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His voice is right in front of me, and I gasp. My eyes snap open to find Rian right there on the opposite side of the rigging, his fingers hooked in the same web of ropes. He’s not clinging for dear life like I am. He looks like he could stay up here all day.
“It’s possible I was too bold,” I say, and he smiles.
“No,” he says. “Just bold enough.”
My fingers refuse to unclench. “If you could have meals sent up, I’ll just stay up here for the rest of our journey.”
He laughs. “That wouldn’t make for a very good story.” He looks up. “You’ve only got another ten feet.”
I take a deep breath and look up.
He’s right. It really only is about ten feet.
“Either way,” he adds, “you have to climb up or climb down. Ten feet won’t matter if you fall.”
I huff a startled laugh. “Well. That’s reassuring.”
“I thought so, too.”
But in a way, itisreassuring. I take a deep breath and fix my eyes on the individual strands, then move my hand up to the next stretch. And then another. And another. A minute later, my hand grasps the crossbeam that holds the sails, and I’m gasping, partly terrified, partly amazed. I still can’t make myself look away from the solid objects right in front of me. Just a stretch of wood. Just a few ropes.
It takes me a minute to realize I actually came up here with ajobto do, and I trace my eyes over the lines. I feel a bit foolish, because Rian is obviously going to do the same thing, but my heart is pounding from the opportunity to do something wild and dangerous again. Wes and I spent so much time hiding from the night patrol and scurrying down darkened roads, while these last few weeks have been interminable palace meetings and measuring dosages with physicians and charting efficacy rates.
Wes.
I thought of Wes. Not Corrick.
Without warning, the memory makes my eyes sting. Of course Corrick can’t slink through the shadows and steal Moonflower from the Royal Sector anymore. The rumors are already wild enough. He could never go back. I don’t even know if he’d want to.
I blink away the emotion and study each individual rope. At first, they all look the same, but then I realize the second one from the end has a bit of a twist in the line.
“There!” I call, pointing. “I think that one is—”
I break off with a gasp when I realize Rian is right in front of me again, on the opposite side of the ropes.
He’s staring up at the line, too. “That one is all right. Just the wind.” He pauses and turns back to me, only a few inches of space between us. His eyes are lighter than Corrick’s, a blue so faded they’re gray. He studies me. “Good catch. I’m impressed.”
I feel my cheeks warm. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” He pauses, and wind whips between us. “Look out from the ropes. The view is worth it. I promise.”
I hold my breath and cast my gaze to the left—and he’s right. The sea stretches out in all directions, the sky a fading purple overhead. Below us, the main sails billow out, hiding much of the deck from view. From up here, it’s like I’ve climbed a ladder to the heavens.
“It’s like flying,” I say.
“When I was a boy, I thought the same.” His smile turns a little sad. “My father used to say that if I wasn’t careful, I’d catch the right gust of wind and find myself in the clouds.”
He misses him. I can hear it in his voice. I wonder how long the former captain Blakemore has been dead, and how long Rian has had to play emissary—or spy.
Before I can ask, he has a question of his own. “Will Lochlan be a problem, Miss Cade?”
I look across the web of ropes and shake my head. “He hates Corrick—” I catch myself and wince, wondering if I need to be more formal now. “He hatesPrinceCorrick, but I don’t think he’ll be a problem for the ship.” I hesitate. “He said he used to take summer work around the docks. He might be willing to help, too. If you’re shorthanded.”
“No—I meant, will he be a problem foryou.”
Oh.
“I don’t know,” I say quietly. I inhale to say more, but my tongue stops on an explanation. I’m not entirely sure what I’d say anyway.
