As soon as I screamed, I splashed away from the slimy, unidentified thing that brushed against my feet underwater, and scurried towards the bank of the stream.
"Your Highness?"
"Don't turn around!" I called out to Elliot, who was just about to turn around, worried about me. "I'm okay!"
And then, with horror, I saw the tiny yellow lights appearing in the forest. They were lamps, carried by the men who had come to answer my call for help — my stupid call for help.
Before I could move or do anything else, someone crashed out of a bush a few feet from me, scanning the stream until his gaze landed on me. The worry in his eyes was instantly replaced with shock and then embarrassment before he quickly turned away.
He had good reason to. Standing in the shallow part of the stream, the water only reached up to my knees, and above that, my naked body was fully exposed.
