Page 14 of A Spell of Bones and Madness (Nostos #2)
Chapter Ten
Katrin
T he sting of salt pierced Katrin’s nose with every inhale of the chilled air around her.
Spray from the sea’s waves peppered her skin, crystalizing as it landed on her face and neck.
Glancing out at the isle that lay before her, the worn wood of the ship’s rail was a comfort under her calloused palms. She wasn’t home yet, but this place would get her one step closer to rescuing Ander from Alentus.
They needed allies, people they could trust, and besides Nexos, this was the closest isle that had that.
Katrin tugged her thick cloak tighter around her frame, grateful to have it as a shield against the harsher climate of Xanthia.
The isle was often battered by northern winds sweeping off the frost-peaked mountains of the continent Voreia.
Their autumn was much shorter than that of her homeland of Alentus or the seedy isle she travelled to months before Lesathos, appealing to those who preferred snowy evenings and long springs rather than the heat.
Puffs of her breath floated in the air before her, mirroring the smoke that rose from the merchant chimneys in the nearing port. Katrin would welcome the embrace of a crackling fire and a steaming pot of tea once they safely reached their destination.
It had been years since she had stepped foot in Xanthia, for fear it was too close to the Kingdom of Hespali on the northern continent, an ally to Nexos. An ally that was now hers as well, at least until they rescued Ander.
Leighton had received correspondence from his fellow soldiers at home in Skiatha, a troop had traveled by land to the port of Hespali, where they commissioned two ships to sail to Xanthia.
They hadn’t wanted King Edmund or King Athanas’s spies to catch wind they were nearby.
The advantage of surprise would be the only way they could rescue Ander.
Khalid was too smart to leave the castle unarmed and Edmund had proven to be more vicious than the Viper himself.
But Katrin was determined to have Ander back.
If only to stop the new nightmares that plagued her sleep.
So that she knew, without a doubt, he would not be hurt again. So that she knew he was alive.
Ander had saved her, time and time again.
Now it was her time to do the same. She would burn them all, set the courtyards ablaze, see her castle reduced to ash if it meant he was safe.
If it meant the kings were dead. To see those sea-swept eyes filled with such love and longing, to meet those lips even one more time.
Wars had been started for much less in ancient times. This was one she’d be happy to wage.
Light radiated from her palms, sparkling against the deep mahogany of the ship, searing its wood.
Home. She had to think of home—something Ander had taught her to dull the urges, calm her mind, control her power.
It was the very reason she was here—on yet another isle, another mission—why she sought to destroy the very place she grew up.
Home was no longer a place, no longer a castle set on receding cliffs.
No—home was Ander, their bond, the way his eyes flickered when he stared at her, the warmth of his arms wrapped tightly around her.
So she would let every trickle of her father’s darkness and fire consume her.
The power of night. Stars, flame, intoxicating burn for those who had wronged her and the ones she loved.
Katrin would revel in it. Drink it like the first sip of wine, drown in every drop.
Her enemies would pay with their lives, the only fitting punishment for the men who shattered every piece of her soul, taking all she held dear in this world.
A smile lit across her face, picturing King Edmund and King Athanas and, gods, even Kohl on their knees.
Begging for mercy they would never deserve.
Her body began to glow once more, and the smell of smoke filled the air. Katrin had no mercy left.
“You need to get out of your head,” a lilting voice came from behind her.
Chloe padded over to the rail where Katrin stood.
“I know I am, how you would say, direct at times, but he cares about you so I care about you. I saw Ander’s power almost devour him before he went after you five years ago.
He wouldn’t want the same thing to happen to you. ”
She had forgotten the story he told, of how he knew someone that had almost been destroyed by their own power. Had not placed that he was speaking about himself. “I have it under control. You should worry about your own.”
Chloe chuckled, lighthearted despite the firm words she spoke.
“Oh Katrin, my power is with the wolves alone—their unique abilities. And trust me when I say, no god has it under control. It is a fine line we all walk, a fine and deadly line.” She placed her hand on top of Katrin’s, squeezing lightly, combining the gentle gesture with a piercing gaze of those icy blue orbs.
“Don’t let them break you. Those that hurt us are never worth the pain they cause, by their hand, or our own. ”
Katrin’s gaze softened, breath flowing into her lungs like a new sense of life. “He once said something very similar to me—your brother. It seems you are as wise and eloquent with your words as he was—is.”
Chloe shook her head, knocking up half a grin. “No, Alexander just liked to steal my lines.”
Staring aimlessly back at the frozen shores, Katrin gripped the rail firmer.
Even under Chloe’s embrace, tears stung the rims of her eyes, but she would not let them out.
Not yet. There was too much hope left in the world.
Hope for the good she could bring, lives she could save.
Ander had called her that once—hope. A single tear escaped its hold and that was the last she would allow to leave.
Not until she saw him—alive or otherwise.
“Do you think he will hate me for this? For leaving him? For what they are doing to him down in those dungeons? If he’s even still in the dungeons…
” Katrin’s voice was low and could almost be lost in the wind if Chloe did not have her heightened sense of he aring.
She almost wished the young princess hadn’t heard.
It ate away at her—if he might not forgive her for abandoning him when he’d never abandoned her.
That he sacrificed his will, his family, his home to make sure she was safe and she—she only fled like a coward.
“Katrin?” Chloe’s brows knit together. Katrin snapped her attention back to the princess, out of the hazy gaze she had let drift out to sea.
“I know what I said earlier, but he would have hated himself if you had stayed. If you had lost your life trying to protect him. Ander might not have my mother’s genes, but he was born to protect.
God of Shield and Storm, it’s right there in his name.
Fiercely loyal to the ones he loves. Little but retribution for the ones who try to harm them. That includes you.”
“But is he not deserving of that same protection, that same undying loyalty?” Katrin asked, her voice cracking in the chilled air.
“He does not think so, but he is also a self-loathing fool. That is why you have me. If I waltz in and ruin his plans at being a martyr, he will only ruffle my hair and tell me I’m being a reckless child, but he loves me anyway. The perfect distraction.” Chloe bowed.
Everything about the princess reminded her of Ander.
Her kindness and clarity of the bigger picture.
How she looked past darkness in people and only saw them for the light they could bring to this world.
Admiration and a twinge of jealousy swirled in her gut.
But also regret. Regret that she had hated this family with such fury and malice without ever knowing them, letting the rumors and lies fed to her take hold, rather than making judgments herself.
Salty air swept up Katrin’s nose once more as she took a deep inhale, letting the cooling wind and kind words of Chloe calm her rage and need for revenge. She needed happy thoughts and a steady mind if she was to lead them into the storm they would encounter in Alentus.
“You know, I’ve been meaning to ask, which of your romance books onboard is your favorite?”
“ My romance books? Oh no, Katrin, those are all my brother’s.”
Katrin let out a laugh, a shoulder-shaking, heaving breath, undiluted chuckle. Not Thalia’s. Not Chloe’s. Ander’s. She should have known.
The markets of Xanthia were less putrid than those of Lesathos.
Warm, raging fires and crisp autumn air hung in the breeze rather than the smell of rotten fish and burnt cloth as The Nostos docked at port.
Even with the missive Leighton had received, it was still risky to be arriving at the smaller isle.
Spies were everywhere, especially this close to the northern continent, Voreia.
Both King Edmund and King Athanas no doubt had their oily men patrolling the streets, searching for their missing queen.
Or maybe, Katrin wondered, this had been their plan all along.
Not to kill her—but rather run her from her home, take root in the leading isle in the Mykandrian Sea.
Use its turned forces to attack Nexos or some other kingdom.
Still, the crew would need to be safe, especially Katrin since her likeness was known.
The crew of The Nostos had a reputation, but not many knew their faces, only the stories of their adventures and fear of the port they hailed from.
And Chloe—well the princess had never left the shores of Nexos.
If she had, the distinctive multi-hue of her hair and lupine features would no doubt be spotted and flagged at least as a curious individual to watch.