Chapter 18
Icould die today.
I swing my legs over the edge of the tower, my leggings snagging on the rough stone as I settle into a seat.
An aurora of shadows spills over Sarenia sprawled out far, far below.
My hair dances in the predawn breeze, and I lean against the parapet, its jagged formation cradling me like missing teeth.
The sea stretches ahead, and the sun waits below the horizon for the perfect moment to show its face.
A thin, silver band separates the sky from the sea, but somewhere out there, the war rages.
Perhaps on the other side of the world. And there, wherever my mother and her army are stationed, the sun could be setting.
This could be my last sunrise, and for them, their last sunset.
Gathering my hair to the side, I tame it into a long braid. It’s been ages since I faced the kraken, and the day still haunts me. Growing up, I was warned not to sail into his waters. We agreed to avoid his swath of the ocean, and in return, he wouldn’t hunt outside of it. An agreeable truce.
Until I broke it.
I should have known better, but the sea serpents swarmed us and I knew they wouldn’t dare enter the kraken’s water. And I—naively—thought we could outrace him.
When the kraken showed his face and bared the rows of hideous teeth, he slammed his tentacles onto my deck and nearly pulled us under. Even my power proved to be useless against him. My crew and I barely made it out alive. With a souvenir.
I’ll never forget his wide, yellow eyes when I swung my sword into his thrashing tentacle, severing it in a single strike. His silent promise for revenge.
The question remains to be answered, though. Will he recognize me? Without my power, will he sense who I am?
I sigh, and the sky seems to exhale a long breath of its own.
Heavy footsteps sound from the staircase.
My heart lurches. I swing my legs over the parapet and onto the solid floor of the tower. Fueled by instinct, my palm flexes against my dagger. Accessible only from a hidden door, no one knows how to reach this part of the tower. Unless they followed me.
Holding my breath, I narrow my eyes as a head of dark brown hair appears, followed by a set of honey eyes.
I pull my blade from its sheath. “How did you find me?”
Her face is set like granite, but her eyes widen for a heartbeat. “Find you? I want to see what could very possibly be my final sunrise.”
My hand falters on my dagger, but I tighten my grip. “There are plenty of other towers to choose from.”
“Yes, but this one has the best view.”
She takes a step closer, and I raise my blade, pointing it at her chest.
“Trust me, love, if I wanted to kill you, you’d never see it coming. And it certainly wouldn’t be as messy as pushing you over the edge of a tower.”
“Then why did you follow me?”
Another step. “Follow you?”
“The entrance to this tower is hidden. No one knows about it.”
She sidesteps the tip of my blade and leans her elbows on a tall crenelation. “Not hidden well enough, apparently. If you’d rather not be in my presence, that’s fine, but I’m not leaving this tower.”
I level her with a stare, but it wanes, softens. We’re here for the same reason, after all. She won’t be the kraken’s target like me, but that doesn’t mean she’ll survive.
“Fine.” I tuck my dagger away and thoughtlessly brush my hand over her pocket, lifting out a gold chain. I fold it into my fist. Everyone else has to pay to be in my presence, so why not her? “You can stay.”
She nods. Shadows dance over her soft cheekbones and over the slope of her jaw. Her lips are parted, relaxed, like in this one place in time, she’s at ease.
I pull my attention from her and flick a small stone over the edge. The sunrises I see from land are tallying up, my body aching for the day I can watch it again from the deck of The Twelfth Night.
Moments pass by with a calm stillness to the air. A comfortable silence.
She tilts her head, and whatever troubles were haunting her have been hidden, tucked behind a second skin. Her mouth curves into a small smile. “When should I expect you to return the chain you stole from my pocket?”
Cold sweeps over my body. I furrow my brows and drop my hand to my side, the necklace tucked in my fist. “What chain?”
She scoffs. “Has no one caught you before?”
Sighing, I shake my head and open my palm. “Only you.”
A gold pendant stares back, etched with a mountain range. Swirling symbols crown the peaks—some sort of foreign or lost language. I thread a finger through the chain and dangle it, the pendant swinging in a light breeze.
She blinks at the necklace, and behind her eyes lies something I can’t quite discern. Amazement? Concern?
“How did you learn how to do that?” she whispers.
Shrugging, I lower my arm and the chain pools into my palm like sand. “People have a tendency to look at everything except what’s right in front of them. I simply take advantage of that.”
I grimace and offer her the necklace. I’m not accustomed to being caught, let alone returning my prizes.
One corner of her mouth tips. “Keep it.”
I shove my hand toward her chest. “I couldn’t.”
She shakes her head. “Its absence will be a reminder to pay attention to what’s in front of me. And it’s a good luck charm.” Pinching the chain between her fingers, she lifts it out of my hand and unclasps it. “Turn around.”
“If you push me over the edge, I’m pulling you down with me.”
A laugh escapes her mouth, and her smile rivals the rays of golden light shooting from the horizon. “Just do it, Briar. You’re no good to me dead.”
I level her with a glare. “Charming.” And yet, despite my years of training warning otherwise, I turn my back to her. “If it’s good luck, I would think you need it more than I do.”
Her hands slide around my neck, knuckles brushing my collarbone as the gold pendant settles in the center of my chest. “I have to disagree. I’d face these trials a hundred times over rather than spending time with the king. To endure him—that’s true courage. Bravery no one should have to bear.”
She secures the clasp, fingertips skimming my nape. A shiver snakes down my spine despite the lukewarm morning.
Then her hands disappear. I pinch the pendant between my fingers and lean against the parapet as the sun makes a dramatic entrance. It paints the skies a hundred watercolor shades of pink and violet, the underbellies of the clouds absorbing the light, swirling with color.
My heart aches at how I used to admire them from my ship.
“What do you do with everything you steal?” she whispers, as if speaking too loud would interrupt the sun.
I drop the pendant to my chest. “Hoard it like a dragon.”
A dimple appears in her cheek, and the sun disguises the blush licking up my neck. I dig the pads of my fingers into the rough stone. “Tell me more about this person you’re looking for.”
She focuses on the sun casting its flames over the glittering sea, and hums. “A truth for a truth?”
The pendant hangs heavy over my heart. I can’t safely tell her any of my secrets. They’re too large, too dangerous, too easy to use against me. And discovering one of my secrets is what tangled me with her in the first place.
I swallow. “You first.”
She inhales a slow, steady breath. “When this war began, the Sky Court took someone very important to me. I’ve spent a decade searching for him, and it’s brought me here.” She glances down at her hands. “I can feel him in the castle walls.”
I study her eyes. Sometimes, but not always, eye color tends to lean toward the court one belongs to.
There are blue ones among the Sea Court, occasionally green—the shade of seaweed.
And I’ve seen hazel eyes from the Earth Court, but they are always muddied with warm brown or copper.
I tilt my head. “What court do you belong to?”
A weak smile. “I said a secret for a secret.”
I tear my eyes off her, to where the world awakes in the city below. A flock of birds sweeps across the sky, and sails appear on the distant horizon. A pang spears my heart.
Kressa shifts. “Well?”
Maybe I can tell her a secret that doesn’t belong to me—one to replace the luck I’m wearing around my neck. I don’t want to help her win the competition, but if she dies, so does the freedom of the person she’s searching for.
Over my shoulder, the stairwell is empty. I lower my voice. “Have you ever heard of the kraken?”
She stiffens, fingers pausing on the stone. “Yes.”
“This afternoon you’ll meet him.”
Her gaze swings to me. “How do you know?”
“It doesn’t matter.” I worry my bottom lip. “The trial won’t end until half of the competitors are dead. If his tentacles wrap around you, you’re gone.”
The sun shows its entirety, turning dawn into day as Kressa raises a brow. “It sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”
I dig my nails into my palms. “I’m only telling you what I was told.”
A nod. “Thank you. It—it means a lot.”
Her tone is thick, genuine. My chest swells with an unfamiliar warmth, and I cross my arms, unable to meet her eyes.
The bell in the clock tower chimes six times.
Thirty minutes until the first trial.
“I have to go.” I push away from the parapet and take a step, but a hand wraps around my wrist and stops me.
Kressa stares at me, her eyes vast and depthless. “If I die today, his name is Elias.”
My heart stutters. If she dies, I have no reason to risk my life looking for him. I can focus on winning the competition and forget Kressa ever existed. But how many people have I met, suffering at Caelus’s hand?
“I’ll find him,” I promise.