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“Get two men. You and I will go. Everyone else will stay here.”
“Aye, Captain.”
Leon put his spyglass in a holster on his belt. “Are you familiar with what is going on at the Borderlands?”
My body tensed. Of course, I knew more than most because of my station. “Yes.”
“That,” he said, pointing to the blackened shore. “Is caused by only one type of creature, a darkthing. I don’t know what happened, but it destroyed a good portion of the land. You need to stay here.”
“What if something happens while you’re away, or what if something happens to you?”
“My crew is prepared for any type of disaster.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “And I am not so easily killed.”
While he thought I was a simple woman, he didn’t know I was a light bearer. Our magic instantly killed a darkthing but telling him that would raise a lot of questions, too many. Light bearers were rare, and the more known ones were Saol royalty, including me.
The moment he discovered I was a princess, this adventure would be over, and I wasn’t ready for that. “Okay. Please, be safe.”
He smiled. “Always.”
With only a wink, Leon left the ship with a small group. Declan came by my side, talking about the fight we just had and rambling about his thoughts on what happened to the once beautiful shoreline. I nodded politely, watching Leon’s rowboat get smaller as they reached the beach.
I continued watching until the group vanished into the darkened woods.
Sighing, I found a spot near the helm to sit and wait. For some reason, I didn’t feel like going below deck to change. My brain was trying to process everything that had taken place. How could Declan be so calm? Was being attacked a normal occurrence for them?
“Have you ever been in the crow’s nest?” Declan sat next to me.
“No. It’s very high.”
“Would you like to go?”
With nothing else better to do, I nodded.
Declan’s face lit into a wide smile. “You’ll love it.”
He grabbed my hand to pull me up, and I couldn’t help but beam at his excitement. The crew cast us a glance as we ran across the deck. Declan began climbing first.
“You scared of heights?” he said, while looking down at me. He held on with one hand.
I grabbed the rope ladder. “No.”
Declan scurried to the top and climbed in, then leaned over the edge of the nest, grinning at me. “Best hurry! I don’t plan on waiting all day.”
“You do realize that I’m in a dress which makes climbing difficult.”
He laughed. “Nah, a lass like you can do anything, I bet. I reckon you might even be able to fight in that outfit.”
When I reached the top, he held out his hand for me to take. “I can hold my own.”
He helped me over the ledge, and I had to admit, the view stole my breath.
To our right, nothing but endless water sparkling under the afternoon sun. On our left, only pieces of wood remained from the burning ship. I still found it odd that there could be an attack, and as soon as it was over, everyone went back to their duties like nothing had happened at all.
“It’s so calm.” I rested my elbows on the rim of the nest, taking it all in.
“Always like this after a big storm.”
“And that.” I motioned to the scorched beach.
