Page 67 of The Storm of the Empire

“I could ask the same of you,” he shot back, prepared for my question.

“You could, but you told me to ask.” I couldn’t reveal my background to him here.

He considered me again. “My people have never submitted to the King’s rule. We predate his claim on this land, and thus, we are exempt.”

“How is that possible?”

“There are ways of the world you don’t see. Fae who exist under the surface. You’ll see a lot of them if you stay with him long.” He nodded towards where Luka climbed the rigging.

“I’m starting to see that.” A pit formed in my stomach. I opened my mouth to speak, but I was cut off by a call from the nest.

“We approach land.”

I turned, taking in the view on the other side of the ship. Sure enough, we approached a rocky terrain with steep cliffs. The ship launched into action, every member of the small crew sprinting to their posts to ready the ship to dock. Fae waited, holding their lanterns high as we approached, dragging anchor to slow, while fae furled the sails to slow our speed. When we got close enough, lines were thrown to those on the—rocks?

We were on the wrong side of Damona Island? I couldn’t believe my eyes. The West side of the island was known for being all sheer cliff face and treacherous tides that could slam any ship into the face and destroy it. Maybe I’d gotten the islands confused. No, that was impossible. I’d studied geography thoroughly as a youngling in the King’s school. We all did. How could we be the wings of the King without knowing where we were going?

Faolan was gone by the time I looked back, but Luka appeared at my side a few minutes later, just as the ship slid to a stop, nearly kissing the cliff face.

“Tell me you’ve been here,” I said out of the corner of my mouth, sure I’d be drowned out by the yelling of the crew back and forth with the dock workers.

“I was going to ask you the same thing. I thought this side of the island was impassable.” Fear flashed in his eyes.

“I’ve never heard of trading happening this side of the island. It’s too dangerous.”

“This couldn’t be a secret military base, could it?” he asked, looking between me and the island.

“Not one I’ve ever been briefed on, but I’m also not in the King’s Army,” I said with no small measure of regret in my tone.

“Don’t you learn all that tactical shite, though?”

I nodded. “Yes…or at least I thought we did.”

“Goddess. What have we gotten ourselves into?”

“I don’t know.” Dread filled my chest.

The dock led far back into a cave, finally revealing a temple carved into the stone. Large pieces had been eaten away by the tides, and there were missing chunks, but I knew what it used to be. It wasn’t large, more like the size of a small temple for a herding village high up in the mountains, but what was it doing here?

We helped the crew unload into stores into the cave walls, and most of it came from the hold we were staying in. No wonder they looked like supplies for a base—that’s basically what this looked to be.

Luka and I exchanged looks as we worked, both taking the opportunity to see all that we could see even though the place was crawling with fae. Some were priests, others were not, but as Luka had proved, robes weren’t a wholly reliable way to tell who was who when you were this deep into something so underground.

We came upon Faolan on our return to the ship, and Luka did his best to appear casual, but I could tell he was rattled. “How long are we staying?”

Faolan lifted his shoulders. “I don’t know. I’m told we’re waiting for something we have to transport, and they don’t know when it will arrive. Depends on the weather.”

“So we’re just staying here?” Luka asked.

“It’s a break. Enjoy it. I’ll be drinking ale in the tavern.” He clapped Luka on the back.

“There’s a tavern?” Luka asked astonished.

“Sure is. You should join me. Some of these wayfarer taverns carry some interesting spirits from outside the realm. Perks of living on the trade routes.”

I shrugged. “I could go for a drink.”

“Good choice.”

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