Chapter 36
Thick, sweaty air fills the tavern and clings to my clothes. Shouts ring out, and beer sloshes over the rims of tankards, splashing to the aged planks.
Thea winds her arm through mine. “I guess everyone is trying to enjoy the holiday before the taverns close.”
My breath catches. “You can’t say that too loud.”
I scan the crowded tavern. The other competitors fill a long booth at the back, and I tug Thea in their direction.
“I don’t see what is so wrong about celebrating her birthday,” she says. “There must be a reason why so many people loved her, right?”
My chest aches, and I press my eyes shut. “Thea.”
“What? It’s a valid question. Think of how many people chose to be executed rather than bow to Caelus.”
The ache spreads and wrings out my heart, threatening to shatter the wall I’ve built around my guilt. I halt and press my hands to her shoulders. “Thea, stop talking about her. For your own safety. Please.”
“Easy tiger. I didn’t know you cared so much.” Her lip quirks and she pokes a finger at my chest. “Harriet is kind of cute when she’s angry.”
I narrow my eyes, but her smile only widens, sparkling—so similar to the way she watched the ocean from our deck. A pang slides into my sternum. The hollow space behind my eyes stings, and I whisper, “I miss you.”
A line forms between her brows, and she scoffs. “Your age is getting to you.”
The roaring hearth taking up the majority of the side wall adds to the already stifling air. Sweat drips down the curve of my spine.
“Harriet!”
One of the competitors—Eric—waves his hand. He slides down the bench, leaving enough room for Thea and me. We sidestep through the bench and settle facing the crowd.
Eric’s hazel eyes settle on me. “You saved my life in the last trial. If it weren’t for seeing you run into the ocean, that selkie would’ve caught me.”
Thea shifts beside me, and I swallow. “You saw me go into the water?”
If he did, he saw Briar. The glamour was all but gone.
“You disappeared a second after I crested the sand dune, so you were just a flash. I admire you for saving Kressa.” He smirks. “Can’t say I’d do the same.”
“Me either,” Thea grumbles.
A tankard of beer appears in front of me. The waitress bends over, her neckline low, and presses a kiss to my cheek. “On the house for the King’s competitors.”
I take a sip and scan the table. At the far end, Simon eyes me over the rim of his glass. I avert my gaze. I have no doubt he’ll attempt to murder me in the final trial, regardless of the alliance I’ve built with Kressa.
He gives the other pirate, Mahone, an equally scathing look. Cy—an Earth Court farmer—trails his fingers up the bare arm of a woman on his lap.
The chair across from me sits empty, and I gnaw the inside of my cheek.
Thea leans closer. “I think the person you’re looking for just walked in the door.”
The hair on the back of my neck rises, and a tug in my chest lifts my attention to the front of the tavern.
Kressa.
She looks up, and our gazes lock. The power in my chest sings, and I avert my eyes, my heart thrumming in my chest as she weaves through the crowd.
Thea slaps her hand over my heart. “You’re fucking glowing.”
Kressa approaches the table and settles into the seat across from me. She gives a pointed look at Thea’s hand and raises an amused brow. I swallow.
The ruckus of the tavern bleeds into a din, and black clouds my vision. If she spots the light, she’ll know who I really am.
Thea hoists herself up and slides onto my lap, pressing her back into my chest.
“Is Briar here?” Kressa says, as the waitress slides a tankard to her.
I clench my jaw together and glance at Thea.
She shakes her head, but her lips tilt. “No, she’s not. Today is her birthday.”
Kressa furrows her brow and stiffens, looking over her shoulder at the mass of bodies. Briar? I can feel you.
My skin buzzes, and I school my expression, slamming the mental door shut. It takes more effort to constantly keep it shut against her, when closing off the bridge to sea creatures is effortless.
She blinks and drags her attention back to us. “Interesting. She shares a birthday with the Princess of the Sea?”
“Yes, but she prefers to spend the entire day in bed. In fact, if you’re looking for her, that’s probably where she is now.”
Thea wiggles in my lap, and I pinch her side. Hard.
She slaps my hand away and smirks. “Not now, Harriet. Save that for later.”
I’m going to kill her. Flay her within an inch of her life and feed her to a sea serpent.
The corner of Kressa’s lip tilts. “If Briar wants to spend the day in bed, I’ll let her.”
Eric grabs a handful of peanuts scattered over the table. “It’s a shame we won’t be able to go to any of the celebrations tonight.”
“Celebrations?” I say under my breath.
Kressa narrows her eyes. “You shouldn’t be going to them even if you could leave the castle. You’d be executed.”
Mahone prods the table with the tip of his dagger. “You’ll only be executed if you get caught.”
I stiffen. There are no guards in the tavern to overhear, but Caelus pays a handsome reward to informants.
Mahone catches my hesitation. “Aye, you should know better than anyone that we still honor her.” His lip curls, golden teeth glinting against his tawny skin. “Or are you one of the ones who gave up on the Princess of the Sea?”
Cy lifts his head from the woman’s shoulder. “King Caelus can say whatever he wants about her—that she’s dead or in hiding, but you’d be a fool to think she isn’t waiting for the right time to come back.”
My lips almost curl into a smile.
Simon eyes the men, but crosses his arms and presses his lips together. If anyone were to say something to Caelus, it’s him.
Kressa sets her beer on the table and shakes her head. “If she was going to return, why would she wait an entire decade?”
I clench my hands into fists. “Maybe she’s being held against her will, trying to get back.”
“Tell that to the hundreds dying every day on the front.”
I deflate, and guilt sweeps over me like a cresting wave. I lower my gaze and take a swig of lukewarm beer.
“She’s a coward,” she adds.
A twist to the knife already buried in my chest.
“I think we should go,” I whisper into Thea’s ear.
She turns and pushes out her bottom lip, pouting. Before she can object, the woman perched on Cy’s lap leans over the table.
“Kressa, is it?” she says, brimstone in her eyes.
Kressa nods and takes another sip of beer, watching her over the rim.
The woman smiles, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes.
“You call her a coward? Before she disappeared, her ship was attacked by a faction of the Sky Court’s armada, and she singlehandedly slayed them without a touch of her power.
” Her smile widens. “Rumor is she looked them in the eyes and laughed as she killed them one by one.”
Thea stiffens, almost as if she remembers. If anything would spark her memory, it’d be that argument. She was livid when I ordered them to stay on shore while I took care of Caelus’s soldiers that discovered Delterran’s location.
None of them survived to share the secret.
Kressa lowers her gaze to her cup.
Cy nods, turning his deep brown eyes to Kressa. “When the war started, she calmed the waters long enough to give safe passage for those fleeing the Sky Court on the southern reaches of the world.”
I sneak a glance at Kressa. She must know that story, considering I ferried thousands of Earth Court subjects across the sea. It’s the reason why so many of the Earth Court honor me alongside King Golan. Or used to, at least.
Mahone points his dagger at Kressa. “She may be missing or hiding or imprisoned. Perhaps even dead. There’s a lot of things she might be, but a coward isn’t one of them.”
My gaze travels around the crowded table. Over the past ten years, I thought my accomplishments—what makes me worthy—had died from word of mouth. But these people, from different courts, share stories about me with a gleam in their eye—one I recognize.
Hope.
My heart expands, filling my chest cavity.
Kressa finishes her beer and wipes her mouth, fingers dragging over foam. “I stand corrected.” She presses herself from the table. “I have some things to take care of.”
Thea tips her chin. “I’ll let Briar know you were asking for her.”
Kressa lowers her eyes and smiles—pure and genuine. I bite down on my cheek until a copper tang sweeps over my tongue.
She presses a palm to her chest, where my power settled in her, and scans the cramped tavern again. Shaking her head, she disappears into the crowd.
My tether to her stretches thinner the farther away she strides, and as she walks out the door, it snaps. My body stills, blood cools, and my power retreats to its corner.
I blow out a long breath. There must be a record somewhere of exchanged power, but as I search the recesses of my mind, I can’t think of a single instance. My mother never mentioned the possibility, and I’ve never spotted this glow emanating from anyone else.
Thea stiffens and slides from my lap. “Why is Rita here?”
My head snaps up to where Rita frantically scans the room, her glasses askew on the bridge of her nose. The pads of my fingers press into the seat, but I hold steady.
I can’t approach her looking like this.
Her gaze lands on Thea, and she scurries over. “Thea, thank goodness you’re here. I sent word for Briar, but the messenger couldn’t find her anywhere. Have you seen her?”
Thea sneaks a glance at me and nods. “Not long ago. Why? Is everything okay?”
Rita eyes me and the pirate clothing, and grimaces. Leaning closer, she whispers into Thea’s ear too quietly for me to hear.
Thea’s eyes widen. “Are you sure?”
Rita pulls back and nods, her throat bobbing.
“You have no idea where they are?” Thea’s voice cracks.
My mouth goes dry, and my hands clench the outline of my dagger.
Rita wrings her hands and shakes her head, grey curls swishing. “They disappeared in the middle of the night. But I’m looking for them. If you see Briar, please let her know I’ll be at the safe house.”
Thea reaches for Rita’s hand and untangles her worried fingers. “She’ll be there as soon as she can.”
Rita presses her lips into a thin line. “Thank you.”
She sends one more wary glance my way and turns, heading out to the bright afternoon.
I twist to Thea, who stares at the front door. “What did she say?”
Her face pales, fingers fumbling over the ironed pleats of her dress. “Four women in the safe house disappeared in the middle of the night, and haven’t been seen or heard from.” She gnaws at her fingernails. “They didn’t take anything with them.”
Missing.
Ever since she joined the competition, missing people reports have spiked.
I bolt from my seat, and the rough edges of the bench catch on my pants. My pulse pounds in my ears, louder than the voices in the tavern. “Will you be okay getting back to the castle?”
Thea stiffens. “Gemma said you only have—”
“I’ll be fine. Will you?”
She nods. “Be aware of my surroundings. If I’m attacked, palm to the nose and knee to the groin. Then run as fast as I can.”
Removing my hat, I drop it into her lap. “And don’t—”
“Hesitate,” she says with a sad smile, running her fingers along the brim. “I know. Now go help Rita.”
I plant a kiss to her head and shoot a glare at the men—one that promises death if they so much as look at her the wrong way.
Shoving my way through the tavern, I burst into the late afternoon and take off toward the safe house. As my feet strike the ground, every warm thought of Kressa turns to stone and plummets to the bottom of the ocean.