We must have sailed for hours, because when the ship finally turned back to the harbor, my cheeks were dry. I unfurled my stiff fingers, and after wiping away any stray tears, I did my best to smooth out my hair. If someone noticed the ship had been missing, I couldn’t have them even suspect me.
The harbor was still silent as we sailed in, and I blew out a breath of relief at the empty docks and the still water. Even the ships were quieter. They tracked us coming in, their disapproval creating ringlets on the water, but the loud whirring and creaking had faded with the last of the sun’s shadows.
When the ship came to a smooth stop, elegantly moving into the tight pocket where she’d rested before, I patted her railing.
“Thank you,” I mumbled. “I didn’t know how much I needed that.”
She was silent in response, but after that wild ride, I wasn’t surprised. My own limbs were tired and fraught, and my legsshook as I made my way down the wooden brow. I’d taken only a step onto the dock when something flashed in the corner of my eye. A strike raised my pulse, and my back slammed into the side of the ship, taking my breath with it.
“What the fuck do you think you are doing?” A face came into mine, and I groaned when my vision cleared and the warrior from earlier, the one with the accent and the cropped pale hair and the tattoos, snarled at me.
“Please tell me this isn’t your ship,” I croaked.
I held on to little hope, though, because his forearm was against my throat, taking nearly all my air, and the hull behind me did nothing, not a single vibration or buzz.
“Of course she is mine,” he replied in that melodic lilt. “What wereyoudoing with her?”
I tried to swallow, but it was impossible with the pressure against my neck. Farther in on the dock, a small crowd was gathering. All were warriors, including the one with the terrifying scar, and none of them moved as the man before me pinned me against his ship, my bare skin grating against the wood until I was sure I’d be bruised tomorrow.
“Nothing,” I got out.
He released the pressure, then rammed me against the ship so hard that my head snapped forward, then back again, smacking against the wood with a thud that echoed across the water. The warriors still hadn’t moved, and as my eyes darted to the side, dread set its wicked claws into my heart.
“No one will help you here,” the man hissed. A dark laugh followed. “No one will help you back there either,” he continued. “Not after what you did.”
Shame burned across my chest.
He was right. The crowd I’d left behind would sooner cheer him on as he cracked my skull open than help me.
I tried to keep adrenaline from flooding my body, but it was impossible as I looked up at him. He must have been six five to my five five, his muscled arms as wide as my waist, andthe axe that hung across his back was the most lethal I’d ever seen, its sharp edge longer than my entire arm.
“What are you waiting for?” the man said, his harsh breaths sweeping over me.
“W-what?” I asked, trying to figure out how I was going to explain this away.
My father wouldn’t have accepted someone sailing his ship. Neither would I when I’d had my own.
“Are you not going to… how do you say?Teach me a lesson?” He tilted his head, a challenge burning in his dark eyes.
“I— Eh. No?” I replied.
When his eyes dipped to my chest, I didn’t react fast enough to stop my hand from flying up to cover my severed mark. His arm dug more firmly into my throat, and I panted for breath when he didn’t let up this time.
“Don’t flatter yourself,” the man snarked. “I don’t look.”
“I didn’t say you did,” I hissed.
“But you thought it.” He finally let his arm drop.
“No, I didn’t.” My throat was screaming, but I refused to let my gaze gloss.
“Liar,” he said so quietly I almost didn’t catch it.
“I’m not?—”
“Yes, you are,” he growled.
“You act like you know me!” I blinked again against the burn behind my eyes.
