I swallowed, anger rising. “Because I’m a princess. I’ve never needed to know how to do any of this. And it’s not okay to use these skills to engage in illegal activity.”
“These skills saved my life, everyone’s lives in this place. We’re not the bad guys. We help people.”
Shadow had said something similar, yet no one seemed to elaborate on what exactly made them good. Because they couldn’t justify their actions, no matter how much they wanted to.
It was my turn to scoff. “Right. Whatever you say.” I gestured to the water. “So what am I doing today? Are you going to shove me under water and see how long I can hold my breath? Do I need to wrestle an alligator, perhaps? Oh”—I feigned excitement—“you know what would be really fun? If I could catch a poisonous snake and swallow its venom.”
Hammer didn’t look amused, and I realized goading him might not be smart given he had all the power in this situation. He just grunted and walked toward a tree.
“I’ll be back. Don’t move.”
However much I hated this, I needed to pay attention, to put effort into these lessons. Especially now that I didn’t just need to escape this place—I needed to escape with the mirror.
I’d thought about it late into the night. If I could get that mirror, maybe I could use it to bargain with my stepmother, to save the earth court. It was a shoddy plan, but at this moment, it was all I had.
“Oye, look out!”
My head snapped up, and Hammer sat in a branch high above, unwinding a thick vine from the tree. It swung like a pendulum into my head, and I rubbed at the spot it hit. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
“You’re going to swing across this marsh, get to the other side, then you’re going to come back by jumping on the lily pads.”
I gaped up at him. “Do you all actually learn to do this? Why not just use your magic?”
He tugged at his beard. “Have you ever tried to use earth magic up in the frozen tundra of Fyriad, or deep in the fiery mountains of Gilraeth?”
I shook my head. I used magic in other courts but never to an extent where I’d have to be worried about it failing me. I used it for silly things, like growing a flower or sprouting a plant, not trying to get out of an illegal situation.
“Then you wouldn’t know that our earth magic isn’t reliable in other courts. We can use it, but not to its full extent. We all had to train and learn how to be the best thieves we can be without our magic. Everything we do during our training sessions has to be without magic.”
I sighed, staring at the vine hanging in front of me. Well, at least I wasn’t wrestling an alligator, but even so, this was not going to be pleasant. Hammer dropped down from the branch and landed lightly on his feet, which was surprising for how hefty he looked.
He handed the vine to me. “You need to get some upper body strength.”
“Yes, so I’ve heard.”
“So you’re not going to do that without some practice,” he gritted out.
I clasped my hands around the vine. “I don’t know if I can climb it.”
“You don’t have to. Just hold onto it, and that’ll be enough. Everyone has to start somewhere.”
I blew out a breath. “Okay.”
He crouched to the ground. “The key is to get good momentum. Use yer body weight to swing the vine forward.”
I nodded and gripped the vine, then used my feet to launch it forward, lifting my legs and wrapping them around the bottom. A bug flew in my face, and I let out a squeak, my hands slipping as I fell into the marsh.
The water enveloped me, cold and suffocating. I sucked in a lungful, kicking wildly, unable to see what direction I needed to swim to get to the surface. Something slick slithered past me, and I let out a yell underwater before one hand gripped me and yanked me out.
I spluttered, falling to the ground and coughing up brown water. “Oh, yuck,” I said, spitting out a wad of something that, quite frankly, I did not want to investigate further.
“Again,” Hammer said, not even reacting to the fact that I’d almost drowned.
I glared at him and snatched the vine away, my hands now slippery, my clothes weighed down with water. “I need to dry these on something.”
Hammer shook his head. “You need to be prepared for every situation.”
“Right. When I’m thieving?” I asked, the word dripping off my tongue like poison.
