Skandra took a broad and obvious step back. The lead of the rope he handed off to Shantar, never taking his eyes from her face. She was beautiful. So many games she could have played with that beauty, and yet she resisted. Unless she was playing them with Skandra fucking Tyullis. Did she know what it felt like, having her that close? Did she know what it made him feel? That every single fucking person who'd ever looked him in the eye and called him a wastrel was wrong. Of course, it was entirely possible that she cared for him because he was a wastrel. That wasn't something that Skandra wanted to consider. That was what truly frightened him. That she just wasn't smart enough to see him for what he really was.
It could have been worse. He just couldn't see how.
Shantar had tied the rope off. Skandra had a feeling this wasn't going to be as easy as killing a creature. Or dueling a fat female to the death. Near death. It had been near death, hadn't it? He was always at his most sentimental right before he did something incredibly stupid without even the near promise of a reward. Of course, this was what it really was about. Exploring the world and seeing new things that you couldn't fathom in your wildest dreams. Now Shantar's boyish enthusiasm was starting to infect him. Gods, in another fifty years, he'd bee like one of those young knights, so consumed with the idea of valor and honor that he couldn't see what was in front of him. Nobody was going to want a washed up Immortal to pretend he was a handsome soldier of the gods.
So what the hell was he standing here thinking about, anyway?
"i've got a reputation, you know," Skandra said; his grin had faded to a smirk. "Can't be letting priestesses go ahead of me for just a kiss."
Líobhan understood second, but was most outraged. Skandra didn't give her time to scold him for his manners. While he'd been talking he'd also been tying a much smaller rock to the end of the rope. Now that rock was tossed casually over his shoulder - dragging the rope down, down, toward the earth. Skandra took another step back, which put him on the edge of the cliff.
"I wonder if I'd bounce," were his last words.
Then, with one last backward step, he disappeared over the side of the cliff.