
They entered Aleron’s bedchambers as servants lit the sconces on the walls. The room was filled with a soft light shimmering off the marble bath.
Tashama stared at the onyx marble with white streaks swirling onto the tile as it covered the pool. Candles floatingat intervals in the still water cast faint light on the sparkling surface. She turned her face up to Aleron. “I may drown because I’m not yet awake.”
“I will rescue you if you fall asleep.”
“What will Devil think of your making me swim in your bath like this?”
“Daveal? What I do is none of her concern, nor anyone else’s for that matter.”
They reached the edge of the bath, and Tashama raised her arms above her head. He frowned. “What are you doing, Tashama?”
“I need to have the sheer overdress removed. Do you want me to drown in your pool because of the weight of my wet gowns?”
“You wore them in the lake.”
