“That seems a harsh punishment for you, who did nothing. Why didn’t she just curse him?” She didn’t believe this curse scenario for a second. Something else was going on here, but she would placate him to find out whatever information she could.
“It wouldn’t have had the same effect I suppose. As the saying goes, an eye for an eye,” Doraan shrugged. “She wanted it to be equal. A son for a son.”
“So, your crew is cursed too?”
“When she cursed me, she cursed this ship, which was docked on one of the smaller Aksahrian piers. She cursed all those who were on that pier at the time, too. There used to be twenty of us, but now there are eighteen, plus you.” He looked at her with squinted eyes, biting his lower lip as if she were a puzzle to be solved.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
“Because until you, no one has been able to board this ship.”
She huffed.Sure they couldn’t.“Well, thatisweird,” she said slowly.
She had been so fortunate that night to stumble across the ship, she hadn’t thought twice about boarding it or how she had even gotten next to it. The last thing she remembered before theCursed Soulhad loomed above her was drifting alone in the open sea. “The night I fled, I rowed as far out to sea as I could, until my arms nearly fell off, and then, suddenly, your ship was beside me, almost as if it wanted me to come aboard. To save me. If I hadn’t come across your ship, there’s no knowing what could have happened. I probably would have died in the middle of the ocean or been caught by the Aksahrian guard.” She shrugged before ending with, “Maybe your ship knew I needed help and saved me.”
The corner of his mouth curved upward. “Maybe it did.”
She thought about all he had said and mulled over it in her mind, drawing her own conclusions. “So, you think since I was able to board your vessel, and I wasn’t cursed with you, that I can go on land? Do I have it right?”
His eyes were alight with something akin to excitement. “Exactly.”
“So, what sort of information do you need me to get for you?” She supposed since they had done so much for her, she needed to repay them, and if this is what they needed she would do it.
He took a deep, shuddering breath before saying, “I need you to go to Torheim and find out any information you possibly can about the location of the Brothers of the Spring of Zjanoak.”
Kamira froze. She tried to swallow the lump that had begun to clog in her throat. That was one of the first places the Aksahrian guard would come looking for her. Not only that, if she went home, she would find out what had happened to her parents due to her actions. It almost felt betternotknowing. Had her father lost his position? Had they lost the house? Were they even still alive after what she had done? The Empire had been known to punish others for the acts of a family member.
She pushed the thoughts away as soon as they sprung forth. She didn’t need to go to Torheim to find that information for them, and she knew for certain her parents were fine. They were survivors and would find a way to avoid the Empire’s blades.
Kamira chuckled. “Tonight might just be your lucky night, Captain Doraan.”
He arched a single dark brow, cocking his head slightly, “Why is that?”
“Because I already know where the Brothers of the Spring of Zjanoak are.”
15
Doraan
Thefurthernorththeysailed, the rougher the seas became. Whitecaps as tall as the ship's hull slammed into them, spraying icy water onto the floorboards. The wind howled like wolves, swirling through the sails and rigging with a vengeance. The cold was biting, burning his skin with its chill, practically sucking the moisture from the air.
It had been two days since their encounter with the disguised war ship and Kamira had been injured. They continued their trek northward but were no longer stopping at Torheim. Kamira somehow knew where a group of the Brothers of the Spring were located. When Doraan had asked her how, she only gave him a vague, clipped explanation about how she had eavesdropped on a confidential meeting. When he questioned her further about what sort of meeting it was, she simply shrugged her shoulders, keeping her mouth shut, not willing to provide anything else. He wasn’t buying a word of it, but it was better than nothing, especially if it meant them getting closer to breaking the curse.
So now they were headed to the hills of Neilmaar. Kamira said a large group of the cult were hidden there beneath the city. Neilmaar was the worst possible location she could have said because it was on the eastern coast of Emmoria. They were currently off the west coast, and they had already sailed too far north. Turning around to travel through the easier, calmer, and safer southern oceans would take them an extra week, if not longer, and time was of the essence. They had to get to Neilmaar as fast as possible, break the bloody curse, and get back to Aksahri to warn them of this new enemy before anything catastrophic happened.
Now that they had sailed so far up the west coast, they would have to come around the top of Emmoria along the frigid northern coast, which they had never done before. It would take a little over a week to get to Neilmaar that way if everything went to plan, which was far better than turning around to face an extra week of sailing via the southern route.
They were getting closer to Torheim and would pass its shores in three days' time, which would be the furthest north they had ever sailed. They had no idea what to expect once they passed it, especially so late into the year. It was already considerably colder than the last time they were in these waters. They weren’t prepared for the drastic change in weather, but they would make due with the supplies they had. If nothing else, the crew of theCursed Soulwas resourceful.
They had to be to survive.
Doraan shivered as a blast of icy wind blew past him. Once they passed Torheim, it would take another three days to make it to the tip of the Emerald Peaks. He would be lying to himself if he said he wasn’t apprehensive. His mind couldn’t stop wandering to the merchant frigate that was actually a mysterious enemy war ship. There was no knowing what waited for them on the Northern seas. They could be running headlong into an entire fleet of military ships. If they came upon a fleet, they wouldn’t survive. There would be nothing they could do. That thought made him think of Kamira again.
Doraan had left Kamira to rest and recover in his quarters over the past few nights, which left him to sleep with the crew. The hammocks down there were far less comfortable than his bed. He cracked his sore neck from side to side and rubbed at his thigh. A deep ache had set in with the cold that wouldn’t leave no matter what he did. It was a persistent, uncomfortable throbbing that he hoped would go away once his body got used to this new climate.
“I hate the north,” Cormac muttered beside Doraan, pulling his thick wool coat fully closed and buttoning it all the way down to the frayed bottom edge that hung at his knees. “The wind steals the breath from your lungs.”
Doraan grunted his agreement. “It’s only for a few weeks, and then we will be in Neilmaar, hopefully gathering answers. Then, sea willing, we can head back south with the curse broken.”
