Page 58 of A Crown of Lies

He looked up from his meal and adjusted the broken spectacles on his nose before paling a shade. “Mother preserve!” he declared, stumbling out of his seat. “You’re alive!” The man threw himself, sobbing at Rixxis, embracing her tightly. “My beautiful, sweet daughter is alive!”

Eighteen

Rixxisstiffened,horrified.

This couldn’t be happening. What was her father doing here, so far from home? Why Greymark, of all places?

Her father sobbed into her, squeezing her so tight she could barely breathe.

Ieduin stepped forward, frowning. “Rixxis, do you know this guy?”

How should she answer that? She couldn’t say no. Not only would that hurt her father, but he would insist, doubling down on claiming her. Then things would be more awkward.

“Rixxis?” Her father stepped back, blinking away tears. He glanced between her and Ieduin. “Is that a nickname, Celeste?”

Rixxis cringed. She had always hated her birth name. Even if her father had given it to her, even if it was chosen with love and care, that name represented someone who no longer existed.

Ieduin’s frown deepened. “Who’s Celeste?”

“My daughter,” said her father, gesturing firmly to Rixxis.

“There seems to be some confusion,” Rowan cut in. He put an arm around her father’s shoulders and guided him gently back to the table where he’d been sitting before. “Why don’t we sit down and get it sorted out?”

Her father pulled back against Rowan’s hand. “There’s no confusion. I know my daughter when I see her. Tell them, Celeste. Tell them!”

She swallowed, scanning the faces in the room. Ieduin expected her to deny it. Her father expected her to confirm it and Rowan… She couldn’t read him enough to know what he wanted.

“I…” Her eyes slid to her father’s, and she saw the hurt in his features that she didn’t immediately tell the truth. Rixxis swallowed and closed her eyes. “It’s as he says. My real name isn’t Rixxis Amaranth. It’s Celeste Callait-Dufrain, and this man is my father.”

When she opened her eyes, Ieduin had turned away. The room was silent. Rowan’s expression hadn’t changed, but a cool sort of anger radiated from him. No, not anger. Betrayal. At least Ieduin knew Rixxis was a lie, even if she hadn’t told him her real name and history.

Rixxis gripped her arm and stared at the floor.

Her father was overjoyed. He threw his arms around her again, hugging her tight. “It’s such a relief to see you! The day you left Qet, I thought that would be the last I ever saw you, and yet here you are. What luck that we should both be in the same place at the same time! It’s as if Fortune herself has brought us together again!”

It’s the Thief’s luck, Rixxis thought, but said nothing.

Rowan crossed his arms. “I’m very interested in how you came to be here, Lord…?”

“It’s Captain. Captain Leopold Callait of theAlbatross. Or formerly of theAlbatross, I suppose,” said her father, finally turning. “Oh, where are my manners? I apologize. You are a king, aren’t you?” He bowed and dropped to his knees.

“No, no. That’s all right. No need to trouble yourself.” Rowan took her father by the hand and helped him back to his feet, ushering him back to the table. “You sound as if you have a story to tell.”

“Oh, I do, and a rather sad one at that.” He gave Rixxis an apologetic glance as he sat. “It’s not by choice that I have come here. TheAlbatrosswas sailing from Qet to Brucia with a shipment of foodstuffs we hoped to offload there. Heard about their troubles and thought we’d make a goodwill mission to ease the shortages. The storm came out of nowhere. We tried to ride the front, beat it to port. For a day and a half, we managed, but by nightfall on the second day, she was bearing down upon us. We were pulled into The Tombs.”

Rixxis shuddered as she sat down across from him. She hadn’t been on a ship in quite some time, but The Tombs didn’t earn their name for being a pleasant place to sail. It was a treacherous stretch of ocean that ran along the coast. Just below the water’s surface, massive rock formations jutted up from the sea floor, creating whirlpools and rip tides that could tear apart ships, and that was if they weren’t dashed against the rocks first. The Tombs had become the final resting place of over a hundred ships, the wreckage visible to anyone foolish enough to sail nearby.

She stretched a hand forward, placing it over his. “It’s a wonder you survived.”

He squeezed back. “The Mother herself must’ve stretched out a hand to protect me. We hit the rocks. The hull breach was catastrophic. We were taking on water, and the storm was only getting worse. Battered by waves fifty feet high, we lost half the crew that first night. They went overboard, pulled into the whirling waters, swallowed by the sea, never to be spat out.” He shook his head and retracted his hand.

“And Lewis?” Rixxis asked. “What of him?” She didn’t want to know the fate of her husband, but she had to ask.

Her father lifted his head and shook it slowly. “I told him to stay below deck, where it was safe. Told him, begged him, not to be a fool. But the foremast looked like she was about to come down, and he was determined to secure it. There was nothing I could do to talk sense into him.”

She stared at her father, trying to process what he was saying. “He’s dead?”

“I’m sorry, child.” Her father gripped her hands.

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