Chapter Four

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter Four

            I crawled next to him and crossed my legs, sitting next to him. I fanned the dress out around me and started playing with the edges of it. I looked down at the water.

“It’s really pretty out here”

“Yeah”

I cleared my throat quietly and plucked a piece of grass to play with.

“So what happened to her?”

“Some bad stuff”

I was surprised he answered me. I figured he wouldn’t give up.

“Did she die?”

“Yeah”

“How?”

“Whenever someone is locked up in a place like this, a certain person is in charge of them while someone else deals with the ransom part. If the ransom doesn’t happen, then there really isn’t a use for the princess anymore. It’s the person who was assigned to take care of her’s job to get rid of her”

“You had to kill her?”

He nodded and cleared his throat.

“Told you, you didn’t wanna know”

I shrugged.

“It could have been worse for her, I guess”

“Yeah, it was”

“How?”

“A couple of the guys got to her before I could. They uh, did some bad stuff”

“Did they rape her?”

“Yeah. She didn’t mind getting killed after that. She knew the man she loved didn’t care about her, she just had gotten pretty beat up, and she didn’t care. I didn’t really want to do it, but it was my job. Like I said; stuff you don’t need to know about”

I nodded and put my head against his shoulder.

“Sorry”

“Not your fault”

It was quiet for a while after that. We just listened to the river flow by us, tumbling on the rocks and the shore.

“Is that what’s gonna happen to me if they don’t come?”

He sighed.

“That’s why I don’t tell people s**t. Then they ask tough questions like that”

“Sorry”

“Stop apologizing… Probably, but I’m gonna try for it not to. You seem like a cool person who just wants a normal life, not at all like a spoiled rotten princess. I know who’d probably be the first at your cell if that news came around though, so I know who to look out for”

I nodded and he sighed. He let his head rest on top of mine. It felt kind of natural to act like this around him. It was weird. At the same time I felt all hot and embarrassed by it though. I ignored it.

            We sat by the river quietly until the sun beated down on us in a swarm of heat. Luke smiled, suddenly lightening up.

“Wanna go swimming?”

“Swimming?”

“Yeah come on”

He stood up and took off his shirt and pants until he was in nothing but shorts before he hopped in. I looked at him wide eyed.

“I can’t get this dress wet”

“It needs to be washed, come on. I’ll bring you something else if that’s the problem”

“But they’ll notice if we come back drenched”

“Then dry the dress off before we go back. Come on; is it that you don’t know how to swim?”

I thought about that for a moment. That could be one part, or it could also be that I’d have to strip down to underwear to go swimming with him. That thought didn’t appeal to me. He climbed out of the water and grabbed my hands.

“It’s easy to swim, I’ll teach you”

“It’s not entirely that”

“What is it, then?”

“I don’t have clothes to swim in”
He rolled his eyes.

“Oh, you’re embarrassed. Look, everything will be covered that needs to be. I won’t look, I promise”

“Luke”

“I told you stuff I didn’t wanna tell you, now you can at least come swimming. It’s fun, I promise”

I took a deep shaky breath.

“Ok”

He smiled.

“Want me to look away?”

I nodded and he chuckled before wading back into the water and looking the opposite direction. I still hid behind a bush while I took off the dress. I tightened the strap on my bra so I knew that I wouldn’t fall out of it. I hung the dress on a tree branch before cautiously climbing into the water. The temperature was nice, but I froze once the water got to my shoulders.

“Luke?”

“Huh?”

“I don’t think I can do this”

“Why?”

He turned around and rolled his eyes.

“Swim to me”

“I can’t”

“Is there anything you have done before?”

“Probably not”

He sighed and swam over to me. He held out his hands and I unwillingly put mine in them. He began to pull me out to the deeper water. I pulled back.

“What are you doing?”

I screamed and he laughed.

“Calm down, I’m not gonna let you drown”

“I don’t know how”

“It comes naturally. If you start to drown, I’ll save you. Then I give you permission to punch me”

I studied him carefully for a moment before agreeing. He took my hands and began pulling me out to the deeper part again. I instantly clung onto him. He laughed as I wrapped my legs around his torso in fear of drowning. He smiled at me.

“Trust me. I won’t let go, I promise. Just kick you legs and move your arms, like a bird trying to fly”

He began to unravel my legs from around him and I held onto him tighter, my eyes beginning to water.

“Please don’t let go of me!”

He laughed again. Part of me wanted to hit him but I knew then he’d let go and I’d drown. He wrapped his arms around my back and pulled me closer to him. He smiled at me and I felt dizzy.

“Are you going to kiss me again?”

“Only if you weren’t going to ruin it like that. Why, do you not want me to?”

“No. I mean, no I do. Not like no I don’t. I mean, I don’t. I mean I don’t mind. Ugh”

He laughed again and smiled.

“You seriously have done nothing your whole life, haven't you?”

“Well, I have good taste in expensive stuff. I know everything there is about ruling a kingdom and how to be the perfect wife, though I wouldn’t follow those rules even if my life was on the line”

He smiled at me.

“Kiss me”

“What?”

He laughed loudly at my shocked reaction.

“Kiss me. Just like I kissed you”

“But now it’s all awkward and embarrassing. Don’t look at me like that!”

He laughed again and I felt my face grow bright red. He smiled and pulled my chin up before softly kissing me on the lips. He leaned away smiling still.

“See how easy that is?”

I nodded and he smiled wider.

“Come on; let’s teach you how to swim”

“I got in the water, I think that’s enough!”

He began undoing my legs from around his waist. I clung on tighter and he smiled as he tried harder to get them undone.

“Let go or I will go underwater”

“Please don’t!”

“Let go”

I nervously let go, being sure to hold onto his arm for dear life.

“Kick your legs”

I began kicking my legs and he smiled.

“Ok, now let go”

“No!”

Suddenly he dove underwater and I screamed I began kicking frantically, searching for shore. Then I realized I was swimming. I smiled as I began swimming in circles.

“Hey! I’m swimming”

I heard Luke laugh from behind me and turned to face him. I splashed him and swam away. He dove after me. I screamed again and swam towards shore. Before I could reach it he grabbed my legs and pulled me close to him. I smiled and he chuckled.

“Gotchya”

He wrapped my legs around his torso and carried me out of the river. He collapsed on the grass a few feet away with me still wrapped around him. I quickly crawled off, feeling embarrassed about being on top of him. He laughed in response to this and climbed on top of me. I felt my heart beat increase, in a good way for once. He must have heard it because his smile widened.

“Do I make you nervous when I’m on top of you?”

“A little”

He chuckled and ran his hand through his shiny, wet black hair. Water dripped on me and I giggled before shaking my head so water from my hair hit him. He smiled.

“Come on, we should probably head back”

I nodded.

“Yeah”

He helped me up and I carried my dress back, wanting to wait until I was dry to put it on.

 

            We got back when the sun was still in the sky. We were laughing again and playing a game to see who could shove the other the farthest. He of course won. I had almost landed in the bushes a few times. We had just turned the corner to head back to the door when Leroy stepped out and glared at us. I quickly jumped behind Luke and wrapped my dress around me, feeling embarrassed. I was surprised when Luke’s arms came back and wrapped around me, pulling me close. I peeked over his shoulder to look at his very angry father. We had been caught. Leroy glared at me and then Luke.

“Both of you come with me”