I fold my arms across my torso. “And I suppose your king has sent you over to stop me from going?”
Her dark eyes taper. “I’ve actually come to escort you. On the orders ofourking.”
Twenty-Seven
The large hammered bronze doors clang shut behind Sybille, Imogen, and me. Even though I tried to talk Syb out of coming, she claimed I needed a buffer, what with my tendency to always speak my mind.
Gabriele stands aboard the military gondola, waist-long blond hair blowing in a soft breeze that smells like summer-soaked honeysuckle. I’m glad Dante didn’t send Tavo or Silvius, for if he had, I might have pushed both overboard.
Gabriele’s gaze tracks my approach before lifting to the five feathered giants eddying above me like a storm cloud. Their bodies cast shadows upon the swarm of nervous sprites escorting me toward the sturdy pontoon and the thickening crowd that white-garbed soldiers hold back.
Antoni’s new black ship lists over the turquoise Tarecuorin waters, berthed beside a varnished gondola packed with silken pillows—Ptolemy Timeus’s. Although childish, I have half a mind to hop aboard and toss every pillow into Mareluce. Since I am trying my best to act dignified, I shelve my juvenile revenge for later.
The tension is so thick that it makes the bowl of grapes Imogen insisted I eat—after testing one—bounce around in my stomach.
“Signorina Rossi.” Gabriele inclines his head.
“Signore Moriati.” I incline my head back.
Unlike Tavo, Gabriele does not insist I call him by his new title: Commander.
I pinch the fluid skirt of the gold dress composed of a mix of silk and glittery chiffon, and step aboard the military vessel without touching his proffered hand. I settle at the back of the ship with Syb and a glowering Imogen, whose presence aboard sends the four soldiers manning the boat pedaling backward.
Although not the most frightful Crow I’ve encountered, Imogen does carry a murderous clout that makes me glad not to be her enemy. As the gray-eyed captain powers us away from Tarecuori, Gabriele braves the frightful Crow to come stand beside me.
“You have tits of steel, Fallon,” he murmurs.
Since he does not glance at my cleavage, I imagine it’s an expression. “Because I returned?”
“Do you know how many people want you dead?”
“Doyouwant me dead?”
“However convenient, no. I do not. Thanks to you, I’ve become Commander of Luce.” A blond strand flogs his forehead. He presses it back behind his peaked ear. “Whydidyou return? Did your winged king not treat you well?”
“I returned because I’ve lived my entire life in Luce. This is my home.”
The tainted walls of my house light up the backs of my lids. I blink them away, focusing instead on the powerful body of the emerald serpent that’s jumping in the foamy wake of our vessel like a child playing hopscotch.
Although threads of sparkling magic vein the palms of two soldiers, neither hoses the beast with their fire. If one so much as tries, so help me Gods—
“Why did you wake them?” Gabriele’s platinum gaze is set on the circlet of giant crows.
Since I prefer he not find out about my foolish prophecy-go-getting, I say, “Because I wanted to meet my father.”
“Is he one of the crows trailing us?”
“No, he’s searching for my mother.”
“The Shabbin one?”
I don’t bother acquiescing.
He lowers his gaze to the cobalt fault line that runs from Tarecuori to Isolacuori. “I was not aware Crows could swim.”
“Swim? I suppose they can float and paddle well enough, but they’re far better at flying. What does swimming have to do with my mother?”
“I heard Meriam killed her before Marco and Justus managed to trap her. I heard she tossed her own daughter’s exsanguinated body into Filiaserpens.”
