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“They have casualties.”
The swordsman’s eyes pierced through Adrian. Adrian looked away for a second, seemingly to regain his composure.
“You have any other bright ideas then, Henrik?” Adrian asked. “Or would you like to give up and go home now? I’m sure it would be easy for us to pick up another job…”
He didn’t finish the sentence, but it seemed he didn’t have to. A wave of pain fluttered across the swordsman’s face for a brief moment before he shook his head sharply. Not saying another word, he hung his sword on the wall.
“Allow me to properly introduce you, princess,” Adrian said to me. “This is Henrik, my first mate and older brother, who is constantly disappointed in me.”
“I don’t blame him,” I replied. “I’ve known you for twenty minutes, and I don’t have high hopes for you either.”
Adrian shoved his tongue in his cheek, turning back to his brother. “Well, she’s awake now. Can you do it?”
Henrik sighed in irritation and shook his head.
“Only on a full moon,” he said. “I told you this already.”
“Isn’t it all the same? A moon is a moon. It’s almost full. Maybe the spirits can’t tell the difference.”
“And this is why the spirits don’t like you.”
I couldn’t hold in my laughter. “Spirits? What exactly are we discussing here? Ghosts? Fairies?”
They looked at me with cold eyes, then at each other.
Henrik nodded to me, but spoke to Adrian. “She doesn’t believe in magic?”
Adrian shrugged. “So far it’s the only thing we have in common.”
Henrik sucked air through his teeth and nodded slowly. He approached me, grabbing my arm and looking at it from my elbow to my wrist, the same way Adrian had earlier. The difference was that Adrian had looked at my skin like he wanted to devour it. Henrik looked at my arm as if he was a doctor examining it for surgery.
Henrik eventually spoke. “I suppose it doesn’t matter whether or not you believe, Mademoiselle…?”
“Esmeralda.”
“Mademoiselle Esmeralda,” he finished. “Your blood will point us to the Eros either way.”
He dropped my hand and looked me over with disinterest. How rude. I straightened my hair in pride.
“So when is the full moon again?” Adrian asked with a yawn.
“Six days,” Henrik replied.
Adrian threw back his head and groaned. “So I gotta entertain this thing for a whole week?”
“Your problem, little brother. Not mine.”
Henrik pulled a dagger from his pocket, gold on the handle and rusted red on the blade. He looked around the room, stopping when he found a sharpener on the floor next to his scattered books.
“Are you going to go back to swashbuckling ghosts?” Adrian asked as Henrik began to sharpen the knife.
“You know, you’re far too relaxed,Captain.”
Henrik said the title like a swear word.
Adrian only shrugged. “I don’t need to stress when you do that enough for both of us.” He turned to me. “Come on, Princess Blood. I have a job for you to do for the next week until we slit you open.”
I stepped back and folded my arms. “And what makes you think that I’ll work for youorallow you slit me open? Have you lost your mind?”
