Page 15 of The Princesses of Ruin
“I’ll ride with you,” she says. “Don’t go too far, Adrik.”
The sound of my name in her smoky voice sends a thrill racing down my spine. The ipsain flashes a warning pink and I turn my attention back to my magic.
I watch the coral for the next few minutes, maintaining optimal temperatures as the boat rocks gently. Captain Alejandra’s smile flitters into view in my mind’s eye, and an aftershock of tension fills my chest once more.
Deckhands emerge from the second level and begin preparing the ipsain for travel in a tar-sealed box. A bobbing head in the water draws my eyes and I gasp at the sight of the creature. They’re not so unlike me in composition: two eyes, a nose, a mouth. But their eyes are large, and black all the way through. Their nose is just two slits on a slight protrusion of their face. Their mouth is overwide, and full of sharp teeth as they smile up at me.
A selkie.
I raise my hand and wave at the creature, returning the smile.
Their upper lip pulls back farther, revealing just how devastating their teeth could be. Maybe they’re not smiling…
The crank ticks beside me, and I jump at the sight of Captain Alejandra. She braces against the wall as she lowers the coral into the watertight box designed for it. All at once, the cube splashes across the edges of the box and the chains collapse into the water.
“Thanks, Devim!” the captain yells down to the selkie, waving him off. The creature’s face is swallowed by the sea and it disappears.
“Shall we?” She holds out her arm.
What is she doing?
“Yes,” I say, maintaining focus on the coral as I walk toward the gangplank.
The crew loads the box into the back of the donkey-drawn wagon, and I sit at the edge as we set off into the chilled morning. The Spiders spread out in pairs, their eyes scanning the scorched wreckage as we make our way to the Wall.
The captain rides up next to me on her horse. “How long have you known Andrew?”
“Many years.”
She sighs. “So talkative. Please stop boring me with the details.”
I snort. “Apologies.”
The snap of wagon wheels breaking the charred bones of the Upper Kingdom is loud. I want to fill the space with her voice.
“How long have you known Zane?”
She leans back on her horse, relaxing. “Since we were children.”
That was far too short an interaction. My chest tightens as the window to retort closes.
“You’re boring me with the details.”
She laughs. “Are you flirting now?”
My heart palpitates in my chest and my palms tingle. I shrug for fear of my voice failing me. Am I flirting? I know I want her to keep talking. I want to hear my name again, too.
Suddenly, she snaps upright, her gaze turned toward the palace. She rides off without a word and stops next to Zane at the front of the procession. My gut turns with anticipation as his magic pulses brighter.
He taps the two Spiders behind him, and they disappear down a blackened alley of a half-crumbled building. Captain Alejandra slows her horse and comes back to my side.
“What is going on?” I ask, my heart pounding harder than before.
She beams, a wild look in her eyes as her hand falls to the hilt of her flintlock. “An ambush.”
Chapter seven
Emillia
