Chapter 3
Early morning light spears through the gaps in the planks overhead, and Thea rolls onto her side. Bits of hay stick to her temple, wet from sweat. There’s no breeze in the brig—no windows to allow the sea air in.
“Morning,” I say, my back pressed against the wall.
She pushes to a seat and rubs the sleep from her eyes. “How long have you been awake?”
I twirl a piece of hay between my fingers. “Haven’t slept.”
“Haven’t, or didn’t try?”
I shrug, gnawing on my lip. The bandage covering her wound is rolling up at the edges, but the blood has dried to a deep brown.
The healer Kressa has on board must have worked on us while we were still unconscious, otherwise we wouldn’t be healing nearly as fast. Perhaps they have the same ointments I once used on Isolde.
My chest tightens. Isolde. The last time I saw her, she narrowly escaped—jumping on the back of one of the air legion’s falcons.
She’s the reason why Caelus found the safe house, why I was put in that cell on the edge of the cliff. She held a blade to my throat.
Yet there’s still a space in my heart that feels empty without her. The gentle touch of her hand, the way her smile lit up a room, how she’d take extra punishments from Caelus to spare me. At least I can rest easy knowing she’s free, unlike me.
Shouts come from overhead, and I slink into the corner of my cell as a roar rattles the ship, so loud my thoughts tumble to a stop. It’s a sound I’d know anywhere. I count the seconds until a splash comes from the other side of the hull.
The anchor.
“We’re docking.” I wrap a fist around a bar and heave myself to my feet. The metal tray of untouched food sits opposite me, and I brush rogue bits of hay from my clothes.
“Do you still have the key?” Thea whispers.
I press my hand against my pocket and nod. “Remember the plan?”
“Get far enough away from the ship for no one to expect anything, then cause a scene that gives us enough time to free ourselves.”
Swallowing, I shift on my feet and nod. It would be far easier to unlock our shackles now and simply pretend we’re still bound. But the moment the rhodium cuffs are off our skin, Elias will be able to read Thea’s mind. We wouldn’t even make it off the ship.
Footsteps sound from the other side of the brig’s door.
“We have to work quick,” I say.
The knob clatters, then the door swings open to a man and a woman in matching deep-green uniforms. Earth Court guards. Golden chains hang like vines from their chest pockets—medals peppering the lapels that indicate a higher rank than any guards on the ship.
They aren’t simple infantry. These two were sent by Golan himself.
I open my mouth, but my voice won’t cooperate, swallowed by whatever power one of the guards harbors. Thea’s gaze jumps to me, and she goes to speak, but nothing comes out. The man unlocks her cell and yanks her out.
The woman eases my door open and wraps a fist around my chain. “Queen Briar. What an honor.”
There’s a poison in her voice—the same tone Kressa has used when speaking about me. A judgement—blame for the collapse of their court.
She jerks me out of my cell, and I stumble over my feet, unable to catch myself with my bound hands. In my periphery, the man slides a burlap sack over Thea’s head. My heart slams against my ribcage.
We didn’t plan for this. If she can’t retrace our path back to the ship, she can’t transport us back here.
The woman throws a sack over my head and drags me out of the brig. Wind weaves through the pinprick holes in the sack, and the sun beats down on my shoulders.
My feet hit the deck, and I toy my fingers over the key in my pocket, tracing Thea’s footsteps through the gap in the sack. I can’t free us now, but if we’re separated, we don’t stand a chance when I do.
“Bring them over.”
Kressa’s voice rakes down my spine, her tone detached—so at odds with the gentle way they were whispered into my ear just a few nights ago. I grit my teeth, yet my body reacts to her presence, drawing me closer as if my center of gravity hinges on her.
The guard jerks me to a stop.
“Put them in my boat,” Kressa says.
I scoff, her figure nothing but a shadow in my vision. “Scared of what I’ll do if I’m too far away?”
A fist wraps around my shirt and yanks me forward.
Kressa’s scent washes over me—pine and rainwater sinking into my skin like a brand.
“Watch yourself Calisdana. If it were my choice, you’d be as far away from me as possible.
But there’s a target on your back, and my father would have my head if I delivered his prisoner in a casket. ”
Nausea churns in my gut, and the guard looms close to my side. But I swallow, pushing away the uneasiness. It does me no favor to show my fear.
“So it has nothing to do with the promise I made you, does it?” I lean closer, to where I can barely make out the outline of her lips. Tilting my head, I lower my voice to a whisper. “Scared I’ll let it slip that there’s fire running through your veins?”
She uncurls her hand from my collar one finger at a time, but there’s a heightened tension in the air buzzing between us. “If you speak one word of it, we’re both dead.”
“Can’t have your father receiving you in a casket, can we?”
“If it were up to him, I would be.”
The tension snaps, and the warmth radiating from her disappears. She steps back, her footsteps echoing across the deck.
“Take her to the boat,” she orders.
My chest tightens, and the guard wraps her hand around my bicep, pushing me across the deck. I regain my footing as she forces me down a lowered ramp.
“Watch your step,” she says as she guides me into the hull of a small boat.
“Briar? Is that you?” Thea whispers, the chains of her cuffs rattling against the wooden seat.
I scoot closer, brushing my elbow against hers. “Think you can memorize the path?”
“I—I don’t know. I’m still weak, and my power is unstable.”
My pulse quickens, but I swallow down the panic churning in my stomach. “I’ll help you, and if you can’t remember, we’ll fight our way out. We have no other choice.”
The boat rocks, and a handful of footsteps fill the hull—too many to count. I clamp my mouth shut as shadows surround me. Guards, judging by the polished leather of their boots.
“We’ll weave through the channel until we get to the harbor,” Kressa says, her voice cold and unforgiving. “The king is waiting.”
Thea stiffens beside me, her fear palpable, and a sour taste fills my mouth as the boat jerks forward through the water. Oars slap water, but my mind drowns them out.
I failed Thea once. It won’t happen a second time.
When we get to the harbor, I’ll be the distraction. If I hold off the guards as long as possible, she won’t have to transport both of us to safety. If we’re lucky, she can escape and go find the rest of our crew.
And if the fates are merciful, I’ll earn a swift execution.
If I don’t die first.
My heart hammers in my chest as we weave through the water. Over an hour passes without a word from anyone in the boat.
I count the minutes in my head, trying to gauge the distance we’ve traveled, but with the sack over my head, there’s no way to know if there’s another route. Or if they’re taking us down the longest one.
It’ll be a miracle if Thea finds her way back, but I have to give her a chance.
“Ready the ropes,” Kressa orders.
Bodies shifts around me—nothing but shadows as the boat sways from their movement. I hold my breath, stilling my trembling fingers as I dip them into my pocket. They close around the key, and I fold it into my fist as voices shout in the distance.
We’ve arrived at the harbor.
“Briar,” Thea whispers—her voice choked.
“It’s going to be okay.”
It will have to be. The moment our cuffs fall, I’ll command the water surrounding the docks. I’m still weak from nearly burning out, and my mind is racing, but it’ll be enough for Thea to escape. Even if I fall from burnout.
We slow, then come to a stop.
“Watch your step,” a guard says, jerking me upright.
The boat shifts beneath my feet, but it’s muscle memory navigating the way the hull bobs with the waves. The guard leads me off the boat, and my feet hit solid ground. The dock.
Footsteps surround me, but there’s a heavy silence to the air.
“Your Highness,” Kressa says.
The beating of my heart stops.
My jaw trembles, and I twist my wrists, dragging the very tip of the key across the cuffs. The waves slap against the dock, drowning out the scratching of metal on metal as I search for the keyhole.
The key slides off the edge of the cuffs.
I curse under my breath and try again.
It dips into the hole, and my pulse thrashes in my ears as I turn the key.
Nothing happens.
A chuckle. “Looking for something?”
Elias.
I whip my head in his direction, but a gasp from Thea cuts through the silence.
She lets out a pained, garbled cry, and I lunge forward, jerking against my cuffs. “Don’t hurt her! I’ll—”
A guard rips the sack from my head.
My knees nearly buckle—the air stolen from my lungs.
A dozen feet away stands a group of women I stole jewels for. Did business with pirates to find. Spent an entire decade unsure if they were alive or dead.
My crew.