“Okay, just give me a minute. I’m getting tired,” she confessed. “Need a little break from treading water. It’s been a while since I swam this much.”
Submerged into the water up to her chin, with the ends of her shoulder-length hair floating in the water like spilled sunshine, she swam to the shore about two paces away from me and grabbed onto the edge of the reef.
She showed me two other ways to kick my feet that were supposed to help me keep my body up and my nose out of the water.
Then my cruel little minnow told me to let go of the coral.
“Come on, Kye. You can do it!” she chirped ever so brightly. “Keep moving your feet simultaneously, just like that. And remember to move your hands too, just like I showed you.”
I considered arguing, but she let go of the cliff herself in demonstration of what she expected from me.
How could I fail at what this courageous little human could do with such ease?
I couldn’t keep clinging cowardly to the coral while she watched and probably silently judged me too. I couldn’t let fear get the best of me, even if it meant sinking to the bottom like a slab of glass as a result.
Fuck it.
I allowed anger to fuel my courage and let go.
My hands splashed into the water. My body jerked, breaking the rhythm of my leg movements.
What was I supposed to do with my arms again?
With my hands?
My mind blanked out as water closed over my face. I halted my breath like Maren had told me, but that didn’t slow down my descent.
I kept going down and down, deeper and deeper into the Abyss that would bury me forever. And this time, Odine wasn’t here to come to my rescue. I flailed my limbs erratically, but it did nothing to slow down my sinking.
Panicking, I didn’t even realize that I kept my eyes open until a shape moved in front of my face. Maren was here, coming down with me. Her eyes were open too, but her mouth was closed. Her face pinched in concentration.
She brought her hands together in front of her, as if clapping to get my attention. I mirrored her gesture to show her that she got it.
Next, she brought her arms straight above her head, then moved them down in wide semicircles. The gesture propelled her upwards, and I did the same, trying to catch up.
She nodded, then repeated the move with her arms while kicking her feet. Once again, I did the same, swimming up with her.
Swimming.
I was swimming.
Up, not down.
I waved my arms, like a bird flapped its wings. Only instead of flying into the sky, we steadily moved up to the surface, back where I could breathe again.
As soon as my head broke through the surface, I gasped in a breath. My limbs flailed again like a rag doll on a string. We were a few paces away from the shore now, with my safety coral way out of reach.
Fuck.
“Tread the water, Kye,” Maren urged calmly. “Kick your feet and move your arms like I showed you. Like this.”
She treaded the water in front of me. Swallowing the sickening panic, I mirrored her movements. I craned my neck, tilting my head all the way back to keep my nose above water, but I could breathe. I stayed afloat.
“Good boy, Your Majesty,” Maren murmured approvingly. “See? Good things happen when you do as I say.”
The little vixen was teasing me again. I noticed she had only ever addressed me by my royal title in jest. But I didn’t mind. At this very moment, she could do or say whatever she wished to me. The elation inside me was impossible to extinguish.
My body floated in the water, and my heart soared to the sky.
