Page 99 of A Storm in Every Heart
I give my head a brisk shake to clear it and narrow my eyes, focusing on the commotion below. A cluster of men at the docks flail and shout, fists flying as they jostle and grapple in a chaotic brawl.
“Who do you suppose started it?” Odessa asks, shooting me a smile that feels as if she’s sharing a private joke with herself.
“They’re boxing. When I was a kid, I used to sneak down here to watch. It was far more interesting than anything my tutors had to say.”
She looks over her shoulder at me, biting her lip. “I know.”
My brow furrows. “What do you mean you know?”
She laughs lightly, and points back toward the fight. “I bet you 50 gold that the human will win.”
“I thought you didn’t gamble.”
“It’s not gambling when it’s a sure thing. I’ve seen him fight before.”
Her eyes widen, as if she’s trying to tell me something with her look alone. I don’t understand what she’s getting at, and Ilook from her to the fight below, confusion swirling in the back of my mind.
My eyes land on the human-looking man in the ring—the one I know is really a doppler who has been scamming unwitting Fae for decades—and all at once a memory comes to the forefront of my mind and the answer hits me with more force than any of the punches being thrown down below.
It’s her. The girl from the pier…
The memory is hazy. It must have been ten—no, eight—years ago now, but I remember meeting a boy my age and his sister…a sister who is the entire reason I started lying about my name every time I left the castle grounds. The sister who gave me an old brass key that I still have back in my room at the palace.
I knew Odessa seemed familiar.
Words fail me and all I can say is: “You!”
She smirks. “Glad you’re finally catching on, Your Majesty.”
“I’ve met you before,” I clarify, just to ensure I’m not going insane. She nods once, and an overwhelming feeling of disbelief washes over me. “How is that possible?”
She shrugs. “How is it possible that anyone has met before? Coincidence, maybe? Or luck? Or perhaps it wasn’t that unusual if you spent a lot of time around those docks as a child.”
I hear her, but I’m not exactly listening. My head spins. This girl, whom I’ve only known for a matter of days but already holds all my attention, has actually been in the background of my life for years.
How many times in the last eight years did I take out that old key and look at it, wondering where it fits? How many times did I make up a fake name and think of the bold red-headed girl who made fun of me for not hiding my identity better?
This doesn’t feel like a coincidence to me. It feels bigger than that.
“You gave me your key,” I say, more of a statement than a question.
She nods. “I’m sure you’ve long since thrown it out.”
“No, actually, I didn’t…I still have it, but why?”
She smiles, looking pleased even as a pink flush stains her cheeks. “I don’t know. At the time it just felt right. Objects can be promises, you know.”
I nod, even though I don’t really know what she means. Whatever sailors’ superstition that is, I’m not familiar with it, but in some small way I feel like I understand. “What’s the key for?”
She smiles. “Treasure, supposedly. Or, who knows? Maybe it was just old junk.”
I shake my head wordlessly.
If there’s any treasure to be had, it’s her. It’s finding her again, and the inexplicable feeling I have that this was always meant to happen.
Like maybe there’s a version of history where she never went to live in Vernallis with her aunt and I met her on some random day in Hydratta.
Like maybe if I’d never tried to talk to her in the hall—if I’d never stolen her boat and wasn’t standing here now—that we’d run into each other again sometime in the future.
