Page 27 of Ballad of Sea and Sky

“She wants to see Nordhavn,” Astraios said, gesturing to me like I was a rather irritating animal who wouldn’t leave him alone.

“Does she now?” drawled Caspian, who was looking at his papers with so much focus that he didn’t even bother to look up at me. Zephyr was standing at his shoulder, and she caught my eye with a raised brow. “And why exactly does she think I will grant this request?”

“Sheis right here,“ I pointed out, tired of being spoken about in the third person. I coughed once and quickly smothered the urge, not wishing Caspian to see my weakness or use it as an excuse to keep me on board. “Andshethreatened to scream bloody murder if you won’t let her off the ship.”

“Did she?” Caspian asked, still not looking up. “Why do you want to see it, Urchin? Are you planning on running?”

“I won’t run,” I promised, letting a slight cough through to lend credence to this vow. “Or swim. It’s too far anyway, and it would be a stupid escape plan. I promise to stay with whoever you appoint to guard me and I won’t tell anyone I’ve been kidnapped.”

“How can I possibly take your word for that?” Caspian asked, still paying more attention to the ledger than to me. He made a notation with a feather quill, closing the book and finally looking up expectantly.

My stomach made a strange swooping sensation as our gazes met, his golden eyes piercing as he scanned me. The sculpted muscles of his chest were completely distracting, and I gave myself a little mental shake as he lifted a brow at me.

“Why?” Caspian pushed, his gaze still fixed on mine. “Why do you want to see an inconsequential little port town?”

“Because I—” I cut myself off, afraid I was losing leverage with my clear eagerness to go ashore. But Caspian was looking at me with genuine interest, and I still felt a strange pang of guilt after our conversation the night before. I took a breath, determined to get the words out. “Because I’ve never seen anything but my island,” I confessed, trying to ignore the surprise on Astraios’ face and the pity on Zephyr’s. “My whole life I’ve been kept safe on a single island in the archipelago, and this is the first time I’ve been anywhere else. If I have to be your prisoner, at least let me see what I’ve been missing all these years.”

“And what will you give me in exchange?” Caspian asked, his expression unreadable as he continued to study me. “Aside from the threat of screaming, which frankly would entertain me more than anything else, why should I waste manpower on protecting you when I could lock you in my room and be done with it?”

I clenched my jaw, determined not to ruin this opportunity with my temper. From the slight tilt to Caspian’s lips, he knew my threat to scream all day was an empty one.

“I willaskmy father to listen to you,“ I conceded, speaking slowly to make sure I wasn’t misunderstood and so I could focus my breathing. “I can even write to him, if what you say about being able to communicate with him is true. I can’t vow to support your claim, but Icanask him to listen.”

“Interesting,” Caspian said, raising a brow as he glanced at his first mate. Zephyr shrugged, as if unwilling to commit her opinion on the matter, and Caspian’s gaze returned to his ledgers. “Very well. I’ll be done in twenty minutes. Meet me at the gangplank then.”

“Meetyou?“ I asked, my excitement and happiness fizzling at what I thought he was implying.

“Of course,” Caspian replied, looking up with a feral grin. “If you’re going ashore, Urchin, it will be with me as your guard.”

Caspiantookfarlongerthan twenty minutes, and by the time he was finally done, the fog had already begun to melt away in the morning sun.

Most of the crew had gone ashore, flapping into Nordhavn as fast as their wings could take them. Caspian might have called the little town “inconsequential,” but there seemed to be a great deal of activity on the shore, and the town appeared to sprawl far off into the distance.

I coughed a bit as I waited, but I was able to mostly keep the stinging pain of my lungs out of my mind as I anticipated seeing the town. My legs were also aching, the desire to dive into the bay and be part of the sea almost overwhelming, but that would have to wait.

“Shouldn’t you put on a shirt or something?” I asked as Caspian approached, one hand running through his hair as he strode purposefully toward me.

“Does my bare chest distract you, Princess?” he quipped, giving me a feral grin that made my stomach swoop again.

The deep gash across his pectoral was more pronounced in the light, but I rolled my eyes, pretending to be unaffected. “Hardly. Will Zephyr be joining us?”

The jovial first mate had joined a game of cards and was making the males groan as they pushed all of their coins towards her. She looked up and gave me a wink with her good eye before turning back to the game, a grin on her face that told me she would be takingallof their money.

“Not today, Urchin,” Caspian replied, looking amused as he headed down the gangway ahead of me. He turned back with another grin. “One of us stays aboard the ship at all times. Usually it’s me, but as you know, I’m on babysitting duty.”

I sighed. I would have liked the bubbly first mate to join us, as Caspian seemed to be in a teasing mood, and I wasn’t totally sure I could trust myself with him.

“Don’t you like visiting the port towns?” I asked, following after him as fast as my slightly too big boots could take me. I was a little disappointed we weren’t flying into town like the others, but I supposed Caspian’s wings must still be healing.

“They’re all the same, Princess,” he laughed, turning to walk backwards as he spoke. “We come to trade and sell, and sometimes pick up passengers. None of them will ever compare to home.”

“And where is home for you?” I asked, wanting something more than oblique references and cut off statements. “I assume, if I’m staying indefinitely, I’ll be seeing it at some point?”

“I’ll be blindfolding you, when the time comes,” Caspian replied with a wicked grin. He turned back around, and in the light of the morning I could make out several long scars down his back, similar to those across his chest. I was trying to work up the courage to ask about them when he unexpectedly took my hand.

“What are you—”

“Lest you think I’m a complete fool, Urchin,” Caspian said, holding our linked hands before me with a look that dared me to protest, “I will not be letting you out of my sight.”