Page 33 of Soulgazer

“Let it be known, let it be struck. Should you choose to separate at the end of this time, I myself will sever the bond between you and cast the ends into the sea. Should you remain, keep this as a reminder of the vows you swore today.” She smirks and takes a step back. “Or consider casting new ones.”

A scattering of shouts and claps echoes around us, the crew finally let off their leash. I glance across the deck but can’t make out their faces where they hover outside the cast of lantern light.

“Give us a kiss, Faolan, go on!”

“Aye, lad—’tis bad luck your whole life if you refuse to seal your vows with a kiss.”

Their words blend into a hum just behind my ears, vibrating in the roots of my teeth, and panic blooms fast in my chest as I recognize the pull of magic in my gut. The pain of suppression frommy back. I start to step away from Faolan, but before I can get far, he catches me round the waist with his free arm.

“As a pirate, you’ll learn that superstitions are best dealt with swiftly.” He’s grinning, the swagger firmly back in place. When he sees my face, though, something slips. My lips press into a hard line against the shifting inside me, fingers wrapped tight in his shirt. Faolan glances once more over his shoulder, then turns me slightly away until I’m hidden by his shoulders, and kisses my cheek—just at the corner of my lips—to a fresh chorus of cheers.

I’m still reeling when Kiara speaks again, voice just low enough for the two of us. “We’ll speak down below. But get your wife something dry to wear first, aye?”

With that, she disappears into the shadows across the deck, leaving me barefoot and bound to a husband I barely know.

Twelve

Faolan leads me into a jewelry box of a room. Colorful clothes lay strewn across the floor while a quilt patterned with the night sky drapes over the end of a bed shoved against the ship wall. Trinkets line every surface—glittering creations from the island of artists, striped hides and brilliantly colored feathers of beasts I’ve never seen. A single window catches the lamplight, throwing shadows across the central desk with its many instruments and the strange experiments they’ve wrought. More bizarre still are the two full tapestries nailed to the flat wooden wall separating Faolan’s room from the hallway beyond.

My saturated bag slips from my shoulder with a heavy thunk.

I’d thought myself clever, dressing as a magpie the first night of the Damhsa. Clearly, I’ve just married one.

Faolan falls back against the doorframe, and the movement nearly jerks my arm free from my shoulder. I stumble against the wall and grimace, working a finger beneath the braided cords that bind us to rub at the raw skin below.

“Forgot about those. Hold still, would you?” Faolan’s smile is sheepish as he pulls a dagger free from his boot, but a warning rings in the back of my mind just as he lowers the blade.

“Wait!” I catch his wrist and push it far from the cords before turning my attention to the knots. It takes long, quiet seconds, the steady weight of his gaze unnerving me, but finally the long cords loosen enough for us to remove our hands.

“Sentimental, are you?” He flexes his fingers, his eyes never leaving mine.

“We need the proof. Kiara can keep this to show our handfasting was real—that you haven’t kidnapped me.” It’s an easy thing to coax the long cords back into a triple knot, until it’s small. “Thisis how we prevent a war.”

“Oh. Right.”

An awkward sort of quiet stretches between us, interrupted only by the plips of water falling from my skirts. I turn the knot over in my fingers a few times, glance at my bag and then at him, because I don’t knowhowto ask a man to leave his own bloody room so that I can change in privacy. My only consolation is that now we’re out of view of anyone else, he seems just as much at odds with what to do withme.

Mercifully, a knock comes on the door behind us and Faolan whips around with more than a little relief on his face. “Go on, then. Kiara and I will be in the quarters to the left. Ah—I’ll take that.” He plucks the knot from my fingers with the same caution one would use when carrying a snake, and then pulls the door shut behind him.

I drop to my knees without delay, fumbling with the buckle that’s kept my possessions from spilling out of the bag so far. A groan rolls up the back of my throat when I see that every single garment inside is soaked through. Voices register beneath the door, footsteps sounding back and forth in the cabin beside, and there’s no time to second-guess. I rifle through the trunk nearest Faolan’s bed.

Two pairs of eyes greet me when I walk through the door, barefoot and wearing borrowed trousers along with a soft brown knit jumper on top. Kiara walks past me to shut the door, and I scurry to Faolan’s side.

At least he’s given a vow not to harm me. Kiara’s expression promises bloodshed.

“You’re the one he’s been searching for. The girl with ocean eyes, who will find the island, restore the purest waters, all while using some mystic, special gift.You?”

Her voice drips venom straight into my most vulnerable parts. She’s only asking the same questions I had of Faolan—the ones that kept sleep at bay through the night. My mouth gapes like a fish, wide and useless, and I don’t realize how small I’ve made myself until Faolan’s hand flattens beneath my shoulder blades, pushing my back straight.

“Aye, she does. I’ve seen it myself and—”

Kiara’s laugh is as sharp as glass. “Don’t give me a handful of dung and call it gold, you gobshite. If I had a coin for every time you’ve ‘seen’ something yourself, we wouldn’t be in this situation.”

To my surprise, Faolan’s smile remains easy. “I’ve sailed the Crescent for over ten years under your reign. Have I ever once failed you?”

Kiara goes quiet, but it’s no mark of submission or compliance. Instead her frown dulls into something much cooler. More calculating. My muscles tense as I push against Faolan’s hand until it slips to the small of my back, then the crook of my waist. I’ve seen that look on my father’s face enough to know it’s worse than the fury.

“Can you prove it?”

---