Eris frowned. There was no way that could be true.
Lila shrugged and returned to Rain’s side.
It was as the two of them turned away that Eris noticed a strange taste in her mouth.
From the water, she realized. A bitter taste. It reminded her of a draft Day used to make her drink as a child whenever she had difficulty sleeping.
A sudden heaviness crept in, flooding Eris’s limbs, making her thoughts sluggish and slow. Her eyelids closed against their will.
Eris forced them open, suddenly realizing what the taste was.
Scarp berries.
She blinked. Her vision blurred as she turned her face, looking over her shoulder to where Safire was secured on the other side of the tree.
Clever girl, she thought, just before sleep dragged her under.
Sixteen
A voice hissed in Eris’s ears as someone shook her awake.
She opened her eyes. A blurry red-gold glow flickered at the edge of her vision. Blinking, she turned toward it.
A young woman knelt over her in the dark, holding a torch made of kindling wrapped in cloth. At least, it seemed like a woman. The shape of her was fuzzy. Focusing hard, Eris could just make out blue eyes and dark eyebrows knit in a frown.
Eris reached for the girl’s name, but it was lost in the murk of her mind.
When the world started to spin, she closed her eyes to stop it. The sleep came, lulling her back into the fog....
A sudden shock of cold brought Eris back. She spluttered and sat up this time, gasping.
The world cleared a little. Looking down, she found her clothes wet. The rope tying her to the balsam was gone. But the stardust cuffs around her wrists were still there. Only now they were attached to a rope. Her gaze followed the rope to find itgripped in one of Safire’s hands. In Safire’s other hand was the empty water jug. And in the trees beyond her, Rain and Lila lay sleeping.
Safire yanked on a rope, jerking Eris’s manacles and making her wince. When Eris didn’t immediately move, Safire shot her a venomous look, clearly relaying what she wanted Eris to do: get up andnotwake the sleeping pirates.
Eris rose to her feet and instantly stumbled, still dizzy from the poisoned water. With the forest spinning around her, she stepped toward the two unconscious pirates. Safire grabbed her arm, stopping her.
“I already have their weapons,” Safire hissed.
Eris looked the girl up and down to find a dagger tucked into Safire’s belt and a knife hilt protruding from the top of her boot.
Cleverandefficient.
But it wasn’t weapons Eris needed, it was her spindle. She looked to Rain’s sleeping form, then to the leather pouch at Lila’s hip.
“If it’s that spindle you’re after,” Safire whispered. “I already used it for kindling.”
Eris froze, then spun to face her. “You didn’t.”
Safire held out the torch to show her the flame. Proof of her crime.
Eris wanted to curse this girl to the bottom of the sea. “That spindle is my—”
Lila stirred, halting Eris’s words. Both their heads snapped to look. The girl hadn’t opened her eyes yet, but she wasmurmuring anxiously now.
Safire motioned with her chin for Eris to start walking. And, because she’d rather be this girl’s captive than Kor’s, Eris did as Safire directed.
The lingering effects of the scarp berry draft made the world fuzzy at the edges. For a long time, all Eris knew was the blur of dark green, the dip and sway of the earth. She barely heard the thunder rumble above her or the wind screaming above the trees. Barely felt the rain soaking through her clothes, turning her skin clammy and cold.
