Chapter Sixteen #2
Petal lay on the bench along one side, her head in Bramble’s lap.
Ethan sat next to Briar, like a shadow turned sharp and deadly.
The wagon rumbled along the rough path through the grass, away from the village, cutting around to the far docks.
The Sea Dragons had elected to dock away from the main festivities, even before her sister stole the moon.
The ship was as impressive as she remembered, with the tinkle of bewitched sea glass and the gleam of weapons.
The dragon figurehead opened its jaw and blue sparks shot over the water, discouraging any approaching kelpies with thoughts of murder, as well as mermaids, also with thoughts of murder.
The crew waited on deck, fierce and suspicious.
Briar swallowed, her throat dry. Was she quite mad to trust her sister to Iron Crows? Infamous ones at that? She glanced at Bramble, who had frozen, eyes narrowed. One breath, two. Finally, she nodded at Briar and turned back to oversee Matthias when he carried Petal from the back of the cart.
The rain fell harder, blurring the ship, the sea, the sand. Anyone who might be watching would only see water.
Briar hurried after them, slowing down on the plank so she did not slip. Her hip was rather cross with her. Ethan was at her back, warm and solid, fingers pressed to her lower spine. Was he pushing her forward? Or steadying her? She honestly did not know anymore.
“We’ve a guest,” he said.
Briar saw Anais and Maleko of the tattooed chin.
There was a woman with snakes for hair, a man with the legs of a satyr.
She had never heard of a satyr who chose the sea.
He winked at her. Satyrs were not known for their shyness.
She blushed and she wasn’t even sure why.
He had not done anything untoward. A wink was hardly a proposition.
“Easy, Godric,” Ethan rumbled.
When Petal’s hood slid free, revealing her shining auburn hair and alabaster skin, the attention shifted dramatically. One of the sailors looked as though he’d just been hit in the head. Briar was very accustomed to that expression. Ethan, clearly, was not. “Get it together, man.”
“She’s like a fairy princess.”
“Bollocks, just get going, idiot,” Anais muttered.
“It’s all right,” Briar said. Bramble looked resigned, but also willing to stab anyone who lingered too near. “It happens all the time.”
Bramble snorted.
“Not on my ship.” Ethan’s tone was hard. “Focus or I’ll feed your guts to a kelpie.”
“And who are you, love?” the satyr asked. It took Briar a moment to realize he was speaking to her and not her sleeping sister. His voice was like the wind through a cypress tree.
“The fairy princess’s sister,” Briar replied.
“She’s one of us,” Ethan added. The sailors exchanged glances. Briar’s cheeks warmed. Why did that feel like the truest compliment he would ever give another? Probably because an actual fairy princess would affect him not at all.
Inexcusably, she fell a little bit in love.
Just a little.
Not enough to matter. Infatuations came and went. They were meant to be enjoyed, not scrutinized.
Later.
Matthias had to kick another sailor who got in the way trying to help him carry Petal.
Ethan shoved him over the edge of the ship and the problem was solved.
No one seemed much concerned with his yelps when he hit the water and struggled to pull himself up onto the dock.
Lightning struck, singeing the bottom of his boot when he was too slow.
There were bloody scratches on his arms and he’d barely been in the waves.
Kelpies and any number of creatures lurked beneath the surface, also trapped by the shields.
“Reach for her again,” Ethan said. “I fucking dare you.”
Bramble smiled at him. It was the first time Briar had seen her smile. She looked angelic. It was disconcerting.
They took Petal to a small cabin with a porthole that looked out into the ink-black sea.
An eye flashed, huge teeth. Even the kelpies were taken with her.
Anais pulled a curtain over the glass as Petal was laid on the narrow cot, witchlight swinging above.
Her hare familiar glowed, but only faintly.
Her cheeks were pale, her hair in perfect curls despite the circumstances. She looked the same. Normal. Safe.
Tears prickled in Briar’s nose. Something jagged that had been poking into her chest for hours, days now, retreated. Just a little. Enough. She caught a proper breath, and then another.
Briar handed Bramble the basket of supplies she had put together. The ship rolled under them, a gentle sway. It felt a little like a lullaby. “I should go,” Briar said. “If the Order is watching me, it’s not safe to linger. But I can keep them busy chasing me and not Petal.”
“I’ll keep her safe,” Bramble said. She looked a little green from the swaying, but resolute.
“I know. And I’ll fix this for her.”
“I know.”
There was something in the way Ethan was looking at her, hard, searching, a bit cross. She did not have the time to parse it. “Thank you,” she said. “All of you,” she added to Matthias and Anais and the others crowded in the hall, besotted.
Ethan sent them running with a single turn of his head. He did not say a word, only nodded to Anais and then ushered Briar back up the ladder-stairs. She felt awkward and clumsy, her skirts tangling around her ankles. Exhausted.
But relieved. Hopeful. Armed, even though she only had her usual boline knife and a packet of seeds in her pocket.
Nowhere near armed enough.
Ethan lowered his head to murmur in her ear, “We are being watched.”