She bolted upright and rubbed the sleep from her eyes, trying to focus on her surroundings. Light streamed in through the cabin windows. How could it be morning already? She didn’t remember much after falling into one of the empty hammocks in the crew’s cabin. Exhaustion had won out and sleep had claimed her the moment her head hit the pillow.
The hammock was surprisingly comfortable for a bed suspended in the air. The swaying of the ship rocked it back and forth, lulling her to sleep. It was morbid, but she thought they looked a little like floating coffins—minus the promise of eternal rest.
“Get up, lad,” Jorne said, passing by her hammock. “Cap’n’s orders.”
Kamira groaned, pressing the heels of her palms against sleep-crusted eyes and feeling the puffiness of too little sleep. “What time is it?”
“Sun up. Rise and shine, we’ve work to do,” Jorne yelled back before heading out the door.
Pushing herself lazily from the hammock, she pulled on the borrowed socks and boots. Luckily, she was the last one to awaken, so she missed seeing any bits of exposed flesh from the crew around her. She could have sworn one of the men was completely nude in a hammock near hers when she had finally come down to sleep, but she hadn’t looked long enough to confirm.
She stumbled up to the main deck of the ship where the entire crew was assembled in a horizontal line. Kamira followed suit, standing beside one of the lankier crew members. The Captain and Quartermaster stood facing them, both their arms crossed in front of them.
“Good of you to join us, cabin boy.” The Captain glared down at her with enough contempt to make her combust on the spot. If he were a Sorcerer, she probably would have been nothing but a pile of bone and ash right now.
“We are heading North. Let’s sail, men.” He said before turning to Cormac, engaging with him in hushed tones.
Kamira noticed a few of the crew exchange confused glances at one another as they dispersed, heading to whatever jobs they held upon the ship.What was that about?she wondered.
From what Jorne had told her last night, almost all of these men were from Aksahri, so she imagined they might not go North very often, rather staying close to home. Could that be why they seemed a bit stunned by the Captain’s words?
She could understand staying close to home. It had been a shock when she moved from her northern home in Torheim to the hot sands of Aksahri. The vast deserts and dry climate were so different from the lush forests of her home that she never truly felt comfortable there. She missed the thick woods and vibrant greenery of her home. She even missed the chill of the air in the winter months and the humidity that would cling like a frog's sticky feet to everything it could in the summertime. It had been a beautiful place to live and she was immensely grateful to have lived most of her life there among friends and family, versus the capital city of Aksahri, where Sorcerers were sniffed out and executed daily. She couldn’t imagine the stress of that kind of life, especially for an innocent child.
The North had always been a little more forgiving, turning a blind eye to those who let their abilities slip. It was a more peaceful and accepting place, where many did not agree with the Emperor’s rule.
In her home city of Torheim, much of that was because her father was the General of the Aksahrian military stationed there. Though not a Sorcerer himself, he was accepting of the abilities his children and wife possessed.
When the rebellion tore through the realm, her father’s family was one of the few Ungifted households that did not agree with the new emperor’s laws and views, taking in Kamira’s mother, which led to her parents falling in love. As a result, her father spent many years working tirelessly to get into the position of power he now held to aid the Sorcerers and, ultimately, his own family.
But even so, he was still the General of the Aksahrian-Torheim military branch and he could only turn a blind eye so often. There were still executions displayed in the city center and soldiers patrolling the streets daily, their sights set on snuffing out any rogue Sorcerers hiding out.
All that remained in Torheim were Kamira, her mother, and four others hidden in the city. Even her brother, Adonis, had left long ago, fleeing across the realm to Neilmaar where he could stay more easily hidden.
The amount of Sorcerers remaining throughout the realm continued to dwindle. The Emperor would never stop. He would send his troops out until they’d been completely wiped from the face of the Empire.
Kamira had lived a much different life than many other Sorcerers. Being a part of a noble house came with perks and had taken a major target off her back. Instead of hiding and living a life with one eye always open, she had lived a privileged life, spending much of her time reading, drawing, playing the piano, going to parties and balls, and learning everything possible about being the mistress of a house for her future life as a nobleman’s wife.
She was immeasurably grateful for the life of luxury she had been given, never worrying or wanting for anything, but at the same time, it had always felt like a slow, agonizing walk with a noose around her neck that grew tighter each day. The best she had to look forward to in life was being the wife of a Lord without the opportunity to ever reveal who shetrulywas. Her sorcery was as much a part of herself as her mind, and if she couldn’t live without that, then how was she to live a life without her gifts?
“Cabin boy!” The Captain yelled down to her from his spot at the helm, ripping her from her thoughts. His hazel eyes bore into her like shards of ice. “You’re with me.”
“Wonderful…” she sighed and rolled her eyes before venturing to join him at the helm. She didn’t know why, but she found it hard to take the Captain seriously. Maybe it was his youth and the fact that he was many years younger than anyone else on the ship, or maybe it was because she could tell how hard he was trying to rattle her. It was almost as if he was constantly wearing a rugged mask of indifference.
When she had observed him alone in his room before he had noticed her, there seemed to be a great weight sagging his shoulders—a sadness and vulnerability that she hadn’t seen since. On the outside, he might look hardened, but he was struggling internally.
It made her think about her own struggles and the reason she was on this vessel. Had it really only been last night? It hadn’t sunken in yet—it all felt like some sort of far off dream. She’d expected to feel sad or remorseful, but she couldn’t really say she felt much of anything. Her entire body was just numb, the events of the previous evening locked away in a deep dark corner of her mind. Her heart was riddled with frost, and she didn’t know when she would feel warm again.
“How good is your eyesight?” the Captain asked, bringing her back to the present.
“Good. Why?”
“We need a lookout to watch for oncoming ships. Here, take this.”
She grabbed the bronze spyglass from him and held it to her eye, extending it toward the Captain’s face. “You should really stop frowning, Captain, you’re starting to get wrinkles.”
His frown deepened as he snatched the spyglass from her. “Use it up there, not down here.” He pointed to the small perch at the top of the main mast. “Got that, smart ass?”
Smirking, Kamira crossed her arms.
