Unexpected company lingered in the doorway, and their unannounced arrival instinctively sent me reaching for the blade still strapped to my thigh.
“I’d rather not,” they hummed, raising their arms in surrender. “I am not here to harm. I am here to help.”
An indistinguishable accent clung to their words, something light that overlapped with sharp articulation. It wasn’t anything I’d ever heard before, at least not in our realm.
Those from Veilmar spoke with rhythmic melody and elongated vowels. Thornebay and Velispar residents often dropped their r’s when speaking too quickly; otherwise, the crispness of their tonality gave away their residence. And those traversing the lands of Hollowmere enunciated with deep, throaty resonance, a darkness clinging to each syllable.
But this person…
It wasn’t just their speech patterns that were different. It was their eye-catching appearance.
With their skin a light blue and a mix of periwinkle, they appeared otherworldly. Speckles of white freckled their cheeks, nose, and forehead, further highlighting their flawlessness. No irises or pupils in sight, their eyes emanated a glowing cornflower hue as they swept across my bedridden frame.
Running a hand through their frosty locks, their lilac tongue darted out to trail over their lilac-colored lips. “I suppose your unease is warranted, considering you don’t know where you are or how you ended up here.” They turned their head to the side to glance at the countertop, an elongated, sharp-tipped ear slipping into view. “But I can promise?—”
“What… What are you?”
Their dark brows lifted with a lack of amusement. “Is that how the rest of you humans do things? So… ill-mannered?”
Shaking my head, I swallowed. “I-I… No, I’m sorry. I just… I’m unfamiliar with…this,and I apologize for my abruptness. I never meant to insult you.”
Laughing, their sharpened canines caught the light seeping in through the porthole. “I was joking. Though I do appreciate your willingness to correct your behavior.”
I watched as they nudged themselves from where they stood, only a couple of inches separating the top of the frame from their head. They had to be at least Caspian’s height, if not taller.
Caspian…
Slipping into the space, the fluidity of their clothing earned my focus. The fabric of their deep purple pants whooshed with each step, breathing life into the room. And while the cobalt linen shirt adorning their frame seemed rather simple, as soon as they stepped into the light, the sparkles interwoven in the fabric danced across the wood with liveliness.
With my best friend still heavy on my mind, the query slipped from me before I could stop it. “I… Um, where are we exactly?”
Long periwinkle fingers wrapped around a stool, and with one tug, they slid it beside my cot. Settling onto it, they craned their chin toward me, and my breath nearly caught in my throat. Sure, they were stunning from a distance. But closer up? Utterly breath-taking.
“I think what you meant to ask is whereyouare.” Reaching forward, they brushed against the gauze, testing my tolerance before continuing. “And the answer to that question would be with Alastair Seridean, the captain of theScarlet Tempest.”
The admittance slithered beneath my skin and burrowed into my bones, challenging everything from perception to factuality. I thought I’d seen him while I slipped in and out of consciousness, thoroughly convinced that I’d slipped into some dreamscape that laid out my mistakes before me. But what I thought I saw had existed withinthistimeline, and Alastair Seridean had…
He’d saved me.
“But why?—”
Before I could pose my query, booted footfalls sounded down the hallway just outside the door, and Alastair rounded the corner.
Light bruising peppered his cheekbone, staining it a deep purplewith a spreading yellow outline. Carving through his bottom lip, a harsh red line split through soft tissue, undoubtedly the mark of one of Caspian’s blows. The low-cut linen shirt he wore made it impossible to tell if any further injuries lurked beneath, but even the minor visible ones were enough to make me smirk.
“Happy to see you’re alive, Kao.”
“Happy to see he finally beat some sense into you, Seridean.”
He scoffed, folding his arms over his chest. “If you want to toss shit at me, that’s fine. I have no issue passing you back to your crew as soon as we port in Serevalen.”
In Serevalen?
“How long have we been at sea?”
The corner of his mouth curled upward as he positioned himself at the foot of my bed. “Oh, now you want to be friends?”
My fist collided with the cot, and it proved to be enough of a hint at my anger for the medic to slip away from me. “Enough bullshit. Where is Caspian? What is the end goal?”
