In a matter ofweeks, I had fled the only home I had ever known, traveled across the continent on foot, survived poisonous berries, reunited with my sister, and now stood on the deck of a ship for the very first time, taking in the foreign sights and sounds of the sea.
I moved across the deck as gracefully as I could in these gods-forsakenpants. Why did Lia love these things so much?
My memory flashed back to one of our many sleepovers in my bedchamber back in Isla.They make my ass look great, she had said, and I giggled at the memory.
I pivoted my torso around to get a look at my own and shrugged. “Ugh, mine definitely doesn’t look like hers,” I whispered to myself.
“It looks great to me,” a familiar voice called from behind me.
Heat rushed to my cheeks when I noticed Gage leisurely making his way toward me from the opposite side of the deck.
“Gage!” I gasped.
I took in the sight of him, his deep tawny skin and warm brown eyes. He was so handsome, with a ruggedness that the Lords of Velyra would never bear.
“My lady, Avery,” he greeted as he gently took my hand and pressed his lips to the back of it. “Apologies for not having the time to find you until now. How has your time aboard been?”
My eyes flared without permission. How could someone so carefree and joking around his friends be this charming?
“It’s been lovely,” I rasped out. “It’s my first time aboard a ship.”
Now, his eyes widened in response. “You’ve never sailed the seas? Surely a princess has seen all the lavish sights the realm has to offer.”
Embarrassment washed over me, and I cleared my throat after a few moments. “I was lucky to get a glimpse of what lay past the castle gates.”
Something that resembled sorrow flashed across his eyes, perhaps even pity. “Well, Avery…” The way he said my name threatened to force a shiver down my spine. “I would love to show you all the realm has to offer—that is, of course, if a measly second-in-command is suitable enough to accompany a princess.”
My gaze remained on his, our eyes boring into each other in the most intense yet familiar way I had ever felt. “You are more suitable than anyone I have ever met,” I answered, and his response was a beaming smile that made my heart sing.
Gage extended his arm to me. “Walk with me?” he asked, and I immediately laced my arm through his.
Darkness crept in on us as the sun set. The crew made themselves scarce across the ship, and we appeared to be the only ones near—just the two of us under the endless, twinkling stars.
He led the way as we waltzed around, arm in arm. “Tell me about yourself, Avery.”
“What do you wish to know?”
“I already told you,” he said as his steps halted briefly. “Everything.”
My heart raced in my chest. “I wouldn’t even know where to begin,” I whispered. “I’m willing to bet all the coin in Isla that your life is far more interesting than my own. I was cooped up within the confines of Castle Isla’s battlement, and there I remained until some weeks ago. Rarely allowed to leave and never allowed to explore.”
“You’re Lia’s sister. I’m sure you found ways to explore,” he snarked.
I chuckled. “That we did. Trouble often found us, but never in a way where she couldn’t find a way out of it for us.”
“That sounds like Lia.”
I blinked and looked at him. “You seem to know her so well, even as well as I do, yet you have known her for mere months—a second in time in comparison to me.”
“Lia is Lia.” He let out a laugh. “She’s been herself since the moment I met her, which she came in swinging, by the way. I’m sure you’re shocked.”
I smirked. “That certainly sounds like her.”
“Well, Zae was swinging too. Perhaps even more violently.”
Any sense of amusement fell from my face at the mention of Zaela.
“Oh, speak of the woman,” he said cheerfully, and my anger surged to the very surface as Zaela appeared at the top of the stairs that led down to the crew’s quarters.
