The pirate queen merely smiled that same mischievous, borderline-sinister smile in reply. It oozed control, like Eira was a new toy to play with.
Eira wasn’t about to go from one madman’s game to another’s…even if the woman moving the pieces of this new board might be her mother. She glanced over her shoulder, back at Ducot. There was another man next to him now. A draconi took his place, assuming the helm from the blind man. Ducot stepped back and sat, leaning against the railing, no doubt to catch his breath from the exertion of having to sense the water around them constantly.
“They were your friends, too,” Eira seethed at him. “Or was that also a lie?”
“Relax,” Ducot said dryly. There wasn’t any animosity in his voice; he sounded as he always had. Even though Eira felt the sting of betrayal, he clearly did not seem to think anything had changed between them. “They’re fine. Just sleeping.”
“Where?”
“Where else? In the hold,” Adela answered, drawing Eira’s attention back to her. “I won’t harm them so long as I am not given a reason to. My business is squarely with you, Eira Landan.”
“Why?” Eira ignored the odd, prickling sensation that ran up her arms at the sound of Adela saying her name.
“I wanted to see the woman who was claiming to be me.”
“Beyou? I never?—”
“I have heard the rumors spreading like wildfire. Some even say that I am walking the lands of Meru again, reborn.” She slipped some hair over her shoulder. “I must admit, I am constantly flattered by the new tales they make up about me.” Her preening turned back to intensity. Her fingers tapped across the top of her chin in quick succession. “But when those rumors are also aboutyou, I find myself less inclined to enjoy them.”
“I didn’t start or perpetuate any of the rumors,” Eira said firmly. “In fact, it would’ve been far more convenient for me if they hadn’t begun at all.”
None of this was how she’d imagined meeting Adela would unfold. Not that Eira had any kind of clear imagining before this moment. The pirate queen was a legend. A scary story told to kids to make them oblige. She’d hardly ever seemed real, even despite Eira having spoken to people who had encountered her.
But, if she were honest…part of her might have been holding hope that their meeting would’ve been the slightest bit different. Warmer, perhaps? But that would’ve been too much to hope for from the pirate queen known for ice ships and biting frost.
“Now you insult me by saying association is an inconvenience?” Adela’s expression didn’t look insulted in the slightest. “You don’t think I know how much sway my name has? The fear it strikes into the hearts of men?”
“I’m sure you know the terror your name inspires, and so do I; I grew up in Oparium. Except I neverwantedthat reputation.” She motioned backward to where Ducot still was. “Just ask him. I never spread the rumors.”
“Ducot has kept me well-informed.”
If Adela was here, now—if she had been watching her—it all meant that she’d finally come for Eira, right? Why else send Ducot to be close to her? Why keep such close tabs if not to rescue Eira from the Pillars?
Her thoughts jumbled with every possibility, every hope and fear merged. Each seemingly more impossible than the last, adding to the surreal nature of the moment.
“If you’ve been following me, then you should know?—”
“What I want to know is what made you think you could get away with it.” Her expression shifted. The coy, wicked smirk she’d worn gave way to something far, far more sinister. “Even if you did not spread the rumors yourself, you enabled them by imitating my magic.”
“I…I admit that I have been using your magic. But?—”
Unlike before, Adela now moved with speed and murderous intent. Her cane arced through the air, transforming into a frosty rapier by the time it hovered underneath Eira’s chin. The weapon was purely for show. Eira knew all too well how deadly Adela’s magic could be with a single look. She’d been in grave danger from the moment she’d met Adela’s eyes.
“Tell me who your man or woman on the inside is and Imightbe inclined to let you live.”
“Excuse me?”
“You have surprising resources for someone so young, I’ll give you that.” There was a gleam of what looked like pride in the pirate queen’s eyes. “Under other circumstances, I might have been proud that you’d managed to infiltrate my ranks enough to learn my magic. Might’ve even asked you to join my crew.”
Exhaustion slipped into Eira’s palms, pulling her down, causing her shoulders to slump. This woman…might be her mother. And Eira had managed to disappoint her within minutes of meeting her. Laughter slipped through her cracks, coming out as almost a bark.
Adela, for her part, remained poised, the rapier perfectly still. Though her eyes did narrow slightly at Eira’s admittedly strange shift in demeanor.
“I don’t have anyone ‘on the inside.’Youtaught me how to use your magics.”
“Excuse me?”
“I have your journals.”
