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“They seem pretty nice,” Ash said with a heavy sigh. “Esin, the Princess of Inspiration, is the one wearing the golden gown.”
She had bold, dark brown eyes, long dark brown hair, a prominent nose, and bronze-toned skin. She walked with a dancer’s grace, and had long, slender limbs. She might have been from India, but I wasn’t positive.
“Kyoka is the Princess of Reflection. She’s the one in the slacks.”
She wore black slacks and a brown silken shirt, had her dark hair cut in a bob that framed her tawny skin and dark eyes nicely. She looked Japanese.
“And Adedayo is the Princess of Change.”
Adedayo was a shorter black woman with close-cut curly hair, rich sepia skin tones, and nearly black eyes. She was dressed in an elegant version of a silver sun dress.
Ash buried her head in her hands.
“Hey, we’ll figure it out. Step one: Save the world. Step two: Everything else.” I winked at my cousin.
She nodded, visibly gathering herself. The princesses all sat at a table off by themselves and looked engrossed in their conversation. I was surprised they didn’t have servants bring them their food, but maybe they preferred to eat with the common folk. It a few minutes for it to occur to me that I was also a princess and eating in the dining hall. Well, a few weeks of being Dream royalty wasn’t going to change me much, anyway.
“You done eating?”
I glanced at my plate. It was still impossibly full. “Maybe a little more. This is delicious.”
The food was excellent, but I was also avoiding responsibilities, so finally, I pushed the plate aside, downed the last of my coffee, and stood.
Ash did the same and, without having to talk about it, we went back toward the suites where my princes were.
It was time to check on Baz.
Ember
Memories
Laughter echoed all around me as I stared up at the rocky cliff while I swam slow circles. I wasn’t allowed to swim alone, so I’d told my parents I was meeting friends. Which wasn’t a lie. Fortunately, I was old enough that they didn’t question me much anymore.
This particular water hole was one of the guys’ favorites. Baz absolutely loved leaping off the cliff into the deep water. I only did it when they made me. Something about falling through the air without the security of the silks wrapped around my body terrified me. From what I remembered, I’d never fallen from heights before, not without the silks, but it always seemed to trigger a panic. The guys knew this, so most of the time they let me get away with swimming while they jumped.
Today was not one of those days. For whatever reason, Baz was convinced I needed air time, as he called it.
“Ember! Join us!” Baz shouted from the top of the cliff. Nic and Dio crowded the edge next to him. If they fell, they’d just hit water, so it wasn’t especially dangerous, but my chest tightened in fear all the same as I watched.
“One jump!” I yelled back.
“Two!”
“One, or I’m not doing it,” I insisted.
“Fine.” Baz stepped back from the ledge, arms crossed, faking a pout.
A couple of brave fish nibbled at my toes. I giggled and swam for the shore. Nic met me at the edge of the pond, standing on one of the fossil-filled limestone rocks we liked to investigate and make up stories about sometimes. He was always the fastest, getting from the top of the cliff down here in record time. I had no idea how he managed it, but it was just him. Nic held out his hand and helped me out of the water.
“Thanks.” I grinned at my friend.
“Of course.” He smiled back and headed down the trail that would lead us to the top. I followed along behind him, watching my footing on the rocky dirt path since I didn’t have shoes on. I ran around barefoot all the time, but I didn’t want to stub my toe.
The mud near the lake where the guys had already tracked water squished through my toes, but the ground hardened as we climbed. The air dripped with moisture today, part of why we were swimming, and the vegetation practically glistened in the humidity. Nic pulled a branch out of the way and let it snap back, flicking moisture at me.
“Hey!” I shoved him when I caught back up.
He laughed and ran ahead.
