Page 8

Chapter Eight

THALIA

T he bastards who caused Bryony’s death now had a name. But how could I avenge her if their home was beneath the waves? As King Vaarin helped me into the rowboat, I couldn’t help but wish that I could stay and face them here on the deck of this ship.

But I couldn’t let my need for vengeance cause the death of my people. The alliance had to come first, and my being alive was essential to that happening.

So I climbed into the boat and took my place on the bench as King Vaarin rowed us into the western storm.

The boat rose and fell on the tumultuous waves, water sloshing on board. I clung to the sides, crouched against the assault of icy sea spray.

King Vaarin grabbed hold of me and dragged me toward him so I was sitting between his thighs. “Hold on to me,” he ordered, his voice rising above the symphony of screaming wind and howling sea.

I crouched low, wrapping myself around his leg so tightly that the flex and release of his muscles joined the beat of my heart.

He rowed with powerful strokes, his biceps bulging, form stoic and unyielding against the shattering elements. His dark hair whipped about his face, sapphire eyes blazing in the gloom.

He was power, and the elements were nothing against him, but as if to prove him wrong, they attacked harder, tearing at the boat and shaking it so that all I could do was whimper and hold fast because no sword or axe could best this foe.

A bubble of terror ballooned in my chest, choking me and stealing my breath. If we capsized, then the sea king would survive, but I’d drown.

I couldn’t die. Not yet. Not like this.

But as the fear threatened to overwhelm me, a melody cut through the cacophony of the storm. Low and haunting, it was a vibration that carried the sound of appeasement. A plea to the elements to hold their wrath from us and provide us safe passage. I wasn’t sure how I knew this; it was merely a conviction deep in my bones.

The roll and dip of our vessel ebbed, and the roaring elements quietened. The only sound was the smack of oars as they hit the water followed by the drag as we were propelled forward.

I looked up, never relinquishing my grip on the king. The water ahead was smooth and noncombative, and although dark clouds still hung low overhead, churning in fury, and although the storm still ripped at the waters several meters to either side of us, it did not touch us.

The melody continued to flow, louder now in the relative silence. It hummed against my skin, vibrating my bones. I reached up with one hand and placed my palm on King Vaarin’s abdomen to confirm my suspicion. The vibration was inside him. The sound was coming from him.

It was a demand wrapped in a plea.

The king of the Northern Sea was creating safe passage for us with his song. His muscles contracted beneath my touch, but the melody continued.

He glanced down at me, eyes like sapphire flame boring into me with such intensity they left me aching in a way I didn’t understand. In that moment, I wanted to be bathed head to toe in the fire of his gaze. I wanted it to devour me whole.

He blinked sharply and tore his gaze away, releasing me from the strange compulsion. I dropped my hand, my chest tight with emotions that I could only define as bone-aching longing.

I tucked myself against his legs and held on once more. Whatever this feeling was, it would pass. Whatever it was, it wasn’t important.

It couldn’t be.

* * *

The storm passed, and the sea lay smooth as glass ahead. The sky was a vista of twinkling stars. The elements were mercurial indeed.

“We shall be at the island soon,” King Vaarin said. “Do you see it? The gray shadow against the night up ahead?”

I pushed up on my knees, one arm still hooked around his leg, to look out at the sea. “I don’t see it.”

He secured the oars then leaned in so that the heat of his torso pressed to my back. “There.” He pointed, and I followed the trajectory, searching the horizon until…

“I see it.”

He sat back, picked up the oars once more, and began to row, but there was less power in each drag, and when I looked up at his face, it was too pale in the moonlight.

“You’re tired.”

“I am fine,” he said. “Do not fear. We will get to our destination.”

“I know but…why don’t you let me row for a bit?”

He looked so affronted at the suggestion that my indignation warred with amusement. “Please tell me you’re not a chauvinist.”

“I’m the king of the northern sea,” he said in response.

“Which doesn’t serve as an exemption. Besides, even kings can tire.”

“The sea song has tired me a little,” he conceded. “Pacifying the elements is…draining.” The admission crinkled his brow. “But I am not depleted yet.”

“Then let me row. For a little while.”

I thought he would argue, but instead he nodded. “Very well.”

I switched places with him, careful not to rock the boat, holding on to him for balance, our bodies touching more than I’d like, his hands warm and secure on my arms then my hips as we maneuvered ourselves.

Finally, I picked up the oars and set to work.

He sat across from me, his muscled frame taking up all the room and too much of my attention.

I made sure to return my gaze to the horizon each time it strayed to him, checking the stars every now and then to ensure we weren’t straying off course.

“Where did you learn to row?” he asked.

Shit. Princesses did not row their own boats. “I…I had the head of guard teach me. We have ships…But you know that.”

“I do.”

I glanced down at him to find him watching me with narrowed eyes.

Had I sparked suspicion?

His eyelids slipped closed for a beat, and his chest rose and fell a little too erratically.

Something was wrong. “King Vaarin?”

He groaned. “I fear I must leave you for a moment,” he said. “I must take a few breaths beneath the waves. The exertion from the…the…” His eyelids fluttered, and he went limp.

Fuck! I secured the oars and then made a grab for him. “King Vaarin? Wake up!” I shook him, or tried to, but the man was like a monument of stone, and even a hearty slap did nothing to move him. I’d have to tip him into the sea.

I unhooked an oar and used it as a lever, managing to get him over the edge of the boat, the whole thing tipping beneath his weight. I had to act fast to push him over before I went in with him. I dropped the oar and shoved him with all my might.

He slipped into the sea, and the boat rocked. I lost my balance and hit the deck on my ass. There was a soft plop, and my heart shot into my throat.

The oar!

It was gone. No!

How would I row with only one oar?

Oh…shit.

I peered over the edge of the boat at the spot where I’d dropped the sea king.

There was nothing to do now but wait and hope that King Vaarin would be back soon.