So it came as no surprise when she called from inside, “Let her in.”
It looked as though it took every scrap of Crow’s self-control not to object. Her face flushed faintly purple with frustration. But she stepped aside, allowing Eira to pass. Crow closed the door behind her.
The cabin was a much larger and much,muchmore lavish version of what had been on the boat. The windows in the back were three times as tall as Eira. Bookcases lined one side with a long dining table positioned in front of them. Though, judging from the navigational tools and maps strewn about, it saw more use as a desk than for food. Two chairs were positioned back by the windows—currently black as pitch in the night.
To her right was a large bed, and that was where Adela lay. Underneath her thin blanket, her coat removed, nestled in a wall of pillows, Adela looked very little like the pirate queen and much more like a very tired woman.
“Speak.” Her voice was as sharp as ever.
“Your magic is faltering, isn’t it?”
“Bold as ever, I see.”
“Not even trying to deny it is telling.” Eira dared to approach, coming to a stop at the foot of Adela’s bed. “I wonder if you’re not because you know I can sense the flow of magic again.”
“And what if you’re right? Come to gloat?”
“I don’t think you would’ve let me in if you thought that was the reason I came. I doubt you would’ve let me keep breathing, if that’s what you thought my feelings toward you were.”
Adela sighed softly and settled back into her pillows a little bit more. She was a stubborn, proud woman. Not that Eira could fault her. Her entire life had been one of power and terror. Of fearsome might and impossible feats.
“I think I can help you.” Eira had been expecting to fight Adela on the notion.
So she was surprised when Adela motioned to the foot of the bed with an open palm. “That much is obvious. Why do you think I’ve kept you alive for so long?”
“Because I thought that perhaps you were lying to me when you said I wasn’t your daughter.” Eira sat slowly at the edge of the bed. She didn’t want to be standing for this. Her words were as weak as her knees. As weak as the fragile hope she’d been harboring despite all odds.
“Do I seem like a woman who would do that?” Adela arched her brows.
“Possibly. You’re good at lying.”
Adela snorted.
Eira continued. “You don’t seem like a woman who would let someone see her in such a vulnerable state if not for a good reason.”
“Is preserving my magic not a good enough reason?” Adela countered. Eira still wasn’t hearing a no and it made her heart flutter. This was it…the moment where it all came together, or shattered.
“You could command me to help you and not allow me to see you exhausted in bed.”
“My exhaustion comes from magical feats you couldn’t fathom. There is hardly shame in it.”
Eira agreed in principle, but Adela still seemed too proud for this to not bother her. She also still had yet to shoot Eira’s theories of her parentage down a second time and that only made her heart race even faster. So fast that she couldn’t handle it any longer. Perhaps it was the recent mention of her uncle, or just the desperation of the day, but if she didn’t ask—didn’t know beyond all doubt—she might snap in two. Or her heart would stop altogether.
“Is it because you are actually my mother? Did you push me away to test me—or to save me from the risks that would come with being your daughter? Is our magic similar enough for you to try to draw it out because we are kin?” Every word felt as though it was made of parchment-thin glass. Each required care to say.
Adela closed her eyes and exhaled heavily. When she opened them again, Eira knew the answer before the pirate queen spoke. “I told you quite clearly when we first met:you are not my daughter. I have no children. I have not lied or deceived you on that. It is the whole truth.”
That was it. Hope broke with a sigh. Not a crash. Not with Eira’s heart seizing and failing to start again. The end of her optimism was quiet, in a dark night as the ship finally began to move forward.
Eira stared out the back windows. Once more, she was adrift in dark water with no clear heading. She didn’t know what was going to come next, nor the full scope of the consequences of everything she was leaving behind.
“Who are my blood parents, then?” The words were those of a lost girl falling into the chasm her parents had opened withtheir revelation. Eira balled her hand into a fist and it shook slightly.
“Does it matter?” Adela had an air of nonchalance.
“That’s easy for you to say.” Eira’s attention turned inward once more with a flare of anger. “You probably know?—”
“Who my parents are?” Adela arched her brows. “Child, do I seem like someone who would know who my parents are?”
