She had fallen in love with Casper.
And really, does all of this really matter? Of course I would want to help him break his curse, and he absolutely deserves to be able to go home after all this time.
Before she could form her thoughts into coherent words, Casper dropped the flowers, spun on his heel, and disappeared. Sienna ran after him. “Casper!”
She darted down the streets, uncharacteristically empty due to the Festival, but the captain was nowhere to be found. She laced her fingers behind her neck and let her head fall backwards as she groaned.
The sound of footsteps on the stone streets sent her spinning around. Her shoulders tensed when she realized it was Erik.
“Go away,” she growled.
He sighed. “Oh, little Enna. This would have been so much easier if you had just accepted my proposal in the first place.”
His hand lifted.
And then the world went black.
Chapter sixteen
Retreat
Casper
Casper stalked through the dark streets towards the harbor, doing everything in his power to ignore what felt like a gaping hole in his chest. It hurt to think. Hurt to breathe. Hurt tobe.
This is why I kept telling Jem this was a bad idea. It gave the crew false hope, and then just ripped it away.But at least I’ve done my part. Jem can leave me alone now for the next seven years.
He was a fool. He had known from the beginning that the curse would be impossible to break. Why would anyone promise to be faithful for the rest of their lives to a ghost? Sienna’s face had gone from red and flushed to the color of snow the momentthat blasted elf had leaked his secret She was obviously afraid of him, just like the rest of Faerie.
Before, he had gladly embraced the fear for how much easier it made his task.
Now, he hated it.
He turned a corner and the harbor opened up before him. ThePetrelwas the lone center of activity, as his crew busied themselves with getting both her and themselves ready for sailing. There had always been the chance that the curse would return at dawn, and he intended to be far away from Nivem when it did. The sudden appearance of a ghost ship where a friendly vessel had once sat would likely send the little harbor town into a shocked, terrorized frenzy.
“Casp!” Jem hailed him from the other end of the street. He and Short John jogged over. Questions were written all over his first mate’s face. “Where’s Sienna? We heard you both ran out of the party.”
He shrugged coldly, forcing his emotions down and out of reach. “She’s not here.”
“Obviously. But where did you leave her? And why? There’s someone out there who wants her dead.”
The reminder was like a bucket of cold water over his head.
Daland is home now. He’ll keep her safe until her wizard friend can get to the bottom of things. Besides, the best way I can help her now is to keep trying to stop the smugglers before they even get to land.
“I’m sure she’ll be fine.”
Perhaps saying it out loud would help him convince himself it was true.
Jem’s hand came down heavily on his shoulder, forcing him to look the taller man in the eyes. “Casper, what happened?”
Casper laughed bitterly. “Exactly what I said would happen. She’s not going to break the curse.”
Short John and Jem exchanged concerned glances. “I’m sure it’s just a misunderstanding,” Jem offered. “Maybe if you explained the situation—”
“I don’t need to explain it!” he interrupted angrily, having reached the end of his patience on the topic. “She already knows, Jem. She knows, and the look on her face made it very clear that she wants nothing to do with us. Or me.”
“Did she actually say those words? Or are you just making assumptions?”
