The Amaridian merchant ships carrying the grain were built for speed and rough seas, and the captains had the nerve required to open all the sails to the wind. Especially given their need to evade the Harendellians. They also had a full day’s head start.
“Let me fix the splint on your arm.”
These were the first words they’d exchanged that hadn’t been her shouting orders at him like he was a member of her crew, and for reasons Ahnna couldn’t explain, her chest tightened.
Sucking in a mouthful of air, she dug her nails into the wood of the rudder, fighting for composure.
“Ahnna?”
“I didn’t think you’d be alive.” Her voice came out as a croak. “I left you, and I thought I was too late. That he’d…that he’d…”
James frowned at her. “You thought thatCarlowould best me in single-handed combat? Carlo, who has onlyone eyeandone testicle,would outfight me? I’m insulted, Princess.”
A laugh that sounded like a sob exploded from her lips. “You’re right. How foolish of me.”
The corner of his mouth turned up, and though James was battered, bloodied, and weeks away from a razor, he was so painfully handsome that her breath caught in her chest. His hand tangled in her hair and he tilted her face up. “Carlo’s dead.”
“Are you sure?” She’d seen the soldiers running to the Beast. Pulling him out of the waves. “Drowning isn’t…it doesn’t always take, you know?” And it felt like Carlo had a shocking ability to survive that which would kill any other.
“I stabbed him in the chest and slit his jugular, so I’m fairly confident ittook.” James pulled her against him, and Ahnna rested her cheek on his chest, hearing the steady beat of his heart. “Our list of problems is long, but the Beast is no longer one of them.”
“Katarina will be after our blood for killing her son.”
“Let her come.” James’s hand slid down her right arm, fingers dancing over the splint, which was hanging on by a thread. “Let me fix this.”
“I don’t need the splint anymore, so just take it off. One of the positive things about sitting in the Furnace is that it gave my arm time to heal.”
“Not enough time.” His other hand ran down her back, and an ache formed between her thighs. “It will snap if you put too much strain on it without proper splinting, so let’s fix that.”
What she wanted was to stay in his embrace, but Ahnna reluctantly took a half step back. James knelt before her while she kept her left hand on the rudder, her eyes on the horizon. But her focus was entirely on him.
James took apart the wooden slats that made up the splint, his fingers running over the twin breaks in the bones of her forearm. The site was still sore, but his touch made her feel things other than pain. Made her remember the sensation of his fingers inside her body as he brought her to climax in the Furnace. Reminding her that there were no longer any walls between them, and only open seas surrounding them.
“By some miracle, this is actually healing well,” James murmured as he began resplinting her arm. “How you managed not to rebreak it while escaping from the Furnace, fighting through guards, and swimming through the open sea to commandeer a boat is a mystery to me.”
“Just lucky, I suppose.”
He didn’t answer, and Ahnna tore her gaze from the horizon to look down. James was still on his knees, but he was looking up at her with an expression that made her stomach flip. “What?”
“You are the most stubborn, fierce, and extraordinarily loyal woman I have ever met,” he replied. “There is no woman alive who is your equal, Ahnna Kertell.”
Warmth rose in her cheeks. “I…That’s…If you think that, you haven’t met many women. Lara—”
“I’ve met Lara. My comment stands, and given that Lara once told me that Harendell’s gain was Ithicana’s loss, I suspect she agrees with me.”
Her eyes pricked with tears and Ahnna blinked rapidly, remembering how Lara had been the only one to stand on the pier at Northwatch and bid her farewell. Remembering the dress she’d sent. The necklace. A tear rolled down her cheek, because Katarina had taken it, and she had no idea how she’d get it back.
But what she hadn’t taken was the memories Ahnna associated with it, and the sudden desire to make things right with Lara filled her.
“We’ll get there in time,” James said, seeming to hear her thoughts. “You’ll see them soon.”
She wiped her wet cheeks. “I’m afraid, James. Afraid to hope, because me wanting something feels like ensuring the exact opposite result. I don’t get what I want, not ever, and part of me wonders if I should stop wanting anything at all.” The words came out in a flood, sounding like gibberish, but at the heart of them was her fear of hope. “I’m sorry. None of that is important.”
“What you want is important to me.” His voice was low, and Ahnna’s toes curled against the deck. “Tell me what you want. Something that’s small. Something that is just for you.”
She looked behind them at the ship’s wake, hunting for signs of pursuit because it felt selfish to think about small things. But then she whispered, “Lavender soap and warm water.”
“What else?”
