Page 98 of The Blood Traitor

Ocean.

The ground wasn’t shifting because of the angeldust leaving her system. It was shifting because she was on aship.

Kiva moaned as the floor swayed, and quickly slapped her hand over her mouth. Unthinking, she ran from the boxy cabin, darting along a short hallway and up a narrow set of stairs out into the bright sunshine, barely making across the deck before she leaned over the wooden railing and vomited.

That was how Caldon found her, with him breezily commenting, “I leave you alone for a few minutes andthat’swhen you choose to wake up? Timing, Sunshine. We need to work on yours.”

Kiva retched again, releasing nothing but bile. She hadn’t eaten much the day before, but even if she had, she couldn’t remember if she’d already brought it up in the night. She couldn’t rememberanything,apart from —

Horror crashed into Kiva, the events following the Midnight Markets returning with searing clarity, everything she’d done, everything she’dsaid.

And worse, who hadheard.

She might have forgotten about Jaren and Caldon in the haze of themoment, but they’d been in the blue suite the entire time she’d babbled to Cresta. And Jaren —

Kiva heaved again, but it wasn’t in reaction to the angeldust. Mortification flooded her, enough that, even when there was nothing left to expel, she still leaned over the rail, genuinely considering whether she should plunge into the water and never resurface.

“Don’t even think about it,” Caldon growled, reading her mind — or perhaps just seeing the wretched look on her face.

Turning stiffly, Kiva found him holding a damp cloth in one hand and a tumbler full of water in the other, pushing both toward her. She took the offerings, wiping her mouth before guzzling down the water, too embarrassed to meet his eyes. But then his arm shot out and he tilted her head until their gazes met.

She braced, certain he would be furious that she’d chosen the angeldust, and perhaps even more livid that she hadn’t told him about Zalindov. He was her best friend, and yet, she’d been too ashamed to tell him how far she’d fallen in those early days at the prison.

But Caldon didn’t yell at her. There wasn’t a single trace of anger on his face. Instead, all he said was, “You missed your training this morning.”

Kiva’s lips wobbled, emotion slamming into her.

“Don’t cry,” Caldon said firmly. “If you cry, I’ll cry. No one wants to see that.”

Despite his warning, tears prickled her eyes.

“What did I just tell you?” Caldon said, frowning. But then he sighed and tugged her into his arms.

She hiccupped, but managed to get control of herself before she descended into full-blown sobbing. “I’m sorry,” she said shakily. “I just need a minute.”

“Take all the time you want, Sunshine,” Caldon said, tucking her under his chin. “I’m not going anywhere.”

His soft declaration smoothed a jagged piece of her, and she was soon able to pull away and say, “I really messed up last night.”

“No more than usual.” His mouth quirked. “It’s becoming a running theme with you. At least no one got stabbed this time.”

“I feel like I did,” Kiva said, pressing a hand to her pounding head. Now that emptying her stomach wasn’t her priority, she was becoming increasingly aware of her throbbing temples and tired, achy muscles. “Are you sure we didn’t train today? I feel like I’ve been trampled.”

“Cresta says it’ll ease in a few hours,” Caldon said, nodding over Kiva’s shoulder. “But you’re going to feel rotten until then.”

Kiva followed his gaze toward the front of the ship, where she spotted the redhead sparring against both Torell and Ashlyn, the former meeting Cresta’s blade, and the latter attacking relentlessly with wind and earth magic, trying to trip them both up. Kiva marveled at their skills — not just the two generals, but Cresta herself, who was slowly gaining the upper hand.

She moves like a fighter.

Caldon’s words from weeks ago returned to Kiva, and she saw the truth of them now. Having had regular practice with competent opponents, there was no denying how talented Cresta was with a blade, how single-minded she was in her focus.

But Kiva didn’t keep her eyes on the trio for long. Instead, she nervously scanned the rest of the deck, seeing Eidran and Naari sitting in the shade of the foremast, cleaning their weapons, while Tipp was standing with Galdric on a higher deck at the back of the ship, pointing up at the sails, which were straining against an unnatural amount of wind. It was then that Kiva realized they were gliding through the water much faster than was surely normal, making her wonder if Galdric was using his magic to propel them forward.

Delaying the one question she was most anxious about — that being,where Jaren was — Kiva asked, somewhat stupidly, “Why are we on a ship?”

Caldon pulled an apple from his pocket and handed it over. He waited for her to take a tentative nibble before answering, “The others didn’t have any luck with the anomalies, but they realized while they were gone that, given how far Lyras is from Ersa, we’d make better time by sailing — especially with two wind elementals among us.”

So Kiva had been right: Galdricwasusing his magic to quicken their journey.

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