Chapter 17
Blood
Norah was kept in the bag until the cart had stopped, and she was carried onto what felt like a ship from the way it bobbed and swayed.
She did her best to scream through the gag and tried to scratch her way out of the bag, but none of her struggling seemed to matter. Eventually, she was dumped unceremoniously some sort of mattress, where the bag was removed but the gag was not.
Looking around immediately, she realized quickly that she was indeed below deck on some sort of ship. She couldn’t tell what kind of ship, however, as she was trapped in a small room with a single bed and a little round window–a porthole, she was sure it was called. And she couldn’t even see much through that, as it was half covered by a tiny curtain. The door through which she must have been carried opened to a hall, which, she assumed from the stairs, led back up to the deck. The bed she sat on faced the wooden door and had been placed beneath the little covered window.
Unfortunately, there was no way to know if they were still in the harbor or if the ship was already heading out to sea. Men ran up and down the stairs outside the room, shouting at one anotheras they brought weapon after weapon up to the deck, but Norah couldn’t see even a bit of sky, as the bed was too far below the porthole to see anything through it.
The woman who had abducted Norah was barking out orders to the men running past the door who, from their lack of uniforms and their red-crested kraken rings, were clearly pirates.
“What are they waiting for? I practically handed the palace to them!” she was hissing at a man who had stopped outside the open door. “How have theynottaken the palace, let alone the city?”
The man glanced at Norah. “They had more soldiers than we expected!” he whispered, though not low enough, for Norah could hear him. “It seems they got word of our movements through the merfolk.”
The woman cursed. It was an odd curse, not one used in the city, or at least, not one Norah had heard used there. But it was odd enough that as soon as the woman uttered it, Norah knew shehadheard it before. A long, long time ago.
This woman, she now knew with certainty, was Willamina, the widow of the great pirate whose eldest son had died on Norah’s family’s island. And, most likely, the mother of the man who had pronounced himself in love with Norah in her home. For Norah now remembered that Willamina had stayed with her sons and her husband during their time on the island as well, and while Norah hadn’t learned the woman’s name back then, she remembered that the pirate lord’s wife had quickly become infamous for scandalizing everyone around her with her foul tongue. Norah had once heard several of her choice words in the healing room before Nanny had hurried her away.
Willamina now noticed Norah staring at them and gave her a dry grin. “I suppose you want to threaten me now that your husband will come for you?”
“I have no doubt he will,” Norah said, though the gag aroundher mouth made her words far less threatening than she had hoped. “And so will–”
“Oh, I’m counting on it,” the woman said, her dark eyes blazing as she loosened and removed Norah’s gag. Then she tilted her head thoughtfully, her long dark braid, peppered with gray, falling onto her shoulder. She wasn’t fat, but she was stout, and her muscles, which were clearly visible through her strained sleeves, reminded Norah of an ox. No wonder Norah hadn’t been able to escape her. She could probably snap Norah like a twig.
“I had hoped to interrupt the wedding. Not that it matters. I remember you, you know,” she said. “You were a curious little chit. Always following those big sisters of yours around the healing rooms.” She lifted her chin. “My son adored you. Worshipped the ground you walked on. You’d think an orphan like you would appreciate such devotion.”
Norah glared at her, angry that this horrible woman remembered something about her own life that Norah could not. It wasn’t fair for someone so horrid to have precious memories of the people she had ripped away from Norah as a child. It was also quite bold of her to assume Norah’s new husband didn’t adore her as well.
Never mind that Norah wasn’t sure he actually did. For all she knew, he might think she’d betrayed his love forever.
“I’ll not marry someone who tried to abduct me,” Norah snapped. “And I don’t care if he thinks–”
“We’re short on time, so I’m going to make this quick,” Willamina interrupted as she closed the door to the hall, isolating them both.
“My son didn’t want me to share this, but after the way you treated him the last time you met, I think you need to know.” The woman put her hands on her hips and gave Norah a smirk. “No son of mine is simply rejected without consequences.”
“He tried to abduct me!” Norah hissed.
“He came to whisk you away from a life of poverty toone of luxury as fits a princess!” The woman sniffed. “If you only knew how he pined after you, especially after his brother died, you’d have the sense and hopefully the decency to consider all he’s done to prepare a life for the two of you!”
Norah stared at her. She’d heard of the pirate widow’s doggedness, but surely the woman couldn’t be thismad.
“I met him once!”
“See, that is where your young memory fails you, dear. You came to see him every day. Every day for weeks, you returned to play with him and spend time with him. Far more time, I understand, than you ever spent around your stupid prince.”
Norah blinked and shook her head. “I… I was a child! Surely you didn’t think I was inlove!”
“No,” Willamina conceded slowly. “But my husband and I could easily see whatcouldbe.” She leaned behind Norah and pulled the little curtain back to glance out of the porthole behind the bed. Norah tried to catch a glimpse through it as well, but it was still too high.
“Despite our… way of life,” Willamina continued after moving the curtain back over the window, “my younger son is a gentle soul. In fact, he’s willing to give up his title and rank completely if it would make you happy. Andbelieve me,”she leveled a sharp look at Norah, “blessing such a marriage goes against the grain, but after nearly losing him too, I’m willing to sanction nearly anything.”
Norah cleared her throat. “My parents never meant–”
“Your parents were foolish enough not only to ignore my husband’s offer of a betrothal contract, but to immediately go and make one with the neighboring crown.” Willamina’s voice turned to ice.
