Jun’s father continued. "Convenient, isn't it? One of my Oricaans just happen to go down at the same time and place this pathetic little ship shows up in harbor. So, tell me,son. What exactly are you up to? Because I won’t hesitate to end it. For her,” he seethed, shoving Zahara forward. “For you. For everyone on this boat."
Calvin stepped forward, his hands out in surrender. “We had nothing to do with that incident. Now let her go, Raoku. Please.” The exchange jarred me to see him like that—no sarcasm, no grin—just raw desperation as he begged.
“I don’t believe it!” The bellow from Jun’s father made his son sink backward, fear etching his features. He pulled the hood across his head tighter.
Zahara lifted her nose to the male, even as the sword rested on her throat. She didn’t speak, but she was fury and defiance in human form, holding her ground like stone.
“I killed its puppet,” I stated confidently, stepping forward. Never would I allow anyone to die on my behalf. “It was killing innocents, so I killed it.”
Noctis’s gaze shot toward me, bewildered and terrified. He edged closer, positioning himself slightly before me, as if he would take any attack that came next in my stead.
Jun’s father slowly dragged his gaze to me, recognition seeping in as his lips tilted in a smug grin.
“Ah. We’ve been looking for you. Except I don’t believe that was the only plan you all had. Or else you wouldn’t be here,” Raoku said slowly. He stood like the world owed him space—shoulders squared, spine straight, every inch of him radiating control.
“Don’t,” Zahara spoke, but the man only gripped her hair tighter and yanked her head toward him.
“I’ll go back. Just let them go,” Jun cut in, the first words he said to his father, and they shook, trembling under the scrutiny and fear of his sire.
The male laughed, a husky, dry chuckle that simmered rage beneath my skin. Warmth spread across my bones as if nerve endings were being awakened, my fingers tingling as the fury rose.
"You think this world owes you a place? It doesn’t. And neither do I,” his father’s words hit Jun like a physical blow, buckling the male I’d just seen throw an armored soldier overboard a ship in one movement. “Tell me what you’re planning, and I’ll let her go.”
Zahara’s eyes begged us to keep quiet, but Calvin couldn’t. He looked at Zahara with such anguish as the blade threatened to slit her throat.
“The trident, Raoku. We are searching for the trident,” he blurted.
Zahara’s face fell in defeat. Her entire body slammed into the wooden planks, and Raoku sheathed his blade at the hip.
Noctis stepped forward, black swirling power ghosting around his frame. “You’re not leaving these quarters,” he snarled.
Raoku shot him a feline smirk. “And who’s going to stop me? You? My failed son?” His arm shot out toward a flinching Jun, and the man smiled as if enjoying the way his son cowered in his presence. “His freakishly scared, tattling friend? Or the woman at my feet?” He huffed in annoyance, his head shaking side to side.
The god forged his power into a weapon, divine wrath coalescing in his hands. But before the strike could fall, a blinding light exploded through the quarters. Sharp, endless, all-consuming. I threw up my arms to shield my eyes, but it was useless. The light burned through, searing my vision, my mind, my very sense of place.
And when it dissipated,Jun’s father was gone.
CHAPTER TEN
Silence lingered as we sailed west toward Waning Isle that evening, the strip of land that guarded the entrance to Shadeborne Bound. The night before offered only silence and guarded rest, sleep occurring in shifts in case the Royal Vanguard wished to strike again.
Too many dead. So much blood.
The quiet brought a solace needed to breathe after the overwhelming information thrown at me. I became a new person after my sacrifice, and those that were once a part would need to mold and accept it. Noctis included.
Blood slickened the deck across the ship, and I worked to swallow the bile that surged upon seeing the crimson honeyed liquid painting the wood. Visions replayed in my mind of the city inhabitants crushed beneath the Oricaan gilded beast, the agonizing crunch that flitted in my ears for hours afterward. I had known fear far more than any normal person should, yet nothing scared me as much as the memories of that day resurfacing.
I overlooked the sea that crashed against the sides of the ship, preparing myself for the next three-night sail. Under the pale moon, the ocean surged, each swell flashing white like bone beneath the surface. Somehow the water brought me peace but only overlooking it as if I belonged above the waves.
My silver silken hair drifted with the passing wind, and I pulled my knees tighter to my chest, replaying the day's events, digging into my mind and trying to tear down the mental shields that blocked my memories.
All I wanted was toknowwhat I lost.
Zahara wrapped my crushed ankle hours prior just until Jun could rest enough to replenish his powers and heal us all. But I couldn’t find it in myself to ask him after we met his father; however, he didn’t seem too fazed anymore by the harsh words the commander of the Royal Vanguard threw at him. Instead, he tugged his hood low over his face like normal and rushed to the rigging, hands working fast to catch the wind and send the ship surging forward.
Maybe that was the aftermath of a child born with tyrannical parents. Returning to business after a berating became easier and more necessary.
Hours passed before anyone spoke, each of us still shaken by the night.
