36. Zai #2
Kestrel eyed the swaying frame of the larger man beside him. “Flint, my furious fellow…” he hickuped. “I think you’ve had a little too much to drink.”
“Yeah?” Flint’s words slurred at the edges. “Wouldn’t you be crackin’ drunk too, if you’d melted someone’s skin to make ‘em spill their secrets?”
I frowned. What was this? Regrets about the torture?
His unfocused gaze swung between Kestrel and me, something raw simmering beneath.
“Well, I’m Flint the Furious, ain’t I? But here’s a lil’ secret.
” He leaned in, breath reeking of cheap ale.
“I blazin’ hate torturing people.” A bitter laugh escaped his throat.
“Maybe I ain’t as furious as that crackin’ song of yours suggests. ”
Kestrel patted his arm. “No one is ever anything like the songs suggest. Although, considering how you became outlawed after a killing spree on the sun guards, I’d say your song is more accurate than most.”
Flint’s gaze settled on something distant. “Yeah, but I only did that ‘cause they killed my brother. They’d caught the scorchin’ fool stealing. And d’you think they offered him a trial?”
Kestrel huffed a bitter laugh. “Of course they didn’t.”
“Sure as the abyss.” Flint nodded grimly.
“My ma died bringin’ me brother into this world.
My papa dropped dead when his crackin’ heart gave out.
My brother was all the family I had left.
We minded our own blazin’ business, tried our best to survive.
He just stole some food. That’s all it took for those char-tainted bastards. ”
His voice broke, and he swiped at his glistening eyes with a low rumble. “They killed him right in front of me, and I blazin’ lost it. Killed those guards on the spot. Never regretted it once. Fled into Blightlands, where I met the cap’n. She let me join her crew.”
I’d never heard Flint speak so many words at once, lost in his reminiscing. My stomach knotted. Was this what it was like living in the Sun Kingdom? The one Father claimed had to be ruled by ruthlessness.
“She’s a right good one, Cap’n Tera,” Flint continued, words tumbling out.
“Always been there for her crew. But…” He trailed off, jaw working as he chewed over the words.
“She’s gotten harder over the years. Used to be we only took work helpin’ the poor folks, ye know?
But now we’re takin’ on just ‘bout anythin’.
Stealin’, kidnappin’, fights like that one with them moon guards. All for good coin, ‘course.”
He folded his arms over the table and let his head drop. “Sorry for ramblin’.”
“Not at all.” Kestrel’s voice carried a gentle lilt. “Listening to each other’s ramblings is what friends do. Right Zai?”
I squirmed in my seat, the word friend scraping against something sore inside.
Kestrel patted the larger man’s shoulder. “You’re a good chap, Flint.”
Despite everything, I had to agree.
Flint the nice. Flint the kind.
Then it finally struck me.
A smirk tugged at my mouth as I glanced at Kestrel. “Maybe you should make a new song about Flint the Friendly.”
Kestrel barked a laugh, eyes glittering. “Flint the Friendly! That’s hilarious! You really have your bright moments, don’t you, Zai?”
Warmth spread through me, loosening something thorny inside. A sensation far more satisfying than I cared to acknowledge. Why did it feel so good to make people laugh?
A hiccup shook Flint’s frame as he straightened, swaying in his seat.
“There’s nothin’ friendly ‘bout me. I’m Flint the Furious, and don’t ye forget!
” He waved a warning finger at me. “Sometimes I just miss the good ol’ days.
Even if we survived on scorchin’ crumbs.
But I trust the cap’n knows what she’s doin’.
A true master, that one. Never seen anyone wield as fast and brilliant as her.
” His finger jabbed into my shoulder. “Well, ‘cept you, ‘course.”
I frowned. “I’m nowhere near Tera’s level.”
He snorted. “Right, ‘course not. Yer absolutely terrible.” He aimed another jab at my shoulder, missed completely, and fell off his chair, crashing to the floor.
Kestrel roared with laughter even as he bent to help his grumbling friend up. I grabbed Flint from the other side and hauled him to his feet.
As we guided him to our room, his words echoed through me.
My entire life, I’d been told how weak I was. Father shoved it straight in my face, and Mother silently agreed, spending candlemarks each day training me to better control my powers.
Still… except for Tera, none in the pirate crew could wield all aspects of sun magic. Most specialized in one or two. And I was better than them even in their specialties.
Flint was right. I was better than all of them.
Even Tera. She wielded with the same lethal skill as any master back in Sunrise City and commanded a few tricks I’d never witnessed before. But I was faster and more precise.
Something shifted inside, like a door opening onto a landscape I’d never seen before.
I wasn’t weak. Not by any regular standard.
As royalty, though, I was expected to be exceptional. That was the standard I didn’t live up to. But after years of relentless training, I’d come a long way. Longer than Father gave me credit for. Perhaps he hadn’t seen how much I’d developed.
Or he just didn’t want to see. Maybe he just wanted me to suffer forever for what I’d done to Mother.
But I saw it now, with brilliant clarity.
I wasn’t weak. I might not be as strong as Val—but I was as strong as any master.