“Of course I did.”
He nods. “Good. Then maybe you can repay my wisdom with a bit more bread. I’m wasting away down here.”
I consider it. Grudgingly.
I give a curt nod, then turn on my heel and leave him in the dark.
Tomorrow, I’ll ask her. Tonight, I’ll prepare for the answer.
Chapter 24
Amara
The lantern burns low in the corner, its glow brushing soft gold across my daughter’s sleeping face. She’s so small. So impossibly perfect. I hold her close, barely daring to breathe, afraid that even my heartbeat might be too loud for her fragile world. I’ve cared for children before. Wiped their noses, filled their bellies, carried them laughing through the trees, but this is different. She is mine. Flesh of my flesh and the fear that coils in my chest is nothing like I’ve known. What if I’m not enough for her?
Being a mother is one thing, but being a mother with enemies at every door makes it something else entirely. I don’t just need to meet her needs. I have to protect her from demons and Fae and men who would see her parents dead. Who might be cruel enough to hurt her just to get to us. A flare of guilt catches in my throat. I’ve brought her into a world wracked with danger. She deserves simpler things. Simpler parents. Not a Fae warrior and an Awakened Jewel tangled in a war that hasn’t yet ended.
I lay her gently in her crib, onto the soft furs that brush against her tawny skin. Her lips curl. Her little nose twitches. I brush a single dark curl from her brow and breathe through the ache in my chest. There’s no use drowning in what-ifs and maybes. Looking at her now, this beautiful, precious thing, I regret nothing.
Her mother will bring the forest. Her father will bring the storm. And she… she will be stronger than us both.
And I will do everything in my power to protect her.
There’s a soft tap at the door, and I glance over my shoulder.“Come in,” I whisper, barely louder than breath, nevertheless, Solena hears me.
The door creaks open just a sliver, and her face appears through the gap. I’m still adjusting to the changes in her. The wild tangles of her hair, the sunburnt edges of her skin, the sea-weathered look that’s replaced the refined Solena I once knew.
“Am I disturbing you?” she asks quietly.
I shake my head. “No. She sleeps like a stone… though only because she drinks her weight in milk twice over.”
Solena steps inside, gently closing the door behind her. Her movements are nearly silent as she crosses the cabin and stops behind me.
“She’s beautiful, Amara,” she says softly. “You’ve done well. Does she have a name yet?”
A laugh escapes me, dry and a little tired. “I haven’t even had time to think of one. Everything happened so fast. She wasn’t supposed to arrive for months yet.”
“Does Daedalus have any suggestions?” she asks.
My eyes flick to the empty hammock in the corner. My throat tightens. “No,” I murmur.
She hums gently. “Well… I’m sure when the right name comes, you’ll know.”
When I turn to look at her, I study her face. Soft smile, eyes kind despite the salt and sun. Her edges are rougher now. Her beauty hardened by the sea. But there’s warmth there, too. The familiar warmth I once trusted.
And yet…
I blink once, then again. The thoughts that haunt me in the dark press at the edge of my tongue. Not in Driftspire. I never saw it then. But here, on this ship, I’ve watched them, her and my husband, standing too close, sharing too much silence. I thought I saw something. A glance. A breath held too long.
But looking at her now, there’s none of it.
She tilts her head, catching me watching too long. “Amara? Are you alright?”
I hesitate. My pulse stutters. I wonder if I should say it. Spill the suspicion gnawing at my insides. But instead, my gaze falls to her fingers. Ink stains the tips, dark and fresh.
“Do you tattoo him often?” I ask, voice low, eyes following the dark marks up her leathers until they meet hers again.
Her brow creases in quiet confusion, but she nods. “As often as I need to. At first, the marks lasted a week. Sometimes two. But now… they fade faster. Melt off like wax in the sun. I redo them almost daily.”
