Chapter 47 #2
“Esmyra, this isn’t funny,” Draevyn growled. His eyes went distant as he nearly choked on all the thoughts consuming him. “I can’t believe Atlas did this.”
“I can,” she cut in and his stare slowly found hers. “If he’s anything like you.”
Draevyn’s brows furrowed, desperate to settle his anger. “You think I would do this to a woman?”
“No, I don’t mean that, and I’m not defending him either.
But I do understand him.” She paused and sucked in a sharp breath.
“Atlas is doing exactly what you are. He’s doing what he thinks is best to save the woman he loves.
Your brother sees me as a monster for what I did to Elowynne, just as you see him now for what’s being done to me. ”
Fucking Irah.
“That’s different.” Draevyn had never thought of it that way before, but even still, nothing would change his mind on this. “Atlas made this choice and it’s unforgivable.”
“Just as mine likely was to him,” she countered.
Jak rubbed a hand over his face. “Gods, what the fuck are we going to do?”
“Syrena and Azarian taught me how to treat the wounds, but nothing here will help us with what they had to do to save me. And also, the wounds were open, not closed like this is.”
Draevyn watched Esmyra as her hand gripped her opposite wrist, her nails tightly digging into the cloth of her shirt.
That’s the mark she hid from me on the deck.
Her gaze lifted to meet his, but she averted it quickly to the floor.
His breath hissed through his teeth. “So, what you’re saying is, they’ve only healed a festering wound?”
She shook her head. “The bullet holes were still open when I made it back to Maerinys.”
The way she casually brought up being covered in bullet holes made Draevyn nauseous, even though he was the only reason she made it out of that scenario alive in the first place.
“Fucking Irah,” Draevyn huffed. The thought of something vile crawling under her skin and feeding off her made his vision blur at the edges.
There has to be a way. There has to be.
Jak reached into his boot for his dagger. “Let us just cut it out of you.”
She gave him a knowing look. “While I love your enthusiasm, there’s a few issues here. The wound is closed and healed, but most of all, it’s on my spine.”
Jak’s face paled, finally realizing the severity of this.
“It could mean nothing,” Esmyra started with a shrug, “or… it could also mean, well, everything.”
“And if it means everything?” Jak pressed, his voice strained with the same fear Draevyn felt.
Esmyra swallowed, her hands gripping the fabric of her shirt nervously. “It could kill me if the curse isn’t removed properly.”
It could kill me. The words echoed, clawing at the inside of his skull.
Draevyn stepped toward her. “You think I’d let that happen? You think I’d risk you like that?”
Esmyra met his gaze with a quiet strength that nearly undid him. “I think if the only way to save me meant risking everything—even me—you’d do it.”
The truth of it hit Draevyn like a blow, because she was right. If all else failed, he would tear this poison out of her with his teeth if it came to it, even if it killed him to do so.
Because regardless, if the substance was left in her, she would perish. Living without her wasn’t an option, and he would never forgive himself if he didn’t try everything possible to save her.
Jak’s jaw tightened, his eyes burning with the same helpless rage. “So, we find a way. We don’t rush it. We don’t touch it until we know how to cut it out without…” He trailed off, unable to finish.
Draevyn nodded slowly. “We’ll find a way. I don’t care what it costs.”
“My cousin may still be able to help us.” Jak rubbed the back of his neck and swallowed as their attention moved to him.
“Jenli is a… scholar of sorts. She’s spent her life digging into things she shouldn’t have.
” His eyes went distant for a moment. “Or things others want buried. Lost magic, forbidden practices, ancient curses.”
Draevyn’s eyes narrowed slightly, weighing the words. “You think she’d know how to remove it?”
Jak’s jaw worked, clearly choosing his words. “I can’t say for sure. But if there’s a way to cut this poison out without it destroying you, I’m pretty positive she’d know it.”
“Well then I’d say she’s our only option,” Esmyra chimed in.
Her first mate nodded. “Jenli is a little…odd in everything she does. But for this—” he gestured toward her back, his hand trembling just slightly, “—I’ll make sure she hears us out and knows how important this is.”
Draevyn’s jaw tightened. “Whatever it takes, we’re getting this out of her. But what do you mean she’s odd?”
Jak turned to face Draevyn, his eyes seeming to plead just hear me out.
A humorless smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. “Odd may not be the right word. Perhaps insane does her more justice. Jenli doesn’t see the world the way most people do. She never has.”
Esmyra was silent for a moment as her eyes roamed over them both, but then her lips tilted upward. “I like her already.”
“Aye.” Jak sighed. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”
His gaze drifted briefly, as if caught in some distant memory.
“When we were children, Jenli was selected by the priestesses of Terrana and taken to the temple to be raised as one of them. Our family was proud and considered it as the highest honor. She spent years learning the ways of the gods, swearing herself to their secrets and knowledge forbidden to the rest of the realm.”
Esmyra shifted on the desk, seeming intrigued. “And then?”
“Priestesses are allowed to leave the temples only once every ten years to visit their loved ones. It was the first time I had seen her since she was thirteen, and she was…no longer the Jenli I remembered. She begged me for help.”
Draevyn’s brows furrowed. Terrana’s priestesses were different from his kingdom’s, but then again, his father had cleared the temple since Irah granted him and his brother power. Lephyrin’s priestesses now had a new place of worship in the center of the capital city.
“Help with what?” Draevyn cut in.
“It’s a long story.” Jak sighed. “But I helped her escape. Jenli fled, running away from everything she’d been taught and everything she’d sworn to.
And in turn, she broke her vows to Villaem, Terrana’s god.
The act is punishable by death because the secrets she carries with her make her dangerous. ”
Esmyra’s eyes flared. “Did the rest of your family help?”
Jak scoffed. “Our family couldn’t forgive even the thought of her fleeing. They cast her out, willing to let her die in the name of Villaem. It’s why I left my home kingdom in search of something else, and eventually chose to sail on The Night Wraith.”
“So, she’s an outlaw,” Draevyn mused.
Esmyra grinned. “Just like us.”
Draevyn couldn’t help his smirk at the mischief in her eyes despite their situation.
Jak nodded, a grim glint in his eye. “Exactly. She lives by no one’s rules, similar to us. And while the world considers her knowledge to be dangerous, it’s exactly the kind of knowledge we need.”
Draevyn crossed his arms. “Insane or not, if she can help, she’s worth the risk.”
“Aye,” Esmyra and Jak said in unison, grins forming as they glanced at one another.
Draevyn could only hope they were right.