17. Maren
17
Maren
S ero and Kolibri’s reins in my hand, I stood under the half-dead trees, staring at Pevnos? M?tveho Mu?a .
The Deadman’s House.
I supposed it was fitting that the largest port in Rivea would also harbor the largest prison. It loomed ahead under unassuming clouds, a mountain of cold, gray stone built to the sky. Guards roamed its curtain walls like a flock of blood-red crows, shifting direction as though their movement lay caught between collective consciousness and chaos. I counted them—twenty at any given moment, along with the stationary men roosted high along the walls, watching the grounds from their perches.
And somewhere inside, Kye.
My nails bit into my palms. Ideas tumbled through my head, each one more desperate than the last. The sea market had been rampant with shield weed. I didn’t trust my siren’s song to allow me access through the minds of men. And though my knees had stopped wobbling, I still hadn’t regained the strength I’d lost while recovering from the bends—if I had, I was sure I could have suffocated Demyan.
I’d have to use other skills instead.
I glanced down at myself. My new gray dress flared smoothly from my hips in rough homespun fabric, long sleeves laced to my wrists. Under it sat my new chemise, longer than the one I’d been wearing these past few weeks. Thicker, too. Sewn for the cold wind, twine tied the left and right halves of the chemise over my chest.
I chewed my lip. Then stripped the gray dress off my back. My stockings came off next, followed by the pins in my hair, waves tumbling around my shoulders. Then the twine of my chemise, leaving my dress open over my stomach and breasts.
I tapped my foot in thought, nerves firing in my gut as I plucked my corset from the ground. On it went, as tight as I could manage, until I was certain I’d never been more ample and narrow in the same moment. I pulled Kye’s sword from its sheath, using it as a mirror and pinching color into my cheeks. Then sucked my lips under my teeth, feeling them plump as they grew raw with abuse. With a quick flourish, the fur pelt settled over my shoulders, hiding the welts at my neck.
Kolibri’s ears flared back as I rode her down the hill toward the stone fortress, irritated at the sight of the guards outside as they grew closer. For the sake of trying, I hummed as I approached, watching their eyes for any hint of dilation, though there was none to be found. I halted her and Sero outside the doors and slid from her back, handing the reins of both horses to the nearest man without giving him a second glance.
A drop of water slid from my fingertip, probably summoned by the sudden anxiety unraveling like thread from a spool inside my chest. I carefully flicked it away, commanding myself to concentrate. One of them, I could incapacitate with water calling. Six of them…
My heart pleaded for me to turn and run.
They stood at the entrance, Rivean guards watching me without a word, eyes dripping with primal appetite. I shook my hair away from my face, smiling coyly at the one who looked as though he might be in charge. “Hello,” I said, imbuing the single word with all the rich luster my voice could carry.
He glanced at his comrades, then back to me, his Rivean accent filled with uncertainty. “How can I help—”
“I’m here for Captain Cenek,” I said, leaving my mouth to hover open as I lifted my chin, my tongue lingering on the edge of my lip. “I’m his birthday gift for the night.”
He stared. They all stared. My moon-damned blood ravaged my veins.
I wasn’t good at this. This had been a horrible idea. A horrible, terrible, desperately stupid idea.
“I didn’t think his wife would—”
“My dear,” I said, leaning in even closer to him and twirling a lock of hair around a finger as I tilted my head back, baring my naked neck and chest under the edge of the fur. I let my voice drop to a cooing whisper. “His wife is the one who sent me.”
None of them moved. The faint scent of arousal drifted from them, but none took my bait.
I patted his cheek in false care, cursing myself for a fool. Selena could have managed such a feat, sewn with cool grace and sultry glances. I wasn’t Selena. I don’t know how this had been my best idea of a plan. I let my chest brush his as I turned back to Kolibri, suddenly anxious to escape and think of something else. “I suppose I’ll tell her no one let me in,” I drawled at them.
The one near the back gulped his air. “The captain is in a meeting.”
I leveled a look at the man from over my shoulder. Straight. Stoic. His cheeks flamed as our eyes met. “Do you have someplace for me to wait for him?”
The guards glanced at each other, unsure. I fought the urge to ravage my lip with my teeth.
“ Leos ,” the red-cheeked man said. “Zavolajte sekretárku kapitána Ceneka.”
My heart dropped, watching the youngest man turn sharply on his heel and march inside.
“Má narodeniny?” One of them whispered.
“Nem??em si spomenú?,” another answered.
“I don’t mind waiting,” I said, letting the back of my fingers drift down the lead guard’s arm. “I’m easy to entertain. What’s your name?”
Behind him, the Riveans darted looks around each other. But I held the eyes of the guard who stood before me, listening to his heart begin to race.
“Marik,” he said, something wavering within his gaze.
“Hello, Marik,” I purred, my tongue stroking the words as they left my lips. “What kind of birthday gifts do you enjoy?”
He finally let his gaze drip over me, my shoulders and chest. The corner of his mouth lifted. “Not the kind that comes as wrapped up as you,” he murmured low enough his fellow guards couldn’t hear.
Mihauna in the stars. I had him.
I had him.
Nerves fluttered in my stomach as I adjusted the collar of Marik’s crimson uniform, letting the edge of my dress slip down a shoulder. “I’m simple enough to unwrap,” I whispered, and the scent of him flamed the air, thick with heady impatience.
“The captain’s private office is occupied at the moment,” he said, his voice suddenly husky. “But I can take you to the parley chamber.”
“Perfect.” I flashed a row of teeth and watched his eyes glaze, falling to my mouth and lower.
Marik cleared his throat. “Follow me.”
The other guards gawked, wide-eyed as we passed under the stone arch. Inside, the air was suddenly stale on my palate, moldering and wet. Condensation stuck to the stone walls, dripping to the floor, and our steps echoed with a hollow kind of cold that made my bones shudder.
Slow-burning torches lined the walls, though they did little to light the passage the guard led me down. Shadows leapt between the light, as though the fortress blocked out the sun merely to create a playground for Darkness.
“Are the prisoners underground?” I asked, eyeing a stairwell that ended somewhere below my feet.
“Some of them,” Marik answered, taking my hand and pulling me away. Up the stairs, across a hallway, and between a number of guards.
The walls weren’t wood. They didn’t groan and squeeze. But the air reminded me of the cargo hold in the Aspire . Damp with mildew, saturated with cold. A draft nipped at my heels, and I wondered from where the current of air came. He strode through a wide hall, thick exposed beams overhead, and the scent of mint and rain made me whip my eyes to my right. Just in time to see tall shoulders and a head of thick, chocolate-brown curls. But the sight vanished as soon as it appeared, covered by a uniformed man standing at attention just outside the door. He tilted his head at us in interest.
The guard from the market gate.
I turned my cheek as he and Marik spoke in Rivean, my thoughts racing.
The guard from the gate, waiting just outside an office door.
Somewhere in the room just beyond my feet, Kye stood in Captain Cenek’s office.
“What is your name, miss?” Marik said.
Forced to look at them, I tossed my dark hair behind a shoulder, fixing them with a smile. “Diara.”
Across from me, Marik smoldered. The guard from the market gate nodded, heat sparkling behind his own eyes. “I’ll let the captain know you’re here.” Something about the way he studied me made my scalp prickle, and I quickly glanced away.
“I’ll wait with her,” Marik said, already moving down the dim hallway, guiding me with him. I counted how many doors we passed. One, two, three—
He pulled me through an opening, using the toe of his boot to slam the door closed behind him. A long table stretched before us, thick oak chairs lined on either side, an empty fireplace next to an open window. I didn’t have the chance to see anything else before Marik pressed me into the wall, his hungry mouth suddenly on mine.