She patted the side of the crate. I didn’t sit.
“Is that the captain’s journal?” I asked.
“He has asked us to help construct a spell,” she said. “It’s a very complex illusion.”
“He’s a very complex man,” I said. I couldn’t begin to tell her just how complex.
“Have you bedded him yet?”
“Forge, Mother…”
“You should,” she said. “It would be a strategic move. You would consolidate your power with a Priestlord in your bed.”
Oh, what a roll he would be.
I’m sure my face flushed, and I hated that she saw.
“I have a hammock in the galley,” I said. “I don’t think we would fit.”
“You see? You’ve already considered it.”
Oh moons, how I’d considered it. But it wouldn’t happen now. The Court of Sand had changed everything.
“The Sister Moons are happy for you,” she said.
“Sad for them,” I said. “I’ve chosen Forge.”
“I know the sound of a lie on your tongue.”
I should have gone down for the rum.
“You were dedicated to the Sisters before you were born,” she went on, looking out over the waters. “They take what they are owed. I made the right decision for you.”
“You made the right decision foryou,” I said.
“Chimeric is the Tears of the Moons,” she said. “You would be dead if they hadn’t chosen you.”
“Maybe it’s just taking a little longer.” And I tugged at my collar, emphasizing the scars burned across my breastbone.
“Beautiful,” she said, her eyes gleaming. “They tell your story.”
Wayward girl swept out to sea. Wretched woman from a lostfrigate. Chaser of chimeric on the infamous Ship of Spells.
“But I don’t know all of my story, do I?” I asked. “There’s one piece missing, one you’ve kept like a dagger under your bed.”
“Your father,” she said.
“Was he the bear?” I blurted. “The one who paid you in pinesap and honeycomb?”
She smiled again, almost fondly.
“Ujarak of the Sound,” she said. “I called him Jak.”
Of course she did.
“Why didn’t you ever tell me he was a mirrormage?”
“Would it have made a difference, Honor? You were set on leaving by your tenth spring.”
