Page 106 of Tashama
“How do you know?”
“You blush quite easily, Tashama. I know this is not the kind of kiss we share.”
“Tell him, Tashama.” A sprite fluttered next to Tashama’s head again.
“Go away!” Tashama said.
“What do they say, Tashama? Do they tell you to say how you love me?”
Tashama stared at Aleron as his eyes searched hers. She felt her cheeks grow hot. He smiled, and she looked back at the water. “You wanted to swim,” Tashama responded.
“Tell him, Tashama,” the sprite repeated.
“She loves you,” another said as she fluttered about Aleron’s ear this time. “She does. Tashama, Tashama, Tashama, tell him it is so.”
“They tell me you love me.” He nodded, then squeezed her hand.
She took a deep breath. “The night is already late, sire. If you desire to swim, then we should go now before it gets too much later.”
“All right.” He pulled her from the bridge and headed toward the waterfall. As he stood at the edge of the water, he pulled off his tunic to her surprise.
“What are you doing?” Tashama asked.
“You said you desired to touch my bare chest while you floated me on your hands. Since you told me this, I have desired nothing less.” He slipped off his shoes as she stared at his breeches. A smile touched his lips as he leaned over and kissed her cheek.
After crawling into the water, he clung to the edge of the twenty-foot-deep pool. “Are you not coming? I do not believe I will be able to swim without your help, and I cannot sleep another night without feeling your slender fingers on my bare chest.”
Tashama slipped into the water. “Hold onto the edge of the pool, and I will pull your legs out straight.”
He did as he was told.
“Now kick the water with your feet and feel the water circulating about them.”
Aleron experimented.
“Now push yourself a little way away, paddle with your hands and kick with your feet, then swim back to the edge and hang on.”
He tried this. “But you have not shown me how to float on your hands.”
“We needed to be in the shallower water for me to do that with you, and besides, you already know too many of the basics.”
“No, you must show me this.”
“The water is too deep.”
“I insist.”
“All right.”
Aleron reached his hand out to Tashama, and she took his hand, then pulled him away from the wall. She attempted to place her hands under the prince’s chest, but her own head submerged. The water sprites lifted her up. She touched the prince’s chest. “Now kick your feet as if you wanted to go somewhere and pull the water behind you with your hands as you go.”
After paddling for a time, she said, “Now I will let you go, and you must swim toward me. If you feel afraid, I’ll come to your aid, or the water sprites will.”
Aleron smiled. “You will.” She moved her hands away from him, scooted away, and he paddled toward her like a new puppy just finding he could swim.
“Good. Now, you’ll roll over onto your back, and I’ll show you how you can float should you weary. You can stay like this and move your arms and legs and get to where you’re going in this way too.”
Tashama placed her hands on his back while she watched Aleron straighten his posture. “Yes, that’s correct. You can even bend your legs at the knee and float like that. As long as there are no waves, you can rest for a long time like this just by moving your hands and feet periodically.”
