Page 13 of Broken Hearted (Cursed Fae #3)

T he next morning, we were up bright and early and took a carriage to the wharf where Adrien’s ship was moored.

It was a short ride down the coast from the castle, but as soon as we arrived I could tell it was the true heart of Soleum. The wharf was teeming with life. Fae rushed back and forth as they shuttled supplies to outgoing ships and brought in crates of goods from ones recently returned. There was a bustling market set up along the docks in front of where the smaller boats were docked. The larger ships were anchored out in the harbor. The way that it was set up was that we had to walk through the market to get to the docks where the boats were tied up, but I didn’t mind. It was beautiful and lively. It reminded me of the market in Winter Court right before the solstice.

Adrien got out of the carriage in front of me and then held his hand out to help me down. Rather than releasing me when I reached the ground, he tucked my hand into the crook of his arm and led me toward the market. I told myself that it meant nothing, but couldn’t ignore the thrill that went through me.

When we reached the market stalls, merchants were selling everything from flowers to homemade cakes, to seafood fresh off the boats bobbing in the harbor. Sellers called out to us as we passed.

“Free samples. The best beignets in the Southern Kingdom.”

“Handmade silk. The finest in all of Ethereum!”

“Tinctures to cure any ailment!”

“Perfumes from the Southern Isles’ flowers!”

There were so many different items, I almost didn’t know where to look first. A few of the merchants called out to Adrien by name, offering him hellos and well wishes He smiled and waved back at them, but didn’t stop until a sailor jumped out in front of us.

The fae was a short man whose skin was overly tanned and leathery. He had pants on that were frayed at the ankles, and a faded striped shirt. He pulled off his hat and started twisting it in his hands. It was clear the fae was agitated about something. “Beggin’ yer pardon, m’lord,” he said, ducking his head. “But I need to be havin’ a word with ya.”

Adrien shifted slightly so that his body was protecting me. It was unnecessary. I was a powerful princess who could take care of herself, but the gesture was undeniably sweet.

“Can it wait?” Adrien asked. “We’re to set sail this morning.”

He shook his head. “I sorry to be interrupting ya, but this canna wait. It’s urgent.” The man’s gaze shifted to me and I felt Adrien stiffen. “Perhaps we should talk in private,” the tanned fae suggested.

Adrien glanced down at me with a frown, and then back up at the weathered sailor. With a resigned sigh, he nodded. “This will just take a moment,” he told me.

“It’s okay,” I said, not put off by the interruption because it meant I could look around the market.

“I’ll just be over there,” Adrien pointed to an area off to the side where he could speak with the sailor but still stay in view.

I nodded, and Adrien and the fae stepped out of the main thoroughfare. I couldn’t hear what the fae was saying anymore, but he was talking adamantly, waving his arms and making big gestures. Adrien’s face intensified, and I wondered what they were speaking of when I felt a light touch on my arm.

Glancing over, and then down, I saw there was a young fae standing beside me. She was probably no older than six or seven and was holding out a blue shawl. She had round cheeks and the cutest pair of pearlescent horns peeking out from her head of blonde corkscrew curls.

“This one matches your eyes, milady,” she said, and when she grinned up at me I could see a tiny pair of fangs. I didn’t know what type of unseelie she was, but she was adorable.

I crouched down to her level and inspected the shawl she was holding. It was a beautifully embroidered piece of light-blue silk. And she was right, the color did resemble my eyes.

“This is so pretty,” I said with a smile.

She pointed to the stall several feet behind her where there were a variety of different-colored fabrics on display, and then tugged my sleeve, trying to get me over there. I straightened with a chuckle and followed her over to where a woman a few years younger than my own mother stood behind a table covered in skirts, talking to another customer.

The little girl stayed by my side, showing me various embroidered clothes and fabrics. Even though she was young, she was a good sales-person. The quality of the work was exceptional, but my interest kept returning to the first shawl she’d brought to me.

“I think I’d like to get this,” I told her and asked the price.

It was fair and there was no way I was going to haggle with a child, so I dug into my coin purse only to realize I was out of money. Zane had given me a decent amount, but I’d spent most of it on the innkeeper and the fae who had put the rune on Adrien for me, and then left what I had remaining for whoever owned the cabin we’d broken into.

“I’m sorry,” I told her with a frown and the little girl’s face fell. “It’s beautiful, but I’m afraid I’m out of money.”

“Oh,” she said.

“There you are,” came a voice behind me and I twisted to watch Adrien join me.

His gaze dropped to the shawl in my hand. “It reminds me of your eyes,” he said, and a warm feeling bloomed in my chest.

“That’s what I said,” the little girl piped up and Adrien smiled back at her.

“Well, then she must have it,” Adrien reached into his own pocket for the coin.

I was about to stop him when the woman behind the table finally finished with her customer and turned to us. Her eyes grew large when she spotted Adrien. “My lord,” she said, dropping into a curtsey.

Adrien went to hand her the money for the shawl, but she tried to wave him off. “If you like it, it’s yours,” she said.

Adrien shook his head and then reached into his pocket and pulled out a few extra coins. “Nonsense,” he told her. “I can tell the superiority of the work. Whoever embroidered this is very talented.”

“My momma has the best needlework in all of Soleum,” the little girl said seriously.

The woman blushed, ducking her head to try to cover the coloring of her cheeks. “Thank you, my lord,” she said, finally accepting Adrien’s money.

Gently taking the fabric from my hands, he draped it over my shoulders. From behind me, Adrien leaned forward and spoke in my ear. “It can get chilly at night on the ship,” he said. His breath brushed against my neck as he spoke, sending delicious shivers to dance down my spine.

I smiled up at him. “Thank you for the gift,” I said.

His gaze locked with my own and then dipped to my mouth. Feeling suddenly dry, I swiped my tongue over my bottom lip to wet it, and Adrien’s teal eyes darkened. “Entirely my pleasure,” he said, his voice husky.

“Don’t you want a skirt to go with it?” the little girl said, breaking what felt like a spell that had come over me. An Adrien spell. One that needed no daily dosing of tea because it was naturally occurring.

Startled, I began to laugh as the woman scolded her daughter for pushing too hard for a sale, but Adrien wholeheartedly agreed with the little girl. Fifteen minutes later we walked away from the stall with a new skirt, dress, and another thicker shawl. Adrien insisted on buying it all for me and I wanted to protest, but I could also see how excited the woman and her daughter were to make the sales, so I kept my mouth shut. Between Adrien and Zane’s generosity I’d never have to shop for clothes again.

We walked through the rest of the market before I thought to ask Adrien about the sailor. As soon as I did, his lighthearted attitude changed.

“A pirate sighting,” he said, a sour note in his voice.

“Pirates?” I asked him.

He nodded as he led me over to where a small boat was tied to the side of the dock.

“Huge problem for me right now. They’ll take your cargo and your ship, and then leave you for dead.”

I cleared my throat, scanning the horizon for a pirate flag like in one of my novels. But of course, there was nothing there except the ships moored in the harbor.

He laughed. “They look like any old sailor, until you get close,” he warned.

Yikes. I swallowed hard. I double-and then triple-checked that I had the Shadow Heart in the satchel attached to my waist, as Adrien helped me into the dinghy that would take us to his larger ship.

After untying the boat from the dock, he pushed us off and then settled onto the bench seat to start rowing. Holding a hand up to my forehead to block the sunlight, I asked which ship we were going to. There were a few bobbing in the harbor in front of us. He paused rowing to point to the largest one, a three-masted ship with square sails. The hull was painted white and there was a carving of a female attached to the bow. As we neared, I read the name along the stern. Beatrice .

“She’s beautiful,” I told him.

“My pride and joy,” Adrien replied with a grin.

I fanned myself. I’d already taken off the shawl Adrien had wrapped around me and was grateful that one of Adrien’s maids had provided me with a linen shirt that was tight around my torso, but loose in the sleeves, with matching pants that were more breathable than what I’d worn up in the Western and Northern Kingdoms. The sun was relentless here, something I wasn’t used to.

“You must not get much warm weather in the Winter Court,” he said, noticing that I scowled at the giant orange ball in the sky. I’m not surprised that was obvious. My skin was so pale it was practically glowing.

“I do not. And I like it that way,” I told him.

He chuckled and kept rowing.

We reached the ship quickly after that and before I knew it, I was scaling a rope ladder and climbing over the railing. It was a flurry of activity up on the deck. Men rushing around, adjusting the sails, pulling ropes, moving around supplies. Honestly, I had no idea what they were doing, but it was obvious they were busy. So much so that hardly anyone took note of Adrien and me arriving.

I glanced over at Adrien next to me and he was beaming. He filled his lungs up with the briny sea air and then let it out slowly, closing his eyes as if he was savoring the moment. It would be clear to anyone with two eyes that Adrien loved being on this ship.

“Come on,” he said, looking down at me. “I’ll show you to your quarters for the duration of our trip.”

I nodded and followed him past some men who gave me polite smiles and nods, and then through a doorway that led below deck. The hallways in the ship were dim and narrow. We had to angle our bodies whenever someone passed so we could both fit.

Adrien led me to a surprisingly spacious cabin positioned at the back of the ship. There was a horizontal row of windows that afforded a beautiful view of the sea. There was also a desk bolted to the floor in front of the windows, and opposite the desk was a fairly large bed.

“This is the captain’s quarters,” Adrien said. “You can stay here.”

I turned to him with a furrowed brow. I hated that I was taking someone’s room. “Then where will the captain be staying?” I asked.

“I’ll be staying in one of the smaller cabins,” Adrien said with a grin.

“You’re the captain?” That probably shouldn’t have surprised me, but it did. I guess I just didn’t expect an Ethereum lord to also captain his own ship. I was impressed.

Adrien laughed lightly at the look on my face. “Yes. Beatrice is my baby. I wouldn’t trust anyone else to captain her.”

I started to argue about the rooming. I didn’t mind staying in one of the smaller cabins, but Adrien put a hand up. He wouldn’t hear of it.

“So who is Beatrice? An old lover?” I questioned, surprised by the note of jealousy in my voice.

Adrien grinned. “I did love her. More than I’ve ever loved anyone in my life,” he declared, and for some reason my heart squeezed painfully at that.

“She was my first dog. The most loyal and loving female I’d ever met,” he finished, and I burst into laughter.

Beatrice was a dog!

A knock sounded at the door and when Adrien said, “Enter,” an elderly fae hobbled into the room. He nodded kindly to me and then peered at Adrien.

“We’re prepared to set sail in the next half hour, Cap’n,” the fae said.

“Wonderful,” Adrien replied. “I’ll be up soon to take the helm.”

The man nodded his head and then left.

“You’re welcome to stay here, or come join the men on deck for the launch,” Adrien told me.

“I’m definitely going back up,” I said without even having to think about it. The room was nice, but I’d only ever been at sea one other time, so I wasn’t about to waste the opportunity to be on deck when we left the harbor.

Adrien gestured for me to go ahead of him and we left the captain’s quarters to head back up. Along the way, Adrien filled me in on some nautical terms and details about Beatrice specifically. Apparently the ship had six gunports on each side. It wasn’t the largest ship in Adrien’s fleet, but he said it was his favorite because she was both agile and fast.

Besides us, there were twenty-six crew members who were coming on the journey to the belly of the sea. The man who I’d met in the cabin a few minutes before was Brimsley, the chief officer and Adrien’s first mate. Adrien said Brimsley had been sailing for longer than he had been alive, and that the aged sailor had an uncanny ability to detect when a storm was brewing.

When we reached the main deck, Adrien led me over to the ship’s bow and told me it was the best place to be for the launch. With a grin, he left me there, striding across the vessel to the stern and up the short set of stairs to the quarterdeck, where the helm was. He nodded at one of his sailors who was manning the helm and then took over. I found myself smiling as I watched him shout orders to his crew. I’d never seen anyone so in their element.

Adrien’s gaze drifted back to me, and he caught me staring and winked. I quickly turned, fixing my gaze on the brilliant turquoise waters, telling myself my cheeks were heating because of the sun beating down on me.

When we finally launched, Adrien kept to a slow speed until we exited the harbor. Once we cleared it, he shouted commands to his crew and they unfurled more sails as the ship lurched forward, cutting through the waves easily.

As the briny air blew through my hair, throwing the long strands every which way, I was in awe. The waters near the Winter Court were choppy and filled with peril. I’d only ever been out on it once because they were so dangerous. Only skilled fishermen braved the Ice Sea. Large shards of ice could puncture your hull in a moment and you’d be lost to the frigid waters. Nothing in the Winter Court was kind to life, which was what made us so resilient. No one would ever traverse the Ice Sea for leisure, but I could easily imagine spending time out here in these waves for the sheer pleasure of it. It’s no wonder Adrien liked sailing so much.

I could have stayed on the bow all day, but around late afternoon I felt a presence and turned to see Adrien come up next to me.

“You’re enjoying yourself,” he said.

It wasn’t a question, but I nodded anyway, taking in a full lungful of air. “Being out here feels …” I didn’t know how exactly to put it into words.

“Like freedom,” Adrien said, finishing my sentence when I trailed off.

I smiled and nodded, then glanced over at Adrien to find him watching me instead of the sea. And I liked that. More than I probably should have, considering it was still my plan to leave Ethereum as soon as I could. Mate or not.

That thought sobered me, and the smile slipped from my face.

“So you have a good idea where the belly of the sea is?” I asked.

Adrien tilted his head as he considered me. He seemed to have picked up on my mood change but didn’t comment on it. He nodded and gestured toward the door that led below deck. “Let’s go to my quarters. Or rather, yours . I have maps there and I’ll show you where I think we should look first.”

“Sounds good,” I said without looking Adrien in the eye. He was right. It was time we got down to business.

Two hours later we had a plan. Adrien said that sailors reported not just strange compass activity, but also strange behavior in this southeast quadrant of the ocean. Sailors swore that at night they saw a bright blue glowing light coming from deep in the ocean in the center of this strange area. That’s how it got dubbed: the belly of the sea . Because the light seemed to be emanating from the bottomless belly of the ocean itself. But when sailors tried to swim down to see what the glowing light was, they disappeared. Forever.

“Great, so that’s confirmed. We are literally risking our lives for this,” I said.

He gave me a handsome, half-cocked grin. “We are.”

“And why does that make you smile?” I questioned.

He laughed. “What can I say? I like a little element of danger.”

I don’t know why I found that sexy, but it was.

Reaching out, I grasped his hand. “Seriously though, thank you. This will save so many people.” I thought of my sisters, my parents, our people, the Summer and Spring Court refugees. The fate of the entire world of Faerie was quite literally resting on this one mission.

He laid his hand over mine and bore into my gaze. “You saved me from being married to a witch for the rest of my life. There is nothing you could ask that I would deny.”

Kiss me , I thought wildly and then cleared my throat nervously, batting away the intrusive thought.

Giving him a small smile, I pulled my hand back. But I wasn’t able to separate my gaze from him quite so easily.

As I peered into his eyes, my mind started to whirl. Adrien was handsome, and sweet, and very capable at things like sailing. Would kissing him really be a bad thing? I couldn’t deny that I was curious to see if anything would happen. But there were some truths that perhaps I wasn’t ready to face yet.

We were locked in a stare and as I watched him, he licked his lips to wet them. Oh, stars, was he thinking the same thing? My stomach flipped over, and the urge to close the distance between us became almost unbearable.

Maybe I should just do it , I thought to myself. Just lean forward and kiss him .

Assuming he wanted to be kissed. But he was staring at my lips.

I held my breath in anticipation as I leaned forward, and then came a loud bang on the door, causing us both to jump.

“Chow time, Cap’n,” a sailor shouted, and I exhaled the breath I’d been holding.

Adrien looked annoyed at the interruption but nodded.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“Starved,” I confirmed.

After a surprisingly good meal of charred corn, honey biscuits, and fresh grilled fish with lemon, Adrien returned above deck and I remained in the captain’s quarters, feeling sleepy and sluggish even though it was still early evening. It had been a long few days and Adrien told me that if we sailed all night, we would reach the edge of the belly of the sea by morning.

I slipped into my nightdress that I’d packed and was asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillow.