Chapter 13
ARIEL
W e’d sailed eastward into a darkening abyss. The winds had pushed us hard without stopping until the moon had begun to cast its pale light on the water, glittering on the waves. I realized that I couldn’t have flown much faster or further in that time, especially without a break. And that didn’t account for the burden of carrying another.
The ship had already proven our saving grace.
I'd gone below deck when the sun was still high to rest in one of the hammocks. When I finally awoke, I found Hemming asleep next to me, exhaustion finally doing him in, and I crept past him to return to the deck. Dusk awaited me there in all its eerie glory, and Shayfer in his, leaning against the mast.
“Ariel,” he said with a tiny bow to maintain pretenses. “Or should I call you ‘Your Highness’? ‘Your Grace’? Or perhaps just ‘Princess’?”
I feigned annoyance as I stopped next to him, then smiled. “You won’t be calling me anything once I knock that smirk off your face.”
“How very becoming of you,” he replied with a laugh, “and yet not.”
“I think Ariel will suffice, thank you very much.”
“As you wish… Your Highness .”
“You’re insufferable,” I muttered under my breath, much to his delight.
“I am indeed. Now, I have an issue I’d like to discuss, Ariel dear: the small matter of what you plan to do should we succeed at this impossible mission of oracle-finding and curse-breaking.”
“What do you mean?”
He leaned in closer, as though to shelter me from the assailing winds, then softly said, “I mean what will you do when we return to Anemosia? Assuming there is no dastardly plan to off you or something similar, I can only imagine your people will expect you to stay—to rule. And that is no small thing, Ariel.”
“Oh.” To be honest, I hadn’t thought much about what I’d do after we broke the curse. Even my reason for going to Anemosia in the first place had fallen by the wayside in the face of the Minyades’ suffering. Shayfer’s question illuminated just how shortsighted I’d been.
“Are you prepared to do that? To devote your life to a country you’ve never known? A people you only now claim as your own, and know little to nothing about?”
“I…I don’t know,” I replied, my mind riddled with uncertainties.
“Had I not already assumed as much, the blank look on your face when I asked would have been sufficient response.”
Unable to bear the weight of his gaze, I turned toward the black water and closed my eyes to clear my mind. “I’m not sure returning to the Midlands is an option for me anymore,” I said quietly, “and Daglaar has always been my home, but…” I trailed off, trying to find the words to express a feeling I didn’t fully understand. Because Daglaar was my home, and yet it wasn’t—not after all that had happened.
When words continued to fail me, I opened my eyes to find sympathy in Shayfer’s. “Our lives are full of seasons, Ariel. Some long, some short. But all come to an end eventually.” His hand fell gently on my shoulder. “Perhaps Daglaar’s season already has.”
I blinked back the tears his sentiment brought forth and cleared my throat. “Which leaves me with few options. Perhaps fate has led me to my true purpose and destination. Perhaps I truly was born to lead them.”
He caught a rogue tear with his fingertip and wiped it away. “Perhaps you are right, Ariel. But is that what you want?”
“I fear that choice might not be mine to make.”
He watched the tear drip down his finger. “And I fear you might be right.”
“What about you?” I dared to ask, knowing that it was my journey that might have sealed his fate as well, in more ways than one. “What will you do?”
His gaze shifted back to my face, and he forced a smile. “At the risk of sounding like Hemming, my answer is the same as his: I will go where you go. As long as you will have me.”
My throat began to tighten once again. “Shayfer, I’m?—”
His raised palm cut me off. “Before you launch into an unnecessary apology, let me finish.” When he seemed certain I wouldn’t interrupt, he continued. “It’s quite simple, really: you need me. And though you might wish to argue that, by aiding your mission to get here, I’ve damaged my ties with Kaplyn, risking my place with him in the Midlands, that’s not the driving force behind my decision. At the end of the day, you will need my abilities to do what needs to be done in Anemosia.” A twinkle of mischief danced in his eyes. “And I think we both know there are none more capable than I.”
I choked on a laugh at his boldness. “Truer words have never been spoken.”
“I’m glad this journey hasn’t dampened your spirits,” Eldrien shouted down to us as his eyes drifted between Shayfer and me in close proximity. I realized just how conspiratorial we must look.
“You’ll find that Shayfer has a way of lightening even the darkest of moods,” I yelled back over the roaring winds. “It’s one of his many gifts.”
Eldrien gestured for us to join him, so we made our way to the upper deck. “I wonder if navigating the seas is among them, because I’m sorely in need of a break.”
“I can manage if need be,” he replied before casting me a sideward glance.
“Go ahead. I should probably wake Hemming before he gets grumpy because he’s gone too long without food.” The moment those words left my mouth, I regretted them. Cringing, I turned to Eldrien, yet another apology on my tongue.
“I take no offense, Ariel,” he said with a slight dip of his head.
“I’ll gladly take the helm for now,” Shayfer said with a smile, “if for no other reason than to be as far away as possible from a cranky Hemming.”
Eldrien gave a small bow of thanks before ushering me away toward the rail, where we were alone with the sea and the evening sky. “Before you wake Hemming,” he said, shifting closer, “I wondered if I might have a word.”
“Of course. What about?”
“I want to thank you. You risked much to escape and find us, and we are all grateful for your efforts.”
“I didn’t do it alone.”
His wary gaze turned to where Shayfer stood, his hands on the wheel to steady the ship. “No. You didn’t.”
“Eldrien, if there is something on your mind, then just say it.”
“I understand that you trust those that aided you, but how well do you truly know them?”
My hackles rose at his question. “Better than I know you.” The warning in my tone was clear, and Eldrien recoiled slightly at its sting.
“Forgive me, Ariel. I don’t mean to offend. I just have concerns, because I fear they might have ulterior motives.”
“Like what? Getting banished from their homes? Risking death should they ever return to the Midlands? Because, as of now, that’s all they’ve earned themselves in return for helping me escape. That, and this mission of potentially no return.”
“I promise you, I understand the sacrifices they have made to bring you back to your true home. And though it seems incredibly noble, it’s those very actions that stoke my suspicion further.”
“Interesting, given that those actions inspire trust and friendship in me. The only potential ulterior motives I’m concerned about at this moment are yours, Eldrien. Hemming and Shayfer have earned my trust. You, on the other hand, have not yet done so.”
We stared at each other in silence for longer than was comfortable. Finally, he averted his gaze to the sea. “My attempt to navigate this topic delicately seems to have failed miserably, so at the risk of being blunt, let me say precisely what is troubling me about your rescuers—Hemming in particular.”
Danger niggled in the back of my mind. Had Lyselle said something to him about her fears? “What is your issue with Hemming? Do you think he wants something?”
His momentary silence set me further on edge. “I think he wants you . I think you are the reward he seeks for his actions.” Eldrien’s eyes narrowed in the most menacing way. “But that can never be allowed to happen?—”
“Because my mother and your father arranged a marriage for us before we were even born?” I did nothing to hide my disdain for that idea.
To his credit, he didn’t flinch at my tone. “No. Because the Minyades would never accept a Neráida consort for the Aima Kori . Especially not after what they did to your mother and you.”
There was so much wrong with his sentiment that I could hardly focus on the fact that, even though I was desperate to, I could not refute it without giving away the lie we’d been living. So I deflected the topic to an equally relevant point. “Others have long dictated the terms of my life, Eldrien, and I have no intention of letting anyone do it again. Not you, or your dead father, or the Minyades. Is that clear?”
His eyes went wide as he pulled away. “Forgive me. I only meant to?—”
“—to make assumptions about both me and the ones who freed me? Perhaps you should stick to advising me on our people and leave the matter of those who returned me to them alone.”
Squaring his shoulders, Eldrien bowed low. “My apologies, Ariel.”
I exhaled hard to try to release my brewing anger, then placed a gentle hand on Eldrien’s shoulder and told him to rise. The apology in his sad blue eyes was plain, even in the waning light.
“You seem like a noble man,” I said warmly, “and your intentions seem pure enough, but there are things you do not know and cannot understand. For now, I ask you to trust my judgment where Shayfer and Hemming are concerned. Can you do that?”
“If it’s what you ask of me, then yes, I will trust you. And know that you can do the same regarding me.”
I forced a smile. “Good. I fear I will need to before this journey is over.”
As I turned to head below deck, I looked off into the darkened sky, where a single spot seemed blacker than the rest—like an oblong slash had been carved into the horizon. I squinted to try to make it out as I moved closer to the rail and leaned forward.
“What is that?” I mused aloud as I struggled to make sense of the sliver of void that seemed to grow larger at an inexplicable pace.
“I don’t know.” The edge of uncertainty in his voice did nothing to calm my rising nerves.
“Perhaps I should go see?—”
“No!” Eldrien snapped before softening his tone. “If someone must go, then let it be me. Please .”
Though I wanted to argue, I pressed my lips together and gave a tight nod of approval. Eldrien hopped onto the rail, then took to the sky, his azure wings reflecting the moonlight with every beat. As I watched him disappear toward the anomaly in the distance, Hemming emerged from below deck.
The moment he realized that Eldrien was flying away, his body stiffened. “Where is he going?”
“To see what that is,” I replied, pointing to the bizarre darkness that grew larger by the second. Once his eyes locked onto it, a hair-raising growl escaped him, and fear grabbed me tightly. “What?” I asked, clutching his arm. “What’s wrong?”
Before he could reply, Eldrien shot toward the boat like a spear from high above, wings tucked in tight behind him as he cut through the sky with that darkness close behind him, swallowing the horizon. The ring of Hemming’s sword being pulled from its sheath alerted me just before he shoved me aside. “Move!” he roared as that sliver of black arced over the deck with Eldrien right in front of it.
The Minyade leader slammed into me, ripping me away from the boat—and from Hemming. As I struggled against his hold, a sickening crack rent the air.
I turned just in time to see the deck shatter to bits and watch Hemming disappear.