“I think,” Riden finally says, “there is more here than either of us is willing to admit.”
“More of what?”
His frustration flares, as does the desire. Interesting how they’re tied together. But I can’t hold on to this anymore. Time to let the siren go again.
“What did you do?” he asks.
I quirk an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”
“You … you just changed. You looked off for a moment, but I thought I’d imagined it. Now you look yourself again.”
Nobody has ever been able to tell when I’m using my abilities before. Riden couldn’t have actually noticed the difference, could he?
“Well, Riden, if this conversation has been any indication, you are clearly not at your best. Perhaps you should get some rest.”
“Sleep is the last thing on my mind.”
I know that. I need to get him onto the bed. “You need to relax. Here. Come, sit.” I sit on the bed and pat a spot next to me.
He looks conflicted, pained. Maybe I shouldn’t have put the siren away so soon. But I will not be reduced to pulling her out again tonight. I’d have to be truly desperate indeed.
“Don’t worry. I’m not going to hurt you,” I say.
He scoffs. “As if you could.”
I point to his side, where I cut him when we were on the island.
“I allowed you to do that.”
“Right. Because you’re so bold and brave. Come, sit. Even conflicted pirates need a break.”
He finally yields. But he won’t look at me, and he’s ensuring there’s a good foot between us on the bed. Interesting, since I already know what he really wants. He must be trying to stay away from temptation. If so, he shouldn’t have relented the bed. That’s all the invitation I need.
“I imagine being the first mate is stressful for you,” I say.
“Why’s that?”
“Because you’re not the captain. I couldn’t stand being the first mate. I always have to have my way.”
He laughs.
“I like the freedom it gives me,” I continue. “You seem like you want more freedom.”
“Am I so easy to read?”
I didn’t have to use my powers to learn that. Riden is easier for me to read than others. “At times. There’s more going on in here than you say.” I tap my finger once to his head.
He finally turns toward me at the contact. “How do you know so much? How are you … you?”
“I am me because I choose to be me. I am what I want. Some people say you have to find yourself. Not I. I believe we create ourselves to be what we want. Any aspect of ourselves that we do not like can be altered if we make an effort.”
That might have been a bit much, but Riden eats it up. His eyes burn. They really are a beautiful brown.
I reach out and grasp his hand with mine.
“What are you doing?” he asks.
“Nothing. I wanted to touch you, so I did.”
“Simple as that?”
“Simple as that.”
“I want to kiss you again.”
“So then why don’t you?”
“Because I can’t help you. All I can do is take but give nothing in return.”
I’m struck speechless by his honesty. Maybe not the honesty, but the sincerity and selflessness in what he said. I’ve never heard a pirate say such a thing. It’s wrong. Uncomfortable. Almost makes me feel guilty for how I’m playing him.
Almost.
I slide closer to him, move my hand up to his face, and whisper, “But you are giving. You’re distracting me from the fate that awaits me. That’s more than I could have hoped for.”
I lean forward and press my lips to his. Rather than kiss me back, he puts his hand in my hair and says my name softly, with a touch of hopelessness.
I know he wants this; I just have to make him give in to it.
I lift up my legs and slide them over his lap, drawing him nearer to me at the same time.
Though I’d die of embarrassment if anyone on my crew knew I said this, I add, “Please, Riden. I want this. Don’t you want this?”
That does the trick. I finally feel movement under my own lips. It’s soft, unsure. Curious to be coming from Riden, who has always seemed so sure of himself. Perhaps he needs some more encouragement.
I trace his upper lip with the tip of my tongue.
The change is instant. Before I know it, he’s got his hand at the back of my head, the other on the side of my thigh. I move my lips down to his neck, teasing him in just the right places to get his heart pumping even faster.
But he’s done with letting me have all the fun. With a hand at my chin, he brings my lips back up to his. He takes control of the kiss, setting his own rhythm and pace. I let him, give him a sense of control. I have a feeling he’ll need it, if I’m to get him right where I want him.
Riden removes his coat. Obviously, things are getting warm for him in here.
Good, one less thing I’ll have to remove for myself.
For a moment, I allow myself to get caught up in the kiss. It’s all for a greater purpose, but I can’t deny how different it is to kiss Riden than it was to kiss Draxen. Draxen felt wrong. Draxen is a selfish lover. That much was obvious.
And Riden—
Riden is not.
Riden knows where to stroke my skin to make me feel more alive. He has me practically panting under the pressure of his lips. I gasp when his teeth nip at the skin above my throat.
Riden lowers me back onto the bed. I reach for the base of his shirt and pull it up. He helps me get it over his head before discarding it to the floor. But I take careful note of exactly where it lands. Hidden pockets can be sewn anywhere.
The plan was to give Riden a little of what he wanted. To make him less frustrated. So he’d want to sleep. I can see now how this might not have been the best plan. Maybe it wasn’t even a real plan, just my way of justifying kissing him again.
At least I’ll have fewer articles of clothing to remove once he’s out. Men are heavy.
But what am I to do about what’s happening now?
Riden fingers the string that laces the side of my corset. While he’s not undoing it, the action is driving me mad. Does he realize this? He can’t be doing it offhandedly. He’s far too devious for that.
My stomach burns with excitement. My mind battles against it.
Draxen’s knocked out. You don’t have much time.
But Riden’s hands are so soft and warm. I don’t want him to stop touching me.
You need to find the map now. Think of what Father’ll do to you if you fail.
But the thought of Riden’s lips makes me salivate. I could stay in his arms forever.
Alosa, have you forgotten your desire to become the queen of pirates? There’s an island filled with treasure out there. Get the map and everything will fall into place.
Right. Blast it.
This’ll be the most reckless thing I’ve done since coming to this ship. But I need to act before Draxen wakes and before I get lost in the moment.
There’s so very little left, but it’ll have to do.
I let out a song. One single note. It’s all I have.
But luckily for me, Riden is already so very much in tune with me. He topples over onto the bed. Out in an instant. There’s no way that’ll last long. There was hardly anything in it.
My breath is still traveling faster than the wind. That was very stupid. While I had enough song to put Riden to sleep, there was none left to make him forget. He’ll remember me singing to him.
But once I have the map, I can be off this ship, and it won’t matter. Father will take possession of the Night Farer and kill everyone on board. There will be no one left to tell.
A wooden plank creaks. My eyes dart toward the door, but I shake my head and quickly look away. The ship is old. Wood creaks.
Though I’m pressed for time, I have to take a few seconds to breathe. My heart pounds at an impossible pace
.
Eventually, I check his coat and shirt, running my fingers over the material several times. I can’t tell if I’m disappointed or not when I know for sure it’s not in either of them.
Because that leaves his boots, leggings.
And breeches.
It’s not like Riden wasn’t hoping he’d get these off anyway.
I hurry with the rest of it, but unlike with Draxen, I don’t take so many pains to avert my eyes. I’ve been stuck on this ship for quite a while. It’s the least I deserve.
The novelty wears off quickly once the unavoidable conclusion sinks in.
The map’s not here.
Wrong again.
Blast, where else could it be? I’ve checked just about everything. Draxen wouldn’t have hidden it somewhere on land. There’s too great a chance of losing it or forgetting where he’s placed it. No one makes a map to find a map.
I try to take deep breaths, but I have to turn away from Riden’s naked form in order to do that successfully.
Now then, Father can hardly fault me if the map simply isn’t here to begin with?
But I know better than that. He’ll blame whoever he can get his hands on. Which’ll be me, once I deliver him the news. Who knows what it’ll be this time. Locked in a cell for a month. Flogged daily in the strip. No meals for a week.
It’s not my fault. The map is nowhere on this ship.
Nowhere on this ship.
On it.
My mind turns and tosses. Yes, I’ve checked everywhere on the ship.
But what about on the outside of the ship?
Chapter 15
HOW MANY REALIZATIONS CAN a person have before one actually proves to be right?
I close my eyes as I try to remember what the Night Farer looks like from the outside.
Sixty feet long. Made with a combination of oak and cedar wood. Three sails. Rounded stern. But these are not what interest me.
The bowsprit extends twenty feet in front of the ship. Below it, carved out of the same mixture of wood, is the figure of a larger-than-life-sized woman. She’s beautiful, with long flowing hair and big glassy eyes—probably made from actual glass. But it’s the dress that leads me to believe that the girl is supposed to be a siren.
She’s wearing a long dress that’s made to look as though it’s rippling underwater. She appears weightless, too, by the way her legs are unattached to the boat, hanging above the water. She is connected only by her back.
I feel as though the entire future rests in my hands as I hurry from Riden’s room. I scurry about the ship, finding myself a long sturdy rope. Using a bowline knot, I attach it to the railing at the bow of the ship.
Effortlessly, I lower myself down and hang right in front of the siren’s large face. My wrists are mostly healed from hanging in front of the pirates for an entire day. They trouble me little now. Besides, I’m more concerned with finding this map and doing it quickly. A little pain now will be nothing compared to what could happen should I fail.
I move my hands over the wood that makes up her skin, looking for any hidden slots, trick buttons, or anything else that might be concealed in the wood. I feel an indent at the top of her hairline, but that turns out to be just a groove in the wood. But my heart raced at the possibility of it. Then it crashes as that proves to be useless as well.
Was Jeskor’s line careless? Did they lose their map over the centuries? Riden did say his father grew to be sloppy. Maybe he gambled the map away. That would make it nearly impossible to find.
I can hear light footsteps up on deck, but that is likely just the watch. I had to slip past them on my way down here.
How can all this have been for nothing? I’ve been kidnapped, questioned, tortured, and reduced to playing horribly demeaning roles to get what I want.
I’m so furious, the rope I cling to starts swaying. My body is tight, occasionally rocking as I lurch with frustration.
What was that?
I swear I caught a glint of something in her eye. Leaning forward, I cause the rope to swing again.
There it is again. Her left eye. It looks darker than the right from this angle.
I can feel my blood pounding under my skin. My heart beating in my head. I reach down to grab a lower end of the rope. I wrap it around my foot several times and then hold the end under my chin. I’ll need both hands for this.
My dagger is still in my boot. Riden has not once asked me for it. He must have forgotten about it.
I wedge the blade in between the glass and the wood and apply pressure at an angle. The glass pops off, and I barely catch it before it topples into the water.
From the back, I can clearly see that a piece of parchment has been encased within. How can it be anything else than what I seek?
“Finally,” I say breathlessly.
I cock my head sideways at the one-eyed siren. “Sorry about that. But I need to take this.”
The eye is about the size of a large apple, but I still manage to fit it into one of my pockets so I can climb the rope. I’m smiling as I haul myself over the edge and drop onto the deck.
But then I look up.
I’m not alone. Not even close.
It appears that the entire crew is on deck. That’ll be including a clothed Riden and Draxen.
Oh, stars.
“Well, look who it is,” Draxen drawls out. It’s hard to tell his mood. On the one hand, he looks pleased to have caught me. On the other, he is very unpleased to see me. I did, after all, leave him knocked unconscious and naked in his room. “Our little prisoner. Or would thief be a better term here?”
“Thief?” I say with a mixture of confusion and anger.
“Well, you’re either a thief or a whore, princess. Those are the only words that would explain the situation you left the two of us in.”
“I believe the only thing I’ve stolen from the likes of you is your dignity. Perhaps your reputation.”
Draxen lowers his eyelids. If I thought he hated me when I first came onto the ship, it’s nothing compared to what he thinks of me now. He takes a step forward.
“Turn out your pockets,” Riden says. I turn my attention over to him. He’s trying so very hard to keep a mask over his face. But something keeps peeking through. Disappointment? Anger? Maybe even a tinge of sadness?
Am I the reason for that?
Draxen draws his sword. “Turn out her pockets? Why don’t we have the princess take off her clothes so we can inspect her properly?”
A few men whistle. But I’m not worried. I’d jump overboard before I let that happen.
Riden tries to solve things on his own. “Hand it over, Alosa.”
“What am I handing over?”
“Oh, don’t be daft, lass. We know you’ve found the map.”
“I just managed to dig out a few holes near the bottom of the ship. I’ve a mind to set you all to sinking.”
Draxen tries to advance on me again, but Riden beats him to it.
He whispers, “I don’t know why I’m still trying to protect you. But know my brother is in a foul mood that even I might not be able to assuage. You must give it over now.”
“I don’t have—”
But he must see the bulge in my clothing. He reaches it before I’m able to stop him.
No, no, no.
Riden removes the eye from my pocket. He studies it carefully. I can see the precise moment when he’s convinced the map is inside. He nods in satisfaction and steps back, handing the glass to his brother.
The map is enough to calm Draxen down ever so slightly. “At last,” he says.
“Wait,” I say, realizing something given Draxen’s reaction. “You knew about the map. You just didn’t know where it was?”
“Hadn’t a clue,” he says cheerily, rubbing the details into my face. “We stole you away to get the drop on the pirate king in order to get our hands on his part of the map. You finding our own map for us turned out to be quite serendipitous.”
I stare back, open
mouthed. “But how did you know I was looking for it?”
“Riden started to suspect long ago. Did you really think you were being so careful? Your nightly raids of the ship. Your pathetic fake escapes. The fearless way you’ve carried on about the ship. Only a woman who wanted to be here wouldn’t show an ounce of fear in front of enemy pirates.”
That’s not true at all. They don’t know me or what I would or wouldn’t do in any given situation. But Draxen’s low regard of me is not what hurts the most.
It’s Riden selling me out.
I know he was playing a part. Pretending to be my protector at times. I know deep down this is always the role he was meant to perform. But it still hurts. Can I even call it a betrayal? How can I be betrayed by someone who was never on my side to begin with?
My mission was to procure the map without anyone noticing. Then I was supposed to lead the ship to the checkpoint.
I’ve utterly failed the first part, even if I’m on track with the second.
“Take her to my room, gents,” Draxen says. “It’s about time someone had some proper fun with her.”
I frown before realizing this works out well for me. Fighting off Draxen alone while the men calm down is much easier than trying to take them on all at once.
I’m hauled forward by three men. One at each arm and one at my legs. I make forced attempts at ripping free from their grasp. I don’t scream, though. A promise is a promise, and I told Draxen he would never hear me scream.
Riden’s there, too. Draxen gives the map back to him for safekeeping. He tucks the glass into his pocket. Then he’s helping the men escort me. I’ll bet he’s loving this. Giving his brother what he wants is Riden’s specialty. First the map and now me. Draxen is done pretending he’s holding me for a ransom. There’s no need to play nice now.
They throw me, very ungracefully and ungently, into the room. Riden stands by the door, apparently wanting a few moments alone with me before his brother arrives.
But I don’t want that.
“Get out,” I say. “You’ve done enough.”
His expression remains calm, focused. “Do you still have that knife in your boot?”
I exhale a laugh of incredulity. “Of course not.”
“Good. Keep it close. But please, only use it if you have to. He’s still my brother. Don’t kill him.”
Daughter of the Pirate King Page 15
