“Don’t you dare accuse me of cheating, Vulcan Vetiver,” she quipped, shoving a pointed finger in the elf’s direction. “Luck is always on my side.”
“Don’t worry, Cantor,” Vulcan replied, giving my brother a nod. “I’m tired of sparring anyways.”
Aeriden’s shoulders sagged, and he shot me a relieved look. He stood and cracked his knuckles, turning toward one of Kellan’s crewmembers.
The two moved to the center of the deck. Aeriden hopped on the balls of his feet before getting into position. A strange collision of warmth and regret mingled in my chest as the game of goddess gift continued. My heart squeezed at the sight of my brother melding perfectly with the rogue band of pirates and my elven friends. But my thoughts sliced to the last game I’d watched onboard theHydra… To Vienah and her betrayal, her sentence.
Guilt twisted in my stomach. She’d been a friend. And she’d traded our secrets to King Saros, resulting in the deaths of thousands in Odessa. Nearly a hundred at Demon’s Door. And the hasty advance on Aedrialis.
But Saros had her family. Would I have done anything different?
I watched my brother fly across the deck, slapping away a jab before slamming his fist under the chin of the hairy pirate, sending him tripping to the ground. A chorus of cheers erupted as the pirate tapped the deck twice.
I would do anything for my family, but I’d like to think I would have found another way.
I sidled up next to Isla, who sat with her legs crossed and held the dice out in front of me.
“For luck.” She raised her dark eyebrows and winked as she jiggled the dice.
I huffed a laugh and blew on them before she flicked her wrist, and they bounced across the deck. Two eyes peered out from the triangular faces as if gazing upon the clear, starry sky above.
Low laughs rumbled throughout the crowd as Isla snatched up the dice once more. Raek moved toward us. His knees hit the deck as he leaned in and stretched out his hand.
“Bones,” the first mate commanded, with a smile dancing on his lips. The word was soft in his Votruvian accent.
I frowned, and he tilted his head, noting the expression.
“These aren’t made of bone,” I corrected him, picking up the dice and examining them before Isla could hand them over. “These are definitely stone.”
Raek chuckled. His shaggy ginger hair bounced, and his sea green eyes warmed in the soft glow of the lantern.
“Notbones,” he said before taking a long drag of his enderleaf blunt. “Bonsin Old Votruvian.Mine.”
I blinked, my lips parting as something tapped at the back of my mind. Raek snatched the dice out of my hands before rolling them between his and shooting them across the deck.
“Cantor.”
My face snapped to the quarterdeck at the name, where Kellan gestured to my brother, now pulling the tunic over his head to wipe the sweat from his face.AeridenCantor.
I tilted my head as I watched my brother jog to where the pirate lord stood waiting, a blade held out in front of him. Kellan’s eyes caught on mine from across the deck as he waited. I’d been hesitant about my brother joining the crew of theHydra. He’d eventually planned on returning to Aedrialisand taking his role as the kingdom’s horse lord, but there was something pleasing about him settling in so quickly with the crew.
Kellan’s gaze lingered on mine, reluctantly pulling it away as Aeriden rounded the corner. I caught a wide grin on my brother’s face as he took the blade from the pirate lord. I craned my neck to make out the blade and gasped when I spied the elaborate horse head hilt.
My father’s blade.
Had they found it in Nivis?
My stomach twisted as a rush of bloody images flooded my mind. Memories I kept locked down seized the moment of weakness. Numbness crept up my throat and into my lips as another recent memory pounced.My hell.I watched myself carry the fortissa chain to where my father lay, broken and bleeding, near-death in the queen’s old chambers of the Crystal Castle…
“Are you all right?”
Isla’s voice cut through the fear and anguish, and I was pulled from my hell and thrown back on board theHydra. Her hand had clasped around mine. Her dark brows pinched as she leaned into me.
I swallowed and blew out a breath.
“Yes, I’m fine,” I murmured, and I glanced up to find Kellan’s concerned eyes on mine from on top of the quarterdeck. “I’m fine,” I repeated, more to myself.
Isla opened her mouth to reply when an earsplitting shriek rippled up from the side of the ship. Silence stretched across the deck as the crew stilled, each man and woman with hands on their weapons, eyes on their captain’s invisible shield.
