Aleka set down her goblet and drew a finger around its rim. “She has this stretch of water very well mapped. It’s deep and free of obstacles.” She gave me a keen but not unfriendly look. “It’s not until we draw nearer to Anthemoessa that things will turn treacherous.”
I shook my head, hoping to dissuade her worry. “I’ll keep the ship safe then.”
Aleka’s brows rose in agreement. “Despite the way this morningended, the captain’s faith in you seems to have been restored after your spell. She said the boat pointed in the exact right direction.” She gave me an approving nod, though I couldn’t tell if she mocked me with it. “I myself am most eager to see how you overcome the sea monster.”
Halla knocked the wine flagon into a nearby glass. “The what?”
My grasp on the stem of the goblet Halla had set before me tightened as Aleka gave her a measured, assuring look. “I saw it with my own eyes. Decades ago. But never fear,” she said. Her gaze cut to me. “We have a Goddess among us.”
I tilted my head, disbelieving. “A sea monster?”
Markis snorted and took a deep swig of his wine. I couldn’t get a measure of Aleka or how she regarded me. She was as neat as her high, pressed collar, and just as unflappable. It unsettled me more than Markis’s lascivious and outright dislike.
Halla’s color was already off, seeing as how the ship bobbed like a cork, but she went paler. She fixed her unblinking eyes on Aleka. “You have been to Anthemoessa before?”
Aleka twisted her goblet. “Oh yes. Twice with King Athan.”
“Tell me of it.” Halla leaned in, despite her obvious fear. “And of its monster.”
Aleka’s laugh was prudent and throaty. “I have no better word for it thanmonster,but I cannot say for certain that its intent was malicious. Or that it spawned from malevolence. I suppose a monster is named by those who have cause to fear it.” Her dark eyes slid to me again and held. “But for this story, the namemonsterwill do.”
She took a sip of her wine and said, “Now, King Athan was quite an exuberant adventurer, and while on a trip for Della decided to make a hard turn west to explore the ruins of Ligea’s castle.”
I went still as I listened.
“My, the king was young, and so was I, so rather than give himadvice to remain on the ship, I found myself standing on the main deck, watching him and some crew row a launch boat through the jagged outer reef of Anthemoessa and into the black water of the lagoon. All seemed well at first. He got nearer to the ruins situated on the shore, but just as they got close to the sand, something curved through the water and knocked violently into the boat’s hull. It tipped, and one of the crew fell overboard.”
I hung on to the marshal’s every word, as did Markis, but I couldn’t help but notice that Halla was truly riveted. I wasn’t sure that she breathed. Her hands were so tightly interlocked that they’d faded to the color of parchment.
Aleka took another sip of her wine.
“Go on,” Halla whispered when Aleka tarried.
“That sailor was lost to the sea,” Aleka finally said. “He never broke the surface again to fight or gasp for air. He just… disappeared. The monster that haunted the lagoon wrapped itself around the launch and tried to pull King Athan down too. On the ship, the crew and captain scrambled to send more launches to save him—our harpoon cannons were useless so far out. In the end, it was King Athan’s strength and acumen with a sword that saw the monster injured enough for the men to free themselves and row back to the ship and to safety. He never tried to explore the ruins again, claiming that the thing he’d fought in the water wasunnatural.Not entirely a creature of the sea—”
“What was it, then?” Markis asked, dubious.
Aleka shook her head. “He refused to say. But he declared the blighted island to be truly dead, truly impassable, and said its only inhabitants were dangerous, inexplicable, and not to be disturbed.”
Halla shook her head, looking terrorized and awed.
Markis ran a tense hand over his beard and gave me a scathing look before he downed the remainder of his wine. “Lovely.”
I finally took a swill from my own glass, but it did nothing to help the churning of my stomach. “That’s a thrilling story,” I said, forcing a smile.
Aleka shrugged a shoulder, her air placid. “Perhaps, Your Majesty, you will discover just what lurks in Anthemoessa’s waters and slake our curiosity once and for all.”
Wonder had joined the trepidation in Halla’s rounded eyes. She looked to me. “You must have your own stories of the island, don’t you? It being your mother’s queendom and all?”
Halla had no idea that I likely knew as much about my mother as she did. I was in no mood to tell her. “I’ve never been,” I said glibly, scooting back my chair. “If you’ll excuse me.”
She reached out and grabbed my hand. “Please.”
Whatever look she saw in my eye made her straighten and pull her hand from mine.
When she spoke again, it was with a lilting, unassuming softness. “I have thought about why you came for me,” she said. “About what my mother has done, and what you said when we were in your cabin. How you need my help. Your spell was rather…” Her blue eyes searched mine, as if even the memory of the spell was remarkable. “It was impressive. Only Eusia has proven such power. I was taught there was no other like it in the entire realm. I know now that was a lie.” She looked wounded and her shoulders sank with regret. “I will help you when we reach Anthemoessa. I do not wish to see Eusia, or my mother, continue to cause harm. But I find myself fearful of the magic. How it differs from the power of your Gods and Goddesses. I thought learning some before we arrive might help.”
Incredulity rushed through me as I realized how unguarded and sincere her gaze had become. She meant to help me perform the spell, and though it sent relief rushing through me, I kept it hidden. It wouldn’t be wise to reveal the depth of my desperation.
