Chapter 16
Chapter
Sixteen
Ice-cold water lapped at Erinna’s ankles.
The chill clawed through her skin and settled into her bones until the rest of her body felt stiff and numb.
Erinna stood in a glade, surrounded by a night-steeped forest. Inky dark water reflected a moonless sky painted with streaks of shining stars. Everything was eerily still and quiet.
Even as Erinna surveyed her surroundings, the water barely rippled at the perturbation. The stillness in the air crept into her lungs as she took in quick, panicked breaths.
I shouldn’t be here, she thought. Terror flooded her veins as the memory of her childhood nightmare returned, piercingly clear. It had been ten years since she last dreamed of this place. I grew out of this.
Erinna tried to will herself awake—pinched her cheeks painfully, and squeezed her eyes shut in desperation, hoping that when she opened them she’d be back in the small room next to a sleeping Inez.
They had been placed in a small hut together, and Erinna would give anything to be back in that reality.
The attempt was futile. Nothing changed. She was stuck in the same eerie place that used to bring tears to her eyes as a child and make her wish she’d never have to sleep again.
Then she heard it. Soft, soul-rattling sobbing somewhere just beyond the forest edge. It was her.
Erinna’s chest constricted as she frantically searched for a place to hide.
The trees, she could run to the trees and hide among their shadows. Erinna took a step, legs prepared to sprint, but she was too late. The Weeping Queen had emerged.
Erinna spun around, ready to flee, but the Weeping Queen was already there. She whirled in every direction—the Weeping Queen blocked every path. There was no escape.
The Weeping Queen drifted closer with slow, lethal grace.
Darkness shrouded her features, the edges of her form blended with the night itself.
She wore a once regal gown that swept across the water’s surface.
A crown of jagged glass adorned her brow, its sharp spikes pressing into delicate, pale skin.
Dried black ichor left streaks down her temples.
It was the same as last time. In all those years, the nightmare never changed. The Weeping Queen sobbed into the darkness, gliding across the lake where she would disappear into shadows once more.
Erinna went deathly still. Do not engage. Do not interact. If she didn’t make a sound, if she didn’t alert the wraith to her presence, the Queen would pass her by and leave her be. Unmoving. Unseen. A deep, primitive version of Erinna knew that stillness meant survival.
The sobbing grew louder as the Weeping Queen neared. Then, she was finally within reach. Her shoulder a step away from Erinna’s own.
It would be over soon, Erinna tried to calm herself. But then the Queen stopped. In every iteration of this nightmare, the Weeping Queen always passed her by—until now. She turned to face Erinna, and with frail, bony hands she lifted her shadowy veil.
Tears streamed down a hauntingly beautiful face with black hollowed eyes.
“You came back,” she croaked, an inhuman, guttural sound. “I’ve missed you.” The Weeping Queen wrapped a hand around Erinna’s throat, blocking her airway. Sharp, bony fingers pressed into Erinna’s skin and lifted her off her feet.
It wasn’t supposed to go like this. Erinna thrashed against the hold, hands clawing against the Weeping Queen’s arm, legs kicking at her person. None of her blows were strong enough to make her attacker flinch. The Weeping Queen squeezed harder.
This isn’t real. This isn’t real. This isn’t real. She tried desperately to clutch control of her sleeping mind. Erinna opened her mouth to scream and gasp for air as the Queen’s fingers pressed harder against her throat. Erinna was met with nothing but pain and silence.
A tremor went through her shoulders, her body shaking against the hold. Erinna’s vision hazed before she was ripped away from unconsciousness. A pair of wild eyes met hers as Erinna jolted awake. Inez was crouched above her, hands still gripping Erinna’s shoulders.
“You stopped breathing,” she said, fear laced in every word as she held Erinna upright. Stopped breathing, that’s new, Erinna thought, trying to ease her pounding heart.
“I’m fine.” Erinna patted Inez’s hand in assurance before reaching to prod her own neck where she could still feel the remnants of ghostly fingers, sore but physically uninjured.
The cycle was starting again. If there was one thing Erinna could count on, it was that once the Weeping Queen made an entrance to her nightmares, she wouldn’t go away that easily.
The last time she saw her was the last time she’d felt her Talent. Now, ten years later, both were coming back. Why now? Why was all of this happening now?
Her mind swam with a mixture of fatigue and adrenaline.
Her gaze drifted to the mark on her forearm.
It was too much to be a coincidence. Somehow, the curse and the resurgence of the Queen, her nightmare, were related.
Were all the afflicted stuck in nightmares of their own?
Was she just the lucky one who got to wake up?
“I’ll get some tea.” Inez was out of the room before Erinna had a moment to protest. She groaned, pressed her back against the wall, and tried to settle into some sort of normalcy.
The Weeping Queen was not a stranger to her, but deep down, she could feel the small prickle of Talent.
A sleeping serpent that finally woke after years of slumber. Erinna didn’t care for it.
“Rise and shine, stowaway!” The thin walls barely buffered Lila’s voice. Erinna startled awake from her restless slumber and quickly checked the space beside her. The mat where Inez slept was empty.
Erinna rubbed the sleep from her eyes and scrambled to prepare for the day. It felt unreal to her. Like she was in some sort of nightmare or a test in the afterlife to determine the heaven or hell she deserved. Her family was cursed, and she was working with a pirate to find answers.
She looked at her hand, remembering that feeling of arcanum as they made the deal.
The sensation was carved into her memory.
Erinna had heard of deals like that. Magical pacts of compulsion.
They were much more common in the north.
That was what her father said. Pacts like that were deemed a vulgar misdirection of magic, according to the academy.
But she was also something vulgar and tainted, according to them. Fitting, she supposed.
“Kane says you’re on ship duty.” The woman watched from her towering height as Erinna pulled on her boots.
“I guess you’re on babysitter duty?”
Lila rolled her eyes. “Trust me. It was far from my first choice.”
“What about Inez?” asked Erinna, trying to swallow the growing sense of unease. Inez’s safety was assured, but Erinna hoped she was being treated kinder than she was.
Lila didn’t stop her stride, just cocked her head over her shoulder to respond. “She’s on foraging duty for the most part. Once Cap is sure she won’t break apart like a glass doll.”
“Good, good.” Erinna was relieved to hear they wouldn’t make her do anything strenuous.
The sun glinted off the crumbling walls of the courtyard, devoured by the imposing walls of the Fort. Slivers of exposed steel from Lila’s numerous blades caught the light, making Erinna wince internally.
“She your sister or something?” Lila asked, scanning Erinna from head to toe.
“Inez? No.”
“So, a good friend then? Or cousin or something?”
Erinna shook her head. “She needed help. Didn’t deserve that fate.”
Lila gave Erinna a knowing look. One that almost looked like acceptance. “Very kind of you.”
Erinna shrugged. “It’s what needed to be done.”
Lila’s eyes narrowed as she bit her cheek in thought. “I still don’t like you.”
Erinna’s mouth ticked up in amusement. “Feeling’s mutual.
But I respect your suspicion. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn’t like me either.
” She could understand Lila’s predicament.
Erinna was a stranger, a risk. A cursed Tarthan with no loyalty to the crew.
She would be against having her around as well.
But Kane had extended Erinna grace, and once she managed to fix her remaining witchstone to his mast and wheel, they would all see she was worth the trade.
Erinna eyed the large iron doors that barred their entrance.
Fort Solitude was part military building, part library.
The large tower was located in the center, surrounded and reinforced by a navy-built stronghold.
Seeing it in daylight, Erinna could understand the difficulties.
At first glance, it was clear that the only way to get to the library was through the fortress.
“You can’t seriously be here for that as well?”
Erinna turned her attention back to Lila. “Is that so surprising?”
“I thought you Tarthans worshiped the Chancellor. Isn’t it heresy to steal from him?” Her curiosity was warranted, and she was absolutely correct.
“Mage or not, he was still just a man. A man with a lot of power who turned the other way when the Synod of the Everdawn and the Royal Council started snatching up children.” Venom coated Erinna’s words.
A few days ago, she would have thought twice before speaking her distaste out loud to another human being. But Lila was a pirate, and from what Erinna could tell, not a fan of the island nation. What Tarth did with aberrants was a poorly hidden secret at best.
“Hmm.” Lila gave an approving nod. It was the closest Erinna would get to a compliment, and she would take it. “Let’s go. We don’t have all day, and you’re already wasting time.” Lila spun on her heels with Erinna trailing close behind.
The Hellish Rebuke was a fine ship, roughly the size of a brigantine, a bit larger, and well managed with the number of people she saw around camp.
There was something familiar about the build; it was an older style of vessel with hints of alloyed silver that lined the hull in thin wisps like a maritime bracelet.
The ship was outfitted for the north, or for sirens. Silver, she heard, was a good deterrent for creatures that dwelled in shadows and darkness.
Large gouges on the side and breaks in the rail on the deck were the external indications of rough water. Not even the famous scourge of the sea made it through Talon Bay unscathed.
Fortunately, the sharp, jutting rocks failed to pierce through completely, but the structural integrity was severely compromised.
High on the mast, a black flag flapped in the wind. The dark fabric bore two swords bisecting a dragon skull, stitched with deep red thread.
“Will I be starting above or below?” Erinna asked as they boarded the boat. Erinna could swear that half the crew was already onboard and scurrying across deck, running back and forth from the hold.
Lila snorted. “Oh no, no, no, Brax is our carpenter and very territorial. You’ll just be taking those trinkets of yours and fitting them wherever you please.”
Erinna balked. Lila could not have lived under such a large rock that she would dare consider witchstone a trinket. Lila waved her arms around in a gesture Erinna could only assume meant, Do what you have to do and make it quick.
There was only one stone she could work with, and choosing the right area was crucial.
Erinna walked from stern to bow, Lila always five steps behind as she toured the ship.
Sun poked through overcast clouds, glinting off the churning water. Erinna scanned the rest of the crew, watching as they scurried about the ship with a myriad of duties. “Does anyone else on the crew have a Talent?” she asked.
“Kane and Asher are the only ones who can harness arcanum.” Lila paused, as if wondering how much to divulge. “Scout is strong enough to be considered magical, but he can’t formally weave arcanum.”
Erinna nodded and had the sense that there was more Lila could divulge. It would take time.
“Can I go below? See how you’ve set up operations?” It was a huge ask, but Erinna figured she had to try. Lila quickly shook her head in response.
“I don’t know exactly what you and Cap agreed to, but for now, you stay on deck and away from places you can hide.”
Fair. Mast it was.
Asher could use all the help she could get. Erinna would imbue the stone into the wood, which would give the stormsinger a well-earned focus for her casting.
Erinna weaved through the bustle as crew members raced across the deck. A man bellowed from below, scattering a few people like a flock of birds. That must be Brax, Erinna surmised. Apparently, he commanded in grunts and yells as he requested supplies and aid.
Erinna itched to join, hoping that the carpenter would make his way back above deck so that she could at least bear witness to his craft. Only when Lila cleared her throat did Erinna realize she had drifted off in thought, staring at the hatch that led below.
“Sorry, just curious.” Erinna turned her attention back to the large wooden structure in front of her. The headsail and mainsail had been stored while the boat was docked. Though it was clear the intention was to ensure the boat was ready to sail at a moment’s notice.
She dropped her pack with a thud and rifled through the borrowed tools. At least they had decent tools for her to work with.
“The trick is to merge the stone with the wood, not to force it.” Erinna recited the advice her father had given her. Lila yawned, clearly not as interested in the craft as she was.
She pulled the witchstone from her bag. The midnight-blue material was cool in her hand and thrummed with potential.
Erinna was still surprised at how high the quality was.
She would expect nothing less from an item in Ivan Kellori’s personal collection.
Erinna let her mind drift briefly to the family and wondered if they made it safely to the Initian Islands.
Guilt churned lightly in her stomach. She had hoped to return the gift if their paths ever crossed again.
Erinna pushed the growing feeling aside. There was no other option.
She proceeded to grab a small carving knife and could hear Lila shift positions behind her. No doubt ready to pummel her should the need arise.
“You have to treat the stone more like a living thing than a shiny rock.” Erinna continued and gulped down the rising doubt.
She warmed the stone between her hands, praying for its assistance.
This was not part of the instructions, but Erinna hoped that somehow the magical stone could sense it and not put up a fight.
She had only seen her father do this a few times and assisted once.
In her desperation, she grew arrogant. She would make it work. She would figure something out.