Chapter 6 Jax
Chapter six
Jax
“Ialso need to study you,” the sorceress said by way of continued greeting. “You were the touch point for the curse, after all.”
Straight to it, that one. Couldn’t even let a man enjoy his dinner. I’d known many people from the northern isles, and even had a dozen or so in my broader crew of Carabosse, my flotilla of ships. They could be blunt, it was true.
Something about Sofie’s directness, however, made me itch as though I were beset with sand fleas. Though she was seated at the table, already tucking into another fine dinner by Mr. Smalt, she might as well have been physically prodding me.
It was her eyes, I decided. Her blue eyes were like a cold northern river in hue, and just as unwelcoming. She could’ve been part siren for all I knew. The ticking clock of the curse didn’t exactly give me time to get to know my wives first.
I brushed her off with a low chuckle. “I said you could study the crew. I never said you could study me.”
“I’m fairly certain you did.”
I sat myself down at the captain’s table, grimacing at the intimate feel of our private dinner and the dancing lantern light of the cabin. It suddenly felt too warm in here.
“Now’s not the time.” I took the seat across from her. “It’s been a long day.”
“Oh? Why don’t you tell me about it, husband? Because I am here to listen to your privateer’s woes like a dutiful, caring wife, and not to break this curse for you with my years of training and considerable skill, after all.”
“Pirate.”
Her red brows contorted. “What?”
“I’m a pirate, not a privateer, thank you very much.”
“What’s the difference?”
“If you don’t know, I despair of our future together as husband and wife.”
“Droll.”
“I’ve been known to amuse a woman or two in my time.”
“By making them laugh at you? I could see that.”
That made me laugh, a snort from the nose before I could stop myself. I scratched at the bearded underside of my chin. “At least you won’t be boring.”
“Because that’s what matters here. You not being bored by your cursed wives.”
I arched a brow at her. “Something tells me those weren’t the answers you wanted. Or even the questions you meant to ask. I’m flattered that my good looks have so distracted you from your work.”
A visible ripple of irritation ran through her as her hands tightened on her knife and fork. I followed suit—albeit without bending any of the previous captain’s good silver—and tucked into Mr. Smalt’s little feast.
It was hardly the first time I’d shared a meal with a new wife. But something told me it would prove more…invigorating than many of the others.
We would either be on to something by the end of it, or despise each other. I sort of looked forward to seeing which it would be.
“So?” I prompted, speaking between hearty bites of food. “If you have questions, you must’ve discovered something about the curse.”
“Quite a few things you left out, in fact,” she replied in a clipped tone.
“It’s not my fault you keep asking the wrong questions,” I answered nonchalantly, “or no questions at all.”
Sofie’s face reddened so much, I thought to ask whether she was choking. Much to my relief, she spat, “It’s not as though I volunteered to join you in this curse. I’m doing the best I can.”
“What standards your Dewspell Academy has!”
At this rate, she was going to turn purple. As she formulated her reply, she slowly set down her silverware, one at a time, then took her napkin and dabbed at her lips, every movement intensely controlled.
It was a little bit terrifying to watch.
And sort of attractive. Sort of. I’d never had a prim and proper princess of a wife. I had to admit, there was something appealing about trying to unravel all that tight control and sweep her off her feet.
Not that I was looking for her to be a wife in earnest. This marriage only needed to last as long as it took to break the curse. Romantic nonsense had no place in this arrangement. Besides, I’d already had a wife who’d won my heart.
I doubted there would ever be another.
“I suppose it’s easy to sit there and make jokes at my expense when the curse protects you,” Sofie finally ground out. “You’ll have to forgive me if I’m less jovial, now that I’ve learned the Bride will personally be coming after me.” She fixed me with a glare. “Care to explain?”
“What’s to explain? I already told you the curse led to the deaths of the other wives.”
“You didn’t tell me the ghost of the Bride herself would be after me! Something which must only be possible because her death magic was that powerful.“ She shook her head. “If she was a draugr, maybe, or had some other kind of physical presence in this realm, it’d be more likely. But a ghost?”
“Back up a moment. A what?”
”A draugr.“ Sofie wrinkled her nose at me. “The walking dead.”
“What a charming place Aegle must’ve been to grow up in.”
“To be fair, I only lived there until I was”—she hissed out a breath, catching herself. “Could we please stick to the subject of the murderous ghost?”
I waved my fork in the air. “This curse is aimed at preventing me from securing the treasure. If it were so easy for a wife to obtain it for me, I would’ve had one wife to last a lifetime, not nine short-lived arrangements.”
“You’ve had nine wives?”
I frowned at her. “How many did you think I had?”
She mirrored my expression. “Four or five?”
“I’ve been cursed for seven years. That’s a wife for each year of the curse, plus two who thought they knew better.
One thought she could take the treasure for herself and her actual lover.
The other was driven mad by nightmares of the Bride and decided I was the problem.
The Lady de Gorm dispatched her after she attempted to stab me in my sleep.
“ My mood was souring as I recounted those two cases, both women who’d signed on eagerly and changed their minds quickly.
In the case of the former, I sometimes regretted giving Aoki a second chance.
He was the one who’d alerted me to Nadia’s scheme, waking me from the deep sleep spell she’d put me and the rest of the crew under.
She was our only other magic-wielding bride —though she was a novice compared to Sofie—and he claimed himself bewitched by her.
I never believed him. He was hardly the first man to turn into a fool over a pretty woman.
The irony of it all was that I would’ve given them my blessing, if she’d secured the treasure for me.
With her magical skills, she’d survived the Bride’s attempts to drain her life.
I thought she’d be the one who could reach the Queen of the Sea.
I planned to steal it back from her when she returned. Instead, when she didn’t reappear, the crew and I searched the Hidden Isle.
I found her dead just inside the Bride’s cave.
Aoki was with me. I thought that punishment enough for conspiring with her, finding her lifeless, broken body like that. It brought dark memories of my own to mind.
So I gave him one final chance, and pitied his state. His grief had him convinced he’d seen the Bride in the cavern when no one was there. He swore it to this day. But if he betrayed me again…let’s just say I’d forget my forgiving nature.
“I need details,” Sofie said, clearly irked by my sudden lapse into memory. “How does the Bride attack? Is she visible, or is it all done through the magic of the curse? Can you feel when she’s close?”
“I never feel a thing,” I said. “And neither do they, from what I can tell. Some of the Brides simply…don’t wake up.”
“The Bride attacks while they’re sleeping?”
“She’s brave like that.”
Sofie snorted. “Bravery has nothing to do with it. It makes sense for a spirit presence to only be able to invade dreams, especially if her death magic is otherwise occupied in protecting you and your crew and forcing you to comply. Which brings me to another issue.”
“Can’t wait to hear it.”
She stared at me, one brow slightly lifted, as if to show me she was unimpressed. “The crew is protected, but not your wives.”
“That would spoil the Bride’s fun.”
“There’s something to this,” Sofie said, rapping her fingers against the table. She picked up her silverware and began to eat again. “She wants to punish your wives just as much as you. I’d wager it has to do with the reason she cast the death curse in the first place.”
“Do her reasons matter?”
“They do if I want to unravel the curse.” She frowned. “I suppose that doesn’t interest you, since you’re convinced it’s unbreakable.”
“It is. Otherwise, I’d have turned myself in to Dewspell ages ago and spared my previous wives.”
Sofie studied me across the table, chewing thoughtfully. My scalp tingled a little, being scrutinized like this. I couldn’t tell if I liked it. “You mentioned there’s a bounty on you at Dewspell. What for?”
“They haven’t posted my face everywhere for you all to admire? That’s very disappointing.”
Sofie rolled her eyes.
“In between cursed runs to the Hidden Isle, I’ve always had a penchant for raiding ships to and from Dewspell. Magical objects and ingredients always fetch a fine price at market.”
“I suppose that makes us enemies, then, since I’m sworn to protect the Academy,” she said, a hint of slyness in her voice that I appreciated. “Are you sure you want to share this cabin with me?”
“You’ve already cursed me a second time. And unless you’d rather sleep out in the elements…”
Her response came quickly. “The floor will do fine. Though I would prefer the bed.”
“How forward of you, wife. At least romance me a bit first.”
She glowered at me. “I meant with you out of it.”
I flashed my teeth at her, hoping there was a bit of spinach between them. “When you become a captain, you’re welcome to the captain’s bed. Till then, I’ll retain my rightful sleeping arrangement. Anything else you wish to know?” I asked, hardening the edges of my words.
“Why do this?”
Her question surprised me. “I don’t think I understand what you’re asking.”
“Why go after the Queen of the Sea? Powerful objects are always dangerous. An object purported to have been crafted in the world of monsters would be foolish to chase. And that’s without the Bride’s death curse.”
I shrugged. “I’m a pirate. Going after treasure is what I do. The more powerful the better.”
“That can’t be it.”
“Of course it can. I’m very shallow.”
She belted out a “ha!” that surprised me for a second time.
“Somehow I doubt that,” she said, cutting her carrots into dainty little pieces. “I’m sure even your schemes have schemes.”
I clapped a hand over my heart. “At last, another wife who understands me.”
I was rewarded with the faintest hint of a smile as she continued to dine.
I’d thought that the end of the conversation, until she said, “If we must share a cabin, we need a few ground rules. No leaving your clothes around; I like a tidy room. You will give me adequate privacy—as in waiting outside the cabin—so I can wash, change and see to my biological needs when required. I’ll do the same for you.
And no removing my trunk. The remainder of my things stay with me. ”
“Anything else?” I purred, faintly irritated by her tone. It was as if she assumed I’d agree just because she said it.
“If you even think of coming near my side of the cabin, the Bride will be the least of your worries.”
“To be fair,” I replied, sitting back, “she’s currently more your problem than mine.”
“I can handle her.”
“I wouldn’t underestimate her.”
“Let me worry about that,” she said, “something I can better do if I don’t have to worry about you.”
I offered her my most innocent look—which, to be fair, was probably not terribly innocent in appearance. “I’ll be the perfect gentleman.”
“Thank you.”
I took another bite of food, intentionally speaking as I chewed. “Remind me, what do gentlemen do again?”
Her nostrils flared—not in irritation, but in amusement.
Well, then. I’d daresay she and I just might get along.
If the Bride didn’t get in the way first.