Page 54

How Fare the Winds

Corayne

The coast was only a night’s ride from the Heir’s encampment. The journey reminded Corayne of a royal procession, with lin-Lira and the Falcons riding in broader formation, allowing the Companions more room to move. Isadere and Sibrez rode with them, their own guardians tailing along, the flags of Ibal held high. The royal blue silks were dark beneath the night sky, but the dragons flashed in the moonlight, gold turned to silver.

Corayne kept her eyes on the horizon, squinting into the night, waiting for the first glimpse of sunrise—and the Long Sea.

Hour by hour, the world faded from inky black to shades of blue. A sapphire line gleamed in the distance, reflecting the moon. Corayne knew it was the coast, and the waters beyond. She sucked in a fortifying breath, the air tinged with the smell of saltwater. It hit her like a blow, and she thought of home. The Empress Coast, the docks in Lemarta, the Cor road along the cliffs, where thewaves kicked up sea spray every morning. The old white cottage on the cliffside had never seemed as far away as it did to her now.

By the time sunrise came, the sky streaking pink and gold, they were close enough to the water for Corayne to feel the cool breeze on her face. When the horses met the beach, the sand fine as powder beneath their hooves, Corayne nudged hers into the shallow, lapping waves. The others gathered behind her, out of the water.

Corayne dismounted with a splash and nearly wept. She wanted to go farther, until the waves were at her throat, the salt in her teeth. She wanted to feel the sting of the Long Sea, the smallest piece of home.Would it bring me there, if given the chance?she wondered, as the waters kissed her boots. But Corayne knew better. The current ahead of them did not flow the way she wished, just like the path she walked now. Neither would take her anywhere she wanted to go.

Isadere’s galley anchored offshore, a shadow against the sky. It looked nothing like theTempestborn, her mother’s ship, but if Corayne squinted, she could pretend.

There’s no time for this,she told herself, wiping away a single tear with the heel of her hand. Her cheeks flushed with embarrassment. It felt silly to cry over something so familiar as the waves.

Corayne looked back over the sand dunes glowing golden. From the beach they were beautiful, shimmering in the sunrise, almost inviting. Corayne knew better. The Great Sands were as good a defense as anything in the realm, protecting the kingdom of Ibal as the fleets and armies did. The desert was no small thingto cross, and she felt as if some marvelous, dangerous creature had allowed her to pass unscathed.

After a moment she dipped her head, acknowledging the long road behind them. The oasis, the Spindle closed, the soldiers dead, and their footsteps all the way back to Almasad.

Sorasa came up alongside her, leading her oil-black mare. She glanced between Corayne and the desert, her brow furrowed in confusion.

“How did you know to do that?” she said. It sounded like a demand.

Corayne mirrored the assassin, looking back to the landscape and then to her. “Do what?”

“Show gratitude to the Sands.” Sorasa gestured, bowing her head as Corayne had. “Did your mother teach you?”

Corayne shook her head, confused.

“My mother has never been this far into Ibal,” she said. Meliz an-Amarat was never out of sight of saltwater, if she could help it. And though Meliz’s father gave her some Ibalet heritage and her Ibalet name, she had never lived in this golden kingdom.

“It just felt right, I guess,” Corayne added, shrugging. “Good manners.”

“Well, it is,” Sorasa replied, her sharp manner softening a little. She offered her curling smirk, then faced the Great Sands, her body squared to the dunes. With her free hand on her chest, she bent forward, lowering her eyes in deference to the desert.

All along the beach, the Falcons, the Dragons, and the king’s children did the same. Isadere swept lowest of all, despite their royal birth.

“The King of Ibal only bows to the desert and the sea, the two things he can never command,” Sorasa offered, following Corayne’s line of sight. “It’s the same with Isadere.”

Andry bowed with the others, matching their customs as any polite, well-trained courtier would do. But the other Companions were not so observant. Sigil and Charlie were eager to be gone, putting their backs to the dunes and never looking back. Valtik was too busy combing the edge of the waves, looking for seashells and fish bones, to honor anything beyond her own two feet. And Dom simply glowered in his usual way, staring out to sea. The northern continent was too far, even for Elder eyes.

He watched the galley and Corayne followed his gaze.

She splashed out of the shallows, falling in at his side.

“It’s a good ship,” she muttered, assessing the hull and sails. Both were immaculate, fitting of royalty. The galley wasn’t as large as theTempestborn, but looked just as swift, built for speed. Where theTempestbornwas meant to eat ships, Isadere’s galley was meant to outrun them.

Corayne glanced around at her Companions. They formed a circle, their faces turned to her. Their attention still felt strange, unwarranted.

She eyed the galley again, if only to put their focus somewhere else. “She’ll make good time across the Long Sea.”

“I’m surprised you didn’t send us back to Adira,” Andry said, a playful grin rising to his lips.

Corayne matched his smile. The criminal outpost was a haven in her memory, their last bit of quiet before recruiting Sigil and crossing the Long Sea.

“Don’t tempt me.”