Page 45 of The Stolen Crown

“I’ve not seen anyone else, but I haven’t explored much.”

“We need to try to find them.”

Tait released me and stretched the fingers of the hand that held me. He looked out at the shore again. “They’re sea fae; they’ll survive fine enough in the tides.”

“You sound so callous about those you care for. What if they were impaled by something?”

“Then they’ll meet the gods.”

“You’re…just…” I shook my head, unable to pull out a proper insult with the thickness swirling in my head.

“I cannot sit here and crumble over my men,” he snapped. “My concerns must be claimed by keeping you alive.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Oh, is that right?” Tait reclined on his palms and crossed his ankles. “Then, by all means, get us home.”

Bleeding hells, my chin trembled. I looked away to hide the truth of emotion. “You don’t need to be cruel. I’m worried about the crew, and I think…I think you should be too.”

Tait softened his tone. “They will be fine. And if they aren’t, in this moment, I can do nothing for them. But I can do something, and that is healing the gash on your head, then somehow getting you to the Royal City in one piece.”

There was the truth of it, buried just beneath the tone of indifference: Tait was concerned. He and his men shared a bond through the Ever Ship. All of them were crewmen who sailed beneath the banner of Bloodsinger, and those positions came with trust, loyalty, and violence shared by all.

To hear the words did nothing to soothe the anguished concern over the burly souls of the crew, but Tait was right. We needed to survive, we needed to learn our location, then we might be able to work toward helping the crew.

I gnawed on my thumbnail and lifted my gaze. “You have a gash on your head as well.” Blood had been wiped away from Tait’s brow just below his hairline.

“It was a small scratch, not nearly as deep as yours.” For a moment he hesitated, then pressed a damp, slimy leaf to my brow. “Hold that for a bit.”

I took the compress and held it against my skin, thoughts whirling in my head. “You have blood bonds from being on the Ever Crew. Is it possible to—I don’t know—speak through them? Call to Erik?”

“That’s not how they work. Blood bonds to a ship and its crew only reveal betrayal, so they’re meant to keep men loyal to the king and the ship. They aren’t like a bond of hearts or anything. It might be possible for Erik to sense the death of a crewman, but if not, I doubt the king has sensed anything has gone wrong.”

Dammit. “All right. You found water. We’ll need food. How do you plan to get to the Ever? Swim?”

“I considered it,” he admitted. “But as I said, I don’t know where we are, and earth fae don’t fare well exposed to the sea for so long.”

“Not to mention a storm swallowed our bleeding ship.”

“Another reason.” Tait nodded. “These waters are dangerous and unknown. I’m not confident we’d make it before being trapped by some creature in the depths, or you getting chilled enough to fever, or both of us being attacked until we met the gods.”

It felt as though a heavy stone settled deep in my belly. “Then we’ll need to begin building some sort of boat.”

I struggled to get to my knees.

“What are you doing?” Tait shot out a hand as though he wanted to reach for me, then thought better of it.

“Going to hunt. Maybe fish. Then we’ll need to find some rope to tie logs or branches together.”

“Oh, didn’t I tell you? I keep all my spare rope and tools in the pile of perfectly planked wood I brought with us.”

I let out a huff of annoyance. “At least I am trying to plan ahead.”

“Yes, with your skull split open.” Tait placed his palms on my shoulders and pushed me back down. “Sit. Down. I will find food. I will scout the isle. Then I will plot our next steps. There is a peak in the center of the isle. I’ll be able to see better up there.”

Inwardly, I was grateful to recline again. My head felt as though a bit of the storm was trapped in my skull. Still, I pouted. “You just want to have all the fun.”

Ah, a small victory. Tait’s small, hardly there grin returned. “That’s exactly it. I might be able to signal through the tides.”