“Astraeus.”
He raised his dark auburn eyebrows at me andwinked. These fuckingmenand their inability to have a conversation without throwing a gesture like that into it… Fine. Just fucking fine.
“Now that I think of it, I only need what’s left of your crew to sail theHydrato Lotrennia.” I crooned, leaning in close. “This was a courtesy, as it is your ship after all. But I have no more patience for your games. You may stay here if you wish.”
I turned on my heel to leave.
“Wait, Bonscaíh,” he groaned, and I moved for the door.
“Wait!” Astraeus called, his voice echoing off the icy walls. “For fuck’s sake, it’s a deal.”
“Swear it,” I said, turning around slowly.
“Fine,” Lord Astraeus dropped the venison in his bound hands and held them up, grungy palms facing me. “I swear it.”
“Swear an air oath to me.”
Lord Astraeus’s hands lowered as he raised an eyebrow. “An air oath?” he asked quietly. I nodded at him.
“You know what that means, right?” he said softly, “We’ll be bound in our own way. Until our last breath.”
I held his gaze in confirmation, refusing to balk beneath the weight of his dark eyes, but a pang of guilt slipped its claw into my chest.
“You’ll need a wind whisperer.”
“Way ahead of you.”
Snow crunchedas I slid the icy door open, and Carina’s small silhouette darkened the entryway in the dimness of the evening. Lord Astraeus kept his dark eyes on me as I led Carina to the hearth. Orange flames danced along the blue ice of its watery walls, and for a fleeting moment, I marveled at the meeting of the two extremes, at the unexpected balance. My eyes slid to Astraeus, the skipping light casting a golden glow against the pirate lord’s sharp features.
Carina eyed the captain with disgust as he stepped next to her and held out his hands. I pulled Honor from my boot and cut Astraeus’s bounds, the blade slicing through them like water.
Lord Astraeus pulled his gaze from me and settled it on Carina. He sketched a low bow, murmuring “Princess,” as he straightened. Her lips formed a thin line as she held her wrist out.
He slid his fingers around the rubelline cuff, and Carina let out a sigh as the red glow vanished and the white cuff clanked to the floor. I tucked it inside my coat before turning to Lord Astraeus.
“Are you sure about this, Lyvia?” Carina asked, voice low in warning.
“Aren’t you going to ask me?” Lord Astraeus took a step closer to me. Carina narrowed her eyes at him and backed up a step.
“I’m sure,” I said, nodding at Carina. Her eyes searched mine for a moment before finally shaking her head. I stepped up to Lord Astraeus, bristling at the memory of my proximity to the queen, and craned my neck to look up at the man. His beard, overgrown and crusted with old blood, hung just above my head.
“You’ll need a stool,” Carina murmured.
“What?”
“It’s an intimate ceremony,” Lord Astraeus purred as he gazed down at me. “We need shared air, sharedbreath, for the magic to work.”
“I know that. I’ve done this before,” I snapped.
“Eye level.”
I slid my gaze to Carina, and she nodded her confirmation. She dragged over a log meant for the hearth, and I hopped on.
Little flecks of gray danced in Lord Astraeus’s dark irises as I met him at eye level for the first time. And something in them brushed against my mind. Why did they look so familiar…
Carina cleared her throat and steepled her hands before murmuring the spell beneath her breath. Her lilac wind spun through the small space for a moment before it stilled, as if suspended in the natural air of the ice chamber.
The flames in the hearth quieted, listening carefully to the next words. She nodded her head toward Lord Astraeus. Iturned back to peer into his dark eyes as he said clearly into the dimness of the chamber, “I, Lord Astraeus…”
