Chapter 1 #2
“Hardly mocking. More like amazed. I’ve never seen or heard of someone puking so much before, and that says a lot, seeing as how I’ve drunk copiously with sailors of all stripes.” He passed her and headed up the steps towards the bridge.
Avera trotted after him. “What are you planning to do with me?” she asked as she shadowed the captain. The so-called Griffon chose to speak to the sailor handling the helm instead of replying.
The captain remained as handsome as ever, a tall and rather wide man with dark hair and a swarthy complexion—features the Verlorian people were known for.
He moved to a map on the wall where another of his crew listened as he pointed and traced a route with his finger.
The commanding display only increased his attractiveness, much to Avera’s annoyance.
She sidled close enough to see where he indicated. “Is it true you’re taking me to Saarpira?”
“Yup.”
“Despite knowing I want to go to Verlora.” The destination given to her by Opal who’d tasked Avera with retrieving the five stolen stones needed to keep Zhos in prison. An impossible quest to start with, and now this captain seemed determined to make it harder.
“I ain’t going there. Not today. Not ever.” Understandable, considering the continent was known to be impassable. It was said that those who went to investigate never returned.
But Avera didn’t have a choice. She either found a way to Verlora, or an ancient foe would escape its prison and destroy the world. Not that Griffon believed it when she told him.
“If you won’t take me, then I’ll find someone in Saarpira who will,” she tartly replied.
“Not likely, so don’t waste your time trying.”
“You can’t know that for sure,” Avera huffed.
“Pirates are about profit and there isn’t any in Verlora. Nothing but death awaits there, so yes, I can state with assurance that you won’t find anyone who will agree to take you.”
The finality in his tone deflated. So much for her previous optimism. “In that case, I demand you return me to Seaserpent Bay at once.”
“I thought you didn’t want to be arrested as a traitor?”
A reminder that her throne had been stolen from her by Benoit, her late mother’s husband.
A man who’d not only plotted and had her entire family killed, but also machinated to the point where he made Avera an outcast in her own country.
The past weeks had been hard. Between the assassination of her mother, the former queen, to her brief stint as monarch, to discovering an ancient evil stirring, and now the kidnapping, Avera couldn’t seem to catch a break.
“In that case, there is no other choice. You must transport me to Verlora.”
He snorted and finally cast her a glance. “Never.”
“But you must. I have to go there,” she insisted.
“How many times do you have to be told Verlora is a death sentence for all who visit?”
“When was the last time someone went?” she asked as she followed him from the bridge back to the main deck.
“A while.”
“Then perhaps things have changed.”
He whirled so abruptly she slammed into his chest. His very wide and solid chest. He didn’t try and catch her as she bounced off it and landed on her rump.
She glared up at him. “I hate you.”
He arched a brow. “I don’t care.”
“Why won’t you tell me why you’ve really abducted me?” While he’d given her a reason before she found it less than satisfactory.
“Who says I need to have a reason? But since you won’t stop nattering, as far as I’m concerned you are a commodity.
The question being, who will pay the most to acquire the last of the Voxspira line?
I hear the Emperor of Merisu is looking for a new consort.
Marrying Daerva’s disgraced queen might appeal to him, especially since he’s been looking to expand his territory. ”
“You mean conquer Daerva,” Avera huffed as she rose to her feet.
“I thought you wanted Benoit removed from the throne?”
“Not by having a foreign country invade,” she muttered. Never mind the fact she’d toyed with the idea of hiring mercenaries to help her oust the pretender.
“What happens won’t be up to you, little queen. As of now, you are my property and I will decide what happens to you. Although, keep annoying me and I might simply decide to feed you to a kraken.”
“Krakens aren’t real,” was her surly reply.
“Said by someone who’s obviously never sailed the Eastern Seas.”
“Wait, you’re saying they exist? You’ve seen them?” her curious nature couldn’t help but ask. After all, in the past few weeks she’d seen many a thing she’d once thought impossible.
“Aye, and I don’t recommend it. Even the babies are deadly.”
“You survived,” she pointed out.
“Barely.” He walked away, and she didn’t think twice to follow.
“What would it take to convince you to take me to Verlora?”
“Nothing will ever make me return,” came his flat reply.
“When we spoke before, at the chapel”—before he’d kidnapped her and established himself as the bane of her quest—“you asked if the stones I’m after could have caused the problems in Verlora. Don’t you want to find out if that’s the case?”
“No.”
“What if it fixes things, though? Makes Verlora safe again,” she asked as he descended the steps and went to the last door at the end of the hall. She caught the panel of wood before he could slam it in her face. “You can’t ignore me.”
“I will when you speak nonsense,” he snapped, whirling on her. “How exactly do you think you could fix Verlora when no one else, even some incredibly gifted scientists, couldn’t?”
“Opal said—”
“I don’t know or care who Opal is or what she’s managed to convince you of. Verlora is lost and nothing can change that.”
“If you believe that then what’s the harm in dumping me there?”
“I won’t risk my crew getting close and that’s final.”
With that, he slammed the door in her face.
Avera pursed her lips.
That didn’t go well. However, he wasn’t the only one who could be persistent.