In the middle of the day, work ground to a halt, the heat too great for anyone to sweat through except perhaps the uncles and aunties working on the rebuilt outdoor mushroom farm where it was shady. And ever since Wiz Lori had put up a thingy to keep bugs from eating the mushrooms they were growing, they hadn't needed to keep an eye on them as much, letting them do other things or, in this case take a midday break with everyone, since even the magic winds Wiz Lori had set up weren't enough to let people overcome the heat. Even the seels thought this time of day was too hot, diving into the water and swimming in the depths of the river to stay cool.

Most people who usually worked outside stayed in the Dungeon at this time of day, or soaked in the baths—the water was no longer kept hot—or did laundry, since the water kept people cool, and with so many people sweating there was always laundry to do. The ones who already worked in the Dungeon, the uncle carpenters and auntie weavers, kept working, but they had more people to talk to or help with spinning thread. Well, Wiz Lori was probably working, building a bath in River's Fork with Ateh Riz and Ateh Mekari, but that was Wiz Lori. She was always working.

The children of the demesne had other plans.

Her skirt still girded from the morning's seeling, her shirt still on to keep her skin from getting burned, Karina's bare feet pounded on the hot stone of the dock. The burning heat under her soles drove her faster towards the end of the short walk, and then she was jumping through the air and she had a heartbeat to pull her knees up to her chest and brace—

Splash!

The heat that had been pounding on her from above vanished, and she was in cold, cold water that engulfed her, replacing the air. Karina let out a small exhale to keep the water from going up her nose as Lord Rian had taught her, felt the hem of her shirt billow up, letting the water flow up the skin on her back.

Karina felt her feet and posterior touch the bottom, and she opened her eyes. The waters of the river were clear, and ripples of light were dancing across the riverbed as she kicked off, rising up to the surface faster than she had sank. Karina broke through the water, and for a heartbeat she was half in the river and half in the air, her vision blurred from the water in her eyes. She took a greedy gulp of air, her cheeks puffing out, clenching her teeth tight to keep the air in as she fell back down.

Her feet kicked in an alternating rhythm, just like she'd been taught, as she used her hands to pull her back up to the surface. As her soon as her head was in the air, one hand darted up to push hair out of her eyes as she blinked so she could see again, even as she began to move to the side, knowing it was only a matter of time before someone else jumped down from the dock.

All around her, the other children in the demesne played in the water. Some were a bit further downriver, sitting on the shallow riverbank in front of the laundry area with water up to their shoulders and occasionally dunking their heads under the surface. Others were running around despite all the pebbles there, splashing through the water and using their hands to throw water at each other. Because of the risk of getting sunburned, everyone had their shirts and blouses on, and a few were still wearing kerchiefs to protect the back of their necks.

There was another splash as Yhalta and Matoy both jumped into the water, holding hands as they did so. To the side of the dock where the Lori's Ice Boat was usually tied up, Big Yerart was floating on his back, eyes closed, ignoring the small waves that washed over his head as he kept his nose above the water. Phami, Tazel, Ardlia, Galef and Bharelli were all daring each other to see who could swim out furthest into the river. It wasn't very far, since as soon as they reached the river's current, the colder water had them turning back with excited shrieks.

Only Shana wasn't in the water. Still wearing her loose trousers and skirt, with her wide-brimmed reed hat to keep the sun from burning her skin, the girl sat to one side of the dock, kicking her feet back and forth as she watched over everyone, but especially her cousin Yoshka, who liked to keep diving down into the water next to the dock to look of smooth rocks. Already there was a small pile of them next to Shana, now dry from being exposed to the sun.

"You sure you don't want to join us?" Karina said as she swam close to where her friend was sitting. "It's already really hot."

Shana shook her head. "Someone needs to be watching in case there's trouble," she said. Her eyes flickered back down to her cousin, who was underwater and trying to swim down to the bottom again. It wasn't all that deep, but Yoshka had an awkward way of diving so sometimes she stopped halfway and came back up for air.

"You need to have fun too."

Shana waved a hand in a Wiz Lori-like way. "I'm fine. I can go swimming later."

Karina sighed, sinking down a little so the sigh came out as bubbles. It was more fun that way. "I'll hold you to that!" she said.

She turned and swam away.

Moving a bit further out into the river, just short of the cold current, Karina turned to face upriver. Then she took a deep breath, and threw herself forward. Her feet kicked, propelling herself as her fully extended arms moved in the circular movements that Lord Rian had taught them was the best way of moving through the water. She held her breath as long as she could, slowly letting her breath bubble out through her nose before turning her face to the side at the right time to take a breath through her mouth.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

After a count of twenty movements, Karina arched her back, tucked in her knees to her chest, and twisted her body so that she was facing back the way she'd come. Her feet kicking on nothing but cold water, she continued swimming. Lord Rian said swimming was something you needed to practice to get better at, so that was what Karina was doing. She was going to become the best at swimming so she didn't have to worry about falling into the water anymore! If she became really good, she'd be able to get to the rocks in the river where the big seels slept and catch them when they weren't ready for her!

Karina swam back and forth, enjoying the feeling of the water flowing around her as she did so. It was a completely different feeling than when she waded in, the water pressing against her front with every step, slowing her down. There was none of that when she swam. She felt like she belonged in the river when she swam like this, no longer hindered by the water's weight.

It didn't last. Her arms and legs began to ache as she worked them, until eventually she slowed down, letting herself sink into the water for a moment before she kicked up to see where she was.

She'd drifted out into the river again, but that always happened. Moving with her arms, she turned to face the dock, then kicked with her feet as she began to swim towards—

Pain stabbed into Karina's left leg, and her practiced movements faltered as her limb made its desire to lock up become known. Her arms briefly flailed in panic, before she managed to push herself up and out of the water long enough to let out a cry and fill her lungs.

Then she let herself sink into the water, holding her breath and trying to stay calm as she reached down to try and massage the cramp in her leg muscle. It was the one at the back of her leg, between her ankle and her knee, the muscles pulling into a painful knot that didn't want to loosen.

Karina told herself not to panic. She had a full breath and she'd been able to yell. Once she managed to ease the pain in her leg, she could use her arms to pull herself up and get another breath, then just float until the pain went away. Lord Rian had warned about this, and he'd said that they needed to keep calm when it happened, or else they'd injure themselves or even drown. So she needed to stay calm, and remember that despite the pain, she wasn't bleeding and could use her arms to pull herself up.

She was just starting to think of doing just that so she could take another breath when she felt someone grab the back of her shirt. With a sudden jerk, she was suddenly being pulled backwards. Her head broke through the surface, and she released one hand from trying to massage her leg to keep herself afloat enough to take another breath. To one side, she saw a pair of legs kicking through the water.

The cramp was still tight and painful, and she tried to keep her leg outstretched to minimize it, but that was painful in its own way.

Eventually, her posterior touched the familiar, pebbly ground of the river bank, and she forced herself to sit up, wincing at the pain the shift caused in her leg.

Splashing through the water, a soaking wet Shana moved in front of her and knelt down to raise up Karina's cramped leg. Her hat was gone, and her pale hair was clinging tightly to her head and neck.

"Give me your leg," she said, and with a wince, Karina did so. Instead of the pain suddenly disappearing, as she had expected, Shana's hands methodically felt at her limb from the knees down until she reached the point that had cramped. "Here?"

Karina nodded, embarrassed.

The other girls sighed, sounding exasperated. "Karina, stop swimming so hard. This is the third time this has happened." Her fingers began to massage the leg. "And you wonder why I don't swim at the same time you do anymore. All is well, everyone. Karina just gave herself another cramp."

"Sorry," Karina said.

"Your legs are probably too tense," Shana said, still massaging. "You know Lord Rian said you're not supposed to do that or this happens."

"Sorry…"

"If you wish to apologize, rethink the way you swim." Slowly, Shana's massaging fingers began to loosen the cramp. Karina wanted to shrink on herself in shame, but with Shana doing this, there was no one watching the others now. She kept watch as the muscle slowly relaxed, making sure everyone was in sight. Thankfully, Yoshka was no longer diving next to the dock but was instead sorting through the rocks she had gathered.

Finally, Karina was able to get to her feet. She did so gingerly, half-expecting her leg to stiffen up again, but except for some tightness, her leg was fine. "Thank you," she said, though she wondered why Shana hadn't healed her the way she had before.

"You're wondering why I didn't just heal you, aren't you?" Shana said, getting to her feet. At Karina's nod, she said, "I didn't heal you because you were safe and there was no immediate danger. Let the feeling remind you to not push yourself so hard. If I'd gone into the water as you'd suggested, I might have missed your cry. No one else realized you were calling for help."

"I'll be more careful," Karina said, chagrined. "Thank you for saving me."

Shana nodded. "I'm a Dungeon Binder. It's what I'm supposed to do. Now, since I'm wet already, it's your turn to keep watch while I swim. You can wear my hat."

"Eh?-!"

Her friend gave her a flat stare, then looked pointedly down at her leg.

A sigh. "Fine. Go swimming."

"Don't pout. You're the one who said she would be holding me to having fun."

"I'm not pouting!"

Only grumbling a little, Karina walked with a slight limp towards the dock with a little help from Shana, who let her rest a hand on their shoulder. Taking the hat that had been left on the dock, Shana handed it to her. Once it was on and Karina had sat down on the dock, Shana jumped into the water.

Karina dripped water onto the stone surface, cooling it enough so she could sit comfortably as she began to sweep her gaze back and forth, glancing every so often at Yoshka to make sure she hadn't started diving again.

Well, at least Shana was in the water having fun now. Although…

Shana floated back up, and immediately lay on her back, her eyes closed as her arms and legs splayed out in the water.

…did her idea of swimming have to be so boring?

One hand massaging her leg to try to get rid of the remaining stiffness, Karina turned her gaze back to the others playing in the river. Well, she needed a rest anyway.

She wondered how long it was until lunch…