Where water meets sand meets sky

Snippet #2: (no these do NOT go in order. They're random snippets...)

She stepped out into the dark of night, looking up to find her bearings in the full of the moon. Wrapping her cloak tighter against the chill of the air she turned to head north, moving away from the keep silently. She knew the land, knew each swell and rock that constituted Brogan's lands. Making her way down the bank of rock she headed onto the beach. She'd told him she'd be along the shore and she had no intention of lying. The smell of salt and kelp struck her nose as her feet found the sand as cold as ice and sending shivers down her spine. It was shocking and sent her senses to screaming alertness. Precisely the effect she needed. Stepping closer as her toes adjusted and numbed to the chill she let the creeping fingers of water wash over them, sending a fresh shock of cold through her. Looking up at the sky she judged it to be well past midnight. She glanced back towards the keep, studying the walls. She was reassured by the faint but steady movement of the guards there. It was what kept them all alive and safe in their beds.
She slid her cloak off, folding it over and laying it to the side as she moved along the line of the water, letting it cover her toes and ankles but wading in no deeper. She knew to well the hazards of underestimating the water along these wild shores. Looking up at the sky again she breathed in slow deep breaths. Feeling the sand. Feeling the chill of the air. Feeling the water. Seeing the fires flickering from the castle in the distance, the smoke wafting on the breeze to touch her senses for just a moment.

She was suddenly aware of eyes on her. Whipping around she searched for the source of the feeling with a frown, studying the rocks. She saw him perched, sitting high on the ledge of a cliff that over looked the shore, the slope just on the other side leading directly to the castle. One man alone, hair streaming behind him on the breeze riding off the ocean. Her heart slammed against her chest, her mouth going suddenly dry.

He didn't move, but continued to watch her, framed in the moonlight behind him. He was darkly beautiful there and she felt a catch in her breath, even as she glanced towards the keep at the same time, judging the distance back.

The man rose, a cloak of black billowing behind him. He stepped from the ledge and she let out a cry of terror as he began to fall. His body remaining upright, arms outstretched. It wasn't a hard fall down but more of a float, slow and without the wild twisting of a body ready to strike the earth. He didn't strike the earth. He didn't even make a sound, but rather his feet merely touched the ground, his knees bending down a bit from the continuation of gravity before he straightened and walked forward as if nothing strange had occurred.

Lilliane was frozen in place. The rising tide bringing the water up to kiss the skin of her calves and the backs of her knees as she watched him stalk slowly towards here. There was danger in his movements and yet she couldn't move, could not drag her eyes away from the dark and powerful beauty that commanded every motion.

“It is cold.” he spoke, nearing to her but not stepping into the water. She nodded in dumb fascination, color rising to her cheeks as she began to make out his features. Pale. Thin but well muscled, his face long. Strong jaw covered in a shadow of a beard. Dark eyes. Dark eyes that missed nothing, drinking her in as they locked to hers. “My lady...” he said softly and the air left her in a rush, an explosive exhalation. She felt the pit of her stomach clench. He held out his hand, keeping his eyes to hers and waiting in silent expecation. Waiting for her.

She studied his hand for a moment, standing on a cliff of indecision. Who was this stranger? Surely allowing him to take her hand was harmless enough? Or...was it? A warning fired in her head and she knew instinctively that to take his hand would change her life.

There was no going back.

She slid her hand into his and let him pull her out of the water, onto the sand.