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Graham’s voice came to me, but my ears pushed it away to avoid letting more noise into my brain.
After a moment, I looked back at him. “What was that?”
“I asked how soon we’ll see Ash Island.”
“Before the end of the day,” I said.
“Your father didn’t write as much about that island as the others. Are there a lot of people there?”
“No,” I said. “According to rumor, they like to kill each other off in competition for the island’s limited resources. And according to fact, they’re Cambria’s most dangerous criminals. I’d never go anywhere near there.”
“I’m realizing that people are rarely as heartless as we make them out to be.”
I looked over my shoulder at him. “These people are different. They’d murder their own mothers. And some of them probably did.”
“But you haven’t met them,” he said.
“No. And I don’t want to.”
He shrugged. “Maybe they’re not that bad.”
“Trust me. Even with your charm and good looks, they’d roast you alive.”
One side of his mouth turned up. “Good looks?”
I tried to laugh it off to hide my embarrassment. “For a noble.”
His smile expanded to both sides of his mouth. “Thanks.”
My anxious fingers twisted through my hair. “Don’t get a big head over it.”
“Speaking of looks,” he said, “your hair is lighter.”
I abruptly pushed my hair behind me. “That’s what happens when you’re on a boat in the sun for days.”
“Yes, I know.” He took a step back and tilted his head, analyzing me. “But it’s quite a difference. I wouldn’t even call it brown anymore.”
“Well, look at you,” I said. “You’re not the pale, perfectly groomed gentleman I met in the library.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment.”
His open smile was an invitation, but I couldn’t suppress my anxieties enough to accept it. Time to change the subject.
“Have you missed your family?” I asked.
Graham rubbed his scruffy chin. “I’m ashamed to say I’ve been trying not to think about them.”
“Too painful?”
“Partially.” His eyebrows furrowed. “Definitely, when I think of my father. Do you think he’s still alive?”
“Yeah, I do.” I wasn’t sure why, but I believed it.
“I want to be by his side when he leaves this world. I need to be at the shore to say goodbye when his body is sent away on the pyre. To know he’s been set free.”
Something pricked at my eye. I looked away, out at the water and sky, trying to focus on anything I could to fend off the guilt and sadness.
“But I haven’t been mourning all this time,” he said. “How could I, when my life finally has some excitement? I could never be too sad while spending my time with someone like you.”
