Chapter 2
Iweave through the streets of Sarenia, my footsteps light as I glance over my shoulder, searching the shadows in my wake, but no guards follow.
I tilt my head to the sky, letting my hood fall. Judging by the height of the sun, I have about an hour before high tide. Any longer, and I risk the pirates raising their anchors and leaving shore for several more weeks.
The streets bustle, bodies packed tight across the wide avenue. I skirt around a vendor tucked beneath a canvas tent. Overhead, a woman leans out the window of a worn brick building, hanging wet laundry on a line sagging over the alley.
I dip off the main street, onto the deserted path, and make my way to the docks.
The sun blinds me as I emerge from the alley. Salt air sprays over my skin, brine clinging to the ends of my hair, waves crashing in the distance.
My footsteps slow, and I sigh.
The ocean.
I close my eyes and tune out the world. My thoughts wander, and I’m aboard The Twelfth Night, the breeze teasing my hair, mist caressing my face. Waves crest, whitecaps lapping against the hull. My crew, raising the sails. Thea clinging to the mast, her smile a crescent moon.
Even after a decade, the phantom feeling of a deck swaying beneath my feet is more comfortable than the stillness of land.
A seagull screams, and I open my eyes, where there is no ship. No crew. Where the deck beneath my feet, the sea at my fingertips, and the power coursing through my veins is nothing but a faint memory.
Clouds roll in from the mountains and billow overhead, shadowing the sea-battered homes.
“Fuck,” I murmur.
Caelus released his hold on the weather.
There’s a brief intermission between the ball and dinner, but if I’m back too late, Thea will run out of excuses for my whereabouts.
Oil lanterns flicker to life, and the clouds darken, promising a storm. I throw the hood back over my head and break into a run, my feet splashing through shallow puddles.
I clear the last row of homes, and masts soar into the sky, teetering with the waves. Crews bustle around the ships, hurrying barrels and crates into hulls before the storm hits.
I lower my gaze from the well-kept ships of the Sky Court and follow the dock to the end, where the vessels fly flags with a skull.
Pirates were banned when Sarenia belonged to the Earth Court, but now Caelus employs them, paying a price worth trading their dignity for. They sail the seas, capturing enemies that outrun Caelus’s aerial armada.
But I’ve met enough pirates to know they can be bribed.
I step in front of a man and slap a hand on the keg he’s rolling toward the gangplank. “I’m looking for Cassio.”
He pauses, raking his eyes over me. “And who should I say is asking for him?”
“Irene.”
“Irene,” he repeats, tasting the name one letter at a time.
“I don’t have all day.”
“A shame you aren’t looking for me.” A smile. “I’ve always liked the ones with sharp tongues.”
My nostrils flare, and I narrow my eyes, leveling him with a glare. “If you don’t stop talking, you’ll be missing yours.”
I slide my dagger out, far enough for the sinking sun to reflect off the polished metal. His smile falters, and he mutters a curse under his breath before disappearing up to the deck.
Ships groan against their ropes, and seagulls argue overhead, fighting over scraps one managed to pluck from the docks.
I toe the gangplank.
The first few weeks of the curse were tempting. Bottle of wine in hand, I’d sit on these docks, legs swinging over the edge, and stare at the ships, debating whether to end the agony of being landlocked.
All it would take is a step aboard a ship. A dive into the water. In a blink, I would die.
But when I found Thea working as a courtesan, the thought never crossed my mind again. I’d watch the world end before I leave her.
She must have disobeyed my orders and left the ship, running into the castle the night I was cursed.
That’s the only reasoning I can come up with as to why she’s here and the rest of my crew isn’t.
If only I had asked them to follow me—like they wanted to—then I wouldn’t be searching for them, hoping they’re still alive.
“Irene.”
Cassio appears on the deck, hands clasped behind his back as the sun glints off the sword strapped low around his waist and the silver rings embellishing his fingers.
A pang shoots through my chest at the leathery tan of his skin. I have since paled without the relentless sun beating down on me, my freckles washed away like sand.
He smiles and leans an elbow on the rail. “To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“You know exactly why I’m here.”
I cross my arms, and he stares at my pocket, narrowing his eyes. He drags his tongue across gold-capped teeth. “Always one for secrets, aren’t you?”
“And the one with your payment.”
He scoffs and glances over his shoulder. “Bring them up!”
I stiffen, holding my breath as a crew member leads a line of women out from below deck.
Four this time.
My heart pounds, hope twisting into the space between my ribs. Two more than last month.
Shapeless, threadbare dresses hang from their bodies, and canvas bags cover their heads, their wrists bound behind their backs.
I fist the fabric of my cloak. “They aren’t your prisoners.”
“Aye,” Cassio says, “but I had to take precautions when they started fighting back. A shame, since their faces were so nice to look at.”
He runs a finger over the shoulder of the one closest to him. She jerks back, muttering something indecipherable. I hold my breath and inch forward. That’s something one of my crew members would do. They’d fight back.
“Remove the bags,” I say, voice hardly more than a whisper.
Cassio turns to the pirate and nods. My pulse rattles in my ears, jaw clenched so tight it aches. In quick succession, he removes the sacks from their heads.
My stomach sinks.
I don’t recognize them.
The pirate wraps his hand around the arm of the first and steps toward the gangplank, but Cassio blocks the path.
“I’ll be collecting payment first.”
I root my feet to the spot, firmly away from the gangplank. “Then come get it.”
He cants his head, tilting the wide brim of his hat away from his face. “You’re brave enough to steal fine jewelry and do business with pirates, yet too scared to step aboard my ship?”
I glance down at my nails. “Why would I want to step onto your poor excuse of a ship?”
“Careful, lass.”
“If you’d rather me take my business elsewhere, I can find another pirate to work with.”
The women shoot me a glare, and I can’t blame them. I can only imagine where Cassio rescued them from—the treatment they received in one of Caelus’s prisons.
Cassio stares at me, assessing.
I shrug and turn on my heel.
One step.
Two.
“Wait!”
I pause, smirking as Cassio steps onto the dock, each heavy footfall shaking the wood. I blindly reach into my pocket and grab a handful of jewels on the top, avoiding the valuable ones carefully arranged at the bottom.
“A little too desperate for my business now, aren’t you, Cassio?”
I shove the jewelry against his chest and smirk at the way he scrambles, catching them before they drop through the slats.
Facing away from the royal ships, he sorts through each piece of jewelry and drops them into a velvet pouch. “This isn’t enough.” He pulls the drawstrings. “There’s a bounty hunter out here searching ships, and I have some people I need to pay off to avoid her.”
I shake my head. “Not my problem. This is all you’re getting.”
“Then you’re only getting half the women.”
I yank him by the collar of his shirt. His eyes shoot wide, and I lower my voice to a snarl. “I wonder what would happen if Caelus found an employed pirate exchanging prisoners for stolen jewels?”
He swallows. “You wouldn’t dare.”
Goosebumps spread down his neck, and I tilt my lips into a wicked grin, tightening my grip. “Prison? Torture? Perhaps he’d freeze your body inch by inch, until you’re begging him to kill you.”
He rips himself free and shoots a wary glance to the ships docked beside us. “You’re a peach to work with, you know that?”
“I make you rich.”
Ignoring my words, he ties the pouch to his belt. “Bring them down.”
The pirate leads the first down, and the rest follow, their feet unsteady, eyes scanning the docks.
I nod at their wrists. “The rope.”
Cassio pulls a pocketknife from his belt and shears away the rope. It drops to the deck, slides through the cracks, and the women rub at their raw wrists, their shoulders trembling.
“I’ll see you in a few weeks,” Cassio says, sauntering back to his ship.
I wait until he’s out of sight then turn to the group of women. “Follow me. Don’t walk too close, and don’t speak. Don’t attract any attention. Understood?”
Despite her untrusting eyes, the one closest to me nods, and the others follow her lead.
The bottom swell of the sun touches the horizon, clouds chasing after it, and the ships around us raise their anchors, eager to outrace the storm. I tug the edges of my cloak closer together and retrace my path away from the docks.
Weaving between buildings and alleys, I take a complicated route toward the safe house, doubling back on myself just in case. Only when I’m a block away, do I glance over my shoulder and check on the others. From various distances, the four women stare back at me.
Ice spreads beneath my skin.
There’s a fifth.