Chapter 23
Seagulls scream overhead, and I press my forearm against my eyes, blocking out the light.
“Get up, Briar.”
I groan. “Find someone else to raise the mast today. Maybe Nicole can do it for once.”
Her footsteps tap against the wooden floor, and she comes to a stop beside my hammock, her shadow hovering over me. “No need. We’re in Sarenia.”
My eyes burst open, and harsh sunlight pours through the hole in the ceiling, filtering through the individual strands of Kressa’s hair. I sit upright, the thin fabric swaying beneath my sudden movement, and throw my legs over the side.
“In the harbor?” I say, smoothing out my hair.
“No, not close enough to be seen from the docks. We’re anchored at a blind spot around the inlet. The ships leaving for exports shouldn’t notice us from here.”
Straightening, I adjust my gloves. “Do you have a plan?”
I lift my gaze to hers, and my breath bottles in my throat. My chest aches, as if someone has pried apart my ribs and reached in, wringing my heart. A pain so deep—so visceral, tears gather behind my eyes.
But it’s no simple physical pain—one that can be bandaged or healed with the right herbal medicines. This is a soul-cleaving ache. One that only she can cure.
She opens her mouth, but the words die on her tongue, and her gaze lowers to my lips. Time stumbles to a stop, and the sounds above deck fall to a low hum.
Nothing exists but her.
Her hands flex at her sides, and a muscle feathers in her jaw. A lock of hair falls from her braid, and I reach up, twisting it through my fingers. She lifts a hand and hovers it over my waist, so close I can sense the warmth radiating from her palm.
“Briar,” she breathes.
My gaze traces the slope of her neck and the way her collarbones disappear into the neckline of her buttoned shirt. The artery just beneath her skin beats in time with her racing heart.
“Touch me,” I whisper, our mouths inches apart.
Her breath catches, and her tongue darts out, wetting her lip. She leans closer, and I weave my gloved hand into the hair at her temple.
She jerks away and turns her back to me. “Be on the deck in five minutes.”
My hand drops, and a chill sweeps over my body as she leaves the room. I chew on the inside of my cheek as my heart rate returns to normal, but the gnawing ache in my chest doesn’t subside. It morphs, twisting into something permanent as it makes a home behind my ribcage.
We’ve only been denying the bond for a handful of days, and already it’s becoming unbearable. Like a thorn digging deeper and deeper into my flesh.
I undress from my nightgown and slip into a pair of leggings and a tunic. Gathering my hair into a low bun at my nape, I weave through the hallway, joining Elayne, Celia, and Thea at the top of the stairs.
“How are you all feeling?” I say.
“I haven’t slept this well since being on our ship,” Elayne signs as we twist around the opening and the rest of the deck comes into view.
“That makes one of us,” Celia murmurs.
Thea gives me a wary glance, her lips pressed into a tight line as she picks at the skin around her cuticles. “I never wanted to come back here. To Sarenia.”
Our gazes meet, and a silent understanding passes between us. We’re the only ones on this ship who understand what it was like living under Caelus’s thumb and everything we went through over the past decade. Yes, it wasn’t ten years behind bars, but it was a prison nonetheless.
The only other person who would understand is Isolde.
I scan the low hillside of the inlet, searching for a glimpse of the falcon. Nothing stares back but low lying grasses and a cropping of trees. I can only hope the creature made it back to Isolde, rather than being intercepted by Callum. Or even worse, someone of the Earth Court.
I squeeze Thea’s arm. “This will be the last time. I promise.”
Celia hangs back. “Any last minute plans we should know about?”
“Whatever Kressa has in mind, we need to make sure I get into the castle.”
The others come into view—Julian’s back to us as Nicole and Kressa discuss near the railing, the latter rubbing at her temples.
“Why?” Elayne signs.
“Not only could Inez be in there, but so is my compass.”
I clear my throat and turn my attention on Kressa as we step into the full sunlight. As if I called out to her, our eyes lock. The ache returns, twisting—reliving the way she watched my lips only moments ago.
“I’m going into the castle,” I say.
Julian’s brows shoot up, and Kressa shakes her head. “Absolutely not. Do you know how quickly you’ll be recognized? If Callum—”
“Callum hasn’t seen me a day in his life. You brought me along, and it’s my crew member being kept prisoner behind those walls. And I know the layout of that castle like the back of my hand.”
Kressa stalks closer, her lip curling back as she stops within an inch of me. “Are you forgetting who you’re speaking to? That castle was once my home.”
“Right. A decade ago.”
Her teeth grind together. “You are not stepping a foot off this ship. Julian and I will be entering Sarenia and recovering the emerald. With any luck, we’ll find Inez with it.”
“Tell me, Kressa.” I smile, canting my head. “Would you rather me go into Sarenia with you, where you can monitor me, or leave me on your ship?” I trace my fingertips over the railing. “It wouldn’t be the first time I’ve commandeered a ship.”
“I’ll put those rhodium cuffs right back on.”
I let out a low laugh. “As if I need my power to sail a ship. Think about it. If you took me with you, you know I would never leave Thea, Celia, and Elayne behind on this ship. I couldn’t run.” My voice softens a fraction. “Please, I need to get Inez back.”
Kressa searches my eyes and grimaces. “Fine. You and I will go into Sarenia, and everyone else will wait here.”
Julian shifts forward. “Shouldn’t I go, too? I know the castle as well as you both, and you might need the help.”
She shakes her head. “Briar is right. I need someone I trust to remain behind.”
Nicole flinches and crosses her arms over her chest, but doesn’t argue.
“We know the area, and can get in and out fast,” Kressa says, facing the others. “The rest of you will remain here and wait for our return. But Thea?”
Thea straightens. “Yes?”
“How far can you transport us?”
She gnaws on her lip, staring off into the water. “Typically only to areas within eyesight, but I can try father.”
“If we took a rowboat closer to shore, could you get us to the harbor?”
She nods. “Without a doubt.”
Her eyes sparkle a brilliant blue, and despite the worried lines etched into Celia’s face, there’s a warm pride in the way she smiles at Thea.
“It’s settled,” Kressa says. Julian and Nicole will stay on the ship with Celia and Elayne, keeping watch for anyone who might get too close. Thea, Briar, and I will take a rowboat around the inlet where Thea will transport us onto land.”
“And once we’re there?” I hedge, lifting a brow.
“It’s impossible to tell what we’ll run into. If we’re lucky, whoever Callum appointed to maintain control over Sarenia is still unfamiliar with it. We can use the chaos to our advantage.”
“And if Callum is the one here?”
“Then we do our best to go unnoticed, together.”
Her final word lingers in the air, but I blink, doing my best to pretend it doesn’t affect me. It shouldn’t. Not with the woman who put me in chains and dragged me to Ignata instead of letting me return home.
“Then what are we waiting for?” I say.
Kressa smirks. “Until now, we were waiting for you to get up.”
She disappears into the captain’s quarters and returns with a leather belt strung over her arms. She hands it out to me, and I make quick work of looping it around my waist.
She pulls a dagger from the holster at her thigh and holds it out to me. “Don’t make me regret this.”
“Don’t worry. I’ve already tried killing you once.”
A weak smile pulls at her lips, so slight I nearly missed it.
“The boat’s ready to go,” Julian says, wiping his hands on his pants. He unhooks a key and lifts a brow at Kressa. “You sure about this?”
She nods, and Julian slips it into Thea’s cuffs, letting them fall off her wrists.
Sighing, she rubs her hands over the welts the metal left behind. Celia comes up beside her, and Thea wraps her arms around her middle, nestling her head into the crook of her shoulder. “I’ll be back soon.”
Celia’s gaze remains fixed on me—a warning, as she says, “I’ll be waiting.”
A lump forms in my throat. This is exactly what Celia was arguing against when she didn’t want Thea to come along—for her to be alone with me. But this time, I’ll prove I can keep Thea safe.
Kressa throws a leg over the railing, hooking her foot around the first rung of the rope ladder. I watch over the edge as she lowers herself into the rowboat.
She looks up at me, shielding her eyes. “We’re losing time, Briar. It’s now or never.”
I gnaw on my lip and squeeze Thea’s hand. She squeezes back, and I heave myself over the wooden rail, making quick work of the ladder. Waves slap against the hull of the ship, spraying me with salty mist. I breathe it in, relishing in the way it sinks into my skin.
For so long, the barest hint of salty spray would burn my flesh. Dropping into it was a death sentence. It’s one small freedom I’ve been clinging to—the ability to touch the ocean again.
My feet touch the inside of the rowboat, and I lower myself in, watching as Thea lowers down after me.
“What happens if we get caught?” I breathe, quiet enough for only Kressa to hear. It’s something neither of us are willing to say to everyone else, but I know it’s at the forefront of our minds.
“We won’t.” But before Thea is too far down the ladder, she adds, “But if we do, don’t let them catch you alive. Take your gloves off and burn the place to the ground.”
Something in my chest thaws, and before I have a chance to respond, Thea drops into the rowboat.
Her gaze twists between the two of us, and she lifts a brow at Kressa. “Shall we?”
Kressa picks up an oar and tosses it at me. “Let’s see if you’re as good at rowing as you are sailing.”
I smirk, dropping to the bench at the stern as she takes the bow. We slip our oars into the water, and Thea keeps her gaze pinned on the deck of the ship until we weave around the inlet and the harbor of Sarenia comes into view.
My stomach clenches, and Kressa shifts in her seat, her oar remaining under the water for a second too long. The last time I saw this harbor, a wall was being erected around it as I lifted the ocean skyward.
It’s only been a handful of days, but the docks that once jutted out farther into the sea are gone, their wooden planks in splinters at the bottom of the ocean. Vessels bob in the shallow waters, held down by anchors.
But the ones moored at the remaining docks, closest to the shore—they all bear a falcon mid flight. Not Caelus’s ships though, not anymore.
“Callum,” I breathe. “He’s here.”
“We shouldn’t get any closer,” Kressa says, laying her oar across the breadth of the rowboat. “Even though Briar wiped out most of Caelus’s guards, there’s no telling who might recognize us.”
I nod, scanning the decks of the nearby ships, searching for a head of blonde hair. If she’s worried about Callum tracking her down, it’s unlikely Isolde will be here.
I can only hope she is.
“Who first?” Thea says, cracking her knuckles.
Kressa tilts her chin at me. “Her.”
I lift a brow. “Why me?”
“Because if Thea here manages to drop us off at an unsafe spot, you’ll be first.” Her lips tilt into a smile—almost a dare.
I drag my teeth across my bottom lip, meeting her gaze. “Or is it because you’re worried if she dropped you off first, we might leave you behind?”
She rolls her eyes. “Just go.”
The corner of Thea’s lip tilts, and she grabs my wrist. “I’ll be right back.”
We disappear. Time warps around me, light and sound merging into one. There’s nothing beneath my feet—no earth, no sky. Just a black expanse of nothing. My stomach pitches, and it’s as if I’m tumbling through an onslaught of waves, unknowing which way is up and which is—
My feet slam into the earth.
“That was a long one,” Thea breathes, prying her hands from my wrist.
I blink my eyes open to a narrow alleyway, the end facing the harbor. “Can you do it again?”
She nods. “Just don’t go anywhere.”
In the next breath, she vanishes. Voices come from around the corner, and I sidle up against the brick wall as a group of men come into view, each donned in the Sky Court uniform. They pass without a glance in my direction.
Kressa and Thea appear, and Kressa stumbles sideways, bracing a hand against the wall.
She clutches at her stomach. “That was awful.”
Thea smirks at me. “I wasn’t as gentle with her.”
I let out a low laugh and step closer. “You’ll wait for us in the harbor?”
She nods. “Meet me right back here.”
In the next heartbeat, she’s gone. A sour taste fills my mouth, and I stare out toward the water in the harbor. There’s nothing I can do from here to protect her, but she’s never needed my protecting.
“We need to get through Sarenia without drawing too much attention,” Kressa says, her chest rising as she sucks in deep breaths.
My lips quirk. “I have an idea.”