Chapter 9
“I
’m not going to break,” Azahara’s voice was firm, “I will get it out of you.” Her eyes were piercing, never flinching, as she stared into the deep sea of Xol’s blue gaze. There was no reaction from the pale lady; even more, she looked bored.
Azahara took a step closer, her head tilting, maintaining unyielding eye contact. “I’m begging you, please.” All she wanted was for this mysterious creature to speak to her. Alyse hadn’t indicated that she was also mute, and while she had never heard her talk to anyone, she knew that she could.
“I’ll jump from this ship,” at this point, it was her go-to threat. It was evident that Xol had this strange defensive nature towards her, the same as Jayce, which made no sense. She was right in her direction because Xol’s eye twitched slightly.
They, Xol and Jayce, had such a strange energy between them, and she was dying to know why. It was where her question had come from.
After Jayce had shared the basket of strawberries with her, he left without a fuss to stay, and who stood immediately outside: Xol.
He nearly ran into her at how close she was to the door, and at first, he was just going to move around her, but she didn’t allow him to.
As if through unspoken words, she scolded him.
Her eyes were like a sharpened knife slicing through a peach.
There was no effort needed to show her malice.
Azahara ended up stepping between the two of them before things got ugly. Even though Jayce hadn’t indicated he’d be hitting the woman, she feared that if she did, he would retaliate.
“I’ll do anything!” That was a lie, but Azahara was willing to push her limits to get what she wanted.
“She won’t answer you,” his voice nearly made her jump out of her skin.
Not that it was needed, but Xol put her hands on her arms to steady her. She was cold, as though no blood flowed through her veins. Never taking her eyes from Azahara, she stepped between her, and the sauntering Jayce.
His arms were crossed over his chest, and he was shaking his head, “You could have asked me.”
Embarrassed, Azahara dropped her gaze, looking at nothing in particular to avoid making eye contact with both him and Xol.
Feeling Xol jerk, she peeked through her lashes to see that she was once again piercing Jayce with the stare of death. Dear gods, why is that so terrifying?
“Chill, she’s just blushing,” Jayce said, seemingly trying to calm the aggravated Xol gripping her arms. “You can let her go. I’m not going to harm her.”
“I can’t express to you both how awkward you two are, and how uncomfortable it makes me.
” Azahara laughed nervously and immediately stepped away as Xol released her arms. “You both act like an ex-married couple—” Jayce immediately bellowed out a laugh, and Xol’s eyes widened enough to nearly send her eyeballs shooting out.
“I feel like the child you guys are fighting for custody over.”
Xol was visibly distraught, her back pressing against the stack of boxes she was bringing up from the lower deck just minutes before Azahara cornered her. She was shaking her head vigorously, swapping between looking at Jayce and her.
Jayce had his arms crossed over his chest, expressing a hearty laugh. His joy at her joke was infectious, making a bright smile line her lips.
“What is so funny?” It was Alyse, along with Théodore, who approached them.
“These two are my parents, fighting over who gets to keep me the longest.” Azahara gestured between them, and while Xol didn’t change colors, if she could, she’d have been blushing from the furtherment of the joke.
She didn’t need to confirm with Xol that she wouldn’t touch Jayce with a yard-long stick, even if it were to have peace and quiet with Azahara.
Both Alyse and Théodore laughed alongside Jayce. Azahara stayed neutral, at least attempting to. She didn’t want to make Xol feel bad. She wasn’t there to attack her. They were both guilty of being weird around her, which built a mystery around the duo.
After their fits of laughter, Théodore took her hand and placed a kiss on her knuckles. “Afternoon, Miss Starfall.”
She smiled, “Good afternoon, Théodore.” He was old school, and she had already attempted to ask him to call her Azahara or at least Aza. When he insisted on being formal, she didn’t argue.
Peeking at Xol, Azahara confirmed she was not upset at Théodore’s attention towards her. Which just furthered her curiosity about what Jayce had done to deserve such fierce hate.
Jayce, who was eyeing her over Théodore’s shoulder, seemed to be waiting his turn.
“Will you be joining us, Aza?” Alyse stepped up next, leaving Jayce in the background, “For the celebration tonight?”
“Celebration?” Confusion rocked her tone.
“Yes, a celebration for surviving the first rough seas of the Ilkiz territory!” There was no such thing, but Azahara wasn’t here to argue with her. “We will have drinks and music on deck.”
Azahara smiled warily, “I’ll think about it.” She didn’t want to be antisocial, not at this point. They’d been together for twelve days straight and had already been through a life-and-death scenario. It was just that drinking and music felt like a bad idea.
“I’ll take it,” Alyse perked and turned away, “Théodore, Xol, we have work to do. Jayce—” He never looked at the Captain, only keeping his eyes on Azahara. Her cheeks burned at the intensity of it. “You promised to help with the—”
“The barrels of ale, I know. I’ll get them when you call for me.”
“Perf!” Alyse said eagerly.
With that, the three of them departed. Allowing Jayce to finally step to her and put his hand out towards her.
“Uh?” Unsure of what he wanted, she looked from his hand up to his face.
“Théodore can kiss your hand, but I can’t?” His smirk was devastating, and she rolled her eyes and threw her head back.
He didn’t budge, and she slapped her hand into his. “Afternoon, Ja—yce!” With a forceful tug, he pulled her to him, one of his arms wrapping around her back as the other brought her hand to his lips.
Her face was on fire, and a droplet of sweat immediately formed on her forehead and began rolling down her temple.
“Good afternoon, Aza,” his voice was low, “how did you sleep?”
“F-Fine.” She stuttered.
“No nightmares?”
That night, in fact, she didn’t have any and felt truly grateful for that.
Not only that, but no one had commented on her screams the night before.
It was as if nothing had happened, and she wasn’t some freak with reoccurring nightmares plaguing them.
The memory of returning from Howl and keeping everyone awake with her incessant screaming kept resurfacing whenever she’d get ready for bed.
The last thing she wanted was to be a burden, more so than she already was.
“No dreams,” she confirmed.
“I’m glad.” He placed another kiss on her knuckles before releasing her, allowing her to breathe. “Have a moment to chat before I get to work?”
With a gentle nod, she found a sturdy box and jumped up to take a seat.
A desired breeze caught her hair. The cloudless sky gave no reprieve from the scorching sun.
It was such a stark contrast to her typically chilly years, attributing to her pale tone, unlike Jayce, who was blessed with remarkably tanned skin that only accentuated his sharp appearance.
She was a ghost, while he walked amongst the living.
Crossing one leg over the other, she adjusted her flowing blue dress and rested her hands beside herself.
Jayce made himself comfortable across from her, leaning against one of the masts. “Can I ask why you want to go to Ilkiz?”
Her lips pressed into a fine line as she stared at him. While they had become much closer, she still had reservations about giving up specific details about herself that may be conveyed to the King and Jaakobai.
Before she could respond, he continued, “I know promising not to tell the King won’t do anything to soothe your worry, so how about I offer something equally as valuable.”
Azahara narrowed her eyes, “Okay.”
“The King believes that you are going to Ilkiz because of the Book of Aurora.”
A quizzical expression marred her face, “The Book of Aurora?” She repeated, and he nodded, “Why the hell would I be looking for that? I didn’t even realize it was located in Ilkiz. Honestly, I thought it was destroyed during the Conquering of Parádeisos.”
He sighed, “It was suggested by Jaakobai that it was why you were going to Ilkiz. Nothing more than that.”
“Of course,” she put her hands together in her lap, her thumb rubbing against the top of her hand. “He is throwing your King off, which I’m not sure I should be thankful for, or worried about.”
“Do me a favor?” He paused briefly, “Try not to call him my King. He is just the King.”
“Sorry,” she said sheepishly.
“It’s fine,” that irresistible smile returning to his lips, “so, why are you going to Ilkiz?”
Azahara wanted to say she honestly didn’t know. It wasn’t her intention to gather the Four Points of Rah’s Star, but Power felt like the only thing that could help her contain the existing force inside her. The one that killed thousands in seconds and nearly started a war with the gods.
Jayce didn’t pressure her. He just stood there waiting while she gathered how to answer his question.
“Have you heard of the Four Points of Rah’s Star?”
“Vaguely,” he murmured, “they also brought up Rah during the conversation. That you had half the power he did during the Reshaping.”
That piece of shit, Jaakobai. What I wouldn’t give to rip his wings right off his back.
She moved her hand to her neck and rubbed at the knot forming.
Maybe Jaakobai wasn’t trying to throw them off.
It’s possible he honestly thought she was going after the book of Aurora. Was that how she would get Power?