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When Kallie scooted backward on the saddle, Graeson jumped up onto Calamity, somehow remaining graceful despite the energy he had already exerted.
He reached to his back and pulled out her dagger. Kallie froze. Did he distrust her so much that he felt the need to threaten her to cooperate? Even after what she had learned last night?
"Prove to me you won't stab me in the back, little mouse."
Kallie eyed it, hesitating.
She did not trust him, nor he, her. So why did he offer her a weapon she could use to kill him? It had to be a trap. A test to see if she was stupid enough to challenge him after he killed a handful of men with the hunger of a wild beast.
He quirked a bow. A test then. But Kallie had made her choice a while ago.
She would stay with them. She would learn from them. But she would not trust them.
Not yet. Not when so many of her questions still danced in the air with nervous energy.
Kallie gingerly took the dagger from him. She ran her fingers across the surface of the blade, the old language still clear:You are the holder of your own fate.
A reminder.
And a warning.
Her choice would either be the end of her or the beginning of something new. But either way, it was hers to make.
She only hoped she had made the right one.
Chapter17
Two days had passed.With the threat of soldiers searching for Kallie, they rode in silence once again. As a result, no one had given her any more information. Although she had not bothered to press the issue, knowing it was pointless to do so anyway.
The paranoia that had accompanied them had only drifted away once they had made it to the dock where a boat waited for them. Upon their approach, the captain, a man who went by Squires and had a stocky build, greeted them. It was clear that the others were well acquainted with the captain when the tension diminished, and smiles lit their faces for the first time since the fight with the Ardentolian soldiers.
She had been told the journey to Pontia by sea would not last long—about two days. And Kallie didn't know if that was a blessing or not. Traveling exhausted her, paranoia wore on her. But the weight of the answers to all of her questions across the Red Sea threatened to drown her. And despite her stomach flipping when she stepped off the unstable wooden boards and onto the boat's deck, Kallie knew she couldn't turn back. She needed to face whatever awaited her in Pontia.
It was her first time on a boat. During one trip to Kadia, she had seen a ship in the process of being built. But this boat was smaller, though still sturdy in appearance. Before now, she had never needed to board one, and her inexperience was as clear as the sky to the captain upon meeting her. However, Captain Squires dismissed her concerns, then quickly told her about the first time he had stepped on a ship when he was a child. Apparently, in a matter of minutes, he was taking the wheel and navigating the dangerous waters. Now, he preferred the company of the water over people. And that much was clear by his rancid stench of fish and rum seeping from his pores. The smell was sickening.
As Kallie stood at the helm next to him while the boat ventured further from the shore, the captain continued his prattling, oblivious to her uneasiness. He went on about the importance of having the right mindset and so forth.
Then Kallie got sick all over his boots. He shut up real quick after that.
Now, as noon approached, Kallie clung to the railing alone, knuckles stark white, afraid to move as the small passenger boat rocked from the waves. Her stomach sank further into itself. On ground, she could run. On ground, she could retreat. But here, despite the vast ocean before her with no end in sight, she could only go as far as the edge of the boat. And each strike of the wave against the ship was a reminder of the cage surrounding her and only fueled her sickness.
Shealmostwished they were back on the horses.
Kallie wasn't used to sea travel—and apparently wasn't made for any sort of long-distance traveling if this journey was any indication. Nerves were not an unfamiliar companion to her. Whenever she had an upcoming assignment, the nerves would buzz in the pit of her stomach. On one occasion she had traveled to a village a day's ride away from the palace. The village was overseen by a lord who had been complaining a little too loudly about his dislike for the crown. To test her ability, King Domitius had sent Kallie to manipulate the man. It was the first time she had traveled such a distance for one of the king's tasks and the pressure had turned her stomach sour.
But the nerves she experienced now were incomparable as they rattled her bones.
Footsteps approached and Kallie's fingers flexed as she tried to get a hold of the returning sickness.
"Thinking of jumping?" All too familiar with his voice, she simply groaned at Graeson. She did not trust herself to open her mouth—for more reasons than one.
He chuckled as he leaned on the railing beside her. "Well, if you were thinking about jumping, don't. The creatures below are far worse than those above."
"Why?" Kallie asked, the word quiet on her lips. She spared him a glance, noted the smirk on his face. He was making fun of her. Annoyed, she stared back at the sea.
Although she dismissed him, Graeson continued, "According to the stories, a Kraken guards these seas."
Kallie rolled her eyes. “A Kraken? Really? “Do you think me a child?”
