Page 1 of Pearls of Salt and Sacrifice

Chapter One

Desolate and abandoned, Black Rock Island cut out of the sea like a jagged obsidian blade. Princess Reva Morrigan stood on the only point of access on the long, winding strip of land, her boots sinking into the white sand, stark against the dark rocks that fringed the beach.

While this tiny strip of rock and sand in the middle of the South Oloren Sea was hardly the place one might expect to hold important negotiations, beggars couldn’t be choosers…and neither could princesses who hoped to create new trade routes and save their people from slow starvation.

These treaties wouldn’t come without a price. Bile rose in the back of Reva’s throat. How much would she have to sacrifice to put food in the bellies of her people?

She turned from the beach to gaze out over the sea where three ships moored in the deeper waters. It had taken the Perseus two days to travel from Etthan to Black Rock, but the two other ships had needed to journey much farther. The Andromeda out of Seriposa had traveled at least four days, and Prince Felix and the Endellion had been at sea for several weeks.

The rowboat bearing the Destan prince and his political emissaries bobbed against the waves as the sailors strove toward shore. They were the last to arrive.

“A fine sight, is it not, Princess?” A voice smooth as silk whispered in her ear.

She flipped a hand over her shoulder to shoo the speaker away. “Yes,” she said, filling her tone with every drip of sarcasm she possessed. “It’s a lovely day, for sure.”

She gestured at the low, gray sky and refused to shiver in the cool wind that whipped from the north. She wore a sturdy long coat over her day dress, with trousers hidden underneath that, but the northern breeze still cut through her clothing.

“I meant the Andromeda, poppet.” Captain Rency shifted to whisper in her other ear.

His warm breath stirred her unruly hair and tickled her cheek. She shot him a quelling look. “Keep your distance, Rency. Your invitation can be revoked.”

A pair of blue-black eyes peered into her own. Captain Rency of the Andromeda merely smirked, his thin lips curving in just the right way to deepen the dimple in his left cheek. Only one. The cad.

When combined with his meticulous goatee, the dimple gave him an adorable, lopsided appearance that shouldn’t be allowed in pirate captains, even if they happened to be on friendly terms with the Crown Princess. Rency and Reva had been working together for a while to find new food sources for Etthan. Against her better judgment, she’d almost grown fond of the scoundrel.

“Ah, you wouldn’t do that to me, Reva. Not when I worked so hard to get here.”

“Princess Reva, if you please. You haven’t earned the privilege to be so informal, Rency.”

Besides, he wasn’t here based on his merit. He was here because he’d proven useful in bringing small loads of food to Etthan…at an outrageous price, too. It wasn’t enough by far, but it kept a few people from starving. At first, she’d hoped Rency would be the answer to her food storage problems…but when he hadn’t been able to supply enough food, she’d been forced to turn her gaze to fatter, wealthier fish.

“Captain Rency,” he corrected as he locked his hands behind his back and rocked back and forth on the heels of his boots. “If we’re going to get our knickers in a twist about formalities.”

They stared at one another, neither willing to concede defeat first.

“I shouldn’t be surprised to learn that pirates can get their knickers in twists,” Reva said as the rowboat moved closer to the shore. “After all, you lot barely manage to keep your shirts on.” She let her gaze drift pointedly to his partially buttoned tunic.

He’d missed more buttons than he’d managed to utilize—a strategic oversight during his morning ablutions, naturally.

Rency’s dark eyes flickered with amusement. “Merchant sailor, lass. You’ve wounded me. Pirate, indeed.”

He had the audacity to look offended.

She would have liked to arrest him then and there simply for being annoying; but, curse his black heart, she needed him to secure her contract with Prince Felix. The best routes to Desta went through Rency’s territory. Without his leave to pass through the seas around Seriposa…well, any alliance with the Destans would do her no good if her boats were waylaid by pirates and stripped down to the timbers.

Several of his shady merchant sailors loitered nearby at that very moment, their clothing wrinkled and faces poorly scrubbed. A skinny fellow with an eyepatch even had his pinky finger in his ear.

Such a reputable-looking lot.

“Don’t stand like that, Reva.”

Her stepmother’s voice sliced between them as Lady Cassandra approached from the striped canopy the sailors had constructed for her along the edge of the beach. She wore a frivolous, wine-red dress with puffed sleeves and a fitted bodice that showed off her ridiculously thin frame and ample assets.

“You look like a cabin boy,” Cassandra said. “Feet together now. Hands folded.”

When Reva didn’t move, Cassandra swatted the girl’s hand with a folded whale bone fan.

It stung.

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