Her brows shot up and her mouth fell open slightly as she stuttered, “H—how do you know that? I only just learned it at the Temple.”
Doraan shrugged. “It was a part of the curse. It’s why I never really put much thought into breaking the curse before then. To break it, I had to die saving the life of one of Forcina’s kin. I was just lucky enough to find one of her only relatives that also possessed the ability to save my life. A Legion.”
Kamira looked away from him, rubbing her palms along her thighs anxiously.
“It’s okay, Kamira.” He placed a hand over hers. “Your secret's safe with us. We know how dangerous it is for a Legion in the realm.” He paused, looking away from her. “Especially with my father at the helm.”
“So, you’ve changed your mind about Sorcerers? You don’t want us all to die?”
He winced at how cruel he had been before, a string in his heart pulling at her question. They hadn't spoken about everything that had happened over the past few days. He hadn’t even gotten the chance to fully comprehend it all himself. He was a Sorcerer, too. To think that he had spent most of his life feeling the same kind of anger as his father did toward the Sorcerers. How so much of him had changed in just these past few weeks. The corruption of his father that had taken root in him so long ago had finally relinquished its hold over him.
“No,” he said simply. “I don’t want any of my people to die.”
Her face softened and she squeezed his hand. “I knew you would come around.”
He laughed. “It only took me finding out I’m a Sorcerer myself, going to an entire Temple full of them, and a Legion saving me from the brink of death to realize it.”
She snorted, shaking her head.
They eased into a comfortable silence and stayed that way for a long time, simply content to be in one another’s company and watch the subtle swells of the sea.
Kamira broke the companionable silence. “Doraan, I think we are almost to Aksahri. We should head up to the main deck.” She stood and lowered her hand to help him up.
He looked up at her shimmering blue eyes full of light and took her offered hand.
Ever since Kamira had come aboard the ship, she had done nothing short of helping them. She hadn’t even known any of them, and yet everything she did was solely for the crew. She had fallen into their lives and changed it forever. They might be headed home to Aksahri, but he knew that even once they got there, they would still all be a family. Even if they were spread apart, living new lives as they reconnected with the families that they had left behind, nothing could change what they had.
They were bound–all of them–their souls forever connected.
As they ascended the final step to the main deck, Doraan headed for the helm. Kamira gave him a parting grin before walking toward the bow of the ship.
Doraan stepped beside Cormac at the helm, his second in command, his ally in all things, and ultimately, his friend. There was a stillness, a sort of contented calm that had settled over his quartermaster since the curse was broken, something he could sense with all the crew. They were headed home. All of them would finally be able to not only step foot on solid ground, but see their families, interact with people beyond their small crew of eighteen.
Doraan looked out at the bow where Kamira stood leaning over the edge, her short curly locks whipping in the wind, arms stretched out in front of her as she helped theCursed Soulmove faster through the water—something he had only recently realized she had done for most of their trip.
He smiled, watching as she looked out at the glistening ocean, surveying the movement of the water as they sailed. The sun was beginning to set, bathing everything in a golden glow as he felt the prickle of heat on his skin, the sea breeze quickly chasing away its warmth.
Cormac sailed theCursed Soulthrough the calm waters of the Estdar Sea beside him. “Look, Doraan.” He pointed, his voice holding a tinge of emotion. “Aksahri.”
Through the fog and haze of the early morning that hovered like a blanket above the ocean, the twinkling of lights upon the shoreline could be seen.
His home.
They had made it. They had actually done it. The curse was broken. They could go home, and not just as ghosts upon the sand, but as solid, living beings.
With each breath, the closer they got, the more anxious he grew. It had been over a month since he visited—a month of not knowing whether his father recovered from Takriin’s poison and a month of fearing for his people and the rising force, not knowing whether the city was still standing. Had those ships they passed gotten to Aksahri already?
Were they about to come home to a massacre upon the beach?
But as the fog cleared and the sunrays illuminated the full splendor of the harbor, there was not one of those Samaarian war ships in sight. No indication of war at all.
“The ships aren’t here,” he whispered to Cormac. “Why are the ships not here? Do you think they passed Aksahri? But why would they do that?” The questions didn’t stop coming. He was so sure that they would be sailing into a war zone, into some kind of catastrophe, and that they hadn’t broken the curse in time, but Aksahri glimmered like a diamond along the sand just as it always had. No billow of smoke above it, no crumbling city buildings. It looked perfect, just as he had left it.
Cormac’s entire demeanor changed. He grew very quiet as his entire body went rigid, as if preparing for a surprise attack. He was on high alert. He didn’t understand it either. “I don’t know,” he finally answered.
The entire crew grew eerily still as they got closer to the docks. A hush fell over them so that the only sound was the waves lapping against the ship as it cut through the still water.
Ships dipped and bobbed in the harbor, but none bore the Emerald King’s sigil. Townspeople could be seen milling along the streets. Everything looked completely normal, as if nothing had changed but had picked up exactly where they had left it on that cursed day ten years ago. But even still, Doraan held his breath as Cormac yelled out, “Prepare for docking!”
