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“I thought you were joking,” Eretria said, eyes wide at the enormous bathing room in the palace. It was even bigger than the mountain one with the walls made of steel and glass and the bath of marble instead of stone.
Amberle smiled. “It’s wonderful, isn’t it?”
“Beats bathing in a river, that’s for certain.”
“Sometimes, sure.”
Eretria turned back to Amberle and raised her eyebrows. “In what universe would you choose bathing in a river over this?”
Amberle grinned wider as she began to shimmy out of her pants. “If the river has a waterfall.”
Eretria’s cheeks bloomed with heat as the girl continued to undress. With a laugh, Amberle then ran for the edge of the pool and jumped in, sending up such a big splash that Eretria was sprayed with water.
“You coming in?” The princess called as she surfaced, brushing hair and water from her delighted face. Eretria just stared as she lazily swam back and forth, gliding through the water with complete ease. She looked so–free, unburdened, like a girl instead of a hero.
“Eretria?”
Now Amberle was staring at her, head cocked in confusion.
“I better not come out smelling like perfume, princess,” she finally quipped as she began stripping.
The water felt delightfully warm against her skin once she submerged herself. Though she pointedly didn’t look at Amberle, she could hear her splashing around fairly close. When she did finally look up, she was only a breath away, smiling brightly with sparkling eyes.
“Come into the deep end with me,” she pleaded, and somehow her hands found Eretria’s underneath the surface. She let her pull her along, never breaking eye contact, wondering just how deep–in the water, and in other things–she was going to let this girl lead her.