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He just nods once then looks up. I follow his gaze up the sheer rock wall looming over us and realize that's what we'll climb.
Daimis looks at my skirt. “Maybe you should’ve changed.”
It would be much easier in my leathers, but I bend down and expertly twist and tie the fabric so that it resembles billowy trousers. “It’s not perfect, but it’ll work.”
Daimis smiles at my boots which are now visible.
I shrug. “I’ll wear a skirt, but I refuse to wear those useless slippers trying to pass for shoes. There’s no traction on them whatsoever, and I never know when I might have to run.”
“Smart girl. Guess my instincts were right about inviting you along.” Daimis rubs his hands in some dry dirt. “Make sure to stay out of the fall’s spray.”
It’s almost cute that he talks to me like I’ve never done something like this before. Little does he know; I’ve climbed plenty of cliffs in all terrain. Des made sure my training included any situation I might be up against—she couldn’t have her only means of trading with the outside world fall to her death while procuring valuable items.
Daimis starts the climb while I rub my hands in the dirt as he had. “I’ll drop the rope for you once I’m at the top,” he shouts over his shoulder.
The hell he will.As if I can’t climb the rock just as well as he can. I find a handhold and hoist myself up and up. Handhold, foothold, handhold, foothold, and so on. My muscles warm and it feels great. It’s been too long since I’ve given them a real challenge. Soon, I’m level with Daimis. When he looks over at me, his eyes widen with surprise for one delicious moment. I give him a sly smile and say, “Try to keep up.” I quickly pass him before he can recover from his shock.
He smiles darkly and picks up his pace. For the next thirty minutes we race up the mountain together, and I’m surprised he’s as good as he is. It seems Daimis has kept up his adventurous spirit while we’ve been apart. It warms my heart. He never was the type to just sit in a castle to be waited on. It drove everyone crazy, of course. Well, everyone but me.
We keep glancing at each other and laugh or shoot jeering comments when one of us takes the lead. And again, I’m hit with regret that I was robbed years of doing things like this with my best friend. We climb the last bit of rock to the top and collapse on our backs, laughing between heavy breaths.
“It’s a tie,” Daimis says.
I turn my head to look at him. “Only because I’m wearing this cursed skirt. And I’m still recovering from my wounds, you know.” Which is sort of true, although I’m not entirely certain I would’ve beat him anyway, he’s quite fast.
Daimis barks another laugh and turns toward me, looking ruggedly handsome with a sheen of sweat kissing his bronzed skin. “No excuses, I have ten pounds of rope around my neck, but you don’t hear me claiming that’s why I didn’t beat you.”
“No one has beaten me before,” I say, completely shocked.
“Well, maybe you’ve met your match.” He climbs to his feet. “Either that, or you’re not human.” He offers me a hand up.
My heart skips at his accusation. “Of course, I’m human.”
I take his hand. He pulls me up to stand. And again, I get that ridiculous feeling that I don’t want to let go of his hand.
“Then, as I said.” Daimis winks. “You’ve met your match.”
I quickly pull my hand from his. “So, where to next?” I ask.
“This way.” He walks away from the river that’s spilling over into the waterfall, his eyes scanning the ground as he goes. “There.” He points to a spot where the rocks open up to a passage in the ground with a terrifying vertical drop. It’s just barely big enough for a human to slip in.
The hairs stand on the back of my neck and my palms grow sweaty. I wipe them on my skirt. “You expect us to go down there? It’s too small.”
“No it’s not, I’ll go first. If I can fit, you can fit.” He lifts the rope off his shoulders. “It’s perfectly safe.”
“Have you done this before?”
“No.” He proceeds to tie off the end of the rope to a sturdy boulder.
“Then how do you know it’s safe?”
“Because I heard about it from a reliable source.”
I twist my skirt in my hands. “It doesn’t look safe. What if the walls collapse?”
He shrugs. “Then I suppose we’ll be crushed or suffocate.”
He says it so nonchalantly, as if he’s talking about the weather and not our untimely deaths.
