The world was alive around her. The sea was a wellspring of power. Every drop of water in the air—from the salt spray to the clouds above—seemed to tremble as her magic washed over it.
Eira sat perfectly still on deck. Adela circled her like a hawk. Even though Eira’s eyes were closed, she could feel the pirate queen’s presence through the shifts in magic.
“More, Eira,” Adela commanded.
Eira furrowed her brow. A bead of sweat rolled down her neck as her magic ran down the sides of the ship and curled with the waves. Adela’s power pressed against her, as unyielding as the thick layer of ice that covered the Stormfrost. But there wasn’t a trace of it in the seas.
She curled her hands into fists, as if trying to grasp the ocean itself.
Adela rapped Eira’s knuckles with her cane. “No physical tells,” she scolded. Eira relaxed her fingers. The tip of the cane pressed between her brows. “Here, too.”
Eira bit the insides of her cheeks but forced her face to remain passive. She’d never had a teacher that had demanded so much of her. She’d had supportive instructors. Her uncles, who conveniently always told her to avoid pushing herself. But never someone who demanded more—who stopped her from holding herself back.
“Results, Eira,” Adela sighed.
The water churned underneath the vessel. Eira caught on to the currents, shifting them. Relaxing wasn’t just a function of keeping her magic a secret from her enemies. Once she stopped trying to exert force, controlling water
became easier than she’d ever imagined. She had to move with it, not against it.
The ship groaned and swayed as the currents swelled around it, under Eira’s control.
“A bit more to starboard.”
Eira inhaled air and exhaled power. Stormfrost turned.
“Good,” Adela praised. Eira opened her eyes to see the pirate queen lowering her compass. “We’re back on track. Keep us there this time.”
Eira caught the compass when Adela tossed it to her as she stood. “I’ll do my best.”
“I don’t want your best. I want perfection.” The sentiment could be harsh, but it came off as an expectation. Adela truly believed Eira could continue managing the direction of the ship. Her friends ascended the stairs and the pirate queen’s focus shifted. “I appreciate your timeliness today.”
“I believe yesterday I was late because I was providing wind to the sails.” Cullen’s lordly audacity had empowered him to have no fear when it came to sharing his every thought and opinion with Adela. A trait Eira found herself admiring. For once, he wasn’t using his noble training like a shield to hide himself behind, but like a sword to be brandished.
“Ah yes, because I was entirely at the whims of the weather before you came along. However did I manage before Lord Cullen Drowel boarded my vessel and graced me with his powers?” Adela’s tone was drier than the Western Waste.
The muscles in Cullen’s jaw bulged slightly but he said nothing more.
Noelle sniggered.
“And what is so amusing?” Adela turned to her. “I don’t see you contributing much on the vessel.”
“Just wait until we get to these mines.” Noelle folded her arms. But there was no burst of flame. She’d already been scolded once for recklessly using fire on the boat. Even on a boat covered in ice, fire was still handled with extreme care.
“For your sake, hope you are more than talk when the time comes.” Adela tapped her cane. “Now, if we are quite finished, I have more important things to do than wait on you all and make small talk with those I couldn’t care less about.”
Adela constantly reminded them of such, but Eira had yet to see it. Because every day she would wake and join Adela on the topmost deck and
they would work together on Eira’s magic. By the time the sun was high, her friends would join her. They would spar until they were too exhausted to move, Adela usually overseeing them. Sometimes Crow. Occasionally others. Sometimes they did it alone, knowing without ever being told that if they neglected their training, they would certainly hear it from the Pirate Queen.
Dinner was in the galley, together with her friends. After, Eira would always return to Adela for another hour or two of magical work and experimentation.
“You seem different again.”
Eira was jolted back to the present at Olivin’s words. She hadn’t heard him approach, being too focused on maintaining her magic on the waters curling underneath the ship. The moment she turned her attention to him, her powers wavered. It was a subtle shift in the vessel, but a noticeable one
—at least to her, and to Adela, since the pirate queen’s gaze snapped her way. Only for a second. But long enough to assure Eira that Adela had felt it.
With a slow breath, Eira shifted her magic and the ocean moved in tandem. The vessel leveled out again. It was as though, in the back of her mind, she was carrying the ship within her own hand. Like a muscle she could never quite relax, but could forget how tense it was.
“Different again?” Eira repeated. He’d said that almost every time their paths had crossed over the past four days. “Goodness, I should watch out, or you might not recognize me by the time we make it to Carsovia.”
“I’ve begun to think that’s your intention.” He shifted, hands in his pockets. They’d been given some additional clothing from the crew’s communal pile. Olivin wore loose-fitting trousers that pulled in tightly around his ankles and tucked into his boots. His shirt was more of a vest, loose. Freer than she’d ever seen him during the competition.
“Perhaps, but I could say the same for you.” Eira tugged lightly on the hem of his sleeve by his shoulder. “You’re looking less like a lord of Meru and a lot more like a pirate by the day.”
“Would you believe me if I said this is closer to how I would dress when I wasn’t at state events?”
“Not in the slightest.”
He chuckled. “Well, it’s true. I might be a lord by title, but remember my family was on the cusp of disgraced. After the circumstances
surrounding my parents’ deaths, the assets were seized by the crown.”
“I had no idea,” Eira whispered. Her attention went to Yonlin, and then to Cullen. Their conversations during the tournament returned to her. Things are not that simple, Eira, Cullen had said. When she’d looked to him to make his own choice and stand up for himself, he had looked back to her in confusion. She’d had no idea, really, of the stakes that surrounded his family. If the truth of what he’d done in the East ever came out…would his family lose everything the crown had given them? It seemed too cruel for the Emperor and Empress Solaris…but Vi had shown Eira that appearances could be deceiving. Perhaps more was at stake for him and his family than just appearances. “What happened to you and Yonlin when it all was taken?”
“Lumeria is—was,” he corrected with the slightest wince, “a fair ruler. She wasn’t cruel enough to put two young men on the streets. But we were effectively under house arrest in a place of her choosing. We were supported by the crown, but nothing was ours, for a time.” He sighed softly, shoulders sinking slightly. Eira wondered if they sagged from the relief of hardships long passed, or from the weight they still carried. “Once her knights had proof that we weren’t involved with what happened at the Archives, they reinstated my title and some of our family’s assets. But the damage was done to our reputation. The lands our family had owned had to be sold off as the coffers had mysteriously dried up. Our home was in ruins. There was nothing to go back to.”
“How did you prove you weren’t involved?” Eira didn’t want to linger on damaged reputations or lost fortune.
“We didn’t. Deneya did.”
“And that was how you learned about the Court of Shadows,” Eira realized.
“If they could get enough information on the Pillars to clear Yonlin’s and my name, then I knew it was my best chance to find my sister. Deneya had been the one appointed to oversee our care while we were wards of the crown; I’d already known her.” His tone turned harsh whenever he mentioned his sister. Eira wondered if he realized that he, instinctively, looked back toward Meru.
Was there anyone in the Court of Shadows that had been there purely for the sake of helping Meru? A true patriot? Surely someone, but it seemed as though everyone Eira knew had been there for their own gain as much as
anyone else’s. She’d gone to hunt down Ferro. Olivin was there to find his sister. Ducot went on Adela’s behalf, and after Ulvarth.
They were all hunting down someone. Even now.
“What do you think will happen to the Court of Shadows?” she asked softly.
“It’ll persist. I hope. Because they’re going to be our best chance of getting a foothold in Risen. Or, at least facts about what happened and not propaganda. I wouldn’t be surprised if Ulvarth has already seated himself on Lumeria’s throne.”
The thought churned Eira’s stomach. She could only imagine how it made Olivin feel. “Do you really think we’ll make it back to Risen, to Lumeria’s castle?”
“No point in returning if we can’t. We must to take Ulvarth down and actually make a world that will be safe for those we love.” His tone was raw, determined. “But we’ll tackle problems one at a time. Carsovia and these mines first, to get our ship. Maybe we can also solve the mystery of who was supplying the Pillars flash beads. Cutting off their source will severely hamper them.”
“Not a bad idea.” Eira was surprised it hadn’t crossed her mind yet. Ulvarth had already used the flash beads to his advantage and if he still had access to them, he no doubt would again. Especially now that his own powers were gone. Unless, he’d found a way to restore them…
“You two,” Adela interrupted abruptly, startling Eira from her thoughts. “Would you care to join the rest of us in today’s drills?”
“Of course.” Olivin led the charge over. Eira nodded as well.
Adela murmured under her breath as she walked by, “If the ship veers off course once, I will have to reconsider you and your friend’s lives.”
“Understood.” It was so common for Adela to threaten everyone that it hardly bothered her anymore.
 |
“We’re going to trade places tonight,” Adela announced the moment Eira walked into her cabin, alone.
“How do you mean?” Eira crossed to her usual chair at the pirate queen’s bedside. Crow no doubt had questions when she’d first begun
putting it out. But Adela’s handmaiden was discreet and had never said a word of it to Eira or anyone else. Which had led Eira to be equally tight- lipped about what went on during her evenings with the pirate queen. Moreover, she didn’t want to give her friends false hope that her long-shot plans might work. Not until she’d made more progress on them.
“I would like to try opening your channel, instead of you opening mine.”
Her nerves were ablaze at the thought and Eira pushed ice under her skin, forcing herself to remain calm. She’d already lost her channel once; putting it at risk again—for any reason—had her instantly uneasy. But Adela was a far more skilled Waterrunner than she was, even now after all their work together.
“To do this, I will first give you control of the Stormfrost so that I can focus more on you.”
“Excuse me?” Eira blinked. The sensation of vulnerability was instantly replaced with responsibility.
“As I pull back my ice, you will replace it—until the entire ship is covered as it is now. We will start from the hull. If, when, your magic wavers, I will open your channel. But under no circumstances are you to stop. I will not have my ship exposed.”
Eira supposed she should be grateful Adela had given her any indication of her plans. But the mere thought of what Adela was asking had Eira’s throat tightening enough that she had to swallow to remind herself she could breathe, much less speak. “I understand.”
Adela was full of continued surprises. With a terse sigh and small roll of her eyes, she leaned forward. Eira nearly jumped out of her skin when Adela rested her hand of ice on top of Eira’s. The touch was gentle. Reassuring. In that frosty hand, she saw her Uncle Grahm’s reassuring grip. She felt his cool hand on her forehead when she was a child, sweltering with a fever her magic couldn’t abate.
It felt…like family. Like home. Even though Adela had sworn up and down that she wasn’t Eira’s mother—and Eira believed her—that made her contact no less comforting.
“Eira, listen to me, because I will only exhaust my breath on it once.” Ah, the Adela she knew was still there. Sharp and pointed as ever. “You can do this. I am asking nothing of you that you’re not already capable of.”
“You think so?” Eira asked softly. She half expected Adela to scold her for her hesitation and doubt. Or rescind the vote of confidence.
“Your mind limits you before your magic does. Stop being afraid of your power just because some narrow-minded, weak fool somewhere in your history was intimidated and told you to hold back.” Adela’s fingers closed tightly around Eira’s palm, as though she were trying to brand the words into Eira and make them undeniable.
It worked.
How many times had she refrained because someone had told her no? In the dim lantern light of Adela’s cabin, Eira was transported back to another low-lit moment, before the tournament began. Before she was even on Meru.
Her Aunt Gwen had said something similar, back then. She had been the one to encourage Eira. To tell her yes when her brother and uncles were telling her no. And Eira had listened. She’d dared to take that chance. But… “What happens if—when—I stop holding back and people get hurt?”
The fear that had haunted her for what felt like her whole life returned. “Every time I’ve taken a chance on my magic, someone else paid the consequences.” First was Marcus, and her family. Then the Court of Shadows. Had she also somehow doomed Lumeria and the royals for goading on Ulvarth? Eira looked to Adela for answers she knew the pirate queen couldn’t have, but hoped she would anyway.
“You make friends with your failures. Continuing to push them away and fear them will only turn them into bigger beasts than what they already are.” Adela leveled her gaze with Eira’s. “Do not let your responsibilities overwhelm you. Let them focus you and move forward.”
Eira gave a small nod. Then a stronger one. “I understand.” “Understanding and internalizing are two different things. Work on the
latter.” Adela leaned away and withdrew her hand. “For now, we will practice, together.”
Eira nodded and allowed her gaze to go soft, blurring slightly. Her face was relaxed, as emotionless as she had seen Adela’s countless times. Possessing deep focus without betraying such was certainly a learned technique. To be relaxed when every emotion, every strand of control was wound up tightly within.
Connecting with the magic around her was easier and easier every time. Eira could feel where her friends still sat around the dinner table. The few
crew that milled about on the deck. The majority that slept in the crew’s quarters belowdecks.
Above, beneath, around it all was Adela’s power. When Eira had first stepped onto the Stormfrost it was an overwhelming amount of magic. But now she had grown accustomed to it—had begun to untangle it enough that she could feel the difference in Adela’s strong currents and determine what of her power went to sustaining ice not just on the ship, but in distant corners of the world. The pirate queen’s powers rippled across the seas, using the salt water as a conduit to reach lands far beyond Eira’s realm of comprehension. Though, there had been nights as she’d lain in her hammock that Eira had tried to follow those unseen currents with her mind’s eye. To travel the world on the back of Adela’s magic.
For now, however, she kept her focus restricted to the Stormfrost alone and felt the first moment Adela’s powers began to unravel. It was an invisible handoff. The second Adela’s powers left, Eira replaced them with her own. The ship thawed and froze again with a crackle that Eira wondered if anyone but them would notice. She tried to make the transition as seamless as possible, considering it a victory if there wasn’t any disruption in the vessel.
Around halfway up, her magic wavered slightly. Eira took a slow breath, steadying the currents within her. She reclaimed her focus and continued.
Within what felt only like a few minutes—though she couldn’t be certain it was such a slight amount of time—the Stormfrost was in her magical grasp from the lowest ridge of the hull to the tip of the tallest mast. There was an almost audible pop in Eira’s mind as her power snapped into place, wholly replacing Adela’s. It was an immense drain on her strength, but admittedly easier to maintain once the entirety of the vessel was in her hold.
“How does it feel?” Adela asked.
“Not as bad—” As if to spite her, the moment she went to speak, her magic wavered from lack of focus. Cracking and creaking could be heard throughout the vessel as the frost fractured.
“Keep it together.”
Eira wondered how much of the ship was actually being held together by the frost. Now that her magic was on it, she could feel the scars of old
wounds along its body—never fully patched, but rather mended by ice and long-ago rush jobs.
“Good,” Adela murmured. “Now to make it a bit easier on you.”
A chill like the first kiss of fallen snow landing on her cheeks after a long fall settled on Eira. The ship was in her grasp, and she was in Adela’s. Eira shifted, bracing herself.
Adela wouldn’t take her magic from her now. Though perhaps everything had been a ploy. Perhaps Adela had wanted Eira to regain her power only so she could help Adela learn what she wanted and then take it from her again.
“Your body grows hot. You fear me, still.” Whether that pleased or frustrated Adela was impossible to tell.
Eira met her eyes. “I think I would be a fool not to.”
“You are right in that.” Adela leaned forward and reached out her hand. But, this time, rather than going for Eira’s hands, she grabbed her chin. Inspecting her. “Do you think you could withstand an assault from me?”
“I will crush this ship if you try.” Eira’s voice was as low and dangerous as Adela’s.
“The right answer.” She smirked slightly. “Do not fear anyone, least of all yourself.” Eira nodded, Adela’s hand still holding her chin. “Now, let us see what the true depths of your power really are…”
An invisible, icy hand felt like it reached down her throat to grab her heart. Her chest seized. Eira inhaled sharply but kept her focus on the ship at all costs.
Adela broke her own rules, brow furrowing with focus. Eira remained poised and still. She still couldn’t tell how much of this was a test, and how much was genuine experimentation on Adela’s part. But she continued to give the pirate queen the benefit of the doubt and was rewarded for it as a wave of new power surged through her.
“That’s it,” Eira encouraged on instinct.
Adela’s smirk grew, self-satisfaction abounding. “Keep steady, now.”
There was another surge and then a sudden drop in her power. “Adela—”
“I said keep steady,” Adela snapped.
Eira continued keeping her focus with all her might, furrowing her brow as well. The pirate queen had a hold on her magic, but it was a clumsy hand, still. No wonder Eira had managed to close her own channel with
Ulvarth’s when she had fought him, if this was how much finesse she had lacked.
Without warning, an invisible blow to her chest knocked the wind from her. Eira sagged, as if she’d been physically struck. She gasped, magic snapping and crackling around her. Frost fell from the ceiling like ominous confetti.
Adela staggered as well, blinking, as if whatever had struck Eira hit her, too. But there was no time to check on her. The ship hissed and popped. Frost dissipating. Eira thrust up both her hands, trying to regain control as the Stormfrost lurched.
They were under attack.
