#
Dasen swam smoothly but purposefully to avoid the shifting currents that threatened to disrupt the delicate balance he held with the surface. Jubilant, he searched for Tethina. He wanted to grab her and kiss her. He had been sure they were going to be captured – or worse. Now, he was so happy that he would have kissed a frog if there were one close at hand.
As his casual search failed, Dasen’s concern grew. Where is she? Certainly she must be a strong swimmer. But then, where is she? He spun himself all the way around, searching every direction, but could not see anything but white-capped water and trees.
His stomach clenched. He made another circle, concentrating this time on the depths. Almost immediately, he saw her. Remarkably close but well below the surface was a shimmer of blue that did not belong to the river. He dove toward it. The undertow pulled him gladly to Tethina’s lifeless form. He wrapped his arms around her chest and looked for the surface. The churning water made it difficult to orient himself, but he did not spare any time to gauge his surroundings. Tethina was not moving. How long had she been under? Was she hurt? Powered by fear, he held her with one arm, pulled with his other, and kicked with all his might.
The effort seemed to bring him no closer to what he hoped was the surface. The river pulled at its prize, trying to suck her back. Dasen fought for her, but his strength was waning. The river was too strong. The power faded from his arms and legs. His grip began to loosen. She was slipping away, back into the river.
But the Order had not yet finished with her. The current reversed and expelled them, shot them into a universe of sweet, clear, revitalizing air. Air had never tasted so good as that first breath. Dasen swallowed it in ragged gulps, his entire body burning to have it. He was so happy to have found the surface that he did not even notice the waves that beat at his face to leave him sputtering.
When he had recovered enough to reclaim his senses, he turned his attention to the motionless bundle that he was struggling to hold above the water. Tethina should have been gasping for the same air he was enjoying, but there was no movement in her chest, no gasping, no sputtering. No breathing at all.
In a panic, he looked at her. Her face was a ghostly white disrupted only by the pale blue around her lips and eyes. Her mouth was closed. Her nostrils were still. Nothing moved to bring in the life-giving air that was now available. Dasen was frantic. What else could he do? He forced her mouth open. Water ran out, but no air rushed in to fill the void it left.
Without any idea of what else to do, he turned to the last refuge of the hopeless: he prayed. He made every promise he could think to make. He offered his wealth, his knowledge, his unending service, even his own life, but there was no answer. Tears welled in his eyes. He cried out in frustration, unleashed a curse at the Order, and made a final plea to any heathen power that may be watching. He squeezed Tethina’s middle as hard as he could, refusing to let her go. Water bubbled from her mouth, and with a tremendous gasp, her lungs filled.
Tethina pulled in the air with great coughing gasps. Dasen made his own gasps of relief as he watched her eyes flutter open, but she did not seem to see anything. For a moment, she lay motionless against him, breathing deeply. Her chest rose and fell, her nostrils flared to bring in the air that soon returned color to her cheeks and banished the blue from her lips. Her body was rigid, every muscle taught as her eyes searched the sky with growing desperation.
Then she panicked. She flailed her arms and kicked her feet. Her head pounded the water. Unprepared, Dasen retracted as her heels struck his shins. He ducked to avoid her head and ended up underwater. Tethina tore at his hands until he nearly lost her. And she screamed, a terrible, angry scream that seemed to shake the entire river.
“Stop!” Dasen managed to yell before his head was forced back under. “Stop or I’ll have to let you go!” Again his head went under. He held Tethina with all his might, put his every effort into keeping her above the water, but she was too strong. He had to let her go or drown himself.
Salvation hit him squarely on the head. It nearly knocked him senseless. The trunk of a tree was standing in the water, and he had hit it full on. Then the river nearly sucked him under it before he was able to shift his grip from Tethina. He clasped the trunk and looked for her. She clung to a branch, sputtered, wiped the water from her face, then examined her surroundings with wide eyes.
“We’re okay,” Dasen assured. “You had a close call, but it’s okay now.”
Tethina just nodded and clung to the tree like an infant to its mother. Dasen strengthened his grip against the current flowing under the tree and considered. He was hanging on a large fir that had grown too close to the river and tumbled into the water with its dislocated roots still clinging to the bank. Just enough of the tree now stuck out of the water to give Dasen a good lump and stop their progress down the river. The tree trunk ran all the way to the bank a dozen or more paces away. They could climb it to safety, but it was on the wrong side of the river. They would be trapped on the western bank with no way across except the bridge in Randor’s Pass.
A look across the river showed a logging camp. Where there should have been trees stood only stumps. A small wooden jetty had been placed in the water so the loggers could maneuver the trees down the river. If they could get across to that, they could easily climb out. There might even been shelter and food in the camp. Maybe even men who could help them. If he could get Tethina to calm down, they might be able to kick their way across. He looked toward her, hoping to share his plan, but she was gone.
His heart raced. Had she been sucked back into the river? He search and found her just in time to see her bound across the last ten feet of the log, leap from the roots, and stumble through a patch of brambles out of sight. He cursed silently but hoisted himself onto the log and followed. Feeling every one of his countless injuries, he crawled down the log on his hands and knees until he was on firm, dry ground. Another moment was spent steadying himself as it suddenly felt like the river had turned his entire body into water. Finally, he looked for Tethina and found her on the other side of the brambles, sitting in a small clearing with her head down, back to him, weeping silently. She looked dreadful. The tattered dress clung to her. Water flowed from her tangled hair. Her legs, sticking out from under the blue dress, were lined with scratches. One of her small feet was bare. Her shoulders shook, but she did not make a sound.
Watching her, Dasen felt his heart break. It had only been a day, but he suddenly felt closer to Tethina than to any other person in the world. Suddenly, he knew what it was to want to hold someone, to drive away their pain and fear, to protect them from all the hurt and sorrow of the world. His sympathy mixed with his fear, pain, and fatigue to leave him on the verge of his own tears. He moved through the brambles, ignoring the way the thorns grabbed at his legs, and knelt beside her. He placed his hand on the side of her head, ran it down her face in a comforting gesture. Her eyes rose, and his hand froze on her cheek. Suddenly, he could not move. Could not see, breathe, hear, or speak. All he could do was look into Tethina’s stormy-blue eyes. Eventually, it seemed an eternity, she pulled herself up, wrapped her arms around him, and held him in a desperate embrace as she unleashed her sorrow on his shoulder.
Dasen was stunned. He had started to think that she was incapable of emotion, but she buried her face into his shoulder and shook from her tears. He reached his arm around her slim figure and pulled her closer still. His other hand went to her head and stroked back her wet hair. He tried to think of comforting words. None would come.
They held each other for a long time in the twilight of the forest until Tethina's tears faded. She pulled her head away from his shoulder, running her cheek along his until she stopped with their faces inches apart. Dasen looked into her eyes and ran his hand along her face. As their mouths met, Dasen closed his eyes and cautiously kissed his wife.
/>
The kiss was tentative, little more than a peck, but it grew in intensity as their inhibitions were lost. They replaced their miseries with that warm embrace, and though it was clumsy, neither of them knew any better. In that moment, there was no pain, no fear. The men in the village were forgotten, the fiery coach was ages away, and the river sounded like a symphony rather than a monster that had nearly killed them only minutes before. The moment was wonderful.
It was also short lived. Tethina jumped back without warning and pushed Dasen away from her with frightful force. He fell backward and lay reeling. He looked at her for an explanation but found only reprisal in her cold eyes. What had he done? Had he touched her the wrong way? Had he pressed himself too close? Had he accidentally bitten her tongue or lip? She had seemed to find no protest before that moment, so what had changed? He rattled through questions. His tongue, still burning, stumbled to say anything at all.
Tethina glared at him. The same look, he realized, that he had seen in the coach. But this had been her as much as him. He had not done anything to force her. He had not touched anything but her back, had done nothing more than kiss her and received the same in return.
"What do you think you were doing?” Tethina finally asked, her voice as hard and sharp as her eyes. “What made you think you could kiss me like that? Just because you pulled me out the river doesn’t mean I’ll lay with you here in some clearing. What is wrong with you?” She paused as if she actually expected him to answer, but he could not make a sound, let alone words. “Well, I will tell you something, if that’s the kind of reward you expect, then next time you can leave me in the river! Understand?"
Dasen did not. He did not understand a single word she had said, but they hit him like stones. Stunned, he looked for an explanation in her cool eyes, but nothing was offered beyond the same hard stare. Finally, he stopped stammering and simply turned away. There was nothing he could say, so he just fought to conceal his pain, to remain upright despite a world that seemed intent on crushing him. Most of all, he fought to forget the way that kiss had felt. The last was the most difficult by far.
Choking back tears with grinding teeth, Dasen felt all the compassion he had felt a minute ago turning into bile. She was nothing but a mean-spirited, heartless beast. No wonder the villagers hated her. How could anyone love her? Teeth clenched, face set, he rose to his feet – a difficult task given the fatigue that gripped his muscles to the point of shaking – and returned her cold stare with one of his own. He had been nothing but caring, had done nothing to deserve her scorn, and he refused to let her believe otherwise. He would not apologize this time. Let the vile girl hate him. He had done nothing wrong.
Tethina held his eyes for a long time before even her resolution began to waver. Her bottom lip crept up under her teeth, and she turned away. "Well, come on. We can’t just sit here all night.”
Chapter 14