AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Tug!”
They pull the barrels from the water. I hear them bounce onto the deck. Another line is thrown down to help Riden and me up.
As we step onto the deck, we’re met with the sounds of slurping, swallowing, laughing.Laughing.
They take turns, sharing freely, passing cups around.
And when they’re done, they have me surrounded. Hugging me, clapping me on the back, murmuringsorrys andthank yous.
“I couldn’t have done it without Riden,” I say, and then they leave me to surround him.
Niridia catches my eye, and I stride over to her. She scratches at the bandage over her left hand.
“Captain, I apologize,” she says. “I shouldn’t have argued with you in front of the crew. I shouldn’t have spoken so directly, I—”
“Don’t you go calling me ‘captain.’ Not right now,” I say, hugging her.
She lifts her head from my shoulder, looking behind us. “The fleet is gone.”
I grin. “That’s because I took out theDragon Skull’s rudder before Riden and I left.”
“Of course you did.”
I would love to stay and celebrate with the rest of them, but I’ve been up all night. “I’m going to sleep. Keep things running out here?”
“Of course.”
***
I hear them out on the deck, their laughter and singing. Someone else must pull out Haeli’s lute and strike up a song. It makes my heart warm to think of how they’re honoring her. By keeping what she loved most alive.
I’m so tired, still fully dressed in my corset and boots. I take off the latter and pad over to my wardrobe.
Knocking.
I hope Niridia doesn’t have bad news for me.
“Come in,” I say, searching for some nightclothes.
I stop when I see not Niridia, but Riden enter my bedroom.
“Aren’t you tired?” I ask him. I’ve had the sea nourish me for hours today, so if I’m sleepy, he must be exhausted.
“I don’t think I could sleep right now,” he says.
“Why not?” I step away from the wardrobe, face him.
“I can’t stop thinking about what we’ve been doing together.All the practicing. Can’t stop wondering why it’s me that keeps you human.”
My heart pounds heavier in my chest, but I shrug. “One of life’s mysteries,” I say.
I turn my attention back to the clothing in front of me, but his footsteps grow closer.
He stops before me, putting himself between me and the view of my clothes. Suddenly, any desire for sleep vanishes.
“I think you have an idea,” he says. “Why won’t you share it with me?”
“I don’t know why,” I whisper.
