**ELENA'S POV**
"but why did he do that to you?" I couldn't help feeling sorry for him the more I heard of his childhood.
"well first of all remember the first rule, don't pity me and I learned later on that the reason he was pissed was that when even one of the last standing people was your recruit there was a bonus the recruiter got and since I was Mr Lance only recruit, he lost his bonus" Rayan said, "now can we continue later, now on the task at hand? let go of my arm."
We were already halfway through this pond, this pond was big in size but thankfully it wasn't deep, the water level from where we were standing was high it had already reached my stomach and here I was standing with a half naked man in bandages trying to teach me how to swim. I was wearing one of his shirts and pants, well he had cut his pants into shorts, at first I complained about it since my legs were exposed but he reminded me of seeing his man hood and that was enough to make me shut my mouth. I had to wear these since he said and I quote "dress would be bothersome when it comes to swimming."
I'd like to know how he found out, the thought of Rayan in a dress came into my mind and a laugh escaped my mouth.
"what's funny princess?" he asked with one of his eyebrows slightly raised.
"nothing," I said as I gazed on the water beneath me, wait since am inside the water, is the water beneath me or around me.. Nevermind.
I can't believe this man, I just told him on a whim that day that I wanted to learn how to swim and he took it seriously well I do want to learn but right now when I'm inside the water, I can't believe am getting cold feet but that could be the water freezing my toes.
"woman, if you keep squeezing my arm like that, it will break off," he said but he shouldn't blame me for holding him too tight, the largest water body I've ever entered was only a bathtub and now.
I reluctantly released my hold on his forearm and the place I had gripped had left red fingerprints that slowly fed away. He placed both his arms behind my back.
"now slowly lie back," he instructed and I followed his instructions halfway before I got nervous and stopped.
"should we really be doing this? The wound on your back hasn't really healed up," I said trying to sound as concerned as possible.
He stared at me deadpan and said, "well whatever you've been applying on it seems to be doing the trick and also stop acting like you really care about my wound princess, now lie back!"
Judging from his expression, he wasn't going to let me get out of here so might as well get it over with so I shut my eyes and I slowly lie back and as I did I could feel the water raise my feet the baggy shirt I was wearing now clung to my body as it got soaked. I could feel his arms on my back but it didn't feel like he was using any strength in raising me up.I could feel him move me slowly on the water, I opened my eyes only to find him three feet away from me watching me.
But I'm floating so if he's over there then... I panicked and tried to stand up but I stopped floating and my head went deep into the water and my body lost its balance, after three gulps of water I finally managed to stand up, my hair was soaking wet, stomach filled with water and my hands was covered with mud as I stood there at glared at my swimming 'instructor'.
"what?" he asked as he shrugged at me but from the corners of his lips I could see him grinning at me.
"I could have drowned, why did you let go of me!" I said as I struggled walking to him.
"well you were floating just fine before you acted like a princess," he said now a small smile on his face. "also that's how you learn"
I was now standing in front of him ready to knock that smile off his face, but in a split second he picked me up and threw me back away from him. I landed with a loud splash as my entire body sunk halfway through the pond.
"it's simple princess, grab the water and pull it back," I heard him yell while I struggled underwater.
I finally got my head out of the water for a second or two before it went back in after a brief struggle I managed to stand up again. I was coughing and struggling to breath my eyes burned as the water had penetrated them my hands had mud all over them. I had bent down with my hands on my knees as I gasped for breath, my wet hair hang at the sides of my face since they were long they touched the water surface.
Rayan had walked over to me when I was drowning and I was so mad at him that I tried to slap him, as soon as my hand reached his face he grabbed it, swung me over his shoulder and threw me back in the water.
"remember princess grab the water and pull it back," he said and I could hear the joy in his voice as he said it.
He did that to me seven more times, before I begged him to stop, my entire body especially my arms and legs were tired, I was cold and my gut and maybe my lungs was filled with water. We slowly went back to the cavern, I was holding my arms as I shivered uncontrollably.
The first thing I did when we entered was light a fire as fast as I could and sat close to it.
**RAYAN'S POV**
Maybe I was a little bit hard on the girl, I thought to myself as she sat at the fire shivering worse than a leaf on a windy day. Nope it was worth it her expression right now is priceless.
"stop.. Smiling.. You.. Bastard," she said as her teeth chattered
"so how was the lesson?" I asked as I leaned on the wall of the cave with my shoulder.
She didn't say anything, she only showed me the middle finger of her trembling left hand. Hmm I guess am a bad influence on her, I wonder how that king would react when he finds out about the cuss words she now knows because of me.
Without warning it started raining at first it was a small drizzle so I assumed that it would end but it slowly progressed to a storm, luckily the wind was blowing away from us otherwise some of the rain drops would have landed on us. I was expecting the rain to leak from the ceiling but this place was surprisingly waterproof.
Princess had already changed to her normal wear but she was still shivering and since it was raining and the sky was slowly getting dark, the fire she had light up was doing little in making her feel warm. I felt partially guilty for what was happening to her so I managed to find my jacket and a cloak from my back I walked over to her.
"uhm.... Princess.. Ta.. I want.. Argh here" I said as I handed her the jacket.
She took it and wore it, it was too big for her especially in the arms region. I wrapped the cloak around me and sat down next to her and covered her with it, she tensed up and looked at me with a puzzled expression.
"human contact, helps," I said awkwardly, I was also puzzled with what I was doing.
I felt embarrassed and stood up to walk away, I felt a tug at the end of the cloak stopping me, I turned to see a flustered Elena holding the cloak, she patted the floor next to her and I sat down wrapping the cloak around her.
Perhaps it was only me but it quickly got hot under that cloak, I was sweating a lot under here and maybe since we were dangerously close to each other, her berry and honey scent filled my nostrils, the light from the fire shone brightly in her eyes and her lips, her lips were so red like an apple that I started wondering how her lips would taste like...
I stood up in a speed that surprised me that you'd think someone had stabbed my butt with something. I left her with the cloak and I went back to the mat and slept facing away from her, my heart was racing faster than ever, even more so than the time I fought in a war.
What's wrong with you bastard!
I knocked my head on the ground as hard as I could.