Tension flooded the space. None of my assassins moved. Whatever amicable feelings Calem may have still held for this woman were gone now. The ring of mercury around his irises flared. We’d always known there was a chance Noc would be recognized without the glamour from his magic ring. To a degree, that was needed, especially when it came time for him to publicly reclaim the throne. But now, while running from the king, Yazmin, and Darrien, any acknowledgment of his heritage could be devastating.
Noc clenched his jaw. “You do realize it would only take seconds, if that, for us to kill you.”
“Oh, certainly. But then who would sail this ship? How would you get to Kings Isle?” She let out a laugh that hung in the rafters, damning us to her will. “I’m harboring a fugitive. I’m taking all the risk. If you want to go to Kings Isle, a little compensation is in order.”
“We already paid you.” Noc’s words were cool.
“You paid to board my boat.”
“Fucking pirate,” Calem muttered. “What do you want?”
“It’s always about the bounty. I assumed someone in your line of work would appreciate that.”
“We can pay you more once we return from our journey. You already took everything we have.” Shadows began to fester around Noc’s fingers. We might have been forced to play by Harlow’s rules, but he wasn’t about to let her forget just who she was dealing with.
She glanced at his hands, unperturbed, then dragged her eyes back up to his face. “You’ll have to do better than that. Grant me something only a king could.”
“Calem, I don’t know who this woman is to you, but I’m just as happy to tie her up and lock her in the bowels of the ship. We can find someone else to sail theSea Mare.” Oz moved toward her with clenched fists. Veins bulged along his forearms and raced toward his corded neck.
“Good luck with that.” She sneered. “My crew is loyal to the bone. I used to work the deck with them until the late captain met his untimely end.” Her eyes flashed. “Pity, really.”
Bile soured my tongue. Whether or not Harlow had orchestrated the death of theSea Mare’sprevious captain was probably knowledge she’d take to her grave, but she wasn’t above lording that threat over our heads. Minutes stretched by as she let us sit with that thought. None of us moved. Finally, Noc let out atskand his shadows dispersed.
“Trade routes.”
“What?” She tilted her head his direction.
“I’ll grant you access to the trade routes we plan to set up with Rhyne. They’ve already acknowledged my claim to the throne and are awaiting my announcement. Start your own fleet. Build an empire. As long as it’s donelegally, I’ll give you sole rights to transport goods to Rhyne on behalf of Lendria.”
I kept my face carefully blank, as did Calem and Oz. Harlow didn’t need to know that we hadn’t negotiated that deal yet. Truth be told, it was a safe thing to barter. If we got to Rhyne and couldn’t come to such an agreement, we’d likely end up dead, anyway. No need to worry about the ramifications of deceiving one conniving pirate. Harlow studied Noc for a long time. Folding her arms, she tapped her pointed nails against her elbows and mumbled wordlessly to herself. Finally, she extended her hand.
“Shake on it, and you’ve got yourself a deal.”
Noc shook her hand once. Harlow practically giggled, then turned on her heels and headed for the room’s only exit. “I’ve got to alert my crew of the travel changes. Keep yourselves occupied ’til nightfall. You can get some fresh air on the deck once the passengers have turned in for the evening.”
And with that, she waltzed out the door and shut it firmly behind her.
* * *
The white light of the moon bounced off the ink-black ocean waters, casting theSea Marein a pale glow. Harlow had alerted her workers to our presence—not who we were, just that we were onboard and not to be disturbed. The skeleton crew that tugged at the sails and kept the ship on course during the late hours of the night hardly paid us any mind, anyway. The air was thick with salt, and I breathed in deeply to steady myself against the perpetual rocking. Calem and Oz had pulled up a couple chairs and were feasting on bread and fish. Noc and I leaned against the rail, our hands draped over the side and fingers grazing each other’s. We’d hardly had any time alone since we started this journey. And it was far from over.
Leaning my head on his shoulder, I sighed. “How are we going to get to Rhyne, anyway?”
He planted a kiss on the crown of my head. “By boat.”
“Harlow’s?”
“No. She only promised to drop anchor and allow us to use one of her rowboats to approach Kings Isle. I’m not bartering with her to stick around—or to take us to Rhyne, in case she finds out we were less than honest about our deal.”
Oz grimaced. “That’s a long way to row.”
“Not to mention dangerous with all that open water,” Calem added.
“We don’t have another option if we want to stay hidden from Varek. He knows about our journey to the ruins, but not about this. It’s best we keep it that way.”
“At least we re-upped on some supplies,” Calem said. Before we’d boarded theSea Mare, we’d made a quick stop at the local market to pick up food, clothes, and means for shelter. All of which were now safely stored in a bag in Tok’s belly, protected in the beast realm, just in case we had to run for our lives yet again.
While we only had one ruin to go, Kings Isle was almost as treacherous as the Gaping Wound. The rocky mound jutting out of the ocean was inhospitable to both beasts and humans alike. Somewhere along that smooth, slate surface was an opening to an underwater cave where Yuna’s Ruins rested. Noc had assured us that we’d have no trouble holding our breath while swimming to it, but just the thought of being trapped underwater with immovable stone above my head made my stomach knot.
