“To meet the king of pirates, of course,” she said, mirth in her dark eyes and low voice, “and all his noble pirate lords.”
“Not sure ‘noble’ is a word I’d use.”
“We can’t all be born with a silver spoon, beachmaid. Some of us have to steal ours.”
I gaped at her, affronted. “Some of usearnedours,“ I snapped. “By the gods, I’ve never had a single thing given to me but the chance to leave the land of my birth.Idid the rest. And why do you keep calling me beachmaid?”
Safira came to the rail beside me, her long hair wound into a regal knot atop her head and tied with a patterned yellow fabric that matched a long tunic. Like the Lady de Gorm, she was dressed well, the loose trousers beneath her tunic made of rich blue silk. “It means you’re a helpless landlubber.”
“Landlubber?” I bristled. “I’m a daughter of Aegle. I was on fishing boats before I could walk!”
“There’s no salt in your blood,” the Lady retorted, her lip curling slightly. “I can smell it on you.”
My face flushed with embarrassment. Her words were too close to those I’d heard many times before I left Aegle.There’s none of the sea in your blood—and even worse, none of our iron.
I refused to be cowed by her sharp tongue—one that underestimated me. “Be careful you never find yourself on a different ship than I am,” I said, raising my chin in defiance. “I might just summon a whirlpool and dash it to pieces. Then we’ll see who has the sea in them.”
The Lady threw her head back, laughing heartily. “I confess, I’d almost like to see that.”
“Lady,” Safira said, a note of warning in her voice.
“Pick a ship,” I said.
The Lady stopped laughing, eyeing me sidelong.
”Isaid,pick a ship.”
The Lady de Gorm gave me one last, puzzled look, then vaulted to the other side of the rail. “No time for your games, beachmaid. Our ride is here.”
Fuming, I climbed after her, descending the rungs towards the rowboat. Omar, the boatswain and purported engineer of the great sandships, greeted me with a laugh. “Did I miss something?”
“The threat of wanton death and destruction,” the Lady answered before I could say anything. “The usual.”
“Sounds serious,” Omar said brightly.
Stepping carefully into the boat, I flexed my hands. I’d been gripping the rungs far too tightly.
“I never joke about such things,” I replied, fixing both him and the Lady with a dark look of warning. I took my seat in the boat without any further jibes. Once Safira joined us, Omar began to row towards the quay.
Whatever I was expecting from an isle of pirates, Starfall wasnotit. The red flecks proved to be roses—beautiful, well-kept bushes in full bloom. They were interspersed with hibiscus plants, the yellow and pink blooms as large as my head. Bees buzzed through them merrily.
Beyond them, tidy stone buildings lined the quay, framing paved streets that defied the sandy soil.
I followed the Lady de Gorm—my nanny for the day—and the others through the streets, trying to keep the surprise from my expression and probably failing. I’d expected Starfall to be a den of thieves and brigands in a cobbled-together town. What I got was a vast isle with smaller surrounding isles, all of it connected by well-engineered bridges and a shockingly large city.
Despite my pirate “ladies-in-waiting” insisting I should dress my best in my purple formal gown—which after a dip in the ocean had seen better days—I opted for my discreet travelclothes. About two streets from the port, I understood I’d made a mistake.
Not only was I dressed too warmly for an isle in the southern Prevarian Sea, but I was completelyunderdressed.
Everywhere I looked on these cobbled streets, with their eclectic houses and bountiful shop signs, I was surrounded by princes and princesses of the sea, dressed as if to attend a royal court.
Another block, and I realized that’sexactlywhat they were doing.
The grand capital city of Endergeist, where I had cursed the newborn princess, had nothing on Starfall. As was fitting for such a wealthy city, everyone was well-mannered and polite—more so, perhaps, for the blades they carried on their hips or backs.
Safira noticed the way my eyes caught on the wide array of weaponry. “Don’t worry,” she whispered, “it’s illegal to draw blades anywhere in the city of Starfall.”
I shared my opinion of that with a snort.
