Page 59 of Death’s Kiss (The Order of the Tide Raiders #1)
The weeks that succeed our night along the nets unfold at the pace of brine seeping through arctic ice. Which is to say, painfully slow, maddening even. However, these weeks also provide me with all the proof I need to determine both Kleio and Nimra were mistaken in their theories.
Captain Agni has apparently decided that I no longer exist.
There are no more taunts, no more pointed insults, no braid tugging, dark chuckles, or foreign words. Anytime we’re forced together in a room, he keeps about as far away from me as physically possible. The whiplash in his behavior might just put me in a damn neck brace.
Our day-to-day life in the north has also taken an unanticipated turn.
Things have changed since the return of our Grand Preceptors.
The cardinals are now all kept mostly separated.
We’ve even been given different eating schedules to decrease interaction.
The few classes we have been allowed to continue sharing with the others are heavily watched.
Affinity training is separated into Vek or Brek classes, and The Boneyard is now one hundred percent off limits.
For everyone .
Following the sobering death of another captain, a dense fog of grim reality appears to have slithered its way into every corner of our fortress.
It finds me at all hours, even my morning swims aren’t spared from its somber disruption.
With the final pillar looming, I recognize its heavy presence in the faces of my crew members more and more each day.
The Vault is my top priority.
With the current lack of fighting pits at my disposal, I find myself returning to habits of younger years. Ice slides beneath my feet as I glide back and forth across the newly frozen bay.
The spring months are supposedly underway in the rest of Pontus, but our small island has just endured a winter storm.
Originating from further up north, the frigid tempest barreled straight through the night.
The ocean surrounding our cardinal has been spitting up glacial drifts onto the rocks and sand all day.
The bay was already solidified in chunks, so I made it whole.
Sailing across the white expanse, I shift my weight from one leg to the other with easy precision.
My arms move of their own accord up and out to keep my balance secured in their fluttering rhythm.
The majority of my crew was out here earlier, when the sun was still up.
I tried coaxing almost all of them into letting me at least slide them once across the bay.
Kleio, of course, allowed it, and Herse is never one to miss out on a thrill. Greer feigned a twisted ankle from Oplon’s class, forgetting we’ve been practicing aim the whole week. The twins are both stuck fulfilling their daily chores, part of their enduring punishment.
Davina claimed she couldn’t in case someone was injured, her typical response to anything deemed risky—fun included. Nimra made it to the center point of the newly frozen bay before asking me in a very urgent but small voice if I would take her back.
They cleared off not long afterward. Except for Kleio, who stayed to keep me company well past the sun's absence, and I put on a show in return for the company. Spinning and jumping and gliding—any sort of trick I could think of, I’d attempt.
In turn, she'd reward each stunt by holding up a score with her hands and giving an awful impression of one of the TideLords.
Once, after gracefully landing an easy double twist, Kleio held up eight fingers before miming, putting on glasses, and crossing her arms. She gave me a cool upward nod and drawled in a deep baritone imitation, "That was sick. I’m going to chill out now.
Pet my crabs. Or whatever the fuck it is, I do in my free time. ”
My ass still hurts from where I fell on the ice while choking on my own laughter. “Thank you, TideLord Kufko.” I barely managed to get out between alternating cackles and groans of pain. There’s going to be a bruise the size of the Sol Empire mottling my backside tomorrow.
Another time, I pranced about doing as many jump-and-spin combinations as I could before one finally took me down and out.
Kleio revealed a score of two, held up by each of her middle fingers before crowing between cupped hands, “Boooooo! I find your beauty offensive, you little northern wench! Don’t you know I only have eyes for big, strong, fire-breathing captains? ”
She then made a mocking gesture of dismissal, to which I bowed low from my seat on the ice.
“My apologies, Lord Nero. I am well aware of your preferences .”
If anyone heard us out here, we’d be murdered in our bunks before dawn.
Eventually Kleio left as well, off to spend time with Vash, as she should.
If we won The Vault, there’s no telling how often she’d get to see him.
I try not to let my guilt over that add any more weight to my already crumbling stack.
The bulk of which wavers precariously on the fact that I’ve not gotten even one single question out of Captain Agni.
The glass-like waters beneath my gliding feet snag, and I stumble for a moment before hitting my stride again. It’s an unnerving development, his strange silence. It’s worse even than his earlier methods of torture because it’s become nearly impossible for me to end our od.
I cannot believe Agni and his absolutely worthless, highborn attention span. He’s finally grown bored of targeting me and has completely forgotten about our little deal altogether. Now I’m stuck with the shit end of having to fulfill the od in order to get out of it.
Selfish fucking prick.
Anger and annoyance are all but consuming as I gain speed before shifting my weight onto my left leg.
Cool air brushes soothingly against my face while extending my right leg behind me, and I relish the burning stretch through my back and hamstring.
I bend slightly at the waist, and my arms reach out for balance, one forward, the other backward, to form a graceful line.
My left foot digs into the ice to create a steady pivot point, then I lean forward into a tight spin.
The world around me blurs into nothing but velvety darkness and glittering celestial light.
The moon bears witness to my secret pleasure, and my right leg lifts up higher, coming parallel to the ice before I extend it fully with toes pointed.
The sensation of pure exhilaration ignites my system.
It’s the perfect blend of freedom and control.
Like surfing, the precision required to remain upright demands my full attention. My core engages as I spin faster and faster, and a laugh of delight escapes me. My spinning reaches its peak, and a rush of adrenaline crashes into me, sending shivers all the way down my spine.
Laughter slides past my lips in enjoyment.
Once I finally begin slowing, my eyes instinctually scan the swiftly passing shoreline.
I’m most definitely not expecting them to land on a dark figure watching me from halfway up the cliffside. I tense at the unexpected sight and instantly lose my balance, busting my ass for the second time tonight.
“ Damnit! ” I snarl in pain.
My hand reaches for one of the only pathetic blades I've brought with me onto the ice. The tall figure shifts, his chin lifting beneath a crimson hood to reveal scorching amber eyes, and I freeze completely. The pain in my tailbone is smothered for a moment by my stark surprise.
How long has he been here?
For the next minute, I don’t move even a single inch until Captain Agni turns around and starts hiking up the cliffside without any sort of acknowledgement. The silver scar still prominently displayed across my left palm tingles as a reminder, spurning me to follow the southern prick.
I have to end this, the last pillar is only weeks away.
Gritting my teeth, I get back on my feet and sprint across the bay to grab my discarded weapons before jogging to the base of the rocky climb. Painful groans and curses spew from my lips the whole way there.
“Wait!” I call towards Agni’s swiftly moving form once reaching the pathway's edge .
He doesn’t turn or make any sign that he’s heard me. Climbing as efficiently as I can, my thighs begin screaming out in protest, but I ignore them.
His stupidly long legs reach the top far sooner than myself, and I can do nothing as he deftly switches trails. But I know the route Agni’s headed towards. It traverses over to the other end of the small island, where the cardinal's boats are all moored.
“Hey!” I shout upward, trying to get his attention again.
Agni still pretends not to hear me, and I’m forced to briskly pursue his staggering form up the last of the rock-strewn path. I’m swearing up a storm when finally reaching the top, only to watch as he vanishes into the bordering pines just beyond the outdoor lyceums.
Silence falls, and a growl sits restlessly in my throat. I owe him three questions, and I’ll be damned to go into The Vault with an od tethering me to Olsson fucking Agni.
Using my intimacy with the island, I quickly find a shortcut to exploit.
Stepping into Captain Agni’s path a few minutes later, I repress my own enjoyment as his amber irises flicker with barely contained irritation at my sudden appearance. He frowns around the roll of newly lit spices perched between his lips.
“Not tonight, bastard. I’m not in the mood.”
They’re the first words he’s spoken to me in weeks .
My face tightens at his audacity while still working to slow my labored breathing. As if he didn’t start this. As if he hasn’t spent the last several months provoking me at every turn. As if he isn’t the one who forced me into this ridiculous deal in the first place.
“ No ,” I snap before shoving my scarred palm in front of his face. “Ask me the rest of your moronic questions so we can be done with this!”
Agni takes a leisurely drag from the smoldering herbs, glances indifferently at my silver wound, then blows a cloud of smoke directly above my head.
Prick .
“As I believe I’ve said numerous times by now, I do not take orders from the likes of you .” His cutting timbre is barren of all levity. “I also believe that the od was made with the condition that I would decide when and what to ask, and I am telling you I am not in the mood. Now leave.”
In the same warning breath, the kindled end of his ensconced spices illuminates that savage scar. It’s frightening yet also a bit transfixing. A quick study of his expression reveals the southern captain does indeed appear more pissed off tonight than usual.
I should hold my tongue.
I should set back off for my cabin and let the sadistic prince brood on his own, as he wishes. But I can’t. These last few weeks of complete and total silence from him clash with the perpetual thudding in my ears, making me impetuous.
The urge to provoke Agni is overwhelming.
“Oh no , is the poor little highborn having a bad day? How very tough it must be to be you .” The contempt in my voice is palpable. I’m suddenly extremely interested in making him feel every bit as aggravated as he’s made me since stepping foot in the north.
Agni frowns, his eyes flitting up and over me with quick disinterest. He then stares above the top of my head, making it perfectly clear that I’m merely a pest he wishes to rid himself of.
I want to be cruel. As cruel as he is.
It’s true that the southern captain leaves very few chinks to be found in his armor. However, there is one spot I've noted to be particularly sore with raiders who were most similar to him in the past. I figure now's as good a time as any to test it out.
“What's wrong? Are you missing your mommy and daddy, Agni? Out here brooding about the life you could have had if only they’d kept you in it? How fucking pathetic .” I spit in disgust.
Those amber eyes darken until they’re nothing but ash. Captain Agni straightens before flicking the end of his still-lit paper into the snow blanketed rocks surrounding our narrow trail. I disregard the faintness developing in my legs as he sneers down at me, now fully provoked.
Bullseye.