Page 4

Turning her back to the wealthy recruits on the bow, she studied the others who were her true peers.Their eyes darted nervously; hands gripped railing and rope alike as the ship pitched.She wasn’t the only one without sea legs.

"Steady there," she muttered to a nearby recruit who stumbled, his face green as the moss that clung to the docks.He nodded gratefully, gripping the rail tighter.

"Never been at sea before?"she asked, the words slicing through the din of orders and flapping sails.

“Can’t say I have,” he muttered faintly.

"Keep your eyes on the horizon," Thalia advised.Though she was equally unversed in seafaring, she’d heard this tip from her father years ago as the two of them had watched galleons roll into port."It's supposed to help."

"Supposed to," the recruit echoed skeptically, but he turned his gaze outward all the same.

Verdant Port began to disappear as the ship cut a swift path along the coastline.The jutting peninsula that sheltered the town’s harbor now obscured it from view, leaving only wild land to the ship’s starboard side and open ocean to port.A knot formed in Thalia’s stomach, twisting with every heave of the ship, as if her body mirrored the tumultuous churn of the sea.

Voices wafted towards her from clusters of recruits scattered across the deck.Their tones pitched with anxiety, words eddying around her.

"Isle Wardens don't give a damn about who's on board," one recruit muttered, his face gaunt, eyes shadowed with fear."They'll sink us for sport if they find us."

"Don’t say that; you’ll curse us," another chided, though his attempt at bravado did little to disguise the quiver in his voice.

Thalia had heard tales of Isle Wardens, the marauding clans of the archipelago who worshiped ancient gods of the tempest.According to the stories that passed through Verdant Port, the Wardens wielded storms as weapons, conjuring lightning with the flick of a wrist and calling forth winds strong enough to shatter ships.Thalia had never seen them for herself, but plenty of her older neighbors recalled times when Isle Wardens had been bold enough to attack the harbor directly.

"Seems a bit daft to fret over a Warden ambush, doesn't it?"A voice cut over the sound of the waves, higher and clearer than the other murmurs.The words were casual, almost flippant, as if discussing the weather rather than the potential for violent death at sea.

Thalia turned to the speaker, a girl standing with an ease that seemed out of place among the tense recruits.The stranger’s grin was as incongruous as her demeanor.She carried herself not with defiance, but with genuine apathy, as though the storm on the horizon didn’t concern her in the slightest.Her posture was relaxed, her wrists resting carelessly on the railing.

"Not worth fearing the Wardens when we’re more likely to meet our end at Frostforge,” the girl continued calmly.She plucked a shard of half-rotten wood from the railing beneath her arms, then tossed it into the waves below.Thalia edged closer to her, the knot of anxiety in her stomach loosening slightly as curiosity took its place.

"Perhaps," Thalia said."But it doesn't hurt to be prepared for all threats.Isle Wardens have been known to strike this coast."

The girl shrugged, her movements languid and unhurried."If you say so.I'm Luna Meadows, by the way."

"Thalia Greenspire."

"Greenspire, huh?Sounds important."Luna's dark eyes twinkled with mischief, though her attention flitted across the deck like a bird unsure where to alight.

"Hardly.If I were important, I wouldn’t be on this ship,” Thalia muttered."What about you?Why are you headed to Frostforge?"

"Bad luck,” she said cheerfully.

Thalia blinked, surprised.“What do you mean?”

“My father is on Verdant Port’s council.Or was, until recently.Unfortunately, the recruiters refused to take his bribe this year.”Luna shrugged, as though unconcerned by this injustice.“A shame.But then again, I get to take a trip to the Northern Reaches at no cost, so it isn’t all bad.”

Thalia found herself drawn to that odd serenity; it was as if Luna bore none of the invisible chains that weighed down most of the other recruits.While others wrestled with fear or anger over their fate, Luna seemed almost detached, as though the world could throw anything at her, and she would simply shrug it off.It was a strange kind of freedom, one Thalia couldn’t quite understand but envied.

The coastline hugged the horizon, a steadfast companion guiding them northward.The ship would stay close to the shore in order to avoid Ice Wardens; most of Verdant Port’s ships remained within sight of land, and those that didn’t risked disappearance.The town itself had disappeared into the marrow of the world, leaving behind nothing but the echo of farewell cries in Thalia's ears.She gripped the railing, wood rough beneath her palms, and steadied her breath against the swell of the waves beneath the hull and the unease in her chest.Around her, the sails billowed out like the wings of some great bird, casting shadows that flickered across the deck.

"Careful," Luna said, "you'll wear a groove into the wood if you hold on any tighter."

Thalia offered a wry smile, but didn’t relax her grip."I’ve never been at sea,” she confessed.“I’m not quite used to this.”

"Give it time."Luna leaned on the rail, surveying the sea."You'll find your sea legs sooner than you think."

"Or I’ll find myself overboard," Thalia quipped, though the jest did little to dispel the knot of apprehension in her stomach.

"Nonsense.The recruiters would never let you fall overboard.Just look at that woman – she’s like a hawk, waiting to swoop down and catch us if we so much as trip.”Luna jerked her head in the direction of the white-haired recruiter, chuckling lightly.“As if we’d be allowed to die before we reached Frostforge!”

Thalia stared at Luna, taken aback.She wished she could share that sort of buoyancy; despite their shared circumstances, it seemed that Luna was somehow free of the burden that weighed down Thalia’s shoulders.