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“Aye . . . King Erik. Aye.” Skulleater dipped his chin and hurried off the deck.
I watched him go and wished I hadn’t. Mere paces from my chamber door, in the perfect vantage point to take in the helm, Livia stared up at me. Hells, I’d take her pitiful looks, the ones where I was nothing but a fiend in her eyes, over this. In this moment, she looked at me as if I’d taken her heart and torn it in two.
CHAPTER27
The Songbird
The realization struck before we left the ship. Erik Bloodsinger had a heart, one buried deep inside. One that felt a great deal, but one he despised. A beautiful, black heart.
Last night created a crack in the rough surface of the king. He’d taunted me, but taught me about his weapons. He’d looked around his ship with a bit of pride, as though the vessel were deeply ingrained in his soul. A part of him.
How quickly it had all changed. Had I known any mention of Thorvald would emerge from innocent conversation, I never would have uttered a word.
Doubtless, Erik didn’t want to want me. The same way I didn’t want to want him. He wanted to avenge his father, I wanted to save mine. We were the children of a war we didn’t cause and were raised to despise each other, yet . . . we couldn’t seem to manage that one, simple task.
He’d lashed out, but I couldn’t puzzle out if his fury had been aimed at me or himself. Last night, the king had seemed almost peaceful for a moment. He’d seemed to forget I was a tool, nothing more, and saw me as the girl who read tales to him.
I wanted to hate him, to guard up my heart against his brutality for the things he’d done and likely still planned to do, but with each damn sunrise a bit of my shield against the Ever King slipped.
One side wanted to curse him, kill him, watch him suffer for the hurt he’d done to me. The other saw glimpses of the boy from the dark, lonely cell. The boy who said little, but lit up just enough to let me know he looked forward to the nights I’d come and read my songbird fairy tale.
Last night, when he fought to hide a grin, when he seemed at peace describing how his contraptions were fired, the boy was there. Not lost.
Not yet. Perhaps my plan ought to change. Perhaps instead of finding a weakness in the king to exploit for my escape, I should find his heart.
“Glitter and gold, sing me home.”
“What’s that, Sewell?” Rolled furs from the Tower made a sleeping mat on the floor. I hadn’t wanted to leave Sewell, and endured his roaring nose to ensure his healing wound didn’t split during the night. I’d thought he might’ve visited Blister Poppy for healing, but I learned after we returned to the ship, the cook didn’t join us ashore at the Tower.
I didn’t know why.
Now he was ignoring me. He was still locked on whatever he saw outside. Steps pounded beyond the door followed by muffled calls for action. A horn blew overhead. “What’s going on?”
With Sewell’s attention turned away, I slid on a pair of trousers tossed near the door. They hadn’t been there last night, and I suspected Celine had been forced to offer up more of her wardrobe. She’d only delivered the bottoms. Of course, why would I need a top?
I rolled my eyes and scoured through Bloodsinger’s armoire until I found a pale top with fabric as soft as satin, but sturdy as wool. It breathed deliciously of oakmoss and rain and a hint of smoke. It breathed of Erik.
Sewell was muttering gold and glitter again by the time I stepped onto the deck. Two men stood on either side of the door. The instant the sun kissed my cheeks, meaty palms gripped under each of my arms.
“What are you doing?” I tried to break free.
They said nothing and merely tightened their hold on me.
“No.” I struggled. “Get your . . . don’t touch me. I can walk alone, and—”
“Leave her be, boys.” Tait leaned against the main mast, sneering.
“The king had us keep watch,” the man on my left grumbled. He was missing a tooth in the front, and the rest were painted black. Not rotted, but made to look as such. “Didn’t want her wanderin’.”
“Where’d she be wanderin’?” Tait reached into his linen jerkin and removed what appeared to be a paper smoke like the ones we had back home, the difference was Tait stuffed his with herbs that looked poisonous and black. Tait dragged in a long breath before blowing out a plume of ashy smoke. “There’s nowhere for her to go now.”
The two guards laughed and left me alone.
“Welcome to the royal city, earth fae,” Tait went on. “Glittering, isn’t it? Pity folk like you rarely make it out alive.”
His threat dissolved. Numb, almost without control, I gripped the rail, dumbstruck. The sunrise reflected over the smooth sea like a mirror, painting the water in soft pinks and gold. Sand, white as bone, rolled over long beaches, and a wide cove seemed designed to welcome formidable vessels like the Ever Ship.
Iridescent fins sparkled in the sunlight as they dove in and out of the tide. From beneath the water, slender hands with four knuckles and long, pointed fingernails took hold of the hull. A woman’s face broke the surface. Horribly beautiful, with hair like a raven’s wing and skin like the summer sky. Her eyes were round as an owl’s and her lips were full and dark.
