I had absolutely no idea how many Malakai had—in fact, most of my military knowledge pertaining to his empire came from things I’d overheard from guards or himself. I knew what Malakithoughtof his military, that it was unrivaled, but I had no idea how much of that was ego. From what I knew about the man, I would guess that his militarywasstrong but that he potentially played up their prowess to his people.
He wouldn’t be able to do that when he saw us sailing toward him. No, instead, he would know fear, and I wished more than anything that I could see his initial reaction at that moment. I knew fury and then bravado would follow, but I wanted to see that first spark of terror.
“This is insane,” I whispered, looking over all of the different ships lining the dark waters.
The ones in the middle were the most prominent. They had the most sails, all painted in the colors of the Tridian Empire. They shifted in the wind as crew members adjusted different ropes and uniformed recruits walked past them carrying crates of supplies.
There were smaller ships as well, and Kolvar explained that those would be for small, elite teams that would scout the waters as we traveled.No one wanted a full naval battle in the middle of the Cursed Divide, which is what would happen if Malakai sent his forces sailing our way before we got there.
“Would you like to see one up close?” Kolvar asked with an arched brow. I wasn’t sure why he chose to show me the ships, but this moment, combined with my experience in the marketplace, left me feeling a string of emotions that only cemented my desire to fight for my new home.
There was so much beauty here, not just in the landscape and architecture, but in the people who occupied it. The way they respected each other and loved their homeland was awe-inspiring.
“Absolutely.” I took his hand that he offered as we walked down the steps of the lookout tower, the stone walls momentarily cutting off the noise from the harbor. When we emerged from the door moments later, the men there saluted him in greeting, and I had to fight to contain a small smile. It was sometimes hard to remember how important my three men were within the empire because when it was just us, none of that existed.
Kolvar took me straight down to the center dock, toward the largest vessel with the biggest sails, and my breath caught in my chest at the impressive size of it. As we approached from behind, it became all too clear that it wasn’t possible to fully gauge the massive nature of these ships unless you were standing right next to them. I mean this thing had to be nearly eighty feet in length!
When we reached the middle of the dock, approaching the ramp to walk onto the ship, Kolvar placed me ahead of him. “Just walk straight ahead and don’t look down.”
It was good advice, especially since the wood creaked underneath me as we walked up the plank toward the main deck. Beneath me, the sea's waves hit against the dock and boat, leaving me with visceral memories of what I now knew lived within these waters. I wasn’t as fearful about sailing through them as I probably should have been, but I had no intention of going swimming anytime soon.
As we reached the main deck, the wind whipped my hair around wildly. I pulled my new shawl closer to me, finding that it was quickly becoming one of my favorite pieces of clothing I owned. Partly because I could see the skill it took to make it, but also because it would always remind me of the flourishing marketplace and the equality that existed and shone within it.
“This is obviously the main deck,” Kolvar motioned to the vast open area that was being piled high with supplies boxes.
I turned into him and offered him a small smile, loving how excited he seemed about showing me all of this. Elijah told me he wasn’t a fan of sailing, but the sentiment clearly did not apply to Kolvar.
“So do I get a full tour? Or just get to see the main deck?” I teased.
“Full tour.” He scooped me up easily before walking toward a door that I had to assume led to stairs and the rooms below deck. When he set me down and opened the door, I steeled myself, wondering if I would feel a barrage of emotions considering what happened the last time I was on a ship—
“Fuck. We don’t have to go down there.” Kolvar pulled me into his embrace, his eyes darkening with realization as he let the door fall shut. I blinked in surprised, looking up at him in confusion before he continued, “I feel so stupid, I have no idea why I thought this was a good idea after what you’ve been through—”
“Hey,” I murmured as I pushed up on my toes and cupped his jaw, his gaze holding mine as I offered him a small smile. “I’m totally fine. I was only stopping to make sure, but I’m good. I want you to show me the ship, especially since you seem excited about it. Do you like sailing?”
After examining my expression for a minute, he nodded at what he saw there and offered a small smile. “I used to sail pretty often with my father. We had an inlet of water near our property, and though we never took our small boat out to sea, he used to show me how to work the sails and stuff like that. It was really fun.”
“You miss him,” I noted softly, seeing a small, sad shadow pass through his gaze.
“I miss all of them.” He inhaled deeply before gently pressing a kiss to my forehead. “It’s one of the reasons I value my connection to Dakath and Elijah so much. And you’re my family now as well.”
I stared up at him, feeling a bit overwhelmed by what he was saying. After a quick moment, I pushed up onto the tips of my toes and brushed my lips against his. I wasn’t sure what to say to a statement like that. I hadn’t had a family in such a long time, but I understood completely what he was talking about—this empire and these men were becoming my home faster than I could have ever imagined.
When he pulled back after I tried deepening the kiss, I pouted. His chuckle filling the air made it impossible to not smile, though.
“If I start kissing you, I won’t stop,” he admitted with a grunt of frustration.
“Oh no,” I teased as he narrowed his eyes. “Butfine, I do want the full tour.”
And that was exactly what I got—from rudder to head, aft to forward, Kolvar spent the next hour showing me each and every corner of the boat. I had to admit, the thing that stood out to me the most was how clean it was. There was obviously a lot of pride taken in caring for it.
When we finally made it back up onto the top deck, it became clear it was a mid-day break because most of the crew members were sitting on the harbor or deck of the ship, relaxing and socializing.
“That was really interesting,” I admitted, looking over the array of other ships as we made our way toward the gangplank. “I still feel like there is so much to learn when it comes to the intricacies of preparing and carrying out the upcoming attack.”
“Anything you want to know, I will tell you.” Kolvar promised, flipping our entwined hands to kiss the top of mine. “Or show you. The castle library has an impressive number of books relating to our military, which doesn’t include what’s in Myrin’s private study.”
I actually felt like the best teacher for me when it came to this type of thing would be Myrin. Not because I didn’t love talking about it with these men—I did, and it was obvious they knew what they were talking about—butthey were a tad distracting. Realistically, I also felt like Myrin would have a perspective that they didn’t. Afterall, she was the one who had to make all of the tough decisions at the end of the day.
