Safire lifted it to her face, squinting at the carved word.
Skye,it read.
Safire frowned at the name. But why she was surprised, she didn’t know. Eris was a thief. Of course the spindle was stolen.
“And then you can fly to the southern tip of Axis Isle and make sure Asha’s safe,” said Dax.
Safire looked up, startled. “Is that where she is?”
“Torwin sent a message the night you went missing. I’ll show you the letter. It should be easy to find.”
Those words pricked her. If Asha was easy to find, then if Eris ever got free...
At that thought, Safire realized it had been a while since she’d checked on her prisoner.
Gripping the spindle hard in her hand, Safire pushed away from the taffrail. “Then as soon as Eris is safely locked away in the empress’s prison, I’ll find Asha and warn her about Jemsin.”
Safire was still thinking about the spindle as she headed for the cabin Dax had designated as hers. She remembered her first encounter with Eris. She’d bumped into her, disguised as a soldat, and the spindle had fallen to the floor. Safire picked it up and handed it back.
The second time, in Safire’s bedroom, the spindle was there again. Safire had seen it in Eris’s hand before she disappeared.
Clearly there was some connection between this spindle and Eris’s disappearances.
What is it?
As she stepped through the doorway and into her cabin, two soldats greeted her. In the center of the lavish room stood Eris.
Dax wanted to put her in the brig, where Kor and his crew were currently confined. Safire prevented it, remembering the look in Kor’s eyes that night on his ship. Criminal or no, she didn’t want that man anywhere near Eris.
Now, in an ironic swapping of places, Eris’s manacles were chained to one of the beams above her head. But the look of pain on her face made it difficult for Safire to gloat. She quickly glanced to find the girl’s wrists raw and bleeding.
Stardust steel would take three days to eat through human flesh, Eris had told her.
How many days had passed?
Almost two.
Safire’s stomach twisted at the realization. But they were nearly in Axis. As soon as they made port, she would make sure they found a metalsmith who could take them off. It would be safer and smarter to head straight for the empress, but those cuffs were a perverse kind of cruelty. And Safire didn’t abide cruelty. She would just have to keep a close eye on Eris while they made their detour.
“Leave us for a moment,” she told the soldats.
As they stepped out, Safire shut the door.
“You royals sure travel in style,” Eris said the moment they were gone. Her voice had a lazy, mocking edge as she looked around the room. “The upholstery in here alone could pay to feed a starving village.”
Safire looked around her. The cabin was decorated with lavish furniture made of dark wood and upholstered in rich blues and purples. Portraits hung from the walls, and on the table, silver goblets rested beside a decanter of wine.
Eris tilted her chin toward the bed. “And I bet those silk sheets—” The words died on her lips as her gaze fell on the object in Safire’s hand. Something desperate flashed across her face.
It was the confirmation Safire needed.
“First you say you burned it,” said Eris, her eyes meeting Safire’s. “Then you say you buried it. That’s twice you lied.” Her lips curved in a slow smile. “Looks like I’m starting to rub off on you.”
The comment rankled Safire. She didn’t respond. Just grabbed the chair from the desk and turned it around, sitting down before her captive.
“I have a theory,” she said as she tossed the spindle up and down. Taunting Eris in the same way Kor had. “The rumors say the Death Dancer is uncatchable.” Up and down went the spindle. Eris never took her eyes off it. “They say she can escape any cell. That she walks through walls. That she eludes even death.”
The next time the spindle landed, Safire’s fingers closed around it. She looked up to find Eris’s gaze intent on her face. “Not so long ago, I watched you disappear before my own eyes. And now, here you are.Caught. What’s the difference between that night and this one?”
