The next few days were long and strained, each of us seemingly lost in our own thoughts.

Part of me wanted to tear down the walls between us and enjoy the last of our time together. The other part was so angry and hurt that I could hardly bring myself to look at them.

So, each night, I went to my quarters alone. And each night, I stayed up for hours listening to the ship rock and sway, wishing I were in the comfort of one of their arms.

On the third night, I was so brittle, I felt close to shattering as I prepared our dinner.

Anaya had surely received my message by now, but while Ironhaven’s land holdings were vast, her ships were few. Those we did have were a lot faster than The Duchess, but not fast enough to make up the head start we’d gotten. Not unless we slowed down again.

I tucked that thought into the back of my mind as I turned to spoon some meat and broth into my bowl and took a seat at the table. Each of the others took my cue and stood to get their dinner. Then, we ate in silence as I pretended to enjoy the rather bland meal.

When Titus was done, he stood and fetched a bottle of wine. He poured mine first, and then all the others, before lifting his glass in a toast. “To not being poisoned… yet,” he said, the hint of a sad smile touching his brown eyes.

“Yet,” I said, as I touched my mug to his.

I sipped my wine along with the others, all save Mathias, who left his untouched. Despite the tug of sadness, I refused to reach out to him and try to ease his worries. If he wanted to talk, he could make the first move.

After several more minutes of awkward silence, Dimitri polished off his glass and swept Mathias’s away.

“If you won’t drink it, I will.”

He lifted it to his lips, met my eyes, and drank slowly, his penetrating blue gaze never wavering.

The memory of his words just a few nights ago rolled through my mind, and I swallowed hard.

Our feelings for one another didn’t matter. The outcome of this nightmare would be the same if they insisted on going through with this.

“There is another port town just another day from here,” Titus said. “We’re going to need to stop for fresh water and a few more supplies to get through the last leg of the trip. Would you like to come ashore?” he asked, turning his attention to me. “Maybe take a look see at their shops and see if there’s anything that suits you?”

I arched an eyebrow and gave him a chilly stare.

Titus gave me an offended look. “What?” he asked. “You’re always walking around, muttering about how you hate being confined to this floating wreck. I thought you would like to stretch your legs and enjoy scenery that isn’t ocean. And you like shopping…”

“I’m not sure anyone would like shopping for the outfit they’re likely to be murdered in, Titus,” I said frankly.

Titus’s cheeks went pale, his jaw flexing as he put down his glass.

The others just stared at me in silence.

“What?” I asked, looking around at them, heart pounding with emotion again as the war within me resumed. “Now that someone is saying it out loud it makes you uncomfortable? What do you think this man is going to do to me? Do you think he’ll put me up in my own room, shower me in gifts, and make me feel like a welcome young maiden while he waits for a one-time payment from my sister?”

I searched their slack expressions. It was clear that none of them were going to answer me, so I carried on myself, building steam.

“Then he’ll free me, and your families from his watch, so you can go back to the life you knew before you ever heard my name?”

How could they be so foolish? So naïve?

I tipped my head back and finished my wine. Titus just mutely filled up my mug. I met his sad brown gaze as he leaned back and placed the jug of wine on the table.

Mathias cleared his throat as he absently peeled slivers of wood off the edge of the table. “If there was a way we could ensure your safety and that of our families, we would. We all would. But tell me, if the shoe were on the other foot, and Malikai had your family…”

Malikai.

I finally had a name for my enemy.

“I don’t know what choice I would make,” I said honestly, “but I know I wouldn’t blindly follow the orders of a man who is willing to cut a woman’s finger off or hurt children. I would at least try to find a solution.” I finished the rest of my wine in one fell swoop. “But I guess everyone’s different, right?”

Afraid I was going to make the situation worse, I shot to my feet and made for the door. I couldn’t worry about them. Not anymore. Not when they refused to see the truth. I would go ashore when we reached the next port town and try to find a way to save myself. The very thought of what my success would likely cost them nearly made me stumble, but I kept my posture stiff as I slipped around the corner and down the hall.

Hildie’s claws on the wood floors clicked behind me as she followed me out. My scruffy companion and I went to my room, where I closed the door behind me and collapsed onto my bed.

Hildie jumped up and lay by my feet with a great sigh.

“Me, too, girl,” I said softly. “Me, too.”

It would have been so easy to cry as I stared up at the ceiling.

The odds of me being able to escape the four of them, even with the ability to shift and with my dagger, were as slim as ever. But if the opportunity arose? Damn it, I would take it, safe in the knowledge that they would keep me alive and unharmed if I failed.

And if I failed?  I would put all my effort into finding a way to kill him…this Malikai who insisted on putting me and so many others through this torture.

I had wanted to be in Anaya’s army. I had wanted to protect Ironhaven and its Queen from wrongdoers, and I had been willing to do it with sword and arrow. Now my chance was just over the horizon.

Something settled into my bones that chased away the fear and anxiety over the decision I had made. It soothed my mind and erased the tension in my muscles.

Resolve…

 

When I woke to a knock on my door the next morning, I rubbed sleep out of my eyes and stretched. My toes wiggled against Hildie, who had spent the night with me for the first time since our journey began. She looked up at me, tongue lolling out of her mouth, and then sprang to the door, where she proceeded to claw at it excitedly.

“Hang on,” I groaned, pulling the covers down and stumbling out of bed.

I grabbed my cloak and wrapped it around myself before answering the door.

Dark hair, a sad, crooked smile, and bright blue eyes were there to greet me.

Dimitri dipped his head in greeting.

“Morning, Princess,” he said, a trace of humor in his voice. “We’re making a quick stop before the next port as Titus and Mathias have to anchor the boat for some quick repairs on the sail, and Eryk and I want to show you something.”

I ran my fingers through my curls and sighed, wishing my heart didn’t give a little squeeze every time he smiled. It would be so much better for me to not go. To stay and try to keep these already unstable walls erected between us. Then again, I had twice as good a chance of getting away from two of them…

I chewed on my lower lip in silence and Dimitri shrugged a shoulder before crossing his arms and leaning against the doorframe. “You can say no, but you’d be missing out. We’re going with or without you.” He put a finger under my chin and tilted my face up to his. “But I deserve an answer. You will give me a yes or a no.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. In response, he drew me up higher onto the balls of my feet.

“A yes, or a no, Princess,” he practically growled.

I should say no. If I stayed on the ship, Mathias and Titus would be preoccupied with the sails and maybe I’d have a chance…

But those blue eyes were staring into my soul, and the way he made my skin prickle made it impossible for me to decline his invitation.

“Yes,” I said, hating that my voice came out in a breathy whisper.

“Good,” Dimitri said.

And then he kissed me. His lips were warm and firm as his fingers slipped to the back of my neck, where he cradled my head and drew me into him. I melted in his arms, hands bracing myself against his chest, as his tongue wandered between my lips and explored my mouth with controlled curiosity.

Then, all at once, the moment was over, and he was pulling away from me with a tight smile.

“I’ll come get you when we’re about to row out,” he said, his voice full of gravel.

I nodded, unable to formulate words.

Hildie scooted by me and hurried up the stairs to the top deck. We watched her go, then Dimitri looked back at me. For a moment, I thought--hoped--that he might kiss me again.

When he turned away and followed the dog, I slumped back against my door and let out a breath I had been holding. It took a full minute for my heart to slow down, and when I went back in my room to my bed, that familiar ache had blossomed below my belly once more.

 

 

By the time another knock sounded some three hours later, I was ready. I hurried to the door and pulled it open to find Eryk there. He was dressed in thick furs and his own black cloak. His forearms, however, were bare, exposing dark skin decorated in snaking veins. His glass green eyes held some sort of secret as he looked me over.

“You’ll want to dress more warmly,” he said. “Where we’re going has been known to have a chill.”

I rushed back to the dresser where I scrambled to pull another tunic on top of the green one I was already wearing. I threw my new red cloak around my shoulders, clipped it under my chin, and stepped into my black fur boots.

“Better?” I asked Eryk when I returned to the door.

He nodded and took my hand, then led me down the hall and up the flight of stairs to the top deck. It was chillier, as he had forewarned, and I drew my cloak tighter around myself as we went to the port-side of the ship.

Eryk threw his leg over the side and began descending a rope ladder, which had already been tossed over the railing and was secured to the mast in the middle of the deck. I peered over and down to see a little rowboat bobbing up and down on the waves. Sitting in the rowboat was Dimitri. He was shielding his eyes from the sun as he looked up at me.

“Come on, Princess,” he called, as Eryk dropped the last two feet into the boat. He balanced himself and then sank down onto the plank seat across from Dimitri. “We don’t have all day.”

I followed Eryk’s lead and swung myself over the edge of the railing. I gripped the rope ladder tightly as I descended, and then looked down nervously when my feet rested on the last ring. Dropping down seemed risky; balancing my landing was going to be impossible. The boat was tiny and they expected me to land in the open space between them, which was only about three feet by three feet. I swallowed.

“We’ve got you,” Eryk said, sensing my nervousness.

I didn’t want them to think I was intimidated by a rowboat, so I let go of the ladder and dropped the two feet. My feet hit the wood and I bent at the knees to absorb the impact and balance myself out. The boat only wobbled a bit, and then settled.

“Well done,” Eryk said.

“Thank you,” I said, as Eryk made space for me beside him on the bench. I took my seat facing Dimitri, who pulled the paddles from their rungs along the side of the boat and began paddling backwards, pulling us away from the ship.

I looked over Dimitri’s shoulder to where we were going.

An island speckled in dense foliage rose up out of the water, all sharp angles and steep cliffs. The waves crashed against a rocky cliff face and birds flew across its flat surface, plunging low to the waters to pluck fish from the sea.

As we rowed closer, I could smell the freshness in the air. It overpowered the smell of salt water and reminded me of the way it smelled back in Ironhaven. Fresh air and trees, moist dirt from heavy rainfalls, grass.

Within another five minutes of rowing, I saw that the cliff face extended farther out into the water. Dimitri rowed us past it and closer to the island, which was attached by what appeared to be a cove. The rocks of the cliff hung over it, and the curve of the land protected it from the crashing waves. The rowboat hit the calmer water, and the rush of the waves grew quiet as we approached the cove.

Any thoughts of escape disappeared as I peered around. If I tried to run on land, I’d be found eventually. If I managed to make it to the rowboat before they did, I’d be picked up by The Duchess in no time…if the raging seas didn’t capsize me first.

I shoved aside the disappointment that was peppered with far too much relief for my liking, and focused on the sight before me.

Escape was out of the question for now, but I still had a chance at port. I could be miserable for the day or I could enjoy this…what might be my last adventure with these men…my last adventure ever.

As we rowed beneath the bowing rock, I stared upwards to admire it. It had to be above our heads by at least thirty feet. Everything was slick with moisture, and as we moved deeper under the rocks, a sandy shore came into view. The water lapped up against the sand gently and we were able to row the boat right onto the shore.

Dimitri hopped out and took my hand. I jumped off the side and my feet sunk into the golden sand. I kicked off my shoes and wiggled my toes. I had never felt sand so soft before. I couldn’t help but grin as I looked up at him.

“You both knew this place was here?” I asked.

Dimitri nodded. “We’ve been before. In the summer, it’s the perfect place to go fishing. Through there,” he pointed down a narrow opening in the rocks that I hadn’t noticed, “magma from the active volcano of the island leaks into the water. It heats it up. Even this water is warm and somewhat aerated because the cliffs protect the cove from the open ocean, so it’s warm year-round.”

I hurried from the sand to the water, and went in up to my ankles. He hadn’t been lying. The water was pleasant. Not hot, but much warmer than the air around us. “Is it dangerous to swim in?” I asked.

Eryk joined me in the water after kicking off his shoes and rolling up the hems of his breeches. “Only after the sun goes down. This place becomes a feeding ground for predators. Right now, though, once we’re in the water for a few minutes, we will have company.” He tugged his shirt off over his head and threw it on the sand.

He dove in, still in his pants, and when he emerged, his dark torso was glistening with water. “Come on,” he said, splashing me playfully.

“What kind of company?” I asked, knowing I shouldn’t be enjoying myself but unable to quell the anticipation curling inside me.

“You’ll see,” Dimitri said behind me.