“Where did you study?”
“I did notstudy.I learned it at my mother’s knee, along with walking and table manners and my letters.”
Trying to hold a conversation with him today was getting frustrating.Ishould’ve been the one searching for patience. “Fine. Then where didshelearn?”
“In the southern wolding.”
My eyes widened. “The City of Nox?”
“There, aye, and also La Ciudad de Nadie.” The speed at which he said the other city’s name left my mind hurrying after him; ah, he was talking about the City of No One, more often called the City of Ghosts.
What a place to learn magic.
“And is that where you were raised?”
“Again, I’m not the one answering questions here,” he grumbled.
“I’ll assume that’s a yes, then.” I tapped my chin. “How does a boy from the coast of the southern Diam Sea end up as a pirate on the Prevarian Sea? That must be some tale.”
“One you just might live long enough to learn.” Jax picked up his pen, signaling an end to the conversation.
I wouldn’t accept it. Ineededthat pen and paper. And ink. Mustn’t forget that ink was part of the bargain. At Dewspell, I’d learned to be so precise with my words when making agreements that it sometimes extended into my thoughts. My initial deal with Jax had reminded me of how important that was. I couldn’t let him get anything past me again.
So. Paper, ink, and pen, in exchange for one tiny little secret…
My throat tightened further, as if I physically couldn’t say it.
I forced the words out anyway. “I specialize in chaos magic. It’s why I’m so powerful. Most of the world’s magic has turned to unfiltered chaos magic, and that is why the average magic user can’t wield it effectively. But I’m good with chaos. I can shape it. Make it into elements, or use it to change the elements in the natural world. Even fire.” I touched my red hair, a vivid shade that wasn’t natural for full-blooded humans. “I have a bit of dwarvish ancestry to thank for that. Usually it’s a misconception, but in my case my red hair really is from fire mage ancestors.”
“Fire magic? Now you’rereallynot allowed anywhere below deck.”
I held in my bubbling anger. Here I was, spilling my closely guarded secrets and ruining any element of surprise I had, and he was makingjokes.Well, mostly. I’m sure he also meant it. But themannerin which he said it…I’d like to light his ledger on fire with my magic and see how he spoke to me then!
“So. Have I met your requirements?” I asked with a tense jaw. “Thatis your answer, to both questions.”
“Is it? Spell it out for me like I’m an ordinary fellow who’s never attended a fancy magic school.”
“My specialty is in turning wild magic into elemental magic.”
Bluebeard finished writing, his pen strokes scratching against paper evenly, as if none of this surprised him. Surely that wasn’t the case, though. A gift like mine was exceedingly rare.
At last, he stopped writing, leaned back, and opened the drawer of the captain’s desk with a key I hadn’t seen him produce.
Jax turned, offering me one precious sheet of paper, a spare pen and an ink well. He hadn’t even asked a third question.
Before he could change his mind, I took them as eagerly as a dog takes a scrap of meat from the table. And still he said nothing.
“Thank you,” I said to his back, wincing at myself. I shouldn’t need to fill the silence. I shouldn’t desire a reaction from him, or have the need to impress him. Ididn’tneed to impress him.
I just…wanted to know what he was thinking.
Instead, he went back to his ledger, crossing something out.
“Oh, and Sofie?” he said at last.
My eye twitched.
“If you try to write in a language or script I don’t know, or attempt to double cross me with so much as a thank you note sent with your magic, boredom will be the least of your troubles.”
