22. Adrian
Adrian
My eyes burned as I turned the last page on A Privateer’s Guide to Antiques and Lost Treasure. How Bramwell pored over these books all day was a mystery to me. I leaned back a bit, resting on my tail and sighed.
Every lead felt like hitting a brick wall, and it was starting to feel hopeless. Though I’d do anything to learn what happened to Tungesten, to Coltar, turning something over so powerful that not even the strongest mages could break it seemed like a moral failing.
If I could learn anything about it, I could weigh the costs, but right now, it was just all a guessing game. And I hated guessing.
“Find anything about enchanted necklaces or princesses that wear them?” Bramwell asked.
“Nope, you?”
“I found something about a bracelet that was enchanted to a monarch a long time ago, but that bracelet was actually a curse, and squeezed her wrist until her hand came off. I think if that was going to happen to Sage, it would have already happened.”
I shivered at the thought of it, but he was right, there was no real connection there. It felt like this necklace just surfaced from the depths of the sea and ended up around her neck.
“Have you asked her about how she acquired the necklace yet?” he asked.
“I haven’t.” But I should. “I will.” Maybe this evening, if she decided to stop being upset with me.
“Let’s have dinner and start again,” Bramwell said, standing. “And maybe gain some insight from Sage.”
He stretched out his arms, which was the wrong move. His white undershirt split at the seam of the sleeves, unable to contain his large body.
“Too big for your own good,” I told him.
“I’m aware,” he said. “At least now I have someone to fix it.”
“Sage, you mean?”
“Yes,” Bramwell said. “She’s quite adept at mending. It takes her almost no time at all. I think it’s her small fingers, she can do fiddly tasks like that.”
I’d put her with Bramwell because she knew how to read, and I thought she’d at least find some peace in reading, but it seemed she found a useful job all on her own.
The mess was basically deserted. There was no one who planned to miss a meal on land. Little Lou made some of the best food on the high seas, but there were limits to what could be cooked and kept on board, so when the crew had a chance to have something they usually couldn’t, they jumped at it.
But Alek was still there. He was Lou’s apprentice, stuck ensuring anyone still on board was fed.
I remember being at the bottom of the food chain like that.
One evening, I begged Tungesten to go out.
Coltar had told me about a pub they were going to, and I wanted to join them, but he refused.
I’d only been on the ship a year, so I was the one who had to stay back, make sure everything was in order, and keep a lookout.
Everyone has to do their part. And one day, you won’t be a scallywag and your part will be different. But today, this is your job.
Though at the time I was pissed, it was another thing he ended up being right about.
“Aye Cap’,” he said from behind the counter. “Ain’t goin out tonight?”
His accent had always been thick. “Someone has to keep you all in line,” I joked.
He laughed and served some potatoes, mixed vegetables, and a piece of roasted pork.
“Thanks,” I said to him as I took my plate. “Has Sage been down yet?”
It wasn’t any of my business to ask really.
I’d upset her earlier, and I may have been a bit harsher than I meant, but she just pushed and pushed.
Those shows were traps to get crew to spend all their money and usually get so hammered they didn’t remember whether or not the show was any good.
Sometimes there was a real spectacle but usually it was just a scam, and I couldn’t babysit her for something like that.
“Haven’t seen ‘er,” he said.
I grumbled to myself. She could be as mad as she wanted, but at least she needed to eat.
Make me up another plate, please,” I said to Alek.
“I’m gonna run this to her,” I told Bramwell. “I’ll be right back.”
He nodded. “How… kind of you.”
“Shut it,” I shot back, understanding his insinuation.
I was just caring for… an important guest. We couldn’t return a princess in worse shape than we got her in. That wouldn’t work. There was nothing else to it.
Even the lie sounded daft in my own head. But it didn’t matter, I was already most of the way to her room by the time my mental gymnastics session was over.
I knocked, three hard raps, but she didn’t answer.
So I tried again. “Sage, open up.”
Nothing but the sound of the Violet Ghost shifting.
Once more I knocked, to no response.
She must be asleep. We were out all day. Or she was just ignoring me. But that wasn’t really in her nature. Lashing out was more like her.
So I slowly, quietly, pushed the door open with the tip of my tail. I’d leave the plate on the desk for her to have whenever she wanted it. She had to eat eventually.
Though the lamp was off, the bit of light that showed through the cracked door told me one thing.
She wasn’t there.
I flung the door open and looked around, as if she could have been hiding away in a drawer, but she was nowhere to be found.
Leaving the plate, I rushed up to the main deck, where everyone who was left was stationed.
I ran into Links first, who was leaning against one of the ballasts, waiting for the next time he needed to do rounds. He had a knife in one hand, and was carving away at a piece of wood in his hands to keep busy.
“Links,” I said.
When he heard me, he stood straighter, pocketing his knife.
“Captain,” he said, nodding.
“Have you seen Sage?”
He thought for a moment. “Yeah, she and Anne left a little while ago.”
“Anne?” I questioned. “Isn’t she meant to be on rotation right now?”
Links nodded. “Yeah, left Bee stationed, they’re pissed.”
I pinched my brow, my anger rising like the tide. Quickly and violently. “Did they say where they were going?”
“Nope,” he said. “I assumed somewhere quick because Anne needed to be back, but they haven’t yet.”
Fuck.
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
I tried to comb my mind for where they might have gone. Anne did not normally go against orders like this, so something had to be going on.
Then I recalled.
The show that Sage wanted to see so badly.
I hoped she would have listened to me, just this once, but that was too much to expect.
“I’m going,” I told him. “Tell Bramwell I went to look for them, and I’ll be back. And tell Bee they can have all of tomorrow off.”
I was down the deck and off the ship in a matter of minutes. She’d flashed the poster at me, but I hadn’t read it long enough to look for details.
So instead, I backtracked towards where we’d been, and sure enough, the advertiser was still there.
He was still handing out fliers, trying to entice people to go.
“Can I have one of those?” I asked him as I approached.
A gleam of recognition danced in his eyes. “Change your mind?”
“I did,” I said, hoping just to get this over with.
“Excellent,” he said, holding the piece of paper out to me.
I went to grab it, but he snatched it back quickly before I could get a grip.
My scowl was instant. I didn’t have time to play these games.
“Just a bit of cheeky fun,” he said. “But you should hurry. The show is starting.”
The map was on the back. I made quick work of memorizing it before taking off in that direction.
Fucking princesses.