Ithadbeentwodays since Kamira had given Doraan her impromptu hug. It was completely out of character for her, and she still couldn’t believe she had done it. If her mother could have seen her at that moment, she would have been scolded and sent to her room without dinner.
There had just been something in his hazel eyes that drew her closer. The green in them had brightened in earnest as he spoke, as if they were the most important words Doraan had ever said to anyone. To her, they were exactly what she needed to hear—the most perfect thing he could have said to her. Tears welled just to the point before spilling free to trail down her cheeks, which caused his face to soften with compassion. No one had looked at her like that or shown they cared since her brother, Adonis. So, she couldn’t help it. She threw herself against him, wrapping her arms around his waist and squeezed him tight, putting all her thanks into that embrace.
She hadn’t expected him to return the hug, but he squeezed her just as tightly, if not more so. She felt different, like her soul was lighter than it had been in years. She felt like herself again. Even if it had only been a week, she felt like she truly belonged with these people, and with him. All the years spent preparing for marriage—the rules, the propriety, the boredom, and the loneliness—had left her little more than an empty husk of herself. The time she had spent on theCursed Soulwas bringing her back to life. Once pale and lifeless, her blood flowed through her more freely now, as if her circulation had been cut off for so long.
She breathed in the musk of the sea air, taking it deep into her lungs, the movement pulling at the skin sewn together at her side. She winced from the tightness, blowing a breath out in a garbled wheeze. She had, in fact, torn her stitches the night of their embrace. Doraan had called for Lindor, who was the closest thing they had to a surgeon on board.
He was a large man, with hands triple the size of hers, and she’d found herself wondering how he was able to hold something so small and delicate as a needle between his fingers without snapping it in half. She shouldn’t have worried, though, because his hand was steady, and he worked with such precision that she knew he had done it many times before.
The experience had made her glad she wasn’t conscious the first time around. It was far more painful than she expected, and even with the few swigs of rum Lindor had given her before starting, she was still able to feel every single prick of the needle piercing her skin and each pull of string through her flesh. By the time he was done, she was shaking from head to toe.
Doraan was kind enough to make sure she was as comfortable as she could be, completely relinquishing his quarters to her and sleeping in the crew’s quarters instead. She’d offered them back to him a few times over the past few days, but he wouldn’t hear it and just shook his head and put up his hands. The room was hers now, and, if she was being honest, she was relieved to never have to sleep in the crew’s quarters ever again.
Kamira having a room to herself allowed her to practice her sorcery in private. She was getting better each day—all four of the elements coming a little more easily to her, except for fire. She wasn’t sure she would ever become adept in that element, but she continued to try—safely, of course, with plenty of water waiting on handjustin case she lost control.
She didn’t want to burn down her freedom.
She had even used her sorcery to help move theCursed Soulquicker through the water these past few days. Just little pushes and current changes to help the ship cut through the waves. That was until she heard Cormac questioning Jorne, the ship’s navigator, on how they had made it to the coastline of Torheim an entire day ahead of schedule. Jorne had been just as baffled, rambling on about how it made no sense considering they had been sailing against the wind for the past two days, and the recent shift in the currents as they got closer to the Uskdar sea should have slowed their progression.
Kamira stopped using her sorcery to guide them immediately, realizing the danger. She didn’t want any suspicion coming her way, especially not from this Aksharian crew without any knowledge of their thoughts on sorcery.
Kamira breathed in deeply as they passed the familiar bend of land that marked her journey home as almost complete. Her heart raced in her chest. It has been nearly two years since she had seen her home. The scent of pine and lemongrass filled her senses, bringing a smile to her lips as the cool breeze whipped through her short curls.
A thought came to her so suddenly she choked on a gasp. It was as if the sea breeze whispered in her ear,use your sorcery.Doraan had told her that they couldn’t move the ship closer than ten miles from shore. If that were true, maybe this sorceress was using her gifts, somehow filtering a constant flow of her power into the sea around the vessel, pushing them away from Emmoria’s shores and making them believe they couldn’t touch land.
If she could use her own gifts just enough to counteract Forcina’s sorcery, then maybe she could bring theCursed Soulto land. She laughed, surprised the idea hadn’t come to her earlier.
Kamira peeked at the crew behind her, ensuring no one was watching her, before she drew in a deep calming breath, reaching into herself and letting her sorcery roam free. She called on all the energy around her, feeling its power move through her, and used it to change the water’s current, pushing the ship slowly closer to land. Little by little, she felt the water as it moved to the portside of the ship and pushed just as she instructed.
She chanced another look at the crew. None of them had even noticed what she was doing. A smile spread across her lips as she pictured the surprise and bewilderment that would be plastered on all of their faces when they passed that ten mile barrier Doraan had mentioned.
The excitement made her push just a little bit harder, willing the currents faster until it stopped. Kamira frowned and pushed the currents again, but nothing. The ship wouldn’t budge. She cocked her head, looking down at the sea below and then out in front of her. She reached out a hand, thinking there might be some kind of barrier, but she almost fell into the waves below.
Shit,she inwardly cursed, steadying herself.
Kamira narrowed her eyes and huffed. It didn’t make sense—there was nothing there. Her hand moved easily through the air and yet the ship was stuck.
Another thought sprung to mind, maybe Forcina was an air elementalist, and was instead using the air surrounding the ship to keep it from land. She had read once that sorcerer’s gifted in air could create impenetrable pockets of wind around themselves or larger objects. The most powerful ones could even fly, using the currents of the winds to propel themselves through the air and glide just like a bird. If this Sorceress Doraan spoke of was powerful, then she could also be using her air sorcery to keep anyone from boarding this ship. It was also possible that this Sorceress was a Legion just like Kamira, using both air and sea against them, and that was the reason that only Kamira had been able to come aboard the ship. It could be that Kamira had somehow pushed through whatever power source Forcina may have put around the vessel.
She grunted, trying once more to push theCursed Soulpast whatever force was holding it back. This time funneling the power of both water and air, blending them together with a strength that could fell a hundred trees at once, but the ship stayed in place.
“Blazing biscuits,” Kamira breathed. Doraan was telling the truth. Their vessel couldn’t sail any further. How was that possible? A tingling scattered across her forehead as she tried to comprehend it. She scratched at her skin, suddenly feeling an eeriness course through her. Her brain hurt just thinking about it. Kamira swatted the thoughts away like a pesky fly.
She sighed heavily, rubbing at her eyes as she leaned against the starboard railing of the ship, looking out at the towering evergreen trees that surrounded her home. Any moment now she would be able to see the gray stone turrets of the city buildings peeking through the treetops and the small harbor town along the black sand beach. Darkness was falling quickly and she just wanted to catch one small glance before the sun tucked itself beneath the horizon.
She truly missed her home. She missed the beauty of the forest on a quiet morning, the sounds of birds singing and animals roaming freely through the trees. She could even say she missed the snow that would come down from the mountains and the cold winds from the sea that would freeze everything in the winter time so that the entire city sparkled in the sunlight.
A part of her wished that she could stop her journey here, disembark and live the rest of her life in the town she loved so dearly, but she knew it was the first place the Aksahrian guard would come looking for her. She wasn’t stupid enough to think that she wasn’t their number one suspect for Tarkiin’s murder. He was dead, and she was gone. She was most definitely theironlysuspect.
Honestly, she was in the safest place she could be—in the middle of the ocean, on a ship that couldn’t even dock near land if they tried. It might as well be a ghost ship.
Movement and a sudden flash of white caught her eye, pulling her vision along the distant treeline to where a person stood, sparking a fading memory from the night she had fled, one of shimmering white hair and someone hidden in shadow standing at the top of a hill behind her.
Kamira gasped, squinting through the haze of the falling evening, but the man was no longer there. She shook her head, frowning and rubbing at her eyes. That evening was still so heavy on her subconscious, she wasn’t even sure it had been real. The past week felt more like a dream than reality. She looked back up to the trees now blanketed in shadow with no one in sight.
Night had fully fallen, the moon just a small sliver in the sky providing little light for her to catch that single fleeting glance of her home. Kamira blew out a weary sigh and sank further against the railing, letting her arms dangle over the side as she watched the ripples the ship was making as it sailed slowly through the water. Her eyes were playing tricks on her—maybe she should go to bed for the evening. She hadn’t rested much over the past week—first from attempting to sleep in a room full of snoring pirates, then from the many uncomfortable nights of trying to sleep with a hole in her side. Last night was probably the only decent rest she had gotten in a week, and it wouldn’t be long before they made it to Neilmaar, where she was to engage with the Brothers. She needed to think about how she would even find them upon arrival.
Doraan still hadn’t told her why he wanted to seek out the Brothers of the Spring. He only said he needed to find something important, and he thought they might be the only ones who knew where it was. No doubt it was something to do with the so-called curse that he claimed was cast over them.
