He chuckles. “I’ve seen worse.”
He holds my hair tighter as I thrust forward and throw up again.
There is a knock at the door as I settle back into him. Having someone to lean on feels nice, so I guess it’s not all bad that he’s here.
Sallen comes in with a tray and sets it on a table near the bed. “A few ginger cakes and lemon-spiced ginger tea. It’ll help with your stomach.” He comes and squats in front of us. “I should warn you both, we will be hitting a storm in a few hours. One of the crew gets these intense headaches when a storm is nearby. He’s an odd one, but he ain’t never been wrong.” He smiles at me. “If you think you’re sick now—” He catches a look from Iann. “Anyways, you don’t mind if I steal your chap for a moment? Need to speak to him about something.”
I wave my hand and lift myself up so Iann can leave.
Chana stumbles in after the men get out. “Deean lied,” she says and then crawls into the bed. “This is not going to be fun.”
Getting myself up, I sway with the waves and try not to focus on the movement. I manage to make it to the tea Sallen left behind. The cake sounds disgusting right now, so I take two swallows of the hot liquid.
“Here. Drink some,” I coax Chana, as I work my way to her without spilling a drop.
Her nose scrunches at the scent but she sips, then she and I take turns until the contents are gone. Once finished we throw ourselves into the bed and under the covers.
“How did you know his name is actually Deean?” I ask.
“I know everything.” She moans and rubs her forehead. “Plus, he confessed it to me at the party.”
“You knew before me?”
“I guess. I was unsure what to do with the information, so I kept it a secret. He was pretty drunk when he told me. Something about going to the Queen felt wrong.”
“I understand,” I whisper. “And I was worried about you.”
“I was worried about me too.” She laughs. “You all thought I was asleep, but I heard everything.” She turns her head to look at me. “Did you know Sky and Vera like to use his workshop as a personal getaway? Imagine hearing those two going at it and you can’t move. Good thing I was only out for a couple of days.”
“Oh no!” We laugh together, the tea seeming to have settled our stomachs.
“You and Iann though”—her words cut out, and for a moment I think she’s fallen asleep—“I approve.”
“Thanks for your approval.” I release a bit of a forced chuckle.
She changes the topic and tells me stories about her home. How much she misses thornberry tarts and her mother’s spiced rabbit stew. Most of all she misses her family. A younger brother and sister she hasn’t seen in over seven years, since being abducted. I couldn’t imagine working for Queen Cayleen at such a young age. Chana started working as a servant, and when Morrena noticed how silent and sneaky she was, the enchantress offered her a position as a Fox. Even promised her a way out one day.
“Maybe this is her way of holding up her end of the bargain,” she says, yawning between each word.
I don’t know Morrena well, but it seems doubtful; I respond with a half-hearted, “Maybe.”
Tiredness drops on me like an anchor tossed at sea. I wonder if Sallen put something in the tea because my body becomes all too relaxed, so much so that I can’t move.
Chana releases a snore, and the control of my body gives way with it, until I slip away into sleep.
Acontinuous galling tapping pulls me out of sleep. I shoot up in bed and find Chana still passed out beside me.
The porthole of the cabin window flaps with the night’s wind and there is the distant sound of water droplets colliding with the deck.
I search the cabin for a coat and find one in a small cabinet folded up with a few sweaters. There is one I packed in my bag but I don’t see my belongings in here, or a sign that anyone else in our traveling party has been in here.
Leaving Chana to rest, I wander out onto the deck and instantly get hit with a light drizzle. I hear voices from around the corner and follow the sound of conversation along the side of the boat. I stop at some windows that lead into a bigger cabin resembling an office as opposed to sleeping quarters. Through the grungy windows, I see outlines of figures along with lit lanterns. When I enter, all attention seems to focus on me.
“Just who we were talking about,” Deean says, leaning back in a chair that he balances on two legs.
In the center of the table is a beam of light that casts a map onto the ceiling. The map they discovered.
“We were going over plans,” Iann remarks, suddenly at my side. “How do you feel?”
