The Midnight Star

Will he miss me? I picture Magiano’s face, contorted in fear as he watched me go overboard. Is he safe?

Will Violetta miss me?

Then, a hand. The fingers are rough, nails dig into my flesh, the grip so hard that I think my bones will break. I open my mouth to cry out, but the effort is soundless in the sea. Through the darkness, I catch a glimpse of wild, white, mad eyes and a flash of blond hair. Teren. It is Teren in the water, fighting upward alongside me, pulling me by the arm.

We break through the surface into the center of the storm. I gasp, choking on seawater—through a blurry haze of rain, I see our ship careening several dozen yards away. On the masts, Magiano is pointing for the others to search the waters for us. I’m here. I try to wave, but the sea swallows my arm.

“Not invincible after all, little wolf?” Teren shouts.

Illusions darken the world all around. I am struggling to breathe in the Inquisition Tower, and Teren has his sword pressed against my throat. He’s going to kill me; he’s going to cut me open with his blade. A wild surge of terror lodges in my throat—and I panic, struggling to get away from him.

Teren growls and only tightens his grip on my arm. I’m vaguely aware of the ocean surrounding us. Another wave crashes against our bodies, and seawater pours into my mouth. I splutter. He’s drowning you, the whispers shriek. Anyone else would have lost his grip in a sea this fierce, but Teren—still imbued with his powers—manages to stay locked on me like a shackle.

“Let go of me,” I choke out, clawing blindly at Teren. The sharp tang of blood suddenly fills my nostrils, and I realize that it is from his wrists, spreading a film of scarlet around us. Somewhere ahead, the silhouette of our ship looms. We are getting closer.

“I wish I could,” Teren spits, dripping venom. “There’s nothing I’d like to see more than you in the Underworld, Adelina.”

His words spark my fury. He never intended to finish this journey with you. Teren grips my arm again so hard that I scream in pain. He is pulling us both toward the ship, his face set in grim determination.

Then I hear him shout, “But I won’t.”

But I won’t. My fury wavers, turning into bewilderment.

We are very close to the hull of our ship now, so close that Magiano has caught sight of us. I can hear his shout over the wind, his arm pointing down to where we are. Teren waves back at them, and as the crew bustles along the deck, I feel a sudden lift from the water below. A whirlwind pushes it away, and for an instant, a crater forms in the sea around us. The wind urges us both upward. Startled, I glance in the direction of Raffaele’s ship, which yaws behind our own. Lucent is up on the masts, arms pointed in our direction. The wind strengthens, and the world blurs as we are lifted up, up, up above the railing of our ship’s deck, a funnel of seawater raining onto the ship as we go.

Then we fall. I hit the deck hard enough to knock the breath from my lungs. Teren finally releases my arm, and I abruptly feel lighter without his iron grip on me. Inquisitors crowd around us. Magiano, still clutching his wounded side, shouts for blankets. In their midst, I see Violetta’s face. Warm arms wrap around my cold neck, and I’m pulled forward, startled, into an embrace. Her hair drapes across my shoulder.

“I thought we lost you,” she says, and I find myself wrapping my arms around her in return before I even realize what I am doing.

Beside me, Inquisitors surround Teren, forcing his arms behind his back again. He stares at me with the side of his face pressed against the ground. His lips are still twisted up into a crooked smile. His eyes pulse with something unstable. I stare at him, trying to comprehend what he’s done. He saved Magiano from falling overboard. He saved me. He is taking this mission seriously, however much he loathes us.

“Maybe next time,” he says to me with that smile, “you won’t be so lucky.”

Laetes had not even a single coin to his name—but it did not matter. Such charm did he exude, such joy did he bring to every passerby he met that they invited him into their homes, fed him their bread and stew, and protected him from thieves and vagabonds, so that he passed through the border between Amadera and Beldain without harm.

—The Fall and Rise of Laetes, by Étienne of Ariata

Adelina Amouteru

The traitor Inquisitor turned out to be a new recruit from Dumor. After a tip from Teren and a brief hunt on board the ship, Magiano dragged every single member of our crew before me on the top deck, where they quivered and groveled at my feet. Magiano rarely has such a look of cold anger on his face—but he did then, the pupils of his eyes slitted so sharply that they looked like needles.

I could kill this crew, if I wanted. I could have their blood coating the deck of this ship by nightfall.

But I can’t afford to do such a thing. There would not be enough people to guide the ship, nor protect us, if I rid myself of them all. So instead, I showed them the corpse of the would-be assassin. Then I ordered it tossed unceremoniously overboard.

“Let that be a reminder to those of you who still want to challenge me,” I said, my head high. “Anyone else?”

Only silence greeted me, followed by the whispers in my head. They seemed amused.

It is only a matter of time, isn’t it, Adelina, before they get you.

It is strange to see the ocean so calm tonight, when only hours earlier, our ships had nearly been devoured by the waves.

I sit huddled in a chair, blankets wrapped around me even after I’d taken as warm of a bath as I could, shivering with a mug of bitter tea. To my annoyance, my mind lingers on Violetta. After her sudden emotional display on the deck, she returned to her usual tense silence in my presence, although she did give me a concerned look before retiring to her quarters. I don’t know what to make of it, but I’m too tired tonight to dwell on the thought. Now only Magiano lounges by the porthole nearby, while Teren crouches in his chair, quietly eating his supper.