Torvus stepped into the room and aside. He caught Ramaro’s eye and jerked his head over his shoulder in the direction of the doorway. “Out.”
Ramaro wrinkled his snout. “Why should I?” A glint of warning flashed across the captain’s eye. The lizard sighed and crawled off me and over to the door, where he paused and looked back at me. “Don’t bawl too long. It’ll make your eyes all puffy.” And with those words of wisdom, he scuttled out.
Torvus shut the door behind the lizard and strolled over to the dresser. He opened a drawer and rummaged through it, catching my attention. I sniffled as he drew something out that he hid in his balled-up hand before shutting the drawer and walking over to me.
His shadow fell over my small form. I was too exhausted to even shirk from him, but I dropped my gaze to my lap. Something floated into view and into my lap. I blinked a few times before I understood the white object lying over my legs was a large handkerchief.
The captain’s footsteps retreated to the desk chair, which had fallen over in all the excitement. He righted it and took a seat, facing me with one leg crossed over the other.
“I’ve already picked you off the floor once today,” he commented as he clasped his hands in his lap. “You can stand on your own this time.”
I grabbed the handkerchief in one hand and wiped my tears. A sniffle escaped me before I lifted my chin. “I guess I can, but what would I do if I did?”
“You’re wondering about your future,” he mused.
I tried to draw my legs up against my chest, but my shirt wasn’t long enough to hide everything, and he had an advantageous view of me. I quickly dropped my legs back to the floor. “I’m wondering a lot of things, like how I got here, or even where here is, and why that guy wanted to bring me here.”
He folded his arms over his chest. “I can only answer where you are and where you’re headed. We just left the Sea of Erebus and slid into the Sea of Cynnes. You’d be hard put to find a more populated place than here. The capital of Cathair is located to our northwest, but we won’t be headed there any time soon.”
I lifted an eyebrow. “Why not?”
A crooked grin slipped onto his lips. “My reputation precedes me there, Miss Larkin, and the Admiralty would like nothing more than to invite me to my last meal.”
“The Admiralty?”
Torvus cocked his head to one side. “If ever there was proof you weren’t from around here, being ignorant of those fools would be one of them. They’re the law of the seas, at least according to the decree granted to them two centuries ago by a kingdom that no longer exists.”
I blinked at him. “Kingdom? Those are still around?”
“Not the one that granted them the naval rights, but there are others still around,” he mused as he stretched his arms above his head. “But perhaps I should let you get some sleep, at least until your clothes are dry.”
“Why?”
He tilted his head to one side and his eyes zeroed in on my legs. “Because my garment on you is just a little too short for modesty.”
A healthy red color raced up my face. I grabbed the hem of the shirt and yanked the cloth further down over my legs. “Why didn’t you say so sooner!”
His eyes twinkled with mischief as he stood. “I didn’t want to alarm you.”
“I’m alarmed now!”
“Then I’ll leave you to get some rest,” he mused as he turned and strolled to the door. He paused with one hand on the handle and looked over his shoulder. There was a seriousness in the lines of his face that dampened some of my ire. “Stay in here. It’s for your own safety.”
I swallowed a lump in my throat. “Why?”
“Women aren’t welcomed aboard ships, even ones who have worth to Captain Encina. They’re likely to mistake you for bad luck and throw you overboard.”
The red color drained from my face. “B-but you’re their captain, right? You can stop them.”
A crooked smile slipped onto his lips. “Aye, but the superstition is strong with them. There’s no telling what they’ll do, so you’d best stay inside these walls if you know what’s good for you.” And with that final warning, he slipped out.
Leaving me more than a little antsy. I jumped to my feet and tossed the handkerchief to one side. My mind had only one thought, to escape this ship before the crew ‘offered’ me a way out.
I hurried to the rear and fumbled with the latches that secured the glass window panes. Only one was loose, and I managed to open the window and lean out. A steep drop of some thirty feet into choppy waters awaited me. The sailing ship cut through the water as quickly as any modern vessel. I leaned further out and squinted at the area below the water, trying to see some sort of propeller.
“What are you doing?”
I screamed and stumbled backward into the cabin. Ramaro’s head popped down from above the open window frame. He tilted his noggin this way and that. “Are you really thinking about jumping out the window?”
