Chapter 12
Chapter
Twelve
Erinna’s lungs burned by the time she surfaced. She drew in long ragged breaths, the taste of saltwater and brine at the back of her throat.
Kane is a dead man when I see him next.
The faint sounds of bootsteps and conversation filtered from the docks. The peace was a stark juxtaposition to the earlier chaos from the markets. If it wasn’t for her searing rage toward Kane, she could maybe pretend that things would work out in the end.
But that would be misguided, she reminded herself.
It didn’t take long to notice a strange ship docked in their shipyard. They must have arrived later that morning, when the Yarrows had already left for the day.
It was likely part of Kenneth’s bargain. Erinna glowered. So, she wasn’t simply seeing things a few nights ago. This was the ship she spotted in the distance.
It was a medium-sized vessel, two-masted, and meant for a smaller crew.
An unfamiliar shadow walked its deck, preparing for sail. Kane’s escape team, no doubt.
What the hell did you get us into, Dad?
Inez sat on the dock, with Kane’s coat still wrapped tightly around her shoulders as her teeth chattered from the cold night air. Erinna made a mental note to gather warm clothes for her when she returned home. The flicker of a familiar silhouette caught her attention.
Kane first, everything else later.
He stood near the gangway in hushed conversation with his crew member. She was tall, and the faint glint of gold accessories adorned her hair and wrists. If Erinna were in a better mood, she would consider the woman beautiful. But she was fixated on Kane.
She barreled toward them.
“Yarrow.” Kane raised a brow at her approach.
“What was our end of the bargain? Tell me he asked for something more than just my safety.” Erinna couldn’t decipher the look on his face as he sized her up.
“I take it, you’re the negotiator?”
Her heart dropped into her stomach. Of course Kenneth would make a poor deal of it.
She took one more look at the boat. It had been magically reinforced. Her father’s runes were subtle and nearly invisible to anyone but his daughter. They were preparing for rough waters.
Kane waved the woman away. “He said it didn’t concern you. Just wanted me to bring you home, should I find you somewhere you weren’t supposed to be.”
“Are you magically compelled to be this unhelpful? Or do you enjoy tormenting people like this?” The words spilled with pent-up frustration. Regret not fast enough to hold her tongue.
Kane closed the distance between them to mere inches.
“It’s not my responsibility to get your house in order, Yarrow. My deal is with your father, not you. And I don’t have time to make you my responsibility.” His gaze drifted once more to the ship, anxious to be on his way.
“You’re right.” She balled her hands into tight fists, biting down a rising scream. In a movement fast enough to create whiplash, she turned away from the pirate and headed towards her home.
Light peeked through the curtain, an indication that her father was already inside.
Prying information from a withholding pirate was a waste of both of their time. Kenneth was the real culprit and would be much more pliable than a sea thief.
It felt like ages since she was home. Fear and hope mixed as Erinna approached. Flickering light danced through the window from fire and lanterns, but the closer she got, the more worry chewed through her resolve. The front door opened with ease, unlocked and barely closed.
The living room was in disarray. Papers and books were stacked on the armchair and side tables, with towers of parchment toppled across the floor. The door to her father’s study stood ajar.
Erinna’s heart pounded as she neared. She knew what her father’s frenzied searches looked like—she’d seen this before. The last time their home looked like this, Erinna was six years old, and he had just received word that her mother was lost at sea.
Her father was desperate. But for what?
The study was even worse. Ledgers and journals lay open on the floor. Shelves had been emptied, their contents strewn around the room. The desk was covered in paper and wax, a mug of tea knocked on its side, the liquid already soaked into the grain.
A creaking of wood caught her attention in the far corner. The sight froze her in place. Her heart threatened to seize.
The ground and walls bent at odd angles, forming small barricades around her fallen father.
Hastily packed bags were slumped beside the enchanted coffin. Her mother’s ring, which was usually worn around her father’s neck, had come loose and lay on the ground beside the items.
No. No. No. No. No.
The wood continued to move and groan. If she didn’t move fast enough, it would be too late to do anything more than watch. She raced to his side, knees hitting the ground with a pain that rattled her joints.
Erinna gently took his arm, a mark nearly the same as hers graced his skin. The alignment of stars was slightly different, but there was no denying they had been cursed with the same affliction.
Her family had been cosmically fucked.
For what reason, Erinna couldn’t understand.
She felt a strong pulse in his wrist. Alive but unconscious—just like the woman in the market.
She shook him with all of her strength. “Wake up, Dad!”
Wood splintered at the aggression; a thorn of oak poked at her forearm. Erinna hissed at the arcanum.
Wood creaked again, slowly concealing more of his form. Kenneth would soon be encased in a coffin of his own magic.
Warm tears stung her eyes. In all the worst-case scenarios Erinna had thought of, a curse and a pirate had never made the top ten.
Dread and despair threatened to unravel her. There has to be something. She blinked through the haze of tears.
The curse. Iprix’s death. It was all too close, too connected to be a coincidence. Erinna’s hands trembled as she searched the study. There had to be something. Anything.
She tore through his desk—ledgers, correspondence, a locked iron box she couldn’t open.
Nothing that could give her a clue on what her father was hiding and why the Yarrows would be embroiled in a bloodline curse.
She thought back to the stars, to the constellation that was permanently etched in her skin.
Why was hers different? Why was she still unaffected by it when the rest of its victims had been sleep-bound?
“If you want to know more, I suggest you find yourself a witch or a very old mage.” Kane’s words echoed in her mind.
He said it was old magic. Erinna turned the phrases over in her mind, forcing herself to think through the ever-growing panic. What did she know about old magic? Where would records of ancient curses be kept?
Iprix’s library.
Fort Solitude.
It was the most comprehensive collection of magical texts in the known world. Knowledge the mage had spent decades gathering and protecting behind the impenetrable wards keyed into his very life force.
Wards that would have fallen the moment his heart stopped.
Erinna looked down at her father’s sleeping form, the terrible opportunity of it clicking into place. The library would be unprotected now, vulnerable until the new Chancellor Haru Tyril was officially anointed.
Erinna would need to cross Talon Bay to get there and navigate around the old military installations of Fort Solitude that surrounded the library.
Fortunately, she knew a man who was reckless enough to try it.
If answers existed anywhere, they existed there. It was the best chance she had.
Erinna knelt by her father’s magical coffin, planting a soft kiss on his forehead before whispering, “I’ll figure this out. I’ll wake you up. Just stay safe. Please.”
She grabbed the items and the half-packed bag beside her father’s enchanted tomb.
Maybe with more time, she could rifle through the contents and start putting the pieces of this nightmarish mystery together.
Erinna didn’t spare time to pack her own things or change from the wet clothes that clung to her body.
Information would be more important; she would endure the suffering.
In the last moments, she gathered the papers from the desk and burned them to ash above a candle before snuffing out the flames.
After one last search, Erinna grabbed the leather cord that held her mother’s wedding band and clasped it around her neck.
Tears sprang once more and burned her eyes.
Erinna clenched her fist around the metal and allowed herself a few sobs before drying her eyes and cheeks. She could cry more later.
By the time she was back at the dock, the pirates were nearly ready to set sail.
“Atwater!” she called, stepping onto the wooden walkway. She waited, scanning the ship until the pirate emerged from the shadows to stand at the rail. Kane raised an eyebrow in response.
Erinna planted her hands on her hips, forcing confidence into her stance.
“Fort Solitude, right?” Her heart hammered in her chest, hands growing clammy in fear. It could all end here if he refused to help.
“Excuse me?” Kane stuttered, shock evident in his eyes for a moment before he regained his composure. Erinna took the small victory with pride. She hadn’t known Kane for very long, but she could tell he wasn’t easily caught off guard.
“You’re heading to Fort Solitude. I’m coming with you.” Erinna took a risky step forward.
Kane cocked his head and stroked his chin in thought. “Asher,” he called over his shoulder to the woman adorned in gold. “Is Inez settled?”
Erinna seethed at his blatant disregard for her hurry.
Asher’s stare darted from Erinna to Kane. The corners of her mouth twitched in what Erinna could guess was amusement. “She’s below.”
“Good,” Kane sighed and turned his attention back to Erinna. “You should know, I will not be coming back here. Once we land, you’re on your own.”
Erinna nodded and tightened her grip on her pack as she climbed aboard.
“And no more questions until we’re docked at Fort Solitude,” Kane said before returning to the duty of assessing the ship for voyage. Erinna assumed that was as much permission as she would get. It took effort to keep her legs from shaking when she made her way onto the ship.
The events of the day churned through her mind. It was a waking nightmare, each moment bleeding into the next with sickening speed. Erinna tried to focus on the sway of the ship, the saltwater air that caressed her cheeks and ran through her hair, but nothing was working to calm her nerves.
Dusk had just surrendered to night on the horizon, the first stars peeking through the deepening blue overhead. Erinna could hardly believe it had all happened in less than a day. The morning felt like it belonged to someone else’s life. Someone who wasn’t cursed or aiding and abetting a pirate.
The boat finally lurched into motion. She scanned the deck and noted a total of three people on board and capable of sailing. Kane, Asher, and herself. It would be enough for a ship that size, but did he really plan on manning it with two people before she joined?
She turned back to stare at her home, where her sleeping father resided. A hand moved absentmindedly to the ring that now hung around her neck. She would find a way to get him out of this, get them both out of whatever mess they were in. The anger would have to wait.
Asher approached, breaking Erinna from her racing thoughts. “Just do as we say, and you’ll be fine. We’ll need you once we hit choppy water.” Her voice was low, but the demand was clear. She would work or pay her way every moment in their company.
In the distance, lights from shoreside houses blazed to life, and soon a pillar of smoke rose above the roofs and steeples. Whatever chaos had descended on the kingdom, she prayed to any god that would listen to keep her father out of it.
Kane cleared his throat behind her, clearly an effort to keep from startling her. “Yarrow, try to get some rest. It’ll be the last time you can before we hit Talon Bay.”
Erinna nodded. He was right. She would need to restore some energy before they hit the rough sea. One misstep could send them all to the depths below.