I believed it. She might have been half a foot shorter than me, but she’d bested me enough times in the sparring ringthat she could injure me if she really wanted to. I blew her a kiss and continued my trek along the beach as Leoni grumbled something about me being a “pain in her ass” while she followed, her sandals squishing in the sand.
“I never got why you and your brothers wanted to do this, anyway,” she said. “It’s the Cliffs of Death. The name has death in it. Why would you want to jump from them into the Dark Seas?”
I laughed. “Because it’s fun?”
“Fun?” Leoni echoed. “Fun is gossiping. Fun is sparring. Fun is splashing in the ocean. Not flinging yourself off a cliff.”
I threw out my arms. “I don’t know how to explain it, Oni. It’s the thrill of it. The danger, the adventure.”
The feeling of freedom, something I sorely lacked as princess of the water court.
“If you want danger, then go try Mistress Tessa’s fish rolls.” She shook her head, then mumbled, “Trust me, that’s about as dangerous as it gets.”
A smile quirked my lips. The fish rolls supposedly tasted amazing but also came with a great risk of food poisoning.
Leoni jabbed a finger at me. “You know, being captain of your guard has aged me at least ten years.” She pointed to her hair. “I found a gray hair this morning. I’m twenty-eight, and I have gray hair. Yet look at you: thirty years old and hair as auburn as those pretty leaves in the earth court.”
I ignored the comment about my hair. “And you’re attributing that to me?” I asked. “It could just be bad genes, you know.”
“No, it’s definitely the stubborn princess whose ass I’m always saving.”
“You know, at some point you need to learn to filter yourself. You’re going to be the captain of the queen’s guard now. That mouth will get you in trouble.”
She huffed. “Just worry about yourself, okay? If your mother knew you were here, she’d have a heart attack. She’d kick my ass. Then she’d kick yours.”
I lifted my chin. “If you’re going to be negative about this, then I’d rather you go back to the castle.”
We neared the cliffs, their sharp edges and ridges outlined under the bright moon.
“I’m not letting you do this alone.”
I nudged her. “Thanks, Oni.”
“Don’t thank me.” She nudged me back. “I still think this is stupid, but I also know you’re as stubborn as the Seven Spirits and won’t listen to reason.”
“You know me well.”
I flipped my braid over my shoulder as we came upon the curve of the shoreline that rounded the tall cliffs. Vicious waves rose high and then crashed down with a thundering force. Leoni winced.
No one ventured to this part of the water court, the wildest part, where the waves rolled untethered. That’s why I loved it so much, why Mal and Lochlan had loved it. It had been a respite from everyone, everything, we constantly had to deal with. My father’s stern, watching eye, my mother’s badgering. Out here, we could just be us, talk about our hopes and dreams. Pretend we could have things like hopes and dreams.
I swallowed. But that had been a different life.
My gaze trailed to a ship jutting out of the water near the shore. Well, ship was a generous term. It crested up on the rocks, holes battering the hull, planks sticking out at awkward angles. A shipwreck. Which was what generally happened to any vessels that came near this part of the water court.
“Are you just going to stand here all night? I’d like to get some sleep, so let’s hurry this idiotic scheme along please.” Leoni shooed me forward.
I gave a stiff nod, then began my climb, fingers and feet digging into the crevices and cracks. I’d climbed these cliffs so many times I could probably do it with my eyes closed.
But then Leoni might actually kill me.
I looked down as she stared up at me, sea water spraying us from the unrelenting waves crashing at the little cove.
“Are you coming?” I called.
“No, I’d like to not break all the bones in my body, thank you,” she said.
I snorted a laugh and continued my climb, muscles stretching, hard rock cool and firm under my hands and feet. My breaths grew labored as I ascended, and sweat formed on my brow, trickling down the sides of my face. Finally, I made it to the top and pulled myself up, walking along the edge and to the point that jutted out over the sea.
