I looked skyward, exasperated. “Lachlan, move.” It caused a deep ache in my middle to do it, but I gripped his arm and pulled him from the ladder, so I could take his place. I raised my head over the lip of the hatch.
Through the dissipating group, I thought I caught a glimpse of a cloud-white gown trailing over the threshold of Theodore’s stateroom. Bodies shifted, blocking my view as the door closed with the force of a punch to my gut.
Slowly, stunned, I ducked back belowdecks. I felt so hollow, so hapless and pained, that I couldn’t bring myself to speak. Lachlan gave me a questioning look of concern.
Gold light fell over his face as he stared up at me. There was atroubled bend to his brow, a harried but sympathetic look in his eye. “Let’s keep our sights on Agatha,” he finally said. “No one else.”
I nodded. “No one else.”Get Halla, find Agatha, keep Theodore safe.That had been my plan all along. And so it would remain.
Lachlan straightened his coat. “All right.” He pointed to the stolen pin on his chest again. “I’m the officer. I’ll order you toward the passageway on the starboard side of Theo’s stateroom. It leads toward the aft part of the ship. Some of my men will be guarding the stateroom door, as usual. Once you’re in place, I’ll come back belowdecks and change into my armor. Then I’ll relieve the guards of their duty.”
“What if your men recognize your voice while you’re giving me orders? Don’t they think you’re still at the palace?”
He waved a hand in the air as if to swat away my inane questions. “I’ll deal with all that. Just worry about getting Halla. Keep her quiet andalive.You’ll enter the stateroom through the aft windows. You’ll leave with her through the cabin door.” He handed me the key. “You’ll bring her—under a cloak—to our cabin.”
Anxiety eddied through my aching stomach. I gave a quick nod just as a group of middle-watch sailors approached and made their way up the ladder. At their inquisitive looks, we quickly followed.
Once above deck, I sucked in a chest full of cool air. The stars were a glittering riot in the clear black sky. The wedding crowd had cleared quickly, heading down passageways and belowdecks to sleep. The musicians tucked their instruments into cases, the crew began to douse the overhead lanterns, and servants started clearing away the flowering vines woven around the altar and masts.
We neared Theodore’s stateroom, where a pair of gold-armored guards stood watch. Lachlan kept his hat low and picked up a bucket of seawater. “Mariner Cadet.” He pushed his voice through his nose, morphing it into something pinched and whining.
The ridiculousness of it made me clamp down on the inside of my cheek.
He shoved the bucket into my hand. “I expect this passageway to be swabbed by sunrise.”
I lowered myself, very slowly, to my knees, grateful to the dark for hiding my pained grimace.
“Well, come on…” Lachlan threw his hands into the air. “Get the holystone. Start scrubbing.”
Slowly, I pulled the stone from the bucket and swiped it across the deck in front of me.
“Not like that.” Lachlan knelt in front of me and grabbed the stone. He scrubbed vigorously, but as he did, he whispered low. “At the end of this passage, there’s a ledge that runs the full length of the stateroom windows. It’s a small leap to get onto it, but it’s wide and sturdy. At least some of the windows will be unlocked.” He threw the stone into the bucket, sending water splashing over my trousers. “By sunrise, cadet!”
Then he rose quickly and made his way back toward the scuttle hatch, off to wherever it was he’d hidden his armor.
The guards in front of the stateroom door hadn’t batted an eye. I looked behind me, down the passageway, where three small cabin doors were tucked. A gust of salt air raced through the tight walls, and I tried to let it settle my searing nerves.
Hands shaking, I swiped the holystone over the deck a few times, dipped it back into the bucket, then dragged myself deeper into the passageway. The pain in my stomach swelled, but I moved myself toward the back end of the ship until I reached a sliver of railing and saw the glow from the bank of Theodore’s windows.
The wide ledge Lachlan had mentioned was illuminated and the gap to reach it was narrower than I’d expected, but I couldn’t bring myself to move yet. I didn’t want to see what was inside. Thewindow mullions were ornate and heavy, easy enough to grab hold of if the ship rolled too steeply.
I pulled in a slow breath.Get Halla, get Halla, get Halla.I blew it back out and reached my leg out toward the ledge. My pain took a long moment to ebb, and then I was inching across, carefully, until I reached the edge of the heavy drapes that hung within.
A few of the windows were ajar to let in the night air. The wound in my stomach gave a deep ache when I crouched down to my knees, but I held still and quieted my racing breaths. From my vantage, I could see only half of the cabin. The door, unbarred. The drink cabinet built into the wall, Theodore’s cluttered desk, the gilded armoire.
My fluttering nerves spread through my chest. When I heard Theodore’s low rumble of a voice, I stopped breathing altogether.
“You must be tired,” he said, quietly.
“Yes.” The word was sweet and meek, and then Halla added quickly, in a too-bright tone, “But I don’t need to sleep just yet.”
I squeezed my eyes shut.
Theodore grunted, but I barely heard it above the thudding of my own heart. “I expect you’re feeling ill.”
“The sea has been gentle,” Halla said. “Thankfully. I’m quite well.”
I cursed Lachlan for taking so long to draw Theodore out of the cabin. When I finally forced my eyes open, I could see Theodore pulling open the drink cabinet and pouring himself a full glass of wine. Tension seemed to coil through him as he took a deep gulp. He’d removed his crown, and once he lowered the glass from his lips, he raked his fingers through his dark locks.
