Nic nodded gravely. “My mother is a midwife. It’s so painful! She says if men had to give birth, the species would be extinct.”
River huffed. “Painful isn’t the same as horrible.”
“Semantics,” Nic waved away River’s comment, and whispered, “She has a knife in her kit. A tiny one, for emergencies—when the baby’s stuck and the woman’s too small...”
“Gods above!” Aries threw his hands over his ears. “Stop. Just stop.”
Collin laughed, glad for the distraction, but he could see Aries’s discomfort. “Aries, your turn. Most thrilling thing?”
“Pulling that stick out of Lekyi’s leg. I’ll never forget that sound.”
Nic grimaced. “I’d have passed out.”
“Collin almost did!”
Collin would have objected if he weren’t laughing so hard.
Nic shoved a hand through his hair. “Alright, mine was the first time I trapped and gutted a boar. Lots of screaming. Most of it was me.”
Collin thumped Nic’s shoulder. “Me too! First time I killed a stag, Ialmostcried. I was only eight.”
“Youdidcry,” Aries said.
“I did not!”
“Here’s one,” Aries said. “If you were immortal, what’s the most dangerous thing you would do? I’d wrestle a forest panther!”
Collin shook his head. “That defeats the purpose. It’s only worth the risk because you might not survive. Danger without risk is just theater.”
“Deep Stuff, Collin,” Nic said mockingly. “You boys cliff dived last summer, right?”
“From the Mermaid’s Tail of Nereid,” Collin said. “We’re doing it again. Maybe the Singing Cove too.”
“I’m in,” said Nic. “As long as my mother never finds out.”
“You’re immortal, remember?” Aries teased.
River smirked. “Your mother would kill you before the cliff did. Besides, she’s still mad that you knocked out Uriah’s tooth.”
“That was an accident!”
Aries rolled his eyes. “No one believes you!”
“What other death-defying nonsense do you still have on your list?” Nic asked, prodding the fire.
Collin spun the feather thoughtfully between his fingers. “Gliding.”
Aries sat up. “Yes! With Grandfather’s chute! I wonder if it still works.”
“Let’s repair it,” Collin said. “Flying over the coast, the sea below us. The view from up there must be amazing!”
Nic grinned. “We’ll do it for your birthday. Whole trip—diving, gliding, campfires... and we’ll finally open that tragic bottle of wine you keep pretending is good.”
Collin laughed. “Now you’re talking!”
Aries drew a trail in the snow with a stick. “Yes! Start in Nereid. Follow the coast. End at the Singing Cove.”
Collin could already feel the wind against his face, the rush of air, the roar of the ocean beneath him—and he wanted more.
