“Sorry, Siren, maybe you can’t read this one.” I throw my hands up in mock surrender. “No warming or pulling here.”
“May I?” She holds her hand out to me, palm up.
I instinctively pull my hand to my chest. I haven’t taken the ring off in years, not since it became too small for my other fingers and I had to move it to my pinky.
Elia looks at me knowingly, understanding my hesitation. “I won’t break it. I’ll hand it right back. Promise.”
That is the first promise Elia made to me, and I understand the significance of her doing so. She knows how important the ring is to me, and I’m childish to think that she would ruin it. I gently tug the ring off and place it on her palm.
Elia holds it gingerly as she goes over to the library table, digging through some of the books and other documents we’ve gathered over the past few months. Ginna gives me a puzzling expression, and I shrug.
“Aha!” Elia exclaims, tugging something out from under a large stack of books. “This should work.”
The map she spreads out across the table shows all the kingdoms in Erithia, with Ashven being front and center.
“Find Rafael,” Elia states clearly, before placing the ring directly on to the map.
Ginna, Hanson, and I all jump and yelp in shock as the ring starts spinning frantically. It moves across the map, rattling against the table, as if testing each location for accuracy. After a few more rotations, the ring stops spinning and teeters back and forth before laying flat again. Elia peers into the ring, where the name of the location is shown.
“Sevrin?” Elia glances up at us.
I frown. “That’s an island near Auros. I think it’s a pirate’s hideaway. Is it familiar to either of you?” I ask Ginna and Hanson.
“A pirate’s cove, definitely,” Hanson agrees. “That’s where Old Silvertongue said he was from.”
“The drunk man who knocked over the drink fountain at the ball last year?” Ginna asks.
Hanson snaps his fingers. “The very same!”
“Of course Rafe would be there,” Ginna whines.
Rafe always was the troublemaker, sneaking out of important meetings, avoiding dignitaries that visited. It doesn’t surprise me either that Rafe would have chosen a pirate island of mischief and lechery.
“Doesn’t matter where he is as long as we can find him, take the ring back, and leave.” My words come out steady, but my hands are trembling, and I immediately tuck them behind my back so no one notices.
“How soon can we leave?” Elia asks eagerly.
Ginna and Hanson turn towards each other, exchanging a silentconversation in a way only best friends can.
“Probably a couple days – I’ll need to pull the crew together and gather supplies,” Ginna answers. “I’d like to accompany you, as well.” Her last statement is directed to me.
I nod. “Hanson, are you okay with staying behind? Watching over the King and the rest of the Hunters?”
“Another trip I’m left behind,” Hanson jokes. “Fine by me, you know how poorly my stomach handles being on a ship.”
Hanson’s not joking about that. The last overseas Hunt we went on Hanson had spent the entirety of the trip with his head over the side of the railing. Plus, he and Rafe were never as close as Ginna and me, what with us having grown up with Rafe from childhood.
“Alright. Let’s start preparing. I’ll inform the King, and we’ll plan on leaving in two days’ time.”
Ginna and Hanson discuss logistics between each other briefly before leaving Elia and I alone.
Elia approaches me tentatively, as one would approach a wounded animal. “It’s okay to not be okay with all this.” She takes my hand and gently slides the ring back on my finger. “It would be a lot for any one of us.”
“I have to take it one step at a time.” I press a light kiss to her forehead. “Spend the next two days packing anything you might need for several weeks. Then take a bath. Read. Get some relaxation in before the trip.”
“Okay. Let me know if you need me for anything else.” Elia squeezes my hand gently before she leaves, and I’m left alone.
I hope Elia doesn’t think I was too dismissive towards her. With our relationship growing and now with the possibility of seeing Rafe again, my head is spinning out of control. I don’t want to lose the progress Elia and I have made, but I can’t say that I’m not petrified at the thought of seeing Rafe face to face again. It’ll be weeks before that happens, though, and we might not even find him. Sevrin is a big island after all. And the chances are slim that Rafe kept a ring from someone who doesn’t matter to him anymore.
