AllFreeNovel
Share Us
The wind beat against my face as I went back up the deck. Men were yelling to each other as they went from one side of the ship to the other. My nerves shook. Was the storm going to be bad? Perhaps the ship would topple over in the middle of the storm, and we’d all fall into the ocean and drown. Or perhaps I’d be left behind to save myself, only to get trapped and go down with the ship. Or perhaps Adrian would throw me overboard to save his men. Whatever the outcome, it was far too unsettling.
I ran to my room, shutting the door behind me with a slam.
Then I remembered why I had wanted to stay in Henrik’s room in the first place.
Adrian looked up from his desk, glaring through thin glasses. He took them off and threw them on the desk next to his papers, leaning back in the chair to analyze me. I frowned back.
“You’re late,” he said.
“I didn’t realize I had a curfew.”
“You got better places to be?”
“Anywhere away from you is fine by me.”
He gave a long,longsigh.
“I wonder if Henrik knows a way to silence you until the next full moon,” he said, coming to his feet and stepping toward me.
I stepped back, scowling, not answering. (Besides, I knew that if Henrik knew a way, he would have used it on someone already.)
Adrian continued more in my space, eyebrows matting as he looked at my face.
“Where were you?” he asked. “And why are you so out of breath?”
I wasn’t going to tell him about Henrik’s lesson. If I had told Adrian that Henrik was teaching my sword fighting, he would probably ask me to demonstrate something.
“Shouldn’t you be out on the deck with the others, Captain?” I asked instead.
He rolled his eyes. “My men don’t need me for a pithy drizzle. We’re not in any real danger.”
The ship lurched sideways again, knocking me to the floor. Adrian towered above me, raising an eyebrow.
“You’re quite unbalanced,” he commented.
I tried to return to my feet, but my ankle folded under me, shooting pain into my leg. It wasn’t half as painful as my embarrassment, however. I still smelled like beer and kitchen smoke, my hair was sticky, and my dress was starting to tear. Iput my finger through one of the holes in my dress. Instead of wearing this expensive thing only to have it ruined by pirates, I could have sold it to help my father.
I didn’t even know we were hurting so badly. I had no idea that my father was suffering alone.
“Are you just going to stay down there?” Adrian taunted.
I bit hard on my lip. He couldn’t see me cry. That was the last thing he could do.
He grabbed my arm and pulled me up to my feet. I dropped my head down so he couldn’t see my eyes, but it didn’t last long. He reached over and turned my chin up to face him. I couldn’t see his expression through my tears, but I felt his hand soften against my jaw before it dropped.
It was silent for a long moment.
“These clothes are terrible for working in, aren’t they?” he asked, his voice unusually soft.
I dabbed my eyes with my sleeve as he stepped away to a chest in the corner, opening it and pulling out a large navy blue dress shirt, a belt, and some slacks. He handed them to me.
“They’re not the latest fashion,” he said, “but they’re clean, anyway.”
He held my gaze, the whites of his eyes soft and innocent. He did nothing but breathe as I reached out for them, my fingers grazing his as I took them.
“Thank you,” I whispered.
He nodded. “Happy birthday.”
