Page 24 of Queen's Griffon

“Assuming he’s the one paying the highest bounty.”

“Who else would?”

“You are a queen. I can think of a few leaders who might want to curry your good grace. Or Benoit’s.”

Her lips pinched. “I’m failing to see the difference between what you term ransom and bounty versus the slave trade.”

“You’re a political pawn, not indentured labor.”

“I think your argument is crap.” An expletive she’d learned from Simhi.

“Hardly arguing, just stating things how they are.”

“So am I to be placed in a cage while you wait for the highest bidder?”

“Only if you want to. I’d planned to give you a room at my place and the freedom to roam. After all, it’s not like there’s anywhere you can hide, and there is no escape.”

“We’ll see about that,” she muttered.

Despite the fact she remained more or less a prisoner, she couldn’t deny a certain excitement when they pulled into the dock.

Before becoming queen, Avera had never been farther than the port town less than a day’s travel from the capital. Now here she was, about to set foot on an isle of pirates. It did kind of excite. As she stood by Simhi, waiting for the gangplank to be lain down, she murmured, “Do you know where I can find some books?”

Her friend blinked at her. “Books?”

“You know, paper bound into a thick rectangle with words.”

Simhi laughed. “I know what they are, but what do you want with one?”

“I’d be interested in the history of this place as well as anything there is about Verlora.”

“Not much of either,” Simhi stated with a shake of her head. “At least not in town, that I know if. You should talk to Cap, though. He’s got a library at home.”

The one person she didn’t want to make any demands of. Maybe she wouldn’t have to. After all, he’d claimed she’d be staying with him. That meant she’d have access to his home and could find the books on her own.

As the crew disembarked, Avera among them, she glanced over to the ship berthed across from them. A sleek vessel, not quite as long or wide. It had strange notches in its railing.

“Why does their railing have holes?” Avera asked, nudging Simhi.

“Those slots are for fitting oars. That’s a galley from Merisu. Since they don’t have engines, when they need extra power, they manually row.”

“Really?” Avera craned to look at it once more, trying to imagine how that would look. As they passed the prow of the galley, she noticed a carved figure. “That’s beautifully done,” she remarked. If disturbing, considering the female with flowing hair and voluptuous upper body had a lower half that ended in tentacles.

“That would be Clodusa, the sea goddess they worship. They claim she used to guard the waters around Merisu, keeping away their foes and other threats.”

“Used to? What happened to her?”

Simhi shrugged. “What happened to all the gods, I imagine. People stopped believing so they left.”

“Seaserpent Bay had a chapel dedicated to some ancient deity.”

“Most cultures have some.”

“Even Verlora?”

“Yes, although not many believed in gods before the catastrophe. After, though, it led to a resurgence as survivors sought to appease Aestus, an ancient Verlorian god whom they think caused the volcano to erupt to express its displeasure.”

“Surely a god wouldn’t kill its own people?”

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