Page 117 of Sharpest Court

Another few seconds passed. Then finally, she sighed. “All right. I’ll dive.”

I was wobbly with relief as I left the tent, hoping desperately that our brash plan would work.

Erik exhaled the moment he saw me walking across the white sands beyond the Crater, and I knew he hadn’t believed my vow. With any luck, he would now lower his guard enough that he wouldn’t suspect our next move.

“Well?” Holden’s long hair shone under the glimmering cliffside as Perla and I joined our dinner companions. While Holden had changed into a loose shirt, Finbar had remained in his frills and brocade, and had even sheathed a little knife at his belt. I didn’t think it was because he was still concerned about the security breach. “Which of our Daradonian guests shall dive tonight?” Holden smirked up at the Aarai Cliff, the traditional diving site. “Or would you be better entertained watching the professionals?”

“Professionals?” Erik slung an arm around my shoulders and tucked me against the warmth of his body, his forearm hanging over my chest. It was a more casual embrace than he usually gave—the embrace of two lovers ambling side by side—and although his hands weren’t on me, it somehow felt more intimate. “Lady Perla,” he drawled, “isn’t cliff-diving favored among the youths in Avanford?”

Perla dipped her head, her blouse rippling in the ocean breeze. “Yes, Your Majesty.”

“And aren’t the Avanish cliffs a fair bit taller than these?”

Perla glanced at the cliffs, wary. “They are, Your Majesty.”

“Well, then.” Erik grinned at Holden, perfectly charming. “It seems the common youths of our coastal province may rival you for the title of professional.”

As Holden raised his brows and chuckled, too loud to be sincere, I chewed the inside of my cheek. I didn’t know what Erik gained from this my cliffs are bigger than your cliffs posturing, but it couldn’t be anything good.

Then he said, “Perhaps the dives might take place from the neighboring cliff instead.” And I twitched in his hold, my pulse jumping. Erik was directing our party toward a cliff farther away from where Lye would be waiting.

Did he know about Perla’s plan to escape?

His body was so loose with contentment that it was impossible to tell. But I couldn’t protest without confirming his suspicions.

“There is choppier water there, Your Majesty,” Finbar said, scowling deeply.

“Ah, and here I thought this dive was meant to represent the strength and courage of those who’d defeated Saxon.” Erik’s grin sharpened. “But no matter. If you find the waters too dangerous—”

“Nonsense.” Holden matched Erik’s cutting smile, his foolish pride driving him right into the king’s hands. “If His Majesty demands it, then there we shall go.”

Perla appeared stone-faced and resigned as we started for the cliffs, wisps of her dark hair flying around her face. Jumping into choppier waters was already more dangerous, but she would now also have to swim further to reach Lye without surfacing.

But what other choice did we have?

As the others walked further ahead along the steep path, I murmured to Erik, “Hoping the general might dive to his death?”

“I would’ve preferred a different method if I had the option,” he said pleasantly. “For example, does he not strike you as someone whose head would appear rather more comely on a spike?”

“Is that any way to speak about your new ally?”

“Alliance does not necessitate genuine affection. Or do you wish to tell me that you’re truly fond of the empress who only values you based on your use to her?”

“I suppose I should be fonder of the king who only tracked me across an ocean based on my use to him?” I spoke sharply, anger distracting me from my footing. My next step faltered on a loose rock underfoot, and suddenly I was in my nightmares again, tripping over that bump in the palace passageways, plummeting to the ground—

Erik’s arm tightened around me, saving me before I could fall, and I automatically grasped the back of his shirt for purchase, hating that I now clung to the part of him into which I had once plunged a knife.

Predictably, he used the leverage to gather me closer, his lips resting on the crown of my head.

“Believe what you wish,” he said. “But I have always considered you my equal.”

“Yes, I’ve heard that equals often have to bind each other to their sides like hostages.”

He surprised me by chuckling, the sound rumbling against me. “Whatever keeps the romance alive.”

We continued the trek in silence, and the ground drew farther away, the lantern-lit cliffs glaring in my periphery. The air grew bloated with the smell of damp stone and sea spray.

“Tell me how you knew,” I said quietly as the others slowed ahead of us.