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At the bottom of the stairs, I’m surprised when both guards take up stations in the narrow hallway. More than that: Kilbourne raps at the door of the quarters the guards are sharing, then orders a sleepy-eyed Silas to stand at the top of the staircase and keep watch.
“I’ll get the salve and leave it with Rocco,” I say to Corrick.
“I’ll wait,” he says, and there’s something in his tone that reminds me of the way he insisted that Mistress Woolfrey not make him a new drink.
He’s unsettled. That says more than anything he said to Rian on deck.
I swallow and nod and slip into my quarters. When I return with a satchel of supplies, Corrick is there waiting. I offer him the bag, but he gives me a look, then opens the door to his own quarters.
“Come in, Miss Cade.”
I step past him into the room. Only two lanterns are lit, so the room is dim, and his eyes are shadowed, only revealing blue irises when the lanterns flicker.
Now that I’m here, I’m not sure what to say.
I jerk my eyes away from his and set my bag on the table, fishing through it for my salve. “I’ll take care of your hands and leave you in peace,” I say quickly. “Just let me—”
“I don’t care about my hands,” Corrick says. “And I don’t want you to leave.” He pauses, his eyes holding mine intently. “If you don’t want to be in my presence, I’ll join the guards in the hallway. But I’d rather not allow you out of my sight.”
I frown. “Why?”
“When the captain speaks of my vulnerabilities, it’s very clear what that means.”
A cold spike of fear pierces my chest and lodges there. I don’t know how to respond. This is like that moment in the carriage, when Corrick was afraid of Lochlan using me against him.
That was different, I said.
Was it? How?
It reminds me of another moment, the first night I had dinner with Corrick, when Consul Sallister himself threatened to cut off the supply of Moonflower to the entire Royal Sector. Corrick was smooth and assured, then, too.
Who just yielded?I said to him.
He did, but it looks like I did, Corrick replied.And that’s what’s most important.
I think about that moment he grabbed my arm on deck. The way he told Rocco and Kilbourne to stand down. The way the crew laughed when they thought he couldn’t handle a little rope burn, when I’ve seen Corrick grit his teeth and not make a sound when a literal needle was stitching his skin back together.
“You pretended to yield,” I say softly.
“Yes,” Corrick says. “I know what men are capable of when they feel they have no other choices, Tessa. He is very worried about those ships.”
“I don’t think he would hurt me,” I say.
“I certainly won’t let him.”
His voice hides the promise of violence, and I shiver again. “Maybe this isn’t about the ships at all. Maybe he’s angry that you keep demanding to know what’s in that room.”
“I have a right to demand it. The captain is hiding something, and I haven’t yet decided whether it’s worth the risk to force his hand.”
“Just like you hid the ships!”
“I didn’t send those ships,” he says. “And as much as it might pain you to accept this, Captain Blakemore may be in charge of this vessel, but he is not in charge of Kandala or Ostriary. He is a means to an end.”
“It looks like you lied.”
“If I’m responsible for every moment of suffering in Kandala since the assassination of my parents, thenlyingshouldn’t come as much of a surprise.”
I study him in the darkness. His voice is cool and smooth, the voice of the King’s Justice, but I’ve known for a while how many masks he can wear. He’s been so sharp and prickly since we climbed on board this ship that I’ve been judging him the same way.
