Eira didn’t have time to process the full implications of her discovery. She had to escape, get back to her friends, tell them what happened, and then they all had to figure out a way to thwart what the Pillars
were doing. Under no circumstances was she about to let the Pillars take these back to Ulvarth. But rather than attempting to dispose of the flash beads here and now, she started with the escaping part.
She had other ideas for how to make the Pillars pay and Eira was ready to play the long game.
Sinking back into the water, Eira didn’t swim back through the cavern so much as rode on a current of her own making through. Cullen was just at the opposite end of the cave as she shot past. Hooking his arm, she pulled him up to the surface with her. The water swelled around them, taking them all the way back up the hill where their friends were waiting, thankfully already dressed.
Cullen landed more clumsily than she did, sputtering a bit. He no doubt inhaled some water with the surprise of her grabbing him. But he seemed to compose himself quickly.
“Could you always do that?” Noelle blurted. Even though her brows were high with surprise, her mouth had curled into a prideful grin.
“No, Adela taught me. But that’s not what’s important. There are Pillars.
Here.” It felt like Eira spoke a dozen words a second as her mind raced. “What? Pillars?” Olivin was on his feet. “Are you all right?”
“Are you some kind of Pillar magnet?” Ducot asked incredulously.
“Sometimes I think I am. Sometimes I wish I wasn’t. But this time I’m glad I have this streak of bad luck. I’m fine, but they won’t be, soon.” Eira was frantically pulling back on her clothes, tugging them into place. Luckily her friends picked up on the urgency without needing to be explicitly told. “They’re getting a shipment of flash beads. There were six bags—no, seven.”
“From who?” Ducot asked.
“I don’t know who the person was, but they were definitely from Carsovia—the Pillars are getting flash beads on the order of the empress herself.”
That stilled them all with shock. But only for a second.
“What are we going to do about it?” Olivin asked, a knowing gleam to his eyes. He could see her mind working.
“We can’t let them get that much firepower to Meru,” Eira said with nod to what they were all thinking. “Our options, so far as I can tell, are to try and stop them here and now. Or, we go back to the Stormfrost.”
“Still amazed you didn’t just stab them on sight,” Noelle muttered.
“I certainly thought about it. And in thinking, I came up with a better idea to make them pay—but I wanted to solicit all of your insight. I’m not the woman who acts first and thinks later anymore.” Eira grinned at her friend, too aware of her past faults to be offended.
“So you keep saying. Yet, every time I have proof, I’m astounded.” Noelle’s expression became serious once more. “But I think we should just get the bastards. Blow them up with their flash beads they find so precious.”
Olivin hummed.
“You’re not convinced?”
“Kill the men, and we stop this shipment. Sink the ship, and we probably slow a lot more shipments down the line, especially given the state we left the Ofok port in. This might be one of the Pillars last ships out, at least on this side of the continent. And bringing another around Meru will take some time. I say go for the ship.” He put his hands in his pockets with a slight shrug. “But I’ll do whatever you want to do.”
“Cullen, Ducot?” Eira asked each of them.
“I’m following you,” Cullen said without hesitation.
“I’m following her.” Ducot tilted his head in Noelle’s direction. “And she seems to be following you. But we’re wasting time with this caucus.”
“I know.” Eira turned to Olivin. “You and I are of the same mind on this one. Cullen and Noelle—you two go over the ridge there and see where they’re taking the flash beads. The rest of us will go and get the Stormfrost and come around this side of the island. When we’re in sight, signal us, Noelle.”
“What in ‘I’m following her’ made you want to split us up?” Ducot folded his arms. “I’m just going to slow you both down running back to the city, anyway.”
“Then go with them, too.” Eira nodded at Ducot. “You and Noelle can stop the people on the shore. Cullen, I need you to slow the ship itself if they try to get away.”
“Understood.” For once, there was no hesitation. No sideways looks in Olivin’s direction. It prompted Eira to reach out and squeeze his hand.
“Good luck, you three,” she said warmly.
“Move quickly,” Cullen urged her and Olivin as they started down the path.
There weren’t any words exchanged between her and Olivin. Their breathing was too labored from the aggressive pace they set back to town. The underbrush of the jungle attacked them anytime they veered a little too far off the beaten path.
“We’re not going to make it back fast enough like this,” Olivin panted. He was right. They were moving too slowly for her liking. Especially after the time they’d spent delegating. Eira didn’t mind consulting her friends… but there was something to be said for rushing in when it came to matters where speed was an element.
Eira searched for ideas. Something to make them move faster. Had it been wrong to have Cullen stay? He could’ve put the wind under his heels and she could’ve held the ship back with currents.
But Eira suspected Adela wouldn’t move the Stormfrost for Olivin, Cullen, Noelle, or even Ducot. This was a favor she had to call in herself.
They blazed a trail through the town, pushing through to get to the docks. Of course, both of the Stormfrost’s rowboats were out in the sea, coming and going.
Eira turned, extending her hand to Olivin. “Are you ready?”
“For your marvelous madness? Always.” His fingers closed around hers.
She couldn’t stop a laugh from escaping as she sprinted toward the edge of the docks and jumped, Olivin at her side. The water rose to meet them, pushing aside tied boats and causing buoys to clank and thud together. Power surged through her. The currents swelled. Tiny geysers pressed under the balls of her and Olivin’s feet.
Eira ran, leaping from one wave to the next. Olivin kept her pace, every stride in tandem with hers—identical, so she could predict the movements. He charged forward as fearlessly as she did. Trusting her magic to be there supporting him. Eira glanced over at him.
His expression was one of pure wonder, accented by a wide smile. “How are you doing this?”
“Magic, my dear.”
They raced on water swells all the way to the deck of the Stormfrost. She could feel the impact on her magic. But it hadn’t exhausted her in the way it might once have. By now, Eira was so accustomed to pushing her magic to the limits, and then some, that this was nothing.
“And to what do we owe the pleasure of that display?” Adela said dryly, a little curt.
“Bold to seem put off by dramatics when you’re a woman who sails around in a ship of ice and mist,” Eira retorted.
Adela’s eyes widened slightly. Crow, at her side, looked positively mortified by Eira’s tone. Eira forced herself to grin through her nerves. She was on the high of power, the edge of worry with the Pillars, and the remaining restlessness that Cullen had worked into her with his tongue and fingers but never finished.
Fortunately, and by some miracle, Eira was on good enough terms that Adela chuckled.
She allowed herself a sigh of relief before blurting, “The Pillars are here. They’re around the other side of the island getting a shipment of flash beads from Carsovia. They’re going to take it back to Meru and I want to use the Stormfrost to sink their ship to really cripple the Pillars’ influence.”
Adela folded her hands on top of her cane and leaned back slightly, staring down at Eira.
“It’s all true,” Eira insisted to her frigid gaze. “Very well then.”
Crow balked. “Your Coldness?”
“The Stormfrost is yours for now, Eira. Enjoy your piracy.” Adela started back for her cabin. Eira was too stunned to move for a moment. So she was still standing there when the pirate queen paused and looked over her shoulder. “But, remember, you are at the helm of Adela Lagmir’s flagship. So if you’re going to do this, do it right—completely annihilate them.”
“Yes, Your Iciness,” Eira murmured.
Crow looked between Adela and Eira several times. But Eira continued to focus on Adela’s cabin, even after the door closed. The pirate crossed over to her, stepping in her line of sight.
“Your orders?” Crow’s dark eyes met hers. “Pardon?” Eira blinked back to reality.
“Don’t we have a ship to sink? Your orders?” Crow’s words took on an expectant tone.
Eira had a hundred thoughts all at once. How often did Adela just give over control of the Stormfrost? Would her crew even listen to Eira? Dozens of questions that might never be answered.
So there was no point in worrying about them.
“Tell the crew to raise anchor. Double time. Sails ready. I want every Waterrunner and Windwalker—or equivalent—getting wind and momentum behind the ship,” Eira ordered.
Crow bustled off, barking orders on her behalf. Eira took a deep breath and walked up to the wheel on the quarterdeck. She ran her hands over its frosty surface, palmed the knobs that extended out from it. Olivin was still at her side.
“Olivin, help get the ship going,” Eira commanded. “As soon as the anchor’s up I want you to push the water.” Her magic was already beginning to turn the vessel around the anchor point as the crew was getting the ship ready to sail.
Adela’s pirates were well trained. They knew their roles. Didn’t ask questions. Didn’t even blink when it was Eira at the helm so long as it was a result of Adela’s orders. And if Crow was falling into line, that seemed to be all they needed to know.
“Ahead!” Eira shouted as the anchor clanked with a dull thud at the top of its hoist.
The ship lurched forward, aided with the push of a monumental force of magic. A tall ship like the Stormfrost couldn’t launch into motion. But the
quick turn to sea was yet another testament to the sheer power Adela had at her disposal in the hands of her crew.
Eira guided them around the side of the island, by rudder and by magic. On occasion, she closed her eyes, letting her power slip over the sides of the ship and sink into the ocean below, looking for sandbanks and hidden rocks that might spell disaster.
As they rounded an outcropping, another, smaller vessel came into view. It was drifting just off the coast—no visible anchor—and a rowboat was being pulled up its side.
A tongue of fire shot into the air from the jungles on the nearby hilltop. A second tongue of flame crackled near the vessel, almost reaching it. But it was just out of Noelle’s range. Hopefully it wouldn’t be out of Cullen’s.
Found them.
“Ready cannons!” Eira shouted at the top of her lungs. “Starboard side!
Don’t ease on the wind and currents!”
The other ship wasn’t anchored and was already attempting a getaway. It was smaller and no doubt faster, and the wind was coming from behind, so not much magic would be needed. Men and women were scrambling on the distant deck like little ants.
They’d have one good shot at the other vessel. Adela wouldn’t allow her to give chase too far from Black Flag Bay, not with half her crew still on the isle, and Eira couldn’t blame her. This moment was all or nothing.
“Fire on my mark.”
“Fire on mark!” one of the pirates shouted down through a grate that went through to the gun deck. Eira could hear rattling and clanking from the depths of the ship. The cannons were being loaded with flash beads from Adela’s own stash.
Eira could still feel the singe on her midsection from the assault of the explosions on the side of the hull. The pain merged with the hate she already felt for the Pillars. Fueling a wicked streak that she had less and less of a reason to hide the longer she was with Adela. She would unleash horror on them worse than what they’d brought to the coliseum. She would raze their desecrated temples and liberate their cities.
And it started with this. Here and now.
Magic flashed off the other vessel. The volley Noelle had initiated was returned. More magic exploded, its source from the hilltop. The Pillars were distracted and it slowed their getaway. The Stormfrost came alongside.
Eira projected her cold, bitter command. “Fire.” “Fire!” the pirate shouted belowdecks.
She crossed to the railing on the starboard side, feeling the cannons as they rattled the Stormfrost. Magic exploded with a burst of color and noise. The flash beads were as beautiful as they were terrifying in their destructive power.
The other vessel was turned into sawdust. Decks ripped apart. People flew.
Eira raised her right fist, as if she were holding an invisible shield. A wall of water rose from the sea, absorbing the brunt of the blast as the flash beads in the Pillar’s vessel were ignited by the surge of magic. She gritted her teeth, sliding her feet apart. Bracing herself to hold the magic and the Stormfrost in place. But the vessel still tilted, wobbling to the side.
However, her barrier held, taking the brunt of the explosion and guarding against torn-apart pieces of the Pillars’ ship. Ocean water poured down around them like rain, turned up from the explosion. Eira held her stance until the last of the water stopped pelting the deck. She relaxed her grip, slowly allowing the water to return to the ocean to not rock the Stormfrost too much. There was nothing left of the other ship beyond debris floating among scraps.
Eira straightened, her magic and muscles relaxing. She turned down to the main deck. “Can any of you get over to the island?”
A pirate raised her hand.
“Exceptional. Go to our allies up on the ridge, and let them know that we will be waiting for them back off the main docks.”
“Understood.” The pirate spun the bracelets around her left wrist and jumped into the water. The waves swelled to meet her and carried her across to the distant shore. It was a rudimentary version of what Adela and now Eira could do.
“All right, well done, all. Let’s bring her back.”
The pirates mobilized the second Eira issued her command. The corners of her lips curled slightly. Eira crossed back to the helm and lightly ran her hands over the knobs, not that she needed the wheel to steer. Helming the Stormfrost was conducting a symphony of magic.
Olivin was at her side without her realizing it. Between the explosion and the commands, she’d lost track of where he’d been standing. She could smell the seawater on his skin as he placed his hand on her hip, sliding
close to her. It was a bold move, but Eira found she didn’t mind being bold. Not when she was at the helm of the Stormfrost. A pirate would take as many lovers as pleased her.
“How does it feel?” Olivin asked softly, directly into her ear. “Stepping into Adela’s shoes?”
Eira tilted her head slightly in his direction. Her temple brushed against his cheek, and her forehead. An almost wicked smile split her lips.
“Do you really want to know the answer to that?” “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t,” he murmured.
“Fine, the truth then. It feels…like I was born for this.”
