Page 104

Chapter 12

Marius

M arius’s thoughts twisted around this terrible problem. He never should have agreed to take Fara along. This was his fault as Commander of the Mist Knights. Never once in Dragon Tail Peak’s history had a Healer been kidnapped by pirates. He felt sick and tried very hard not to put Fara beside his sister in his imaginings of how Bellona died. That was a long time ago, and Fara was a different person.

Tahlia circled him, her scent both intoxicating and alarming—her fear was pungent. “How are we going to get her back? That Unseelie can do things we don’t even understand. But we have to try. Let’s go under the cover of night. The ship is still in the same place, right? No small boats have left it?”

She craned her neck looking around him and the tree cover. He’d ordered the knights and dragons to land on a small island beyond the cove where the battle had taken place. The spit of land was uninhabited and hosted thick pines that worked well for cover. After sending Enora and Ewan off to scout the Unseelie’s ship, he’s tasked the others with tending wounds and talking over potential solutions. They would have a full group as soon as the scouts returned.

“Let Ewan and Enora finish their work and we will make a plan. Now, you need to sit with your dragon and gather yourself. Rash behavior won’t help Lady Fara.”

Tahlia nodded, her movements jerky and so unlike her usual graceful way. She went to where Lija was resting with Donan. Maiwenn lifted a hand at her approach and the two began whispering about what the Eelsmen’s new high captain had accomplished with seemingly no effort.

Marius was truly worried about what he might be able to do to their dragons. Could he injure them from afar? Definitely. That was surely what that cloud had intended—harm. But at what intensity? Could he kill from the beach while they flew above him? How many dragons and Fae could he influence or harm at one time? Hopefully, Ewan and Enora would return with information. They would listen to the Unseelie talk to his crew and hopefully garner a hint as to what the Unseelie’s goal was or what he could or would attempt to do via his dark magic.

“If we chopped his fingers off, he wouldn’t be able to carve any runes,” Titus said, coming up behind Marius from the direction of the rocky inlet where they’d quietly landed earlier. His hair was wet and he was bleeding from his elbow.

“What happened to you?”

“Just a rock. That obsidian is angry stuff.”

Marius huffed a laugh without much good humor behind it. “True.” He lifted his forearm to show a scar from a pirate battle he’d been in years ago right in this area.

“What are the Unseelie’s weaknesses?” Titus asked.

“Our bloodiron.”

“Which we still have. We’re down three arrows, right?”

“Yes, but with Lady Fara captured, I don’t think it’s wise to attack openly.”

Titus murmured assent. “What if we grind the bloodiron and get it into his nightly serving of rum?”

“Who is going to manage that? Also, I’m not sure if that would be enough to kill him or wound him severely. He’s going to scent the contents before he imbibes much. The Unseelie can smell as well as we can.”

Titus clicked his tongue and eyed the ship where it bobbed in the placid water. “Water’s calm, isn’t it? Odd for this time of year.”

Hmm. Marius approached the tree line and studied the ripples of the strait and the currents combing through the dark expanse. Sharp boulders of obsidian stuck up here and there like the teeth of a great, fallen kraken. The moon—nearly full—floated over the water like a spirit of old.

A realization spread over him like frost. Marius’s breath left him and his head grew light.

“What is it?” Titus came forward and his gaze peppered Marius’s face. “Marius, what is it?”

He used the tone for times when they were off duty and simply being friends instead of commander and captain.

“I didn’t mean to alarm you, but I think I just figured out what the Unseelie is up to. I think it involves Lady Fara as well.”

Tahlia popped up and nearly made him jump. He was so distracted by the horror of what he suspected.

“What involves Fara?” she asked, coming close and staring up at him in that beautiful, determined way she had.

Marius cleared his throat. “The stranger is going to offer Fara to the full moon kraken.”