“Devora, dear, did you put that in my tea?” my mother asked, leaning over in her seat next to me and raising an eyebrow.
Devora’s eyes widened. “Of course not, ma’am, I?—”
Mother’s cup scraped against the surface. “Top me off.”
“Mother,” Leo said with a chuckle. “Rough night?”
“I believe we’ve all had better,” she replied.
Devora glanced at the captain’s quarters, where Galen rested beyond. She pursed her lips, a crease appearing on her forehead as she took another sip of her spiked tea. I knew she was concerned for him. She’d had a relationship with him in the past, however fleeting it might have been.
“He’s going to be alright,” I said softly as my mother, Leo, and Rose continued their conversation.
“I know.” She gave me a tight smile. “This tour has just…not been what I expected.”
“You and me both.”
“I really admire you, you know,” she said, then raised the cup to her lips and drained the rest. I tried not to smile—I could tell this sort of conversation didn’t come easy to her. “The way you’ve handled it all. I—I thought you should know that.”
I squeezed her arm. “Thanks, Devora. I don’t think anything I’ve done has made much of a difference, but I appreciate it.”
“No—no, it has,” she said, brow furrowing. “You don’t hear the way the servants talk. They know how you’ve saved their fields and livestock. They know you’ve done more for this kingdom than those regents ever have. Some people are afraid of your magic, maybe, but they also realize what it can do.” She paused, and her eyes flitted across the table to Rose. Her voice lowered. “That’s how she saved him, isn’t it? Magic?”
I nodded. “Rose is an Alchemist. That means she can use the nature around her to do spells and things like that. She’s also very good with healing charms. We were lucky she had some of her herbs on hand.”
“But…how? I thought the only time you can use your magic here is when you touch the blight. Like at that dinner at Silenus Manor.”
I licked my lips but kept my tone casual. She was shrewd and observant, and was stepping far too close to the truth. “I think Rose had just helped clear it from someone’s land nearby before the ball. She must’ve still had some of the magic lingering.”
Devora nodded thoughtfully. “All that power at the tips of your fingers…and nobody to control you,” she murmured, more to herself than to me. “Your empire sounds so free.”
“Nothing is free. There’s always something to run from.” I pushed back from the table and stood, the abrupt motion causing the others to glance up at me. “I’m going to check on Galen.”
Turning toward the captain’s quarters, I glimpsed the orange sun slowly rising above the horizon. Its shadow left a trail of shimmering gold across the waves, making its way ever closer to the hull of our boat. A light breeze swept over my nose and cheeks, the kind that smelled like salt and warned of a humid summer day ahead.
I knocked on the cabin door and waited for a garbled “Come in,” before pushing it open and entering the dim room. Curtains were closed over windows overlooking the deck. Galen sat in the bed, dark circles rimming his eyes, his cracked lips pulling into half a smile when he saw me.
“How are you feeling?” I asked stiffly.
“Like someone tried to kill me.”
I couldn’t help but roll my eyes. “You get used to it.”
“You of all people should know there’s only so many ways we can handle things like this.” He swung his legs over the side of the bed and motioned for me to join him. “Go crazy with paranoia, or pretend it doesn’t bother us.”
“We’ve gotten very good at that, haven’t we?” I said as I sat next to him. “Pretending.”
He let out a loud breath. “Clarissa, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said what I said last night.”
“It’s fine, Galen. We both know how big of a deal this marriage is. I get it.”
“No, you don’t. You mean more to me than just someone who can break this curse.” He started to move forward, and my muscles tensed. I stood and scratched the back of my head, searching for something to fill my discomfort.
“Do you remember anything?” I finally asked. “From before you were poisoned?”
His shoulders fell. “You saw the courier deliver a letter from the palace. I was… It was bad. I needed a drink. I had the nearest maid in the kitchen fetch me a glass. She came back, I took the drink, and—well, you saw the rest. The room began to spin, and the next thing I knew, your friend Rose was staring down at me.”
“The message was about your mother, right?”
