"What are you doing here!?!" I yell and cover myself with my hands even though I'm under the water and its relatively murky.
Cai raises his eyebrows, "Well it didn't take me long to figure out you had been sold into-"
"THAT'S NOT WHAT I MEAN!" I cut him off, "why the HELL are you NAKED, IN HERE WITH ME?"
He laughs at my question, "What? am I not allowed to?"
"NO!" I begin to swim toward the edge of the water then stop when I realize I can't get out without him seeing me stark naked. "Get out NOW!" I point toward the shoreline.
Cai seems entertained, "But the water feels so nice."
"OUT!" I repeat.
"No thanks." He smiles at me childishly. And I'm so confused by why he's laughing, and so angry that he wont get out. So I splash him as hard as I can.
Cai laughs again when the wave of water I threw at him washes away, "Finally trying to manipulate your element?" he asks.
I get even more frustrated when I realize that his hair and face are completely untouched by the water that I splashed him with. His hair is still perfect and dry.
~Stupid freaking Water Mage!!!~
So I let my frustration get the better of me and splash-attack him. I come closer to him and throw as much water as I possibly can, imagining that I am somehow harnessing my element and splashing him bigger and harder than before. I yell "Get out!" with each splash and squint my eyes against my own wreckage. I only stop when my hands meets something cold and hard.
I open my eyes to see that I'm touching Cai's chest.
I scream again at our proximity and at the fact that were both naked and I'm TOUCHING his bare chest. I try to remove my hands but he grabs my wrists and doesn't let me go.
"You're a pain in my ass, you know that?" he says and grips my wrists tightly.
"Then why don't you get rid of me?" I fight against his pull.
"I'm afraid I can't do that." he says, pulling me closer, he dips deeper into the water so only his shoulders are peaking out and his eyes are level with mine. And for a second the tips of my breasts rub against his chest and I feel a blush overtake me from head to toe. Cai laughs at my obvious embarrassment, "If you hadn't fought me, we wouldn't be in this situation." He says more quietly now that we're nearly nose-to-nose.
"Let go of me!" I turn my head away from him and he finally releases my wrists. I'm quick to put distance between us. "How did you find me?" I say and face away from him, trying to cool my burning cheeks.
"Finding out you were sold to someone was easy enough." he answers, and I hear him wade through the water coming closer to me. "But finding the Earth Nomads you were travelling with was a bit more difficult."
I take a shaky breath, because I know he's right behind me again.
~Jeez, have you never heard of personal space!?~
"Are you mad that I tried to run?" I ask.
"I expected it." He shrugs, "I just didn't expect you'd do such a good job. I have to admit, your Duke will likely never expect that you're travelling with the Earth Nomads." He speaks as if I had planned this all, as if I hadn't been dragged through dirt, starved, and nearly killed by the sun to get here.
Even still, I don't correct him. "So what now?"
Cai finds his way to the side of the pool and sits on a rock, luckily his bottom half is still covered by the water. But his abs are visible and a deep V over his pelvic region points to an area under the water that I try to keep my eyes from venturing to. "I say we stay with the nomads." He answers, they're heading toward Pani Rastra anyway.
"Oh," I opt to stare at the water instead of him. "Alright. Well... Can you get out then and leave, so I can too?"
Cai pinches up his lips to the side of his face as if considering my request. "How about, since I have you trapped here, you answer some of my questions instead."
My eyes flick up to him and I regret it immediately cause he holds my gaze, and I fear what that means especially because we're both currently naked. I look away again although there is a nervous churning inside of me. "What do you want to know?"
"I want to know what you are." he says flatly.
"What?" I laugh but it comes out nervous.
"Look, I know you're not from Sandwhip." He states, and I regret instantly giving that information, "Your features are obviously from the south, and Sandwhip is in the north."
"Okay, so I lied about where I'm from." I try to play it off.
"And," Cai begins before I can attempt to cover my lies, "You're a Water Mage of low status, which is rare to begin with, but you have no idea how to even manipulate your element in the slightest."
My mind races to try to come up with an excuse for that.
"Stop trying to come up with lies." he says and runs wet fingers through his hair, tangling it. "I can see your brain working at a million li an hour."
"I am not-"
"Besides," he cuts me off again, "You're a terrible liar anyway."
I scoff and cross my arms.
"Now if you want to get out of this pool, without me looking all up and down that body of yours, I'd suggest you tell me the truth for once." He lets the side of his mouth form into a mischievous smile.
My eyes widen at his lewd words and my stomach twists up with butterflies. "You're a TERRIBLE person!" I finally say to him.
To which he only laughs, "That, I am," He agrees. "Now tell me who you are, and why the Duke is so determined to marry you."
I sigh with resolve, "Fine." I answer, "I don't know why the Duke is so determined to marry me."
Cai tilts his head, "Well, I guess you did just learn about what your intended-marriage would mean."
"As for who I am..." I watch Cai as I consider lying again, "I don't know either."
"you're lying again." he says and scoots off his rock and moves toward me.
"No, I'm not!" I protest.
"yes, you are." he counters, "Each time you lie," he says and swims toward me, I move backwards away from him, "I'll come closer to you." I look behind me, ~of course~ there is a freaking boulder behind me. I put my back to it and watch as Cai comes to stand in from of me.
"I'm telling the truth!" I close my eyes cause I know he is taking another step toward me. "I woke up in the middle of the desert with no memories!" I keep my eyes pinched closed, "Altan found me, and saved me. When he declared that we were to be married, I didn't even know what that meant, I didn't even know I was a Water Mage!"
I peak my eyes open and he's standing directly in front of me, like I thought he would be. "There were truths mixed with those lies." He admits and I want to know how the hell he could tell.
"It's really the truth." I say.
~No way am I telling him that I came from another body in some other dimension.~
He takes another step toward me and leans his hand against the boulder behind me. "Stop lying." he whispers, "how could a Water Mage forget their element, but still remember how to speak?" he asks and it's a very good question.
"Okay." I say and stop him from inching closer to me, I don't know if he's planning on kissing me or what, but I need to stop it. "There is more..." I say, "But I can't share it with you... I can't share it with anyone."
This answer silences him, and he simply stares at my eyes, the only sound his breathing and the rippling of the water between us, his hair falls down on the side of his face making a curtain beside us and I feel like my heart is beating so loud that he could probably hear it.
"Adjuul!" We both jump at the sound, then turn to find Lolo calling my name from the bank. "Adjuul!" she says, she still can't pronounce the "z" sound, but at least she remembers my name. She gasps when she sees Cai looming over me like a vampire about to drink my blood.
And because I don't know what else to do, I turn and run up the bank away from Cai. I keep my eyes pinched closed and hold my breath. I pray he's not actually looking up and down my body like he promised he would... I just can't stand to be interrogated by him any longer.
After I slip my clothes back on, I look back to the pool. But he's gone.