Page 37 of Soulgazer

“Breakfast.” He nods to it, hands on his hips, a wicked gleam in his eye. “Some of the finest you’ll have, I’m afraid. We eat our best when we’ve been docked on land for a time, but the farther we get on the sea, the more shite the food. Shall I give you a tour of your meal, Princess?”

“No.” My nose wrinkles at the moniker as I study the clay pot of strawberries and the slab of nutty brown oat bread drizzled in honey, with a round of sausage just beside it. It’s the flower that captures most of my attention, though. A bright yellow marsh marigold, dropped in dead center so no one could miss it.

This tray is not a kindness. Or if it is, it doubles as a prop.

“How much does your crew know?” I glance up in time to see his brilliant smile falter.

He drops onto the bed before it can truly shrink. “They know where we’re headed. That you’ve some ability to guide us there, and that you and I are wed.” Faolan nudges the tray closer to me. “Eat.”

I pick a berry, the familiar sweetness turning tart on my tongue. “But they don’t know it’s only temporary.”

Faolan snorts. “You’re the one who set that particular trap, love. Everyone saw the magpie kiss the wolf that night, and you said it yourself that Dermot and Maccus needed to think you’d run awayon your own.” He studies me. “My crew is one of the best—loyal to the end—but I’ve never exactly been one to curb gossip. If I’m honest, I’ve even encouraged it, time to time, so it’s for the best they think this is real.”

I force a bite of the bread next. “And if we can’t convince them?”

“Oh,Ican convince them just fine. It’s you we have to worry about. D’you realize you hide nothing on that lovely face of yours?”

The bread hits the tray with a clatter. “I grew up in court. I know how to behave.”

“It’s not behaving yourself that’s the problem, Saoirse. You should be wild. Mad with love.” Faolan picks up the bread and offers it to my lips. I shove his hand away as he laughs. “Acting like the luckiest girl in the world, to have tamed the Wolf of the Wild at last!”

Impossibly, laughter lurches in my chest as well. I’m so unused to it, I press my hand there until the sensation eases, but still a smile tugs at my cheeks. “You’re…ridiculous.”

“Aye, from time to time. D’you mind?” Faolan drops the bread and eases back onto his elbow, head far too near my thigh for comfort. His hair is dampened at the ends, curling over his firm jaw and trailing down his throat. It becomes a touch harder to swallow.

“No. It’s just surprising.”

“Speaking of surprises.” Faolan slides a hand into his pocket, and I take another strawberry between my teeth. “Silver or gold?”

I frown at the sight of his fist. “What?”

Faolan nudges it against my knee, his smile somewhere between lazy and mischievous. “I’ve a piece of jewelry in my hand, and I want you to tell me what it is. Silver or gold?”

“You can’t be serious.”

“As the plague. Now, stop stalling and give it a go.”

I can only stare at his fingers and the pale line marking onewhere his wolf ring had been. The one currently nestled around my fourth finger. “Why?”

“We’ve got to start somewhere, coaxing the magic out. I figure this is as good a way as any.”

The night before seeps back, and any hint of a smile drains from my face. He’s not teasing this time. Faolan doesn’t know about the tattoo, or the magic beyond what I’ve told him, but clearly he thinks there’s a way to draw it out. That Imustdraw it out. And my freedom—my entire life—hinges on the ability to awaken it. Starting with a guess as to whether Faolan is holding a piece of silver or gold in his hand.

My voice catches when I speak. “Silver.”

His smile drops, lips contorting as he turns his fist over and reveals the gold earring in his palm. My chest sinks. “I’m sorr—”

“Oi, is everyone decent?”

It’s my only warning before the door flies open, and the tall, broad woman from the market steps in. Her hair is a vibrant shade of red in the morning sun, matched only by the spray of freckles across her nose and down her collarbone. When she smiles, the expression lights her whole face. “Well, isn’t this a lovely sight?”

I am on fire. The blankets are trapped below Faolan’s body, and I’m wearing nothing but his shirt. Words fold over themselves across my tongue as I tug the hem lower, only just now realizing Faolan’s lain beside me for several minutes, and I hadn’t even noticed.

A lie. I’d noticed.

I just hadn’t cared to do anything about it.

Faolan clears his throat and eases to the side enough for me to tug a blanket fully over my figure. “Nessa, your timing is impeccable as always.”