We were hopefully only here to get a drink.
“This way.”
I turned to see Sainte with a bundle under his arm, headed upriver. He glanced behind and waited for me to catch up.
“I hope you don’t haveexpectationsof me,” I huffed, slipping on a rock as I stumbled after him.
“Only the bare minimum.”
“Good. I’d hate to disappoint,” I called, then focused on my footing across the smooth round stones.
Ahead, a massive rock jutted from the riverbank, where the water curled around it like a giant snake. Sainte guided me up the hillside, then crossed to the boulder. The terrain sloped down to the river, preventing a gradual descent.
“The current is calmest here,” he said, setting his bundle on the boulder’s surface. He crouched, digging through the pack, and retrieved a bar of soap. “It will be as private as can be.”
“No.” I backed toward the hillside, ready to scramble up the incline. “No, no. That’s a hard pass from me.”
He peered over his shoulder with a bored blink. “The men are gagging around you.”
“Then tell them to toughen up their stomachs. I’m not getting in there.”
“Enough, Elspeth.” He straightened to his full height. “I’m tired of fighting you.”
“Then just accept it. I smell. Move on.”
“Don’t make me throw you in.”
I froze, horrified. “You wouldn’t dare.”
He held my gaze, glare unwavering, lips pressed into an unamused frown. Neither of us moved a muscle—then we lurched at once. I turned and ran, managing two steps closer to the soft, grassy hillside before he snared my arm and spun me toward the boulder’s ridge.
“No, no! No!I’ll die!!”
“Not likely.”
I latched onto him, fingers digging into his leather armor. Panic set in full force, and I thrashed as he shoved me near the ledge. A scream tore from my throat as the earth disappeared from under my boots, and I dropped like a stone.
Water flooded my mouth. The cold shock silenced my screams as I plunged below. On instinct, I snapped my eyes shut upon impact, the frigid embrace disorienting me. My limbs flailed, seeking direction in the murky depths. Which way was up? Was this down? I forced myself to look, instantly regretting it as the sting blurred my vision. My lungs demanded air. I kicked and clawed, desperate to reach solid ground.
My head broke the surface, and I sucked in a breath, with only a bit of water. I sputtered and coughed, staring at the boulder wide-eyed in a silent plea for help, hoping Sainte would grasp that I couldn’t swim.
He was shedding his armor fast, fingers yanking at the buckles as I sank. I kicked and splashed. Coughing, my body acted of its own accord, aching to breathe. I tried to suck in a breath and the river poured down my throat.
Everything burned, and water filled my lungs—where it had no place being.
A violent surge of choking racked my frame, liquid expelled from me in gasping heaves. The sensation of drowning lingered despite the solid ground beneath my hands and knees. Air rasped through my stinging throat like acid with each strained gasp. When I collapsed onto my back, panting like a dying fish, I fisted handfuls of sand and pebbles. Fluid rattled in my lungs with every breath as I stared wide-eyed at the sky. A shadow blocked it out.
“I told you I woulddie!”
Relief flooded Sainte’s features. Droplets splattered onto my cheeks from his wet hair as he lowered his forehead to mine.
“You can be a touch dramatic,” he said, breathing hard.
I growled, shoving him until he sat up. When he shuffled off me, I lunged, pinning him to the ground. I sat on his chest, hands hovering above his neck. My fingers wiggled, straining with the urge to choke the life out of him.
“I could kill you! You didn’t even askwhyI refused to bathe!No,you just tossed me in, assuming I’d be fine! Did you listen to me, or pause to think it through? No! Youthrewme like a—like a–”
“You were raised in a coastal city. I assumed you knew how to swim.”
