21. Sage
Sage
Shadowhart didn’t talk to me the entire walk back, nor did he try to speak to me when I went straight to my room, slamming my door for good measure.
I was so mad not even the ocean hanging below the planks made me pause.
Who was he to tell me what I could and couldn’t do?
I was an adult, one who had plenty more experience than he gave me credit for.
I stood over the desk and uncrumpled the flyer I’d crushed in my hands. Being told what to do and what not to do all the time was getting really old, really fast.
With my mind set, I went to the closet for something to wear.
But everything I had was so… bright. Which I normally liked, but they turned me into a beacon when I was trying to be sneaky.
Maybe I should go find Shadowhart and ask for my bags.
But then he might ask me why, and I didn’t have an explanation for him.
There was a soft knock on my door. Anne was there when I opened, the exact bags I wanted in her hands. Though I was still aggravated about what happened the other day, she was doing me a favor right now whether she knew or not.
“Captain asked me to bring these to you,” she said a bit skittishly.
“Thank you,” I said, reaching for them.
She released them easily, and I started riffling through them to find the dress I was looking for.
“I’m sorry about the other day,” she said. “I swear I didn’t know that the Captain wanted to trade the food for forcing you to work. He never told me.”
“Good to know,” I said, finally putting my hands on what I was looking for.
Shadowhart did have good taste. I would have never picked this out for myself. It was a bit plain, and the skirt was very narrow, but it suited me well when I tried it on. And he seemed to think so too. If I thought too hard about it, I was sure my face would warm all over again.
And I never blushed for anyone, not really. But this stubborn captain drew it out of me, whether it was from anger or…
“What are you doing?” Anne asked, cutting through my thoughts.
“Getting dressed,” I said. But first I needed to get undressed, and this corset was not made to take off alone.
“Will you untie me?” I asked Anne. Initially I planned to tell her to get lost, but she was the other set of hands I needed.
“Oh, sure.” She came towards me and pulled the ties apart easily.
I shimmied out and put it back into the closet.
“What are you getting dressed for?” she asked.
“I’m going out.”
There was a long pause as I slid the darker dress on. It had a low neckline, elaborately framing my cursed gemstone, but that would just have to do.
“I… does Captain Shadowhart know you’re leaving?”
I huffed. “I’m an adult, who doesn’t need your captain telling me where I can and can’t go.”
“R-right,” she stuttered. “I’m just saying that normally there’s a schedule, and rules about not going alone.”
I lifted a brow at that. If I was going to go out, I was going to look like I went out, so I sat at the desk and opened my small makeup kit.
“People can’t go out alone?”
“No, it’s very strict,” she said. “I’m not sure why, the rule has been in place since before I was on board, but everyone is supposed to leave with someone.”
I tucked that information away, wondering why. A safety thing? But what could he have thought was going to happen?
I swiped a bit of kohl over my eyes and added a few brushes of mascara. My cheeks were pinked as I was a bit heavy handed with the rouge, but I liked the way it looked.
“Well, I’m not a part of the crew, so it shouldn’t be a problem.”
She did that nervous shift on her feet. Anne really reminded me of one of the deer I had to constantly chase away from the garden. Her face had that same cuteness, but she was skittish. One wave of the hand would have her running from my plants, or this room in this case.
“It’s not really optional,” she said. “It’s for everyone’s safety. And the captain would be really worried if he found out you were out alone.”
“Well, he can take his worry and shove it,” I said, sick of the conversation.
Luckily, I was presentable enough. I grabbed my bag, shoving the flyer inside and throwing it over my shoulder.
She stood in front of the door, blocking my exit. “You really shouldn’t go alone.”
I pursed my lips. “Fine, if I can’t go alone, then you’re coming with me.”
Her eyes turned large, like fancy dinner plates. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, either I walk out that door with you coming, following your rules, or you leave me and I go alone.”
“B-but, I…”
Her stumbling left me an opening to walk down.
Most people were leaving when we got back, so the ship was mostly quiet.
I had no idea where Shadowhart and Bramwell were, probably in that room poring over books, but I wasn’t going to get stuck here because he thinks he can tell me what to do and I’ll just listen.
Anne’s footsteps beat behind mine. I could almost hear her mind reeling over what she should do, but by the time we hit the deck, and I fearlessly started across the plank to shore, she was still behind me.
“Where are we going again?” she asked as we walked down the pier.
“The Show of Light,” I said. “It looked spectacular.”
“I’ve never heard of it,” she said. “But I haven’t heard of a lot of things.”
“I hadn’t either until I was handed this flyer.”
On the back there were directions from the pier, leading us further into the town, away from the brighter main square.
Eventually the roads turned to dirt, muddied from rain, and street lamps became almost nonexistent.
“Are you sure you know where we’re going?” Anne asked. “This feels really out of the way.”
“I can read a map,” I said, though honestly, I was also a bit worried we were getting lost.
A few more blocks down we were met with a large brick building. It wasn’t the same well-kept outside that the main square had been. It was worn with age, some of it looking to be a bit cracked. But there were lights on, and someone standing outside of the door.
None of this felt right, but what was I going to do, go back to the ship and say I was wrong?
No chance.
I hiked my skirts up and started towards the door, but Anne grabbed my arm. “I think this is a really bad idea.” Her eyes darted around nervously before suggesting, “Why don’t we just go back to the square and have a drink. We’ll still have gone out, yeah?”
That was almost the excuse I wanted, but I was feeling stubborn to see this to the end.
“No, this will be fun, I promise.”
I tried to walk but she held me back, surprisingly strong. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
My arm pulled free of her finally. “If you don’t want to, go back, but I’m going inside.”
Anne took a long breath. “Fine, let’s go.”
“You don’t have to,” I said as we kept going.
“I’m not leaving you. We have to stay together.”
She was truly stuck to these rules, but I wouldn’t fight her about it. It was kind of nice to have someone that felt on my side.
We approached the door, where the large guard stood.
He didn’t have pointed ears like most fae did, but he was wide, and upon closer inspection, his fingers were fuzzy and had claws pointing from them.
A shifter, then. I hardly ever saw them half shifted like this, and it only prickled my nerves more.
“Hello,” I said as we approached. “We’re here for the show.”
He looked us up and down. “Do you have an invite?”
“I didn’t know it was by invitation,” I said.
The bouncer nodded. “Everyone needs one.”
Then I remembered the flyer. “Right here,” I said, hoping this was what he meant.
He looked surprised to see it, but took it anyway. “Where’s hers?” he asked, pointing at Anne.
“She’s my plus one,” I said, keeping up the charm. “Doesn’t every party let you have one?”
He looked between us for a few moments. “Fine. It’s three coins to get in.”
I took those three coins from the satchel.
“Each,” he said, as I handed him three.
Someone really seemed to love their job. I handed over the other three, and we stepped inside.