Leticia coughed and gulped as the seawater flooded her nose, robbing her of her breath. She gasped for air, tears prickling her eyes. She struggled to come up to the surface, but her soaked clothes pulled her down. Suddenly, relief flooded through her as strong, muscular arms caught her and pulled her up. She was barely able to stand without her knees giving in. For a moment, death had seemed imminent.

She gulped a lungful of air and held on to the strong arms for dear life. Her shoulders shuddered. Her breath was ragged, accompanied by severe coughs. Her throat felt raw from the coughing and her stomach felt sour. She covered her mouth to soothe her nausea. After a while, when her coughing was subdued and there was no sign of queasiness, she straightened up and assessed the situation.

She faced the skull-like face of Les Kishir, and nearly jumped out of her skin, but she composed herself before he could notice. She cleared her throat and released his arms, which were still holding onto hers. When she could stand on her own without help, she, much to her embarrassment, realized that the water only came up to her waist.

She had already embarrassed herself, so she thought she might as well smile to diffuse the awkward situation. “Are you okay?” she asked, looking at him, concerned.

Les Kishir was silent for a long while. His gaze was polite enough, but she thought she saw an element of bewilderment in his face. Probably thinking she was mad. “I was,” he said, “Until Your Highness decided to run over here in a hurry.”

“I thought you were going to drown yourself,” she said in her defence.

Les Kishir ignored her comment. “There are many people waiting for the honour to meet you, Your Highness,” he said instead, “Why are you here, in such a remote place?”

His voice was polite, but cold. He had eloquently changed the topic of their conversation. But she was glad to hear his usual indifferent tone of voice. He had never really meant to die. She was relieved that her name wouldn’t appear in the morning newspaper, tomorrow.

“I wanted to apologize,” said Leticia in a lighter tone. She could finally breathe free as the most important task had been done.

“Apologize?” inquired Les Kishir curiously.

“I felt guilty,” she said, “So I followed you to apologize.”

“Why would you need to apologize?” he asked.

Leticia couldn’t fathom if he was truly confused, or if he was just mocking her. His tone was polite, but she thought she heard a sceptical note somewhere. Perhaps he had been through a lot, so the prospect of an apology offered was strange for him.

“I don’t read my brother’s articles, ever,” she explained, “I only arrived in the middle of the banquet. If I had even an inkling of your disability, I would never have asked you so brazenly for a dance. I would have suggested talking over a meal, instead. I am so sorry.”

“Oh…,” he said. His serious expression relaxes slightly. The sharp-angled eyebrows lowered a little.

Leticia, feeling triumphant at the improvement in the mood, declared, “As part of my sincerest apology, I won’t take part in any dance tonight. In fact, here I shall stay, your faithful servant for the rest of the day!”

She looked beautiful basked in the moonlight, with her flaming red hair clinging to her wet face. Her green eyes glittering, and her lips curled into a confident smile. Les, who had been stunned by her declaration, was enraptured by her beautiful eyes. He caught himself a moment later and looked away.

“You don’t need to do that, Your Highness,” he said.

“But I want to!” insisted Leticia, “As an apology. Besides, do you even know how many people would die for this rare opportunity? Oh, to be served by a beautiful woman, a princess at that!”

“That is exactly why you don’t need to do it,” he said, sombrely, “People will stare. They’ve got enough to talk about already.”

“Should I wear a mask then?” she teased.

Les turned his gaze to her and met her playful eyes. The princess never hesitated to express her charm. She was so very confident in her own self that it emanated from her like sunlight. He laughed and stopped, suddenly aware of the very close distance between them.

“As you say,” he obliged, “But I doubt that can hide your beauty.” He lowered his face to look at her. They were standing so very close now, their noses almost touching. The princess looked up at him, a smile still playing on her lips. ‘Why was the princess showing such interest in me?’ Les wondered.

This normality and ease with which they conversed, once so familiar, felt very distant for him, now. Les slightly tilted his head to the side and looked at her. “Why do you make such promises to me?” he asked, “What if it makes me feel something for you?”

“You have already conversed with me, haven’t you?” she taunted, “It’s only a matter of time until you fall in love with me, anyway.” She winked. Les was amused. His sombre, weary face looked almost boyish for a moment. The corners of his mouth pulled upwards in something akin to a smile.

“And if it so happens, will you take responsibility?” he asked, smiling sadly.