Chapter 2 – Princess Saga
PRINCESS SAGA
Beneath my feet, the ship rolled and swayed. Hours had passed since we’d sailed out of Avaldenn’s port, and in that time, I had found my sea legs.
Sir Yagril, on the other hand, had decidedly not taken to sea life. The deeper the water got, the greener he turned. Despite the remedies the sailors had given him, nothing seemed to help. The poor faerie appeared as though he might be ill at any moment.
“Truly, Yagril. We’re in the middle of the sea with my people. Nothing will happen to me.”
“I cannot leave your side, Princess Saga.”
“I don’t think you’ll be much help, not in your current state, anyway.”
He scowled but did not reply.
Trying to be kind to the knight who had been by my side for many turns, I veered back toward the ship’s railing. At least there, Yagril could vomit in peace if he needed to.
We reached the railing, and though the fog from the morning had burned off, something else caught my eye. In the distance, a black cloud crawled over the waves, as if following a ship.
“Sir Yagril, do you see that?” I pointed east.
“I do, Princess.”
“What is that blackness? It looks like–”
Before my eyes, the cloud picked up speed as it rolled our way. Within the darkness, light sparked, and a horn blared above. Shouts filled the Trana and suddenly fae were running about the deck.
I looked at Yagril. “What’s going on?”
My guard shook his head and stared out at the sea. “I’m not sure, but I believe it would be wise if we—blazing moon!”
“Has to be mages!” a sailor called out. “They’re closing in too fast to be anything else!”
But they were just . . . I blinked. The ship had somehow jumped over waves. It was so close I could make out the whites of the eyes of those on board.
One burly male grinned and something behind him fluttered.
The sailor who suggested mages was wrong, at least in part.
Perhaps there were mages on the ship, but these ones weren’t mages.
They were fae, which became all too apparent as a dozen sailors launched themselves into the air straight for us.
My stomach pitted. They had to be rogue bands of fae.
Most lived in kingdoms with milder climates, but it was rumored that some had stolen ships from the Autumn Court and taken to the seas.
They now acted as pirates, raping, razing, and pillaging along the coastlines of Isila, some even daring to strike the Mage Court.
“Princess!” Yagril tried to shove me behind him, but his cries caught the attention of one of the fae who changed direction and soared my way.
Thank the stars, my guard was ready, his long sword out and wind magic in his hand. He pummeled the attacker, sending him into the sea with a vicious splash.
Yagril did not, however, see the other two attackers coming. Nor did I. Not until it was too late.
A dagger soared through the air, plunging into my sworn shield’s chest at the same moment an arrow came from the ship and caught him in the leg. Yagril fell, blood welling from beneath his fighting leathers, and thin gasps filled my ears.
“No! Yag—!”
“Come ‘ere, little princess,” a brute who looked to be half troll dropped out of the sky and grabbed me by the shoulders. “Ye must be from the Winter Court. Princess Saga, is it?”
“Get off me!” I fought to break free of his grip, unable to take my eyes off my guard bleeding out before me. Because I had two older brothers and wasn’t a complete weakling, I actually managed to slip out of his hands. Free, I lunged for Yagril and pressed a hand to his pulse.
He was alive, his pulse still thundering, but for how long? “Yagril, I—”
“Get back ‘ere!” This time when the male grabbed me, his grip was ironclad. “A princess will bring us a lotta coin. You—”
A gurgling sound ripped from his lips and wetness splattered the back of my neck. I twisted and found Sayyida standing there, her dagger lodged in the ugly fae’s throat.
“Are you harmed?”
“No!” I took in the blood splattered across her face with horror, but she moved as though she were uninjured. That had to be from someone else. “But Yagril needs a healer. Help me with him!”
“Let’s hurry then.”
I grabbed my guard’s arms while Sayyida took his legs. Her gaze was raking the ship’s decks. Suddenly aware of the shouts and growls, I took in the area too. Already, pirates overran the ship.
How had they reached us so fast? And was that an ogre?! Fear rushed through me at the sight of a fae-eating creature so close by.
“How many?” I asked. My guard’s injury had blinded me, but this was Sayyida’s ship, her fae to lead and protect. She would not miss a thing.
“Thirty. More quickly followed the first dozen. They must have heard your guard naming you as a princess and doubled down.” She shook her head. “He needs to learn to hold his tongue.”
“You can tell him when we save him.”
“I will.” She grunted and ducked as a steel star flew overhead, nearly stopping my heart. Unlike me, Sayyida took it as a matter of course and gestured with her shoulder. “Get to the lower decks.”
Metal clanged, and magic spun through the sea air. The crew protected us, and they did so remarkably as we wove through brawls. We’d made it to the door that led below decks when one attacker slipped through the melee and came straight for us.
“Sayyida!” I shrieked because her back was to him. Not missing a beat, she dropped Yagril’s feet, spun, drew her sword, and impaled the fae seconds before his blade would have run her through.
“Go.” The captain picked up a groaning Yagril’s feet once more.
Making sure I had a good grip on my guard, I released one hand and opened the door, steadying him again before he fell. The stairs down were ludicrously steep, considering we were on a ship.
“Slow,” Sayyida said. “I’ll lock the door behind us.”
We shuffled in, and I was even more thankful for my half-dress and trousers. Had I been in a regular dress, I would have tripped. Once Sayyida maneuvered through the door, she locked it with one hand.
“That won’t hold back anyone who really wants to get down here, but my crew will do their best to keep this area safe.”
I swallowed as we descended. My brother Vale was a renowned warrior and had wanted to make sure I knew how to defend myself, even if Father didn’t see the point.
However, despite my brother’s training attempts, I wasn’t the best with blades.
Could I hold my own against a troop of savage pirates?
Especially ones wielding some sort of smoke magic that could skip their ship over a league of water in an instant? Unlikely.
When we reached the bottom, Sayyida jerked her chin to the left. From there, it wasn’t difficult to find the healer as he popped his head out the door and gasped.
“Sassa’s Blade! Get him on my table!”
We did so, shuffling through the cramped quarters made even smaller thanks to the herbs and potions that lined and hung from every available space and gave off the most unusual and pungent herbaceous aromas.
When Yagril was settled, I studied him. He was passed out and his dusky brown skin had paled.
“It isn’t fatal, right?” I asked the healer as he leaned over the knight.
“He has a pulse, and I think the dagger missed his heart. I won’t know for certain until I extract it, though.”
That did not invite confidence, but as the healer and Sayyida began working, I wanted to be useful too. “What can I do?”
“What magic do you possess?”
“Winter magic.” When the healer circled a hand in the air as if to say ‘yes, yes, but we need something useful’, I blushed.
Normally, fae prized winter magic, the power that steadied our kingdom, but not here. Not now.
“I also have the gift of foresight. Occasionally. Not on demand.”
The healer let out a puff of air, and Sayyida shot me an apologetic glance.
Foresight, too, was apparently supremely useless.
“Get that elixir.” He pointed to the shelf. “Blue one at the top with the black cork.”
I squeezed around the table and tried to pluck the bottle from the shelf. It didn’t come loose easily, likely because of a sticking charm which was sensible on a ship. I pulled harder, and finally, the bottle came free. I rushed back and handed it to the healer, who held up his bloodied, wet hands.
“Uncork it.”
He might as well have added, idiot, and I wouldn’t have blamed him. I wasn’t performing too well under these pressures.
A pop filled the room as I pulled the cork. The healer took the bottle and poured it into Yagril’s mouth.
“What does it do?”
“Regenerates blood.”
“But won’t he bleed more when you take the dagger out?”
“I thought you were a seer?”
My lips clamped together. A princess could take a hint. I waited for another direction as the healer and Sayyida worked. They’d liberated the blade from my guard’s chest when a horn from above blasted.
That had not sounded the same as before, and judging by how Sayyida lost all the color in her face, it meant something bad.
“I need to go up,” she said. “Saga, stay here. Help Healer H—”
The door to the chamber burst open to reveal three brawny fae.