The central glacier, nestled into the curve of the island’s mountainous arc, fractured and split. Walls of ice the size of ships carved off its faces, crashing into the ocean and generating waves so monstrous their offspring could kiss theStormfrost. Waves of immense power continued to radiate out from Adela in reply.
As the ice splintered and melted into the sea, the frosty armor of the island gave way to a hidden world underneath. Wooden and stone structures began to emerge like the first determined blossoms of spring. They dripped with frost as they thawed. Masts of ships long hidden rose like skeletal fingers from the harbor, waterlogged banners struggling to catch the morning’s breeze.
The island returned to life, still sparkling with snow and frost, and the crew became restless with excitement. Adela tapped her cane and shifted her weight, as if she were about towalk away, but then something crossed her mind, prompting her to stop. She met Eira’s questioning gaze.
“See to it that everything is thawed and dry by the time we arrive.” She smirked. “I’d hate for someone to slip and fall.”
“Can’t have that.” Eira saw right through the pirate queen. This was a test, as much as everything else was.
“No, we can’t.” Adela left Eira to the task.
Eira faced off with the island once more, but this time stretched out her magic alongside her focus as she narrowed in on the spot of land. If Adela wanted all the water gone, she’d see to it that not even a single tattered flag on the ships in the bay was dripping by the time they arrived.
The town, in some ways, reminded Eira of a cross between Risen and the port they’d escaped Carsovia from. There was a river that ran through the heart of the pirate city, splitting it in two, much like Risen was. But it was understandably smaller than the capital of Meru. Countless bridges crossed the river up and down its length adding to the overall mazelike quality of the island. The Isle of Frost was clearly prepared to house hundreds, if not thousands of pirates. Which made it all the more eerie that they were the only ones occupying it.
Though it did mean that their small crew was able to each claim their own home for the night, making their own little block nestled among the other pirates setting up their houses in ways that suggested much more permanence than staying merely to restock. Adela was opening the Isle of Frost once more, even though she didn’t outright say so. Of course, Eira was wildly curious about this, and what it meant for her to do so after she’dspent years avoiding Solaris and Meru at all costs. But she knew better than to probe too deeply on the matter.
A banging on the door of her small, one-room home had Eira heading out.
Alyss didn’t miss a beat, grabbing her arm. “We’re going out tonight.”
“I’m sorry, what?” The words practically blurred together into one.
“Food. Drink. Dancing. Down by the docks.”
“Since when did you become one who wants to be in the thick of it?” Eira laughed, glancing around the square all their houses circled. There was no one else around.
“Since we have been cooped up on a ship doing nothing but working and fighting and having difficult conversations for weeks on end.”
“Weren’t we just in Qwint? We had an evening out there.” Eira took two steps to keep up with Alyss. Even with her longer strides, she had to make an effort to maintain her pace with the smaller woman. Alyss was on a mission. She was going to have a good time, or else.
“We wereworking.” That was certainly a way to phrase it. “There was hardly any time to enjoy ourselves. When we weren’t in Carsovia, we were bartering for our lives or mending and restocking the ship. Here, we can relax.”
The notion of relaxing was…odd. Eira couldn’t recall the last time she’d allowed herself to embrace the idea. Even when she’d strolled in the market with Cullen and Olivin, there was always something in the back of her mind. Alyss was right, it’d been one thing after another, after another. Everything blurring together following Noelle’s death.
She lost her footing and quickly recovered, missing a step. Alyss noticed, head swiveling back to look at her with a questioning stare.
“Do you…” The question sounded ridiculous, even to Eira, but she had to ask anyway. “Do you think that it’s an insult to Noelle to let loose while her killers run free?”
Alyss slowed, but still made it a point to make forward progress. In the distance was a glowing point of light by the docks. Music and the muddled sounds of chattering could already be heard.
“Noelle lived better than most. She burned brightly.” The phrasing somehow managed to sound like an homage to her memory, and not a bad expression. “She would’ve absolutely scolded us for sitting around all glum when we could be engaging in revelry with pirates.”
“You’re not wrong.” Eira could hear Noelle in the back of her mind, encouraging her to go out—to do more.Stop moping around.
“I rarely am.” Alyss gave a slight smile, as if she could even recognize that those words echoed Noelle’s.
At the end of the river, down where it met the harbor, was a large square. Eira could imagine how, at one point, this area was used for commerce. Or practicalities of the docks. But, tonight, it was a large buffet. It was music and dancing and the burning liquor that she’d sipped on in Adela’s cabin countless times.
Tonight, everyone danced and sang as though it would be their last night alive.
Alyss wasted no time in pulling Eira right into the thick of the dancing. Fingers hooking, skirts swirling, they spun and jumped with each other to the raucous music. A smile cracked Eira’s lips for the first time in what felt like months. One that wasn’t weighed down by calculations, plotting, scheming, or other concerns. The whole world melted away like the ice of the island had earlier.
Breathless, they stepped off to the side, hands still clasped.
“You know, pirates do have a fun side to them,” Alyss admitted.
Eira gasped. “Perhaps we’re growing on you?”
