Page 109 of Daughter of the Dark Sea

The lost girl.

Whispers weaved throughout the cave, echoing off the smoothed stone, and she flushed at the attention they attracted.

“Well,” Blake murmured, “let’s get a drink.”

“Best thing you’ve said all day.” Samuel stormed towards the bar.

“Put it on my tab,” Erick called, as Aryn, Blake—with Bree hot on his heels—and Ivar followed Samuel.

“I wouldn’t have done that,” Kora taunted. “He’ll drain your coffers dry.”

“They know me here,” Erick replied dryly.

She lifted a surprised brow. Such a small insight into his life, but she held the information close to her heart.How many times had he been to Ignitus Rocks?

“Let’s sit over there, we need to talk.” Erick motioned for Theron to follow. “Why don’t you join the others?” His pointed glance skewered her, and she froze mid-stride at the dismissal, feeling like a child being told she couldn’t join the adult’s conversation.

It wasn’t often when Erick the commodore ordered her around, and she’d learned the hard way to listen to him—even if it went against every instinct she had. Because he always had her best interests at the forefront of his mind.Or some nonsense like that.He took this parenting thing too seriously sometimes.

“Oh . . . of course.” She awkwardly stood for a moment as the two males slipped away, their voices hushed, their faces strained. Something wasn’t right, and by the gods she would find out. She turned to her crew at the bar.

Bree clasped a goblet of wine, her bright eyes fluttering at Blake, who smiled lightly as they conversed. Samuel had three steins of ale, chugging them down whilst Aryn shook his head, sipping his single stein. His fingers kept brushing his bowstring, his golden-flecked hazel eyes darting towards Ivar, who leaned with his back to the bar, arms crossed, his black eyes trained on Theron and Erick across the cave.

Kora placed a hand on her chest. They were all precious to her—except Ivar—and she hoped, sheprayedshe wouldn’t lose them—any of them, in the face of the oncoming war.

War.

She never thought she’d see the day she would be actively involved in awar. It changed everything. It made her dizzy. All her plans were foiled, there was no way she could slip off to Shannara now. No way she could prevent Blake from joining the army when they would need him most. At least she was out of the Skytors’ grasp.

He glanced up, his green eyes scanning the cave until he found her, and the tensity within him visibly relaxed as he waved her over to join them. With a stiff smile, she trudged over to Blake and Bree, the latter turning surly as Kora ordered a large stein of ale.

Kora leaned against the floating deck’s edge beside the sheer drop of the mountain below. She trained her gaze on the Citadel in the distance. Shining like a grand beacon against the black drop of the sky, the sea terrorised the jagged cliffs it sat upon.

Blake exhaled next to her as a crisp, cool breeze ruffled his raven hair.Gods,that level of handsomeness should be illegal. His entire body was tense and rigid, and when he looked at the Citadel, a glimmer of a green ember burned in his eyes, ringed by shadows.

Samuel and Aryn lounged inside the cave, the former nursing his many steins of ale, the latter constantly trying to stop him from invading the bar and bankrupting Erick. Theron, Ivar, and Erick had retired to an inn, ensuring they had rooms for the evening before they sailed to the Citadel tomorrow.

Several sailors had cornered Bree, asking her a multitude of questions about the noble houses, and the Citadel they were never allowed to visit. Only residents, or visitors with formal invitations were allowed in. Bree all-too-quickly welcomed the attention, and her musical laugh wafted on the gentle winds encasing them this high up. Her blue gaze repeatedly swivelled in their direction, her smile straining until her porcelain skin looked ready to crack.

Below the deck, Kora glimpsed her black-and-green crew, drinking and singing in various taverns. They deserved it—gods, theyalldeserved this one night off. She’d even partook in some dubious gambling with Samuel, granting some of the silvers he’d lost playing Cribbage weeks ago. It felt like a lifetime ago.

“Everything’s going to change,” she blurted out.

Blake startled and leaned forward, placing his arms on the wooden beams lining the deck. Only a strip of wood, carved to resemble the whirling pattern of clouds in the sky, prevented them from plummeting to their deaths.

“Hmm, agreed, myasterya.” He shuffled closer.

“Blake . . . I’m scared,” she whispered out loud. Admitting those words sent a palpable shiver through her. It was all too much, and it was all happening too fast.

His eyes softened, and he gently placed a hand on her shoulder. This time, she didn’t feel the warming blaze whenever their bodies connected. She could only feel the tensity of Blake, the stiff indifference, as if he were a stranger bumping into her.

“I promise you, I won’t leave your side. I’ll be there at the end.Wewill be there at the end—together.”

“Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

His gaze sharpened, his fingers tightening slightly, small enough that it’d be hard to notice. But Kora had memorised his touches and his caresses until they were imprinted in her mind.

“I . . .” he was at a loss for words.