“I think you’re capable of more than you think.” His gaze sharpens. “And I know you’d be better at it if you’re not dead.”
Before I can react, he grips the side of my head and turns my face toward him, firm enough that I stumble half a step closer. He’s close enough that I can feel the heat of him through the blanket, and my pulse jumps in answer to his questioning eyes.
“So don’t ever try to drown yourself again,” he says quietly. “Okay?”
The light in his grey eyes looks like polished metal for a moment, and I hate how easily it pulls me in.
“We’ll see about that,” I say, not breaking eye contact.
He releases me at once.
“You’ll summon the Glim again tomorrow,” he says, already stepping back from me. “We start after breakfast.”
He turns on his heel, his wet coat whipping around him as he heads for the steps, throwing droplets of water into the air.
“Wait,” I call after him. “Am I not sleeping in my cell? Where do I sleep?”
He keeps walking away from me, not even bothering to shoot me a backward glance as he gives his last remarks.
“Ship’s big enough, darling.”
Chapter Thirteen
Piratesarethemoststubborn kind of humans I have ever met. Turns out, finding a place for me to sleep is an almost impossible task. The Noctis offers more than enough space, but all the cabins are already occupied by crew members with higher ranks, and apparently, about half of the crew members don’t trust me. I guess that explains the tribunal votes.
I’ve already been threatened with being thrown overboard twice. Three wanted to bed me in exchange for their bed, one spat horrible insults about my kind, and another was mute, so heonly shook his head and wrinkled his nose in disgust. The worst thing about it is that, wherever I go, I have to take my dresses with me. My mother always taught me that it is not polite to return a gift.
So before the sun sets, I find myself carrying the pile of dresses down into the orlop. The steep steps almost make me stumble and fall twice, the fabric slipping in my arms, but in the end, my dresses and I make it down safe and sound. The orlop is already dim, lit only by a few lanterns that sway gently with the movement of the ship. Every creak of timber sounds louder down here, the hull groaning softly around us.
Lark is still preparing the hammock that he said he’d organize for me when he found me wandering earlier, and pulls the strings tight. His father is by his side, instructing him on how to tie the knot the right way. The pirate-in-training listens carefully as he pulls at the rope exactly as his father told him to.
“There you go,” Nightglass leans over to inspect the work. “That’s how you do a proper bowline knot.”
I carefully place my dresses on a clean-looking piece of sailcloth, smoothing the fabric once out of habit, then step toward the two sailors.
“Thank you for helping me with this.” I manage a soft smile, keeping my hands folded in front of me, unsure where else to put them.
At the same time, Nightglass steps half a pace back and pulls Lark with him. The space between us widens. Sighing, I nod in understanding.
“No lady should sleep on the floor. That’s what I’m teaching my son.” He places a hand on the smaller pirate and squeezes it, guiding him to turn, and moments later, they disappear into the dark, their footsteps fading toward the stern.
They’re both sleeping down here, a few feet away, on the other side of the stairs. Lark is still a cabin boy, so he is the piratewith the lowest rank, or so he proudly told me earlier. He didn’t forget to mention that I am even lower in rank, though, which would make him my superior. It still means that he must sleep in the orlop. His father doesn’t want to leave him down here alone, it seems, so they’re both here with a few other lower crew members. And me.
It is truly not the best place to sleep on a ship, but what counts is that I am not held captive anymore, behind iron bars. I feel their eyes on me at all times while I’m on deck, as if watching a predator that might snap if given the chance. Though they have seen me at my weakest today, there’s no sign of trust or even indifference. I can’t blame them, though. I don’t trust them either. There’s a chance that someone quietly slits my throat while I’m sleeping, the way they do at the markets to bleed the siren out and get the last drop of magic from her. Then there’s the fact that I’m the only woman on board.
Thinking about it makes me shiver, so I shake it off and focus on something else. While I was roaming the ship earlier, searching for a sleeping spot, I collected a treasure that I now keep around my neck — a charm carved out of bone in the shape of a shell. I tell myself that it is fine, as they have stolen, I mean, organized it in the first place. I don’t know why I kept it, but it kind of spoke to me. Pirates believe that these kinds of charms bring them luck while sailing and spare them from foul weather. Of course, that’s not true. The sea disregards such meaningless trinkets. But belief has weight on a ship like this, and I’ve even seen the captain wearing them around his neck. I also found a pair of boots. They’re a bit too big for me, worn thin with holes along the sides, but I took them anyway. In the state they’re in, I doubt anyone will miss them. And with the way my feet have already begun to ache, I couldn’t afford not to.
Suddenly, the lantern to my right flickers. I curl my hands around the charm tightly without thinking and whip my headtoward the light. I wait, listening past the creak of wood and the distant murmur of waves. Nothing moves. Exhaling, I shake my head and tuck the charm back into the neckline of my dress.
I test the hammock, gripping the ropes and shifting my weight carefully. When I’m sure it holds, I lie down and sigh as the fabric cradles me. This is so much better than the cell. The slow sway of the ship carries even here, and I can go on deck whenever I need fresher air. The rest of the crew is already sleeping, though their distant snoring does not bother me. I wonder if Sable gets some sleep tonight, or if his thoughts are as restless as mine.
If he hadn’t come for me, I would be dead now. Just another life lost to the sea. I let the moment replay in my head. His silhouette above me, the shock of his grip, my vision already blurring. I screw up my face, remembering something else. Something in the water. Something—or someone—pushed me upward. It felt like smoke curling around my waist. Like…what I’m feeling now.
I tear my eyes open and stare into pitch-black eyes.
A scream claws its way up my throat, but a hand clamps over my mouth. It feels strange against my lips, weightless and heavy at the same time. Ribbons of smoke coil around his fingers, dusted with silver-blue sparks when the lantern light catches them.
I can make out his frame and clothing vaguely from the outlines. He’s wearing breeches and a loose shirt, tugged inside of it in a messy way.