My hands ripped at the scaly body of what looked like some type of fish, but it wasn’t a fish at all. It was something pulled from the stardust streams and seemed plentiful in this part of space. The men onboard called them blashels. I shoved the creature down the line and caught his eyes again, able to see the unease in their depths.
“I know you don’t want to find her, but I promise to make sure she doesn’t disembowel you.”
A soft snort left his lips. “I doubt that even your power could stop Dianna. Especially with Samkiel at her side.”
I passed the blashel down and accepted another. “You’d be surprised what I can do for someone I care about.”
Again, those light blue eyes caught mine, but they were filled with heat this time. Although we couldn’t do anything about it, the burning tension between us was damn near scalding. A squeal came from behind us, and we both half-turned to face the main reason we hadn’t had a chance to kiss again.
Elianna was dressed in the same sun-faded greens and browns as the rest of the crew. Her hair was wrapped like everyone’s, but a few red strands fell into her face as she bent to clean up the bucket of soapy water she’d spilled. A tall, muscled orc yelled at her to move out of her way. The twin tusks protruding from the orc’s bottom lip were sharp enough to rip a man in half.
Elianna wisely kept her mouth shut and lifted the bucket, struggling to hoist it onto her bent elbow. I snickered. She hadn’t worked a day in her life outside of council meetings, and right now, you could tell. Her eyes cut to mine, seething as she stomped to the main deck to help the others clean the blood and mess from the floor. I returned to work and grinned at Vincent. He shook his head, clearly enjoying this, too.
VINCENT PASSED THEbigger portion of bread to me, chewing the smaller part he had taken before giving a small piece to Elianna. He wiped his hands on a cloth and stood up, moving to the door to check the passageway.
“Why does she get the bigger portion?”
I could feel the frustration rippling off of Vincent. “The magic she uses makes her burn more calories to keep us all alive,” he said matter-of-factly and shrugged. “Besides, I like her more than you. I don’t care if you starve.”
I shook my head but didn’t say anything as I inhaled my portion. He was right. I was using so much magic I was starving, but I’d risk it to keep us safe from Nismera’s wrath. We constantly watched the skies for her, knowing she would come for her retribution. Every time the ship rocked, we feared she’d arrived in her hunt for us. Vincent wouldn’t sleep below with us. He was always on alert, fear eating at his gut.
Elianna sneered at him. “I guess I shouldn’t expect anything else from Nismera’s favorite whore.”
My magic zipped out, turning the bread she held to dust before Vincent even opened his mouth to respond.
“Hey!” she exclaimed. “Why the fuck did you do that?”
“Your baseless, rude comment,” I said, returning to my meager meal. “You know, we could have left you to die back in her palace.”
Elianna’s nose scrunched as she folded her arms. I ignored her attempt at a pout.
“Stop acting like a spoiled brat when we are trying to help you, too,” I said.
“I don’t think it’s an act,” Vincent mumbled under his breath, still standing at the doorway and watching. He was always watching.
“Can we please try to get along?” I turned to look at Vincent. “Please, for my sake? None of us wants to be here. Let’s just make do and get out of here, okay?”
They scowled at each other but didn’t say anything else. I sighed. It wasn’t a truce, but probably the best I could hope for.
“It’s still at least about two weeks before we dock in Goldpass,” Vincent said.
Elianna sighed loudly as the ship rocked and the animals squealed. They were probably just as nauseous as we were.
“It stinks down here,” she whined.
“Well, it is a cargo ship, and we are down below with the cargo,” Vincent said, gesturing to the stables littered with hay, debris, and manure. There were three levels below deck, and we were on the second. The lowest level held the blashel, this one the livestock, and the produce was kept on the one above us.
“Yeah, I can see that.” She sneered at Vincent and wrapped her hands tighter around herself as a large six-legged shaggy beast chewed loudly mere inches from her.
Elianna and I moved to the empty stall in the corner we had been using as our sleeping area. It was dark, the only light coming from the enchanted stones attached to the cargo wall. The crates and boxes didn’t leave us much room, poking us in places we wouldn’t wish, but it was better than death.
“So, Goldpass?” I asked as we got settled. “What’s that?”
“One of the largest trading towns in the realms,” Elianna answered. “It’s a place where you can find anything for a price.”
“And why do we want to go there?”
Vincent looked at me as if it were something he did not wish to share with Elianna here.
