I gave him my best pirate’s scowl. The fool merely rolled his eyes.
“You see, we have perfectly good docks back that way. This is a deep harbor. You’re in no danger of running aground. But I’m sure you knew that, Captain Bluebeard.”
I tried not to let my surprise show, but my eyes must have widened a fraction. My voice was stony as I said, “So she found a way to communicate with Dewspell after all.”
“Not at all.” Letting out a dramatic sigh, the sorcerer appeared to shrink several inches as he slouched. “I’m not sure you understand where you are, captain. Our seers here are second only to the House of Vision in Nox. We’ve been expecting you for the past three days.”
While he was content to slump and sigh, I felt as though my spine were pinned to a mast. Every muscle was tight as I ground out, “Then you understand what she did.”
“Destroyed a priceless enchanted object that likely had no right being in this realm in the first place? Oh, yes.” He ran a hand down the length of his white beard. A clanking sound revealed there were beads woven into it somewhere, making contact with the many rings he wore.
He really was exactly what you’d picture if someone spoke of sorcerers—providing you were a child under ten who’d read too many fairy tales.
“However,” he added before I could form a rejoinder, “we place a high priority on the safety of all our students, past and present. If Godmother Dar’Vester is truly in danger from you, then we will gladly bargain for her life. What, then, are your terms?”
He was an amateur, showing me how eager he was to make the trade. I might’ve requested anything then.
But there was very little I desired any longer.
“Two of my crew are gravely injured. I want them tended to as if they were royals of Elchion, and their safety guaranteed. That includes safety from any knights or constables, or even stern professors. They will be returned to me in full health in one year’s time.”
The sorcerer snorted. “No one can cheat death.”
“I’ve seen evidence to the contrary.”
“Most who have seen adraugrdon’t consider that cheating. The death curse, though…that is a story I look forward to hearing about from Godmother Dar’Vester.“ His wiry brows waggled. “You have my word that no harm will come to your injured crewmembers at our hands, and that we will apply all our talents towards their healing.”
“Then the first term is set.”
“Agreed. What is the second?”
“Dewspell Academy will create a new Queen of the Sea.”
For a long time, the sorcerer just stared at me blankly, not even blinking. Then his lids fluttered rapidly.
Too late, I realized he was trying not to laugh.
“If this is the price for Godmother Dar’Vester’s life, then it is already forfeit. Good day to you, captain.”
He turned toward the ladder, his attendants snapping to attention. Like an idiot, I reacted. “Wait.”
The old man’s smile was slow and strangely wolfish. Somewhere in the back of my mind, I noticed that his teeth were too white and pointed, his gums lacking any recession despite his age. “Have you thought of a better request?” he inquired, as if this were some trifling academic matter.
I could not ruin this. Not now. Not after seven years, and so much death, and with the lives of two crewmembers hanging in the balance. Not just crewmembers. Oasis, my oldest and fiercest friend. And Omar, who was not far behind her.
For them, I could give up anything. But all that sacrifice…
I took a moment, closing my eyes against the sun that crept over the mountains, painting the harbor gold.
“I want spells that will allow my ships to navigate the Diam Sea without consequences. Spells that will last many voyages. I want a way to renew those spells when they wane, and another spell to detect when they will soon fade. This will be done in the course of a year.”
“Impossible,” the sorcerer scoffed.
“Not for Dewspell.” I barreled on. “If there is any treachery in them, or any failure to deliver the spells I require, I will return and take my wife, and she will never serve as a fairy godmother of the realm again, nor will she ever set foot on Dewspell’s grounds.”
It was a gamble, but one I was confident about. Sofie was important to them. A sorceress with her power—and her willingness to obey—must not come along often.
They wouldn’t wish to lose her.
