Chapter 10 Lily #2
He straightened and pulled his arms away from the rail. “Anyone in your bed?”
My eyes immediately flicked away when Wrath popped into my mind, the six-foot-five gorgeous man who was everything I could ever want in another person. Not just in appearance, but in substance. His eyes were savage, but his heart was pure. “No.”
He continued to stare at me, like he expected me to say more.
“Why do you ask that?” He’d never asked me anything like that before.
He gave some kind of shrug and shake of his head at the same time. “You mentioned the bar maiden so…”
“I’ve had the equivalent of many bar maidens in my bed.”
He looked at the ocean again and stared out into the darkness.
“Have you had dinner—”
“Is he always with you?”
“Who?” I asked, even though I knew exactly who he was referring to.
“The god of the underworld.” He looked out at the sea again, like the question was casual, when conversations about gods were never casual.
“No, he’s not always with me.” He wasn’t with me now…at least that I could discern.
“What is that relationship like?”
“Why are you asking these questions?”
He turned to look at me head on. “Because the god of the underworld has granted you abilities that make you a powerful adversary, and I just want to know what that’s like.
Do you speak often? Do you make plans together?
Do you know why he’s invested in the downfall of the Barbarians?
It’s just hard to understand why a god would care about the affairs of mortals. ”
“He didn’t tell me, and I doubt he ever will.”
“And you think it’s wise to accept his gifts when you don’t know his agenda?” he asked, his eyes studying mine, dissecting every reaction. “To sign on the dotted line when you haven’t read the contract? That’s not like you, Lily.”
I could never tell him the truth, no matter how close we became, even if he promised to take it to the grave.
It was too big a secret for him to carry on his shoulders.
He would never understand. He would assume Wrath was somehow tricking me into freely giving my soul.
“Dad may never wake up again, and our kingdom could fall to an army of savages who would eat the meat off our bones. Perhaps it was foolish to accept the arrangement and agree to be his champion in this war, but in my desperation, I didn’t see another option. ”
He continued to stare at me, continued to puncture the flesh of my cheeks with the tips of his visual knives.
He silently pressed me for more, twisted and squeezed like I was a damp cloth that needed to be wrung out.
“I know we’ve never been that close. I assumed it was because of our age difference, but now I know I’ve always looked up to you and resented you at the same time.
Wanted to surpass you in whatever way I could so I could steal Father’s attention.
I realize now how misguided I was. I feel like we’ve turned over a new leaf now that we’re on this journey together.
And I want you to know that you can tell me anything, Lily. ”
A warning shot went through my heart at his words because they practically fell out of the sky without warning. Seemed so out of character, like he was actually digging a shovel into my flesh instead of offering me something freely. “I’ll keep that in mind.”
When I walked into my room at the inn, he was seated in the armchair by the fireplace. The windows were open, so the sea breeze wafted through with a cool touch. Like he lived there, he was already prepared for bed, sitting in only his shorts, a monster of a man just waiting for me in the dark.
I’d always been logical to a fault, analyzing the facts of situations rather than feeling the emotions associated with them.
So it made no sense that I continued this dead-end relationship with no hope in sight.
That I let myself fall further and further into the grave I’d dug for myself.
But when I looked at him…my heart was lost.
Utterly fucking lost.
I kicked off my boots and dropped the rest of my clothes before I moved to the armchair and straddled his hips. I let my body slide into his, let my tits press into his chest as my arm circled his neck.
His big hands slid over my ass before they gave my cheeks a hard squeeze, squeezing me the way every woman wanted to be squeezed by a man like this. One hand moved into my hair and pulled it back from my face as he took a hard look at me. “You’re sad or stressed. I’m not sure which.”
“Something my brother said.”
His hands stiffened noticeably in my hair before he brushed the strands from my face. “And what did he say?” he asked in his deep voice.
“Nothing specific. Just seems like… I don’t know.”
“Seems like what, Xivin?”
“Like…” I wasn’t entirely sure. “Like he suspects us or something.”
He continued to watch me.
“But I don’t know how he’d possibly arrive at that conclusion.”
He held his silence.
“I’ve never said anything to make him believe that, so perhaps I’m just misinterpreting his curiosity.”
“Would you ever tell him?”
“No.” He would never understand. No one would. “This is just for us.” I pulled myself in close then rested my forehead against his, feeling his warm skin like he was real, feeling his chest draw breath like my touch made him weak, the way his made me strong.
“Tonight is our last night together for a while.”
“Why?” I asked.
“Because you’ll be on a ship with other sailors, without a moment to yourself. In a bunk far too small for someone like me.”
“Does that mean you won’t be there at all?”
“No, I’ll always be there when you need me.” He lifted himself effortlessly from the chair, carrying my weight like I was a pillow rather than a muscular woman who could crack walnuts between her powerful thighs.
He carried me to bed and laid me down, his body moving over mine like every other night.
“We don’t have to do it this way every time.” My hands palmed his chest as I felt him smother me with his manliness. He rarely took me from behind, didn’t throw me around or smack my ass. Didn’t let me be on top or do things for him that other men couldn’t possibly say no to.
“Is there another position you prefer?” he asked as he started to bend me into place.
“I just feel like you’re always doing all the work.”
“I like doing all the work,” he said as he prepared to enter me. He guided himself inside me and sank, a slow and slick descent, making my breath come out as a quiet gasp like I’d never taken him before, like this was our first night together. “It’s an honor to make love to you, Xivin.”
I don’t like this. Zehemoth stood before me on the beach, his head bowed so our eyes were somewhat level.
“It’ll be fine.”
I will not let my sister and queen sail unprotected with pirates. Little plumes of smoke came out of his nostrils like the fire in his belly was starting to burn white-hot.
“I’m not your queen, Zehemoth.”
I serve whom I wish—and you are the queen of my heart, my kin, and my kingdom. It’s unwise to take this voyage without us to protect you.
“I won’t risk you two, Zehemoth.”
And we won’t risk you, Sunieth. Another plume of smoke arose.
Hawk watched our interaction in silence. “I can guess how this is going.”
“Hawk will be with me. And you know I’m an expert sailor—”
The sea almost claimed your life the way it claimed the rest of your crew. You have the protection of two fiery dragons, and it’s foolish not to use them. You do this to earn allies for the Southern Isles. Well, we’re part of the Southern Isles. Let us help aid you.
I turned to look at Hawk. “He’s being stubborn.”
“I can tell by the smoke.”
I turned back to Zehemoth. “I want to earn the loyalty of the pirates on my own—”
We’re loyal to those who are loyal to you. That is a powerful bargaining chip that you’re refusing to use.
“I can’t risk either of you being attacked by cannon fire. I can’t risk your lives for a war that’s not our own.”
You can’t command us to remain behind.
“You just said I was your queen. So yes, I can command you to do exactly what I want.”
This time, the plume of smoke was a cloud so thick, it momentarily hid Zehemoth from view.
“And I command you both to stay behind until the battle is won.”
Groooooowwwwlllll.
Hawk released a sigh. “A pissed-off dragon…that’s great news.”
The only way I’ll let you sail off alone with strangers is if we’re fused—and I can hear your call for aid wherever you are in the world.
My heart dropped into my stomach.
“What is he saying now?” Hawk asked.
“Um…wants me to fuse.”
“That’s probably something we should do anyway,” he said.
“But Father wanted us to wait.”
“Our circumstances have changed, Lily.”
I stared at Zehemoth, unsure what to do now that I was cornered by the request. I didn’t have a good reason to refuse the offer, not when we were at war, not when I needed all the protection I could receive.
“How about you trail behind us from a safe distance? If I need your help, you’ll be able to intervene. ”
Hawk side-eyed me.
The smoke immediately cleared from his nostrils, and he raised his head slightly. I agree to your terms, Sunieth. So relieved to be able to accompany us, he didn’t question why I rejected his offer to fuse our minds and souls.
“Alright, we depart in an hour,” I said. “I want you at least half an hour behind us. Take breaks at spots on the way and catch up later. Make sure you rest and feed to keep up your strength.”
Be careful, Sunieth. If something goes amiss on your journey, Movack and I will destroy that fleet with our fire and our talons. They’ll regret the day they challenged Queen Lily Rothschild of the Southern Isles.
We boarded the galleon with our bag of supplies and set sail.
Jack was the captain of our ship, a change of pace for him, and issued orders to the sailors.
We had a full crew, so Hawk and I didn’t need to help, which was disappointing because I wanted to prove to these men that I could sail better than any of them.
“How long is the journey?” I asked when I stood beside Jack at the wheel.
“Depends on where we find ’em.” He spoke with a lit pipe in his mouth, directing the galleon away from the island with the fleet of a dozen ships behind him. “Hardest part of the journey.”
Hawk addressed me. “We could have Zehemoth and Movack scout ahead.”
“True,” I said.
“So you did bring your pets?” he asked as he gripped a spoke on the wheel and kept the rudder steady.
I turned back to Jack, my eyes narrowed at the offense he provoked. “Call them that again, and I’ll be the captain of this ship and you’ll be the one overboard.”
He smirked with his pipe in his lips like he wasn’t the least bit intimidated by me, but there was a hardness in his eyes that suggested he took my message seriously. “My apologies, Your Majesty.”
“Question my abilities and mock my stature all you want, but never insult my dragons,” I said. “I asked them to stay behind, but they refused. So they’re keeping their distance, ready to come to our aid if the battle proves to be a greater challenge than we expect.”
“Sounds like they’re as loyal to you as you are to them,” Jack said.
“Truer words have never been spoken,” Hawk said before he approached the bow of the ship to watch the island fade behind us.
I stood at Jack’s side and felt the sea breeze in my hair, smelled the familiar twinge of salt on the nose.
Reminded me of the last time I sailed, when I was surrounded by a crew that felt like family.
I hoped Jack and the others didn’t end up at the bottom of the ocean too.
“What reason did they have for attacking Skull Island?”
“Coin, women, greed. Just to be assholes,” he said.
“They’re a different kind of pirate. Don’t live by a code.
Will promise not to cross you as they slip a blade between your ribs.
We conduct ourselves with a certain…morality.
They possess no such thing. And when they came to Skull Island, they killed a lot of good people…
good pirates. We know they’ll come back at some point. ”
I continued to stare at the sea ahead.
“They take young women from their homes and sell them at the next port. And then they take women from that port and sell them at the next stop. Made a fortune off the business. A bunch of sleazebags.”
The Brigandine Empire had outlawed the practice long ago, when my father reclaimed the Southern Isles in his name. His laws had lasted decades, and even though it would be hard for my father to discover foul play, people feared him enough not to cross him.
“If you needed fuel for a personal vendetta. They conduct their business outside your territory, but it’s still a shitty practice.”
“You don’t strike me as the kind of man to care about such a thing.”
He turned the spoke slightly and grabbed on to the next, his hat remaining on his head despite the gust of sea air that filled the sails above.
His eyes eventually came back to me. “And you don’t strike me as the kind of woman to make assumptions about strangers.
Prostitution is no different from any other line of business, but I want the service to be provided willingly, not under duress.
More fun that way, at least in my opinion. ”
I knew most men paid for sex. Hawk never mentioned it to me, but I was certain he’d done it many times.
The only man I knew who didn’t was my father, because his commitment to my mother was obvious in everything he did.
It made me wonder if Wrath had ever done something like that. Not that it would matter.
“Bring back old memories?”
I turned back to him, eyes narrowing in confusion.
“Of your crew.”
“Oh, yes. But they’re on my mind often anyway.”
“Have you visited the Abyss?”
I continued to stare at him, unsure what he meant. “No.”
“It’s an island permanently shrouded in mist. When you draw close, you can hear voices. And once you pierce the veil, old galleons are littered everywhere. We believe it’s where pirates go when they die at sea.”
“Sounds like an old wives’ tale.”
“Something can be an old wives’ tale and still be true.”
“Have you been there in the flesh?”
“I have.”
“And you really believe it’s haunted and not just the recipient of unfortunate weather?”
He gave a quiet chuckle as he focused on our path across the sea.
“For a necromancer, you’re awfully dismissive of magic.
Legends say that the ability to raise the dead only comes from one place—the god of the underworld.
You believe in him, in the Realm of Caelum, but you don’t believe there’s a destination for those who don’t belong in either place? ”
My eyes remained locked on his as the truth of his words hit me like a cold splash of water that came over the starboard.
“Hmm, what a pity…”