Chapter 7 Caspia
Seven
Caspia
The sea breeze tangled my hair into knots and flipped an errant curl into my eyes. My hands gripped the ship’s wall, my nails digging crescents into the wood as I fought the temptation to turn away from the bow and look over my shoulder to Showe.
Dawn’s chill was fading as the sun lifted higher and higher above the Marixmore.
My stomach was as knotted as my hair, my insides churning, not from the constant rocking of the ship on gentle waves but from the great unknown stretched across the sea. There was nothing but endless waters and clear skies.
But something was out there beyond all that blue. Something calling me closer.
The tug in my chest felt stronger. Steadier. Like every beat of my heart was a reminder that I was traveling in the right direction. It was exactly how Emery and Saskia had described the lure of the ritus.
Divine, give me strength to endure the journey ahead.
I might not be seasick, but I was already homesick. By now, Xandra would have already barged into my room, clapping twice to rouse me from bed. Had she alerted Aunt Oleana that I was gone? Had she delivered my letters? Had she read her own?
Were we still in view of the city? If I turned, could I still see Nelfinex? My nails dug in deeper, to the point of pain, refusing to let me turn.
We’d sailed through the moon, and I’d stayed rooted to this very spot, staring into the darkness. Even when Cap had offered to show me my quarters belowdecks, I hadn’t wanted to move.
He’d promised my room had a lovely view out of the back of the ship. But I didn’t want to watch my home disappear, so I’d stayed here instead, eyes aimed forward.
“Cap!” a man shouted. “Got a problem.”
A commotion stirred behind me, bootsteps thudding on the wooden boards as the sound of a struggle came from the main deck.
The sound of the woman’s yelp made me stand taller.
I was supposed to be the only woman on this ship. Before I’d hired Cap for this voyage, he’d made it a point to inform me that his crew was entirely male.
It hadn’t been a warning, simply a statement. He’d assured me I would be safe, that these men would be respectful. I’d caught enough wary glances when I walked onto the ship that I was certain this crew had a healthy fear of the Starling.
Even a Quiescent.
“Let me go,” the woman ordered.
No. My heart stopped. She wouldn’t dare.
Except she would. I knew that voice as well as I knew my own.
I released the ship’s wall and turned toward the scuffle.
Two men dragged Xandra across the deck.
She was dressed in black pants and a matching vest belted at the waist. A dark cloak hung loose over her arms and shoulders.
Apparently, we’d both donned the same attire to sneak out of the palace.
“What’s this?” Cap asked, coming down from the quarterdeck, where he’d been at the helm.
“A stowaway, Cap.” One of the men gripping Xandra’s arm sneered.
She could break out of that hold and have him on his back before he could blink, but she was playing nicely.
Cap’s eyes narrowed as he came to a stop in front of my cousin. He crossed his arms over his bare chest, biceps flexing.
Most of the men on the ship had stripped off their shirts this morning, though none were as brawny and built as Cap. He stood at least three inches above the rest, his body honed from the physical exertion it took to run this ship.
“Stowaways are thrown overboard,” he told her. “Unless they can pay for passage.”
Xandra’s gaze swept up and down his body, and the sly smile that stretched across her mouth made me huff a dry laugh.
Cap had every right to toss her into the ocean depths. He looked like he might be tempted, too. But was she frightened? No. Not Xandra. She looked at him and saw her next lover.
“Then I guess I’ll have to pay.” She gave both of the men still caging her between them a pointed stare.
After a nod from Cap, they released their holds.
She flipped back the fabric of her cloak, revealing the elfalter bands wrapped around her biceps. “How many?”
Cap grinned. “All of them.”
“Half,” she countered.
He took a step closer, bending until his nose nearly brushed hers. “All. Quiescent.”
“Say please.” She snapped her teeth like she was about to bite his mouth.
Cap laughed, his blue eyes locked on hers. “I say we throw her overboard.”
The men clustered around them gave grunts of agreement.
Xandra’s smile only widened as she stripped off her bands, placing them one by one into his wide palms. “All of them it is.”
“Welcome aboard the Cirrina. Your name?”
“Do you really need it?”
“No.” He winked at her, then jerked his chin for the men to get back to work while he returned to the wheel.
Xandra stared at Cap’s retreating form, her gaze locked on his muscled ass, before she smiled and sauntered my way.
I pitied the man already.
By the time we reached wherever it was we were going, she’d have crawled under his skin and into his bed. She’d probably leave here with all of her elfalter bands and his heart in her pocket.
“I should order him to turn this ship around.” I crossed my arms as she ascended the stairs. “You could at least have the decency to appear guilty.”
She walked straight into my space and wrapped me in a hug. “Guilty for what?”
“You’re impossible.” I sighed and hugged her closer.
When we finally let each other go, we went to the bow, turning our backs to the crew to talk quietly. My fingertips skimmed the wooden wall, finding the crescent grooves I’d gouged with my nails.
“You should not be here, Xandra.”
“Neither should you, Caspia.”
“This is my ritus.”
“What if it’s my time, too?”
I stared out at the ocean ahead, feeling that tug in my chest. For her sake, I hoped she felt the same call. “Is it?”
“No,” she whispered. “Not yet. Maybe not ever.”
“I’m sorry.”
She shrugged. “I’ve made peace with it. If the gift has not graced my blood, then at least I’ll take this journey with you to wherever you must go. This is more than your ritus, isn’t it? You’re going because of the vision. To seek vengeance for Emery.”
“Yes.” I was too exhausted from a sleepless moon to pretend otherwise.
“Then this silver-eyed man will face us both.” She took my hand, clasping it between hers.
The ritus was a journey each Starling took alone. Having her along wasn’t at all customary. Aunt Oleana would insist that Xandra return to Nelfinex.
But maybe our customs needed to be broken. Maybe the Divine knew we’d be stronger together.
“Do you know where we’re going?” she asked.
“No, but I feel it.”
“So that pirate will just sail at your command?” She twisted to look over her shoulder and grinned. “I wouldn’t mind giving him a few orders myself. He is…wow. Do you want me to stay out of his bed?”
I laughed, something I hadn’t thought possible this morning. “Better you sleep in his bed than crowd me in mine.”
Xandra leaned in and kissed my cheek. “This is why you’re my favorite cousin.”
I closed my eyes, resting my head against her shoulder. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Me, too.”
Our quiet moment together was interrupted by a shout from one of the crewmen.
“Marroweels. Starboard side. Two of them.”
The crew burst into action, unhooking harpoons and spears from where they’d been mounted on the walls.
Xandra and I shared an eye roll before she walked to the starboard side of the ship to lean over the wall, her arm extended toward the water.
I went to the port side, taking up a similar stance.
Waves beat against the ship’s hull. The spray tickled my palm. And then sapphire scales tipped in turquoise broke from the water’s surface.
The marroweel rolled along the ship, its spine dipping in and out of the water. An iridescent white fin glimmered as it caught the morning sunlight.
The creature swirled, diving deep before it surged up from the depths, crashing through the surface with the bone that extended from its skull.
It was a female, sleek and refined compared to her male companion.
She touched my outstretched hand with her nose before diving back into the water.
Then she surfaced again, once more seeking the stroke of my palm.
My cousin’s laugh sounded across the deck as the male marroweel on the other side of the ship came up for a playful nudge against Xandra’s hand.
“Starling,” one of the men whispered from over my shoulder.
Not Starling. Not yet. But Starling blood filled our veins. And after the ritus, that blood would let us take on the shape of any creature in the world, including this beautiful ocean beast.
The sailors were smart to fear the marroweels and their five rows of razor-sharp teeth. But their weapons wouldn’t be necessary, not with Xandra and me aboard this ship.
The Divine had bonded our bloodline to the creatures of this world. I’d never once feared an animal, no matter how dangerous they might be.
The marroweel returned again, her scales rippling as she rolled them against my hand.
“Swim free, beauty,” I murmured as she dropped below the waves, not to surface again. Then I turned from the wall, shaking the water from my hand, the droplets landing on the deck.
The crew, all armed and ready for battle, stared at Xandra and me with slackened jaws and stunned expressions.
Cap stood behind them, his gaze locked on Xandra. A coy smile played on his lips.
They were going to be insufferable, weren’t they? Divine willing, my quarters did not share a wall with his.
He let out a short whistle. “Back to work.”
The men obeyed, and as they stowed their weapons, I returned to the bow, closing my eyes and letting the sun warm my face.
“Do you think Emery turned into a marroweel to swim alongside Max’s ship?” Xandra asked.
“No.” I smiled. “She loves to fly too much.”