“Ol’ Bluebeard?” Notchnose breathed. “A pretty girl like you, ought not be asking questions about Bluebeard.”
Lia felt a chill run down her spine but managed to keep her composure.
“I’ll ask whatever questions I please,” she stated. “You said you had answers?”
A gaunt man with an eyepatch at the end of the bar, turned toward her and said. “Married, seven times, he was.”
“No, notmarried,” Notchnose corrected. “. . . they were gone before they ever made it to the aisle, they were.”
Lia leaned in closer.
“What happened to them?”she hissed.
“No one knows for sure,” Notchnose answered. “But ol’ Bluebeard . . . naw, he wouldn’t have ‘em. His only love’s the sea.”
A thousand “ayes” of agreement sounded from various corners of the room. Conversation began to flow again, but the room remained fairly quiet as it felt like most of the sailors were still listening in.
“Who were they?” Lia pressed. “Where can I find them?”
“Let me see now . . .” Notchnose pondered. “The only ones I know of were Jeanie Watertide and Nora Finn. Nice girls, they were. Used to come here all the time.”
Now, Lia did glance over her shoulder taking notice of the few female customers. Perhaps she hadn’t noticed them before because they were just as grizzled and burly as the men. One had a skull tattoo on her bare shoulder, the other was missing one of her front teeth—Did Nora and Jeanie have tattoos? Were they strong enough to snap Tyrell in half with their fists?
“Were?” Lia pressed. “Are they. . .?” Her heart was pounding so hard now, she hoped the sailors couldn’t hear it.
“No idea,” Notchnose shrugged. “All I know is they sailed off with him some years back, I haven’t seen ‘em since.”
“Well there must be someone who knows what happened to them,” Lia insisted.
She looked around the room, but all the sailors were conspicuously dodging her gaze.
“Some things are better left alone,” Notchnose warned. “Naught good comes from girls who take an interest in ol’ Bluebeard.”
It was at that point, Lia decided she had all the information she needed. If a tavern full of burly sailors were terrified to even speak about Captain Julian, clearly he wasn’t fit for a princess. She was going to return immediately and tell Tavia every detail of her adventure inThe Bloody Kraken. Surely, then she would realize nothing good could come of her fascination with the man.
Lia thanked Notchnose calmly and strolled confidently out of the tavern. The second she had crossed the road, her posture deteriorated and she darted home a trembling bundle of nerves.
4. Tyrell’s Promise
Lia paced back and forth outside the stables waiting for the princess to return from the hunt. On a normal day, she would have used this time for mending gowns or tidying up, but at the moment, she couldn’t think of anything except warning the princess about the captain as soon as possible.
After fleeingThe Bloody Kraken, she returned to the castle and asked every servant she encountered if they knew anything about Captain Julian and his seven missing fiancees.
The fragments of information she received in return only made her suspicions grow. The parlor maid seemed to think that all the women in question were commoners.
“Exactly ‘ow he likes it,” she had said. “Less likely folks will come lookin’ for ‘em.”
“I heard,” the stableboy had said, “That Lord and Lady Salamar adopted the captain and his actual mother is . . .” he looked around and lowered his voice. “Majis.”
“I don’t believe that,” Lia had whispered back.
“Why do you think he has a bluebeard?” the boy pressed. “Because his blood is magic.”
“There’s nothing wrong with having a blue beard,” Lia had defended, but her own words didn’t dilute her own suspicions.Why did he have a blue beard?
The cook had explained that the coachman told him that he had spoken to Julian’s personal groom who said there was a wing in Julian’s manor no one was allowed to enter under pain of death.
“The air in the place reeks of musk and garlic,” the cook swore. “The groom smelled it, himself. But that’s not the worst of it . . .”
