Into the silence of the room, the ship creaked.
The hunger drained out of Kor. Something far more dangerous rushed in to replace it. He shoved Eris, who fell back. From the corner of her eye, Safire saw the girl touch her throat, then study the blood on her fingertips.
Kor crouched down before Safire now, his face level and so close with hers she could see the open sores of his freshly burned skin. “Let me tell you something about Jemsin’s precious Death Dancer. That girl there?” He nodded toward Eris. “She’s an enemy of the empress. Seven years ago, she set fire to a temple full of people. Half of them children. Not a single one of them escaped.”
Safire drew away from Eris.What?
She’d known the Death Dancer was a thief. But amurderer?
Eris’s voice went taut as rope as she said, “Who told you that?”
Kor rose to his feet. “An eleven-year-old girl burns down a temple, killing dozens, and manages to escape the hordes of Lumina tracking her? Manages to elude them forseven years? There’s no ordinary girl who could do that.” Linking his hands behind his back, he began to walk in circles around Eris. “And then there’s the strange matter of Jemsin sending you away whenever he meets with the empress. As if he doesn’t want you seen by her.” Kor stopped circling and looked down at the topof her head. “I put the rest together myself. I’ve been putting it together for a while now, in fact. I intended to keep your secret... but then you burned down theSea Mistress.”
Safire looked to find Eris staring hard at the floor.
“It was Leandra who came to our aid. She’s the one who lent me this ship.” He waved his hand at the room around them. “If I bring in her fugitive, she’ll give me a reward big enough to buy an entire fleet of ships. Do you know what that means for me?Freedom, Eris. No more living in Jemsin’s shadow. No more coming and going like a dog. Soon I won’t just be captain of my own ship, I’ll be captain of my ownfleet. And thenIwill be the fiercest pirate on the Silver Sea.” Kor made a fist. “So you better pray to that god of yours tonight. Because tomorrow we reach the Star Isles.”
Safire’s head snapped up.The Star Isles.That was where Asha was. Which meant that once they reached the islands, all she had to do was escape and find her way to the scrin.
A tender spark of hope lit her up.
Eris went very still beside her.
“That’s right,” Kor smirked. “I’m handing you over to the Lumina.”
Safire found a ghost of a girl staring out through Eris’s eyes. At Kor’s mention of the islands, the color had drained from her face.
The boat rocked. The nausea swept through Safire again and she planted her hands on the deck, trying to shake it.
The girl named Rain hauled her to her feet, then marched her up the steps, out into the storm and across the slick deck,then down a narrow hall. Rain threw her into a room the size of a closet, then tossed Eris in after her.
The moment they locked the door, the ship rocked again. Safire’s stomach roiled. She reached for the wall.
“I...”
I’m going to be sick.
Eris looked at her sharply. Right before Safire threw up.
Thirteen
Safire spent the night wanting to curl up and die. Eris spent it banging on the door, demanding a bucket. Finally, they gave her one. And now Safire clung to it, vomiting up her dinner—the apple, then the herring, then the wine-soaked bread. She vomited until there was nothing but bile coming up, and all the while, Eris held back her hair in her fist.
Finally the sea settled, and with it, Safire’s stomach. It smelled acrid now in this tiny room, lit only by a single lantern high up on the wall. Safire was pretty sure they were both sitting in her vomit. She shook with exhaustion, and her throat felt raw.
Somewhere above her, she heard Eris banging on the door again. This time, demanding water. She heard the creak of the door swinging open, followed by the exchange of barbed words. Then the warmth of Eris returned to Safire’s side, pressed up against the wall.
Eris uncorked the jug they gave her and passed it over. “Drink.”
Safire took the jug, tipping it back and gulping the cool water down.
“Why did you do that?” Eris asked.
Safire wiped her mouth on her wrist. “Do what?”
Eris stared at the wall straight ahead. “Back there. With Kor. He was going to punish me, and you drew him off. Why would you do that?”
Safire heard the things she didn’t say:Why protect me after I kidnapped you and delivered you to the deadliest pirate on the Silver Sea? After I had you tortured?
