Page 15 of Pearls of Salt and Sacrifice

Reva drew a breath. She could not believe her stepmother was attempting to lay the blame for this nighttime disturbance on her! She took several deep breaths then explained to those gathered around her.

“I was in my tent trying to sleep when something startled me, and I saw my tent door opening. I grabbed my dagger, warning them to stop, but they tried to slash me anyway, and—”

“Reva, my love,” her stepmother said, interrupting Reva’s accounting of her ordeal, “this is a most fanciful story. Are you certain you didn’t dream the entire matter?”

Reva’s eyes narrowed. Why did Cassandra always dismiss her concerns? She’d always treated Reva like a helpless child who couldn’t so much as pull on her own boots.

When someone grabbed Reva and spun her about, she instinctively lifted her dagger to defend herself. Rency’s bearded face peered into hers, halting her hand moments before she drove the blade into him. He lowered his gaze to the dagger before meeting her gaze.

“Don’t stab me, please,” he said with a twist of his lips.

She tried to pull away as he ran his hands roughly down her arms. Pain flared just below her elbow, and she punched Rency in the stomach. “Ow! That hurts.”

Nonplussed, he caught her wrist and turned it skyward. Something slick coated her arm, the sight of it turning Reva’s stomach. “She’s bleeding,” Rency said in a cold voice, turning toward Cassandra. “Do you think she did that to herself? In her sleep?”

Cassandra folded her arms over her torso, pressing her lips together as Rency clasped Reva’s hand and twisted the dagger from her tense fingers.

Fear shivered across her skin, but Rency merely sliced the hem of his own tunic before offering the dagger, hilt first, back to Reva. She took it with a suspicious glare but held still as he began to bandage her injured arm.

Reva lowered the dagger to her side, but she curled her fingers tightly around the hilt in case she needed it again. Footsteps squeaked in the sand moments before Felix appeared, rubbing his puffy eyes. “What’s all the noise about?” he asked around a yawn.

“Reva was attacked,” Rency explained.

“She—what?”

“Did anyone see anything?” Reva asked, looking at the three guards who’d been assigned the night watch. They looked at one another, then shook their heads.

“All was quiet, Your Highness. We didn’t suspect anything was amiss until you shouted.”

“Well, search the island,” Cassandra said. “The attacker couldn’t have gotten far. Where is that elf prince? I would wager he’s behind this. First the Endellion and now my poor, helpless stepdaughter. He’s trying to turn us against one another.”

Poor, helpless stepdaughter…who had chased her would-be-murderer away with her own blade…

“Oh, please.” Reva pinched the bridge of her nose “Why are you blaming Prince Jareth? I don’t think he had anything to do with this. I saw him shortly before the attack, and he was headed out into the cove to keep watch. If he had plans to hurt me, he would have done it then when I was alone on the beach.”

The instant the words left her mouth, she re-thought them. Her stepmother’s eyebrows flew upward. “What were you doing consorting with that elf prince in the middle of the night?” Cassandra asked. “Unchaperoned?”

“My, my, this is most distressing,” Rency said, rolling his eyes pointedly. He locked gazes with Reva, his fingers still clasping her wrist. “How could you be so careless with your reputation? Think of your virtue.”

“Oh, shut up.” Reva yanked free of his hold, yelping at the flash of pain. “You’re the last person on this island who should be worried about such a trivial matter as a reputation.”

“I’m sure I don’t know what you mean.” He had the audacity to look affronted.

Black-hearted pirate, she longed to throw at him, but she pursed her lips and kept silent.

Rency dipped his head toward her, his voice a low murmur. “Perhaps we should have a private chat. I have thoughts about this debacle I’d like to discuss with you.”

Reva arched her brow. “You have thoughts on the matter, do you? Anything you wish to say to me privately you can say before everyone else.”

She had no desire to be alone with Rency right now. She wouldn’t put it past him to try to steal kisses in the moonlight. The last thing she felt like doing at the moment was fending off the self-proclaimed leader of a miniscule island in the middle of nowhere.

“You still haven’t answered my question,” Cassandra said, pulling Reva’s attention back to her. “Why were you meeting with the elf prince? I don’t trust him, Reva. Furthermore, I forbid you to be anywhere near him or his kind!”

“His kind? Cassandra, do you even hear yourself?” Reva drew a breath, releasing it out her nose. “I was returning one of his pets that had wandered into my tent. I returned it, I came back to my bedroll, and the attack occurred a short while later. Why would he have waited until I returned to my bed before slitting my throat? Why not kill me on the beach when he had the chance?”

“Then who?” Felix blustered, inserting himself into the conversation yet again. “Who’s behind this if not the elves? No one else profits from the failure of these negotiations. And it is clear someone doesn’t want you to get your trade routes, Reva.”

Reva said nothing because she didn’t disagree with him. Her instincts whispered that the Destans had more to gain by removing her from the throne—seeing how they were so chummy with Cassandra—but why would Felix destroy his own ship?

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