Page 24 of The Dragon Queen

“I know another way to the castle.”

“Does anyone else know it?”

“Silas is the one who told me, and I doubt he told anyone else. It was how he snuck girls into the castle.”

“And I’m guessing that’s what you used it for too,” I teased, hoping to cheer him up, even slightly.

He ignored what I said and continued on.

It was almost midday, and the heat had risen with the sun. I drank from my canteen but tried to ration it because I wasn’t sure when I would have a chance to refill it. With my pack across my shoulders and the incline of the hill, I was already sore but didn’t complain. “I’m sorry that it’s changed so much.”

He continued to ignore me.

I felt like I had been thrown back in time, acquainted with the moody Talon who only wanted to lash out.

I shut my mouth and didn’t say anything else.

It took nearly an hour to approach a part of the cliff, which was far away from the road and invisible to anyone from town or the castle. The sea was on our left, the surface reflecting the sun in the center of the sky.

Talon approached a crack in the rock, a crack so narrow you could only pass through it if you sidestepped. He took off his pack and held it with one arm before he started to sidestep his way inside.

“And girls would go for this?”

“It’s just a few feet.”

I followed his movement and headed toward the cliff, feeling an instant respite once I was in the shade.

He stepped out of the passage and waited for me to join him.

When I left the narrow passage, I realized we were under the cliff, the ceiling so high above I wasn’t sure how high it went. It was instantly comfortable because of how cool and quiet it was.

“This way.” Sunlight peeked in through the openings in the wall, giving us enough light to follow the path farther into the cliff. The path inclined slightly in parts and then became steep in other places.

“How far?”

“About an hour.”

“An hour?” I asked incredulously. “How would you convince girls to do this?”

He kept up his pace at the front. “I didn’t have to do much convincing.”

I smirked, glad that some of his humor had come back.

When we were halfway there, he stopped and waited for me to catch up.

I thought I was in shape, but following Talon up this path told me how untrue that was. My hands were at my sides, and I breathed through the cramps, wiped my forehead with my forearm.

He drank from his canteen before he returned it to his pack. “This is where we’ll stay until tomorrow.” He turned away, and instead of taking the path upward, he moved to the side, following an opening.

The sound of running water became more audible the farther we went, and after we squeezed through another crack, we emergedat a waterfall that filled a pool before it moved into another waterfall.

I stared at the blue water and looked at the ocean in the background, one of the most beautiful sights I’d ever seen.

He dropped his pack and removed his cloak and his sword. He stripped down until he was buck naked then jumped into the water, making a loud splash that sprinkled the rocks with water. When he surfaced, he flung his hair back and scattered more water.

I looked up the rock, seeing that the very top of the cliff was so high that no one would ever see or hear us.

“Get in.”