Page 26 of Daughter of the Dark Sea

Together they walked arm in arm, down the lush hill from the mid-district manors and towards the edge of the port town, with Bree’s guards silently in tow. Beams of sunlight glinted off the glittering turquoise ocean sprawling behind the town, and Kora drank the sight in, ambling along.

Wood and stone buildings painted varying shades of green, blue, purple, and red breathed vibrancy into the town. To their right, the pale stone of the towering fortress reflected the light of the sun before greeting sloping hills leading to the lower district on their left.

A tall thick wall of stone separated the paths to the districts and fortress from the port town—a third line of defence. Soldiers guarding the wall gate dipped their heads, their eyes widening at Bree Hydrafort gliding through the tall, iron-enforced archway in her floating white dress. Their gazes glazed over Kora before acknowledging the guards trailing them, grunting to each other about the heat.

She keenly navigated through the narrowing, cobbled streets of the port town until they ended up outside a tavern.

“Here?”

Bree squinted at the fragmented sign hanging above the bay windows.

“That barmaid didn’t like us.”

“Sure she did,”

Kora glanced sideways at her.

“She took enough of my coins.”

Kora tugged Bree inside The Abandoned Barnacle, who in turn nodded to the guards to remain stationed outside. She quickly waded through the throng of males, who kept a wide berth around Bree, their eyes raking over the jewellery adorning her body, and sat them down at a table right in the centre of the tavern.

“Isn’t this a bit . . . exposing?”

Bree glanced around, pulling her thin lavender cloak tighter around her. It was clasped together below her neck with a golden broach in the shape of the empire insignia—the four-pointed elongated star with a circle connecting the points.

“I thought we had fun last time.”

Kora forced a smile as a scowling Circe approached them. She was dressed in the same grey and burgundy combination, yet her bountiful hair was unbound, cascading around her face in gossamer honey brown waves. Her tawny eyes fixated on Kora.

“You didn’t bring that lech with you?”

“Samuel sends his regards,”

Kora purred, as she slipped Circe two silver bits and a drinks order. When she returned with a stein of ale, and a glass of wine for Bree, Kora grasped her wrist, making Circe startle.

“Has John been here today?”

A silver made its way onto the table.

Circe didn’t miss a beat as she stealthily picked it up in one swift movement.

“No, he’s not working today. He’s been absent the past couple days.”

“Has he said where he’s gone to?”

Circe shook her head.

“He’s sent me a kid to help fill in with cleaning up, can you believe it? I’ve practically got the run of the place now—without the pay.”

She shimmied off, back behind the bar, and Kora glimpsed a two-pronged tail wagging from behind the edge of the counter. At least Conan was still here. He was a good pooch, even if he had an early bedtime like a grumpy old male.

“Care to fill me in?”

Bree peered over her glass of dark red wine.

“Just curious about the barkeep, that’s all.”

“Is he the man you’re courting?”

Her blue eyes lit up.

“Although, I had higher expectations for you.”

Kora snickered as she took a deep gulp from her stein.

“God—goodness, no. Nothing like that.”

She bit her lip. Nearly revealing her gods-damned faith, to a noble heir. She was slipping. All that chat with Agatha yesterday and she’d relaxed her guard.

“Although, I wouldn’t say no to a man with unlimited access to grog.”

Bree let out a musical laugh, capturing the attention of several sailors, who courageously made their way over to speak to Bree. She sat back with amusement, sipping her wine, and Kora’s ears settled into the pandemonium of sound around her.

She absentmindedly drank her ale, pitifully observing the sailors’ attempts to speak to the heiress—or princess—until a conversation behind her sparked her attention.

“He’s vanished. No one’s seen or heard from him for a few days now.”

“He’s in hiding. Don’t worry. Someone’s just spooked him . . . said he’s back next week to resume the search.”

The voices were harsh and fervent. They echoed from the darkened corner of booths, and Kora resisted the urge to turn around to glimpse the male’s faces.

“We’ve been searching for nearly a decade now. How’d we know she’s still alive?”

“She must be. There’s no alternative. What about Finlay? His latest report said he found a possible lead.”

Kora’s heart stopped dead as her world tilted on its axis. The males continued conversing.

“He boarded that ship—Hell’s Flipper, or whatever. The captain’s a mean son of a bitch. Did you know he hunts pirates? What a sick mind. Hunting humans for sport.”

Her breathing hitched. Hell’s Serpent. She clenched her fist, her short nails scraping her skin. Erick’s plan had worked, they thought she was a male. Perhaps her reputation wasn’t as renowned as she believed. And gods-damn wasn’t that a knife to the heart.

Besides, pirates deserved to be hunted. Did these males not know the atrocities they committed? Did they not see past the bottom of their steins?

“Digs,”

the second male hissed.

“Keep it down! And that ship docked days ago. You haven’t seen him?”

“Shit, no. Maybe he’s in hiding, too?”

“Best to presume the worst. We can’t have this information leaking. Don’t try to contact Finlay. We can’t have his family getting wind of this. They can’t know about John, either.”

The flames of Finlay’s burning body filled her ears like a roaring current.

“Do we assume the same about John? Do you think he’s searching for Finlay? What if he doesn’t return?”

A pause, followed by the shuffle of feet, and Kora clasped her hands under the table to hide the shake possessing them.

“Yes . . . it’d make sense. They’d never leave each other, but meet back here in . . .”

the voices suddenly faded out.

Kora scrambled to look behind her. Two pairs of legs disappeared up the stairs, their voices floating away with them as Circe carefully eyed the rowdy crowd, her gaze settling on Kora once again. A chill skittered down her spine as she attempted to casually sit back in her chair, grasping her stein to force the trembling to stop.

Her mind clouded with jarring thoughts, and her guts twisted as her heart ached with the loss of her friend . . . but her mind screamed at the lies.

Their friendship had been built on a truth for truth—had his truth even been real? Kora sucked in a breath, her eyes sliding to the shadowy staircase. Through the tangled mess of thoughts, only one stuck out.

Finlay Blackstone was a liar.

Had his family truly forced him to join her crew, or was it a cover up? He’d joined her ship for a reason, supposedly searching for someone. A female.

But she was the only female on Hell’s Serpent. In fact, in the entire gods-damned armada. But apparently that wasn’t common knowledge. Something screamed within her to find out, and she didn’t need the voice prompting her this time, as alarm bells rang in Kora’s ears, mind, and soul.