Page 61 of Virelai's Hoard
She ignored the way Calla’s intense gaze prickled on the side of her face and met Thorian’s eyes head-on.
“I don’t know who got on your wrong side today, but mere foolishness doesn’t beget this kind of punishment. Cut it out.”
Thorian raised his eyebrows. “Last I knew, you weren’t the captain, Sable. And cap’ said punishments are my purview. Ship got crippled, storage got raided. We don’t even know if we have enough supplies to last ‘til the end of the trip, and we can’t stop anywhere to restock and repair because there isn’t anywheretostop.” He took a deep breath, his voice low and steady as he continued on, “If you weren’t aware, we’re in uncharted waters, where at any moment a savage storm or sea monster could sink us to the bottom of the sea, and we apparently have competition breathing down our necks, who’ll show up again to finish what they started before long. These three deciding that rules don’t apply to them might’ve just doomed us all. Five lashes is nothing compared to what they deserve.”
Sable shook her head, despite knowing that on any other crew? He would’ve been justified. But not on this one. On thisship, they looked after each other. On this ship, they all knew Eryx was still mourning the death of his friend, Kittredge had been out of her mind with boredom following her injury, and Riley was–a mess. An endearing mess who still hadn’t gotten accustomed to life on the sea and all the rules, but she was still one of them, carving a place for herself.
Mirroring Thorian’s stance, Sable folded her arms. “You’re not whipping them, Thorian. Out of the question.” She finally met Calla’s eyes. “You know this isn’t right, Calla. Fuckingsaysomething.”
Calla looked at her, then at the rest of her crew, who were shifting on their feet and murmuring among themselves. Nyxen’s jaw was set hard, his knuckles white as he gripped the handle of his sword, though he said not a word. Gadrielle stared at the captain intently, as if trying to communicate without words.
Eventually, Calla sighed and waved her hand. “She’s right, Thorian. There will be no lashings. Not for this.”
Thorian looked like he wanted to say something, but ate his own words. Then his lips spread in a smile more terrifying than the whip in his hand. “You’re gonna wish you’d gotten the lashes by the time I’m done with you.” He shrugged. “Would’ve hurt more, but it would’ve been quick, at least.” He looked around the ship, raised his eyebrows. “Guess who’s gonna deal with this mess single-handedly now? Cap needs some time to decipher those clues she found, anyway. The Moonshadow better be shining bright as new by then.”
Someone gulped. Nyxen patted Kittredge on the shoulder in sympathy.
As the crew dispersed, someone touched her shoulder, light and uncertain. Riley.
“Can we talk?” she asked quietly, an odd expression on her face.
19. Unfinished Debts
Riley
Riley followed Sable as she led the way deep inside the ship’s guts. Unable to stop herself, she kept glancing at her back and frowning. Her heart thudded with every step she took.
Sable had stood up for her.
It was the one thought looping on repeat inside her head, alongside every footstep and every beat of her heart.
Sable. Stood up. For her. ForRiley.
No matter how many times she rolled over the words–the memories, they still didn’t make sense. No one had stood up for her like that. Ever.
Not the woman who birthed her, who had barely taken a look at her before dumping her in a basket on someone else’s doorstep. Not her father, who sold her off just a handful of years later, to pay off his gambling debts. Not Nera, the street gang leader who took her in, trained her, then turned every kid against her and stabbed her in the back. The stubs of her two mutilated fingers still tingled whenever Riley was around too many people, whenever she risked gettingcomfortable.
She rarely allowed herself to think about any of this, and when she did? It was as a reminder. To never get close. To get hers before someone else got theirs. Always. Otherwise, the listof the people who had failed her was locked tight and shoved in a forgotten recess of her mind. If she didn’t think about it, the past didn’t exist. The future didn’t exist, either, too fickle and unpredictable to possibly guess at. Only the present was there, real and solid in her grasp, to do what she wanted with. And right now, she really needed to understand.
Why?
Why would Sable do that? There was nothing in it for her.
Riley had been bracing herself for something entirely different, certain that the first mate would get pissed off about her not delivering on her end of their deal. The reading lessons had still kept going even after Riley’s visits to the captain’s cabin had ended, and she’d thought that to be an implied threat. A reminder that Sable was still waiting. That she knew Riley was shuffling her feet about how much to reveal of what she knew. But she’d been wrong, hadn’t she?
Instead of cutting Riley out, or demanding results, or making her life difficult, Sable had put herself between Thorian and Riley. The first mate had risked her image and Calla’s wrath to save her from getting fucking whipped–to spare her from adding more scars to the wounds of her past.
“You’ve been awfully quiet,” Sable said. “This is unlike you.”
Riley blinked back into the present. They’d made it to their usual spot, a holding chamber stuffed with barrels and crates stacked to the ceiling. Her nostrils filled with the familiar scent of salt, spices, and damp wood.
Sable leaned against a wooden beam, arms crossed, waiting. The flickering light of a nearby lantern played shadows on her face, on the scar marring her cheek. It made her look guarded. Riley swallowed, mouth dry, the itch in her fingers nearly unbearable now, her heart so loud in her chest she was sure Sable must be able to hear it from where she stood.
All logic drowned by the chaos of her own feelings, Riley did something she’d never thought she’d do again. She let her mask drop. Willingly.
“We’re not chasing Virelai’s Hoard,” she said. Her voice felt so loud in the hold’s quiet that she almost flinched from it. “Or, maybe we are, but that’s not what the captain’s after.”
Sable’s eyebrows drew together. “What?”
