He was right. I hated to admit it, but some permanently inked glyphs on my body were a constant reminder that I couldn’t know what would happen next. And that someone among the Ascendancy didn’t like me. “And the fact this means I have to be around yo–”
A lurching movement had me scrambling to hang onto the desk as my stomach did a flip. Beyond the windows, Icould see the shore twisting away from us. The Arc was moving. Evidently, having most of the crew aboard was enough to pilot the ship, even without all of us actively participating.
“We can talk after you get situated,” Zevrial stepped away from the windows, crossing to the door as if the moving floor bothered him not at all. “But soon the rest of the cabins will be filling up with the other graduates. Let’s not wait until the one next door is taken.”
He said it like it was already decided. I breathed my frustration out through clenched teeth. He smiled, picking up on my irritation. Opening the door, he ushered me out to where Corra stood waiting. “Get moving. Time’s wasting.”
I clenched my fists, swaying as I walked toward her under the unfamiliar rocking sensation. Corra’s expression had gone from expectant to disappointed when she saw my face. “Tell me you’re not rooming next to him,” she said.
“I won’t lie to you.”
“Fine, then I’ll take the cabin on the other side of yours.” She turned on her heel, storming off further into the ship, I assumed to find Sarina go repack their things.
The clamoring of footsteps nearby told me that my new crew mates were heading down the stairs from the main deck to claim cabins. I turned, eyeing the room beside Zevrial’s like it might stab me as I stepped into it.
It was empty, a near copy of Zevrial’s room but devoid of the personal touches. Setting my bag down, I began unpacking.
My brow creased. I didn’t have a headache anymore.
Chapter 37
Tidal Wave
Everything I experienced during the first day aboard the Shadowtide flew by in a rushed blur.
Luckily, everyone had made it aboard in time before we departed. Corra told me Talissa had cut it close, though.
First I’d been tasked with tying the knots for some of the Arc’s rigging, to secure our sails where they needed to be for our course to Raevar. Zevrial had been wise to give us extensive weight training. Out in the open, the wind tore at your limbs like it wanted to separate them from your body. It was still attempting to split the hair from my scalp.
Turns out watch rotations had been decided before we boarded by our captain, one Brialla Laurent from Zevrial’s graduating year. We each had four hour shifts for standing watch with a partner, and there were enough of us that my next shift wasn’t for another four days.
While I’d been on watch, I’d met my shift partner, a young man named Felixion. He was built of sheer bulk,and carried an untroubled demeanor and attitude. After being rotated onto the Shadowtide’s crew from another Arc, he tolerated the inconvenience of being forced to work with this year’s graduates, or ‘guppies’ as he liked to call us, with dry wit and wisecracks. Stolid, he was a steady presence while we’d stood in comfortable silence facing opposite directions from the crow’s nest watching the waves. The oscillating movement of the Arc was especially pronounced from high up.
Fortunately, Felixion was charitable enough to show me the ropes. He showed me how to keep steady by turning my body so that the Arc’s movement pulled me sideways instead of forward and back, how to focus my spyglass, and the lyrics to even filthier sea shanties than the ones I knew.
The shapes under and above the miasma were so strange I never would have dreamed them possible. Some were beautiful. Otherworldly glowing colored wisps had risen above the miasma after dawn, like a mirage of rainbow fog drifting upwards.
But others had been terrifying. A grotesque wrinkled blob of darkness had appeared on the horizon, floating above the miasma. It was too distant to tell exactly what it was, but we’d steered clear of it.
Mesmoria had become fuzzy in the distance, then reduced down to a shrunken swell, a mere blip before it vanished completely.
The separation from the mainland finally quieted the incessant ghost of Nikolach. Until now, I hadn’t understood how much he haunted me, even knowing he was beaten, bruised, and bloody. Hanging onto my fear of him was like dragging around my own coffin behind me. Some intangible muscle gripped tightly inside me unclenched. He couldn’t hurt me here.
After my watch ended, I’d been assigned to galley duty, which was also rotated among everyone aboard. I was gratefulMama was in Scullery service, as preparing food was an entirely foreign concept to Pasha, who had been partnered with me for it. Together though, we were able to put together enough rice and vegetables to feed everyone.
Sunset was two hours ago, but I didn’t want to sleep yet. I wandered onto the main deck, tucking my shorn scarf around my neck.
“—finally back from suspension on operations again and your first move is to request an Apostate take the room next to yours? And you’re planning to keep going with this madness?” Veridiana’s voice carried on the breeze to me, despite being on the other end of the Arc and speaking softly. I slowed my steps, turning to face outward toward the miasma. “How do you think the Ascendancy will react?”
I shouldn’t be eavesdropping, but my curiosity had sprung to life at hearing what sounded like a private conversation.
“I don’t fucking care how they’ll react,” Zevrial’s low voice answered.
At night, the miasma looked phantasmal, a dull sheen under the moonlight. The ominous shadows beneath it were almost invisible. I couldn’t see Zevrial or Veridiana in the darkness, but I strained, focusing on Perception and listening for their voices.
“You’ve already caught their notice. If you’re not careful, they’ll do more than suspend you next time.” Veridiana spoke again.
“They can’t afford to kill me. I’m the best weapon they’ve got.”
