“I was commissioned to extract this armor from the depths of the Blue Hole. I know it well.”
I made a silent note to inquire more about that comment later.
“And is that the bow of Arabella, Daxton’s mother?”
I nodded, my fingers tracing over the silver-trimmed ebony weapon strapped to my back. I hoped my mate’s mother would approve of me wielding it.
“I added a few others as well.” I patted the hilt of a short sword, and daggers tucked along my outer thigh.
“Excellent,” Fjorda said with a hint of mischief. “Females with more bark than their bite are not meant to rule.”
Crew members moved around us, hurrying to prepare the ship for our voyage. Ropes were cast along the mast pillars, anchors raised from the sea floor, covered in seaweed with various small creatures clutching the metallic covering.
I gazed upward at the elegant white sails swaying in the wind. They waved with the circling gusts along the shoreline between Starfall Island and Silver Meadows. Riding the wildness of the currents that held the fate of countless seafarers.
“Skylar.”
My spine stiffened in anticipation, knowing I couldn’t refuse the call. I turned around to see Castor standing alone at the end of the dock. His head was held high with the regal air of his stature, in the steadying breaths he forced himself to take.
“Prove my brother right,” Castor said on the wandering winds.
My heart surged, seeing the same look of determination and absolute faith I had seen in Daxton now reflected in Castor’s stare. His silver and black fighting leathers shifted across his toned frame, his silver-white hair whipping across the hard lines of his face. Twin swords were strapped to his back, with three silver mountain peaks visible on his shoulder. He was ready to march north with Gunnar and the other Silver Meadows warriors.
Ready to fight and, if needed, die to free themselves.
“Return. And free us all,” he said.
All I could do was nod and hold back my tears.
“Cast the sails,” a sailor hollered as the white sheets filled above my head. TheOpaldrifted away from the shoreline.
My eyes never left Castor’s. He stood at the edge of the docks, immovable against the fearsome weight threatening to tear us all down.
I recalled a portrait of the late rulers of Silver Meadows hanging in the grand hallway. While Daxton and Castor were the spitting image of their father, Castorhad their mother’s cunning dark eyes, inheriting this trait along with his unique gift to foresee death when it was near. I wondered what else he might see through the gifts of his mother’s bloodline, and if they somehow allowed him to see the world in a different light compared to those around him.
Solace was my homeland, but this place had become a safe haven and a refuge for me. Silver Meadows was as much my home now as perhaps Solace was.
The ship drifted far enough to catch the current separating the island from the Inner Kingdom, and with a burst of speed, Castor and the rest of Silver Meadows faded in the distance.
Chapter Four
Skylar Cathal
I wandered along the outer railing of the ship, time passing in a fleeting memory, drifting in a blur like the beat of a hummingbird’s wings.
The sun rose and fell over my head, once and then again, yet I still mindlessly paced. Restless and anxious, I continued my march across the ship. Not even the comfort of food or the aching need for sleep could break me from my trance.
I was adrift,losing myself within the lingering memories of Daxton, the fate of our worlds, and all that I had overcome. My mind wandered through the different scenarios I could face once I returned to Solace, searching for answers to questions I didn’t know how to form. There was nothing I could do but wait.
And Gods above, I hate sitting and waiting.
The crew was a faint presence in my semi-conscious state of reality. Thankfully, they kept their distance, parting to grant me access to my weathered path, not daring to interfere. I was grateful for the space they granted me, for the solitude Fjorda and the crew seemed to understand I needed. In a tragic stroke of fate, theyempathized with my pain, even though they didn’t understand the gravity of the internal demons I was battling.
“I’m going to have to replace the decking if you keep this up,” Fjorda said, standing against the wheel of the ship.
For the first time in days, I stopped pacing and turned to look at him, at anyone. The setting sun cast glowing orange and red rays of sunlight across his face, highlighting the blond speckles in his beard.
“The veil crossing is coming. You should—”
