The thought brought no relief—only a tightening, like the sea was already tallying the debt.
Whatever Veyrion is now—it isn’t the man I once trusted. The old Ymirskald code he once held sacred—honor, brotherhood, the chain of blood and bond—he’d cast it aside like so much ash in the snow. All that power, and no trace of who he used to be.
And now he had her.
I let the thought settle in my bones, cold and heavy, until my jaw ached from clenching it.
Veyrion might have taken her beyond my reach, but there isn’t a place in all the realms where I won’t follow. Not frost. Not shadow. Not even the gods themselves.
I slammed the journal shut and shoved it back into the drawer. No more pacing like a caged animal. No more letting Veyrion write the terms.
Garen didn’t bother knocking. He pushed the door shut behind him, taking in the chaos without comment—papers scattered, glass glittering on the floor, the reek of spilled rum.
“You planning to tear the whole ship apart,” he said, “or just your quarters?”
I ignored him, shoving aside the wreckage on my desk to clear space for the charts. The lantern swung between us, shadows slicing across the lines of his scarred face.
“We’re going after them,” I kept my tone level by sheer will. I met his eyes without flinching.
“North?” he asked carefully.
“Eventually.”
His brow lifted a fraction.
“We make for the Veil first,” I said. “The crew feeds. Properly. I won’t have them feral when we hit Ymirskald waters.”
He studied me, measuring the line between strategy and desperation. “Two days southwest.”
“I know.”
“And after?”
“After,” I said, rolling out the northern charts, “we turn toward the ice.”
“Plot it. Every sail ready before the tide turns.”
“Aye, Cap’n.”
When he was gone, the cabin felt colder. I stared at the dark horizon through the porthole until my reflection blurred into the glass.
The Veil first. To steady the men. Strength to carry us north.
Then Ymirskald.
The sea stirred uneasily beneath the hull—too still, too aware.
Every time I defied her, the cost grew steeper.
And this time, I wasn’t sure what she’d take in return.
34
Nerina
Covenant Ship
They gave me a room. If it could be called that. A windowless cell carved from the ship’s hold, lit by a single candle stub. A narrow cot. A basin. Iron rings bolted into the wall. Meant for chains.
