Page 106 of King of Storms and Feathers

Loligos frowned in concentration, the tip of his cigar flaring red. He pressed his finger on an ink pad, then onto the note, stamping it with his print. He repeated the process on a second parchment. “Send these via gull—this one to the Regent and the second to his soldiers stationed at the closest port. Lads, he’ll give us a tidy sum for this little thorn in his side, boil me alive if he don’t.”

“Cap’n, we’d never chuck you in a pot,” said Shorty, taking the messages and pocketing them. “What should we do about Orion?”

“If he’s smart, he’ll already be in the Sun Realm. But if he ever shows his face around the port, you know what to do.”

“Feed him to the sharks.”

“Precisely.” With a smirk, the captain waved me out of his cabin.

Handsome and Shorty pushed me along a lamp-lit hallway, down narrow stairs, and then shoved me into a tiny cell. Minutes later, Shorty reappeared and threw me a hunk of stale bread.

“Dinnertime,” he announced, pointing at the barrel in the corner, from which the smell of foul water wafted.

When he left, I crouched against the far wall with my muscles strung taut, poised to respond to an attack from an unwelcome visitor. Though eating was the last thing I felt like doing, I forced myself to nibble on the bread and sip a little of the unpleasant water. Doing my best not to retch, I told myself I’d need energy, since an opportunity to flee might magically present itself.

For now, I had no choice but to hunker down like a rat in a trap and await my fate. I replayed everything that had happened in the captain’s cabin, in case I’d missed any clues about this regent person who Loligos was so eager to sell me to.

I wondered why the captain seemed certain this man would want me and what I’d done to become a thorn in his side. Who did Loligos think I was? Perhaps a rebel fighter or a spy from Coridon? Whatever the truth, I wasn’t looking forward to meeting him.

I grimaced as I took another sip of sour water, unsure if I wanted time to speed up or grind to a halt. My eyes burned with exhaustion. So I closed them for just a moment, my head dropping back against the cell wall.

Don’t go to sleep. Not here. Not safe…

I jerked my head up and rubbed my eyes, determined to stay awake. A few moments later, my vision darkened as I fought sleep. Suckered vines wrapped my ankles, tripping me over as I chased a pair of vivid green eyes through the crumbling ruins.

Dreaming. Fuck. I was dreaming.

After I jerked awake for the fourth time, I stopped fighting it, telling myself a short nap would do me good, then I let the forest swallow me.

Sometime after, rough voices penetrated my dreams, trying to drag me back to unwelcome consciousness.

“Where the fuck is she?” said Shorty’s voice.

“How should I know?” grumbled another. “You’re the one standing in front of me. Move out of the way.”

In the dream, I stood in the center of my pavilion in the king’s apartment, naked except for my gold collar. “Do it again,” Arrow said, stroking my throat. I relaxed, focusing on the piece of auron kanara feather in my mouth, chewing it slowly. Golden light burst from my chest, radiating out from my body, and Arrow laughed. “That’s fucking brilliant. I can’t see you anymore. But quick, Leaf, I can’t bear it. Come back to me. Show yourself.”

The rough voices sounded again, drowning out the words of my dream Arrow.

“Look. She’s over there… in the shadows. Asleep. You must be blind not to see her. Better stop drinking so much rum, Jarl.”

I jolted awake, keeping my muscles loose as I gripped the gold nugget Ari had given me and gazed at the men through cracked eyelids.

Shorty, or Jarl as the second man had called him, had his meaty fingers on the cell door, unlocking it with fumbling movements.

“Hurry up,” said Handsome, standing behind Jarl, his arms folded and a filthy leer spoiling his pretty face. “Cap’n wanted her on deck twenty minutes ago. The Earth Realm soldiers are getting prickly. If he thinks we’ve been fiddling with her, he’ll throw us in his tank and have us for his dinner.”

My rope-linked hands flew to my side before I remembered they’d taken my blades. The sailors laughed.

“Touch me and I’ll scream. I promise I’ll poke your eyes out and bite your pricks off before you can kill me. Then what will Captain Loligos do to you? Sew them back on tenderly? I don’t think so.”

Muttering about how they would use me if only there was no captain to be feared, they led me up onto the deck. Under a star-flecked indigo sky, Loligos himself and five human soldiers stood chatting, all glancing up at my arrival.

As I walked past the crowd of sailors gathered to witness my handover to the Earth Realm soldiers, I held my uncovered head high. Not one of them spoke, and an eerie silence hung heavy in the air. I looked left and right, scanning the faces of the motley collection of humans and fae, disappointed that none were familiar.

A few of them dropped their gazes as I strode by, their hands twisting dirty caps in front of their chests, which struck me as curious. They looked frightened or embarrassed, and I couldn’t understand why.

Finally, the truth struck me. They weren’t used to seeing a woman on board. I was bad luck. But fortunately for them, they wouldn’t have to suffer my presence for long. I was about to be whisked away. I only wished I knew to where.

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