Page 82 of Dawn of Hope
“You are frustrating sometimes, do you know that?” I say with a glance up at him.
He lets out a low chuckle. “I’ve been told that once or twice.”
Stars are starting to peek through the deep purple above as darkness falls over the island. While I normally look forward to their appearance every night, I’m filled with unease tonight.
“Shouldn’t we go back? It’s getting dark fast.”
“We need the dark this time. We’ll watch for the Castaways. Don’t worry.”
A cool wind picks up as we approach the edge of the island. The cliff in front of us drops off just ahead, and I start to pull out of Dane’s embrace.
“No, Dane, I told you before, I?—”
“Lennox,” he says, stopping and stepping in front of me, blocking my view of the drop. He wraps his hands around my waist and pulls me in closer, his fingertips pushing slightly into my ribcage. It feels comforting, like he won’t let me fall. “I’m not going to bring you anywhere that you are afraid of, but it’s okay to let go a little bit. I know we haven’t talked much about your past. I hope we can change that, but I think you had to rely a lot on yourself, and you didn’t let many people in. I want to change that. I know I wasn’t honest with you when we first met, but I’m here with you now, and I want you to trust me.”
My eyes stay locked on his before I give him a small nod. He leans down and brushes a soft kiss across my lips, and a shiver that has nothing to do with the breeze runs down my spine.
“We’re going to approach the cliff, but it isn’t what you think. You can hang on to me the whole way if you need to.”
“Alright,” I say quietly and wrap my hands around his arm. The muscles beneath my fingers tense, then relax as I hang on to him. As we get closer, I see a divot cut into the ground. Dane positions himself on the side closest to the cliff, easing my nerves slightly.
Steps carved out of the dark stone wind down the side of the cliff toward a black sand beach below. The beach and cove are tucked away under a cliff, hidden until you stumble upon it, so I hadn’t seen this place from the lookout when we arrived.
“We’re going down there?” I ask.
Dane nods. “We are.”
He starts down the stairs in front of me, and I keep a steady grip on his arm. It’s not the cliff itself that makes me nervous now that I knowthere isn’t a long fall into roaring waves below. It’s the proximity to the water that sets me on edge. I know I’m safe as long as I stay on hard ground, but I haven’t been to any of the other beaches yet. I do my best to avoid searching there, not wanting the island to spit me out into the sea to see if I can swim.
We stop when we reach the last step.
“You might want to take those off,” Dane says, nodding toward my boots. He reaches down and pulls off his own, shoving his socks inside them. I do as he suggests and step forward to squish my bare toes into the dark, cool sand.
“It’s beautiful,” I say, taking in this new piece of Dawnlin. The moon shines off the water in the middle of a crescent cove made of jagged black stone. Calm waves slowly lapping at the black sand, the sound repetitive but soothing. The beach is small, not long and winding around the edges of the land like the others I had seen.
This one is quaint, quiet. Secluded.
I wish we had places like this in Blackwood.
“You’re shivering,” Dane says. He runs his hands up and down my arms, the movement bringing me some warmth. “Come this way.” Just ahead, closer to the water, I see a blanket spread over the sand with a basket sitting on top. Next to it lies an unlit fire with wood stacked up into a peak.
“Didn’t see the sense of wasting the wood before we got here.” Dane crouches and starts striking a flint rock at the base of the woodpile. Some sparks light on a bit of kindling shoved underneath, and he crouches down to blow on it, igniting the flames which start engulfing the larger logs. “It’ll be warm in a few minutes. In the meantime…”
He reaches down and picks up a coat off of the blanket and wraps it around my shoulders.
I push the coat away. “It’ll get all muddy,” I laugh. He ignores my refusal and wraps it around me anyway. His scent immediately engulfs me, and I draw the coat closer, breathing in as much of it as I can.
He pushes a piece of stray muddy hair behind my ear. “It doesn’t bother me. Are you hungry?”
My stomach growls at the mention of food. I never had the chance to eat the food I brought with me today. I was too busy struggling my way through all the traps.
“Starving,” I say. I glance over at the small basket of food sitting on the blanket and plop down next to it, with Dane following suit. He leans over and begins pulling out wooden containers and opening them up between us. Steam and smells rise into the air when he lifts the lids, and my eyes widen with surprise.
Blackwood is a landlocked kingdom, and despite being royalty, we can’t try any foods that are commonplace in seaside kingdoms. I’d read descriptions and recipes for these exotic dishes, but had no idea what they would be like. I imagine now is my only chance to try anything like them, and Dane has brought them right to me.
He lays an array of dishes in front of us. The mixture of garnish and spices overpowers the scent from his coat, and my mouth waters. I lean forward, eyeing each dish, trying to decide where to start.
Dane chuckles next to me, glancing down at my growling stomach. “Sounds like we made it to dinner just in time.”