Page 31 of Virelai’s Hoard (The Dagger & Tide Trilogy #1)

Riley

The Moonshadow had a fraction of the crew usually roaming its deck, and this was perfect. With a virtually empty ship, there was no one there to pay any mind to Riley as she approached the aft companionway and slipped beneath toward the officers’ quarters. To Calla’s blessedly empty cabin.

Except Riley had been wrong about the whole thing.

As she turned the corner and strode confidently toward the familiar door, her steps faltered. The chart room at the end of the corridor stood wide open. And Merrow was there, sat at his table. Facing the corridor and anyone who might walk its length.

He didn’t lift his head as he asked, “Looking for something, Riley?”

Swallowing, Riley took the bait. “Yeah, actually,” she said. She walked past Calla’s closed door and poked her head in the chart room. “Is Eryx here? I wanted to ask them something.”

She wasn’t sure if she imagined the faint upturn of Merrow’s lips.

His nib kept scratching at the parchment laying in front of him, gaze focused on his writing, a magnifying glass beneath his eyes.

“Oh, of course, Eryx.” He nodded to himself, as if that made perfect sense.

The young sailor was basically his unofficial apprentice, so Riley’s excuse was a good one now that she thought about it.

“Think they were above deck last I saw them. You might wanna try there.” His eyes lifted to hers then, sharp and knowing.

Riley grinned. “Cool, thanks!”

Once she was away from the corridor and out of the navigator’s sight, Riley cursed softly under her breath. This was fine. She’d been meaning to talk to Eryx for a while, anyway.

She found them at their usual spot on the back deck, but nothing was the same as before.

Usually, they’d be clutching the railing, staring at the water as if meaning to hear its whispered secrets, their gaze alive, focused.

Now their shoulders drooped, body draped over the railing, cheek pressed against the metal.

They gazed somewhere far into the distance, a lost, far-away look on their face.

“Eryx?” Riley asked, careful not to startle them as she leaned a hip against the railing. Patch peeked his nose out of her bag, whiskers twitching inquisitively in the air.

They didn’t flinch–didn’t move at all. “Hello, Riley.” Their voice was soft, a murmur. There was defeat in it, as if they already knew what she wanted and the best they could hope for was that she’d get on with it.

Maybe she should’ve left them be, simply gone to Sable with the little she knew, but no. Riley took in a quiet breath. She was here now, with no one around to eavesdrop. There wasn’t going to be a better opportunity.

“I, uh… found something the other day. I wondered if you might know what it is.”

Still no reaction. The impulse to reach for Calla’s sketch and shove it under their nose battled the urge to just walk away. But she needed a high hand in her and Sable’s evolving dynamic, and information she couldn’t make sense of was useless information.

Patch settled the matter for her.

His ears twitched at something, and suddenly his little sharp nails grabbed hold of her clothes as he climbed up on her arm, over her shoulder and to the railing.

Tail curled for balance, he slowed down as he got closer to Eryx, nose wrinkling as he sniffed the air around them.

First from a distance, then slowly getting closer, small step by small step, nails lightly tapping against the metal.

He carefully walked past Eryx’s draped arm, not touching them, and let his long whiskers tickle their cheek.

Riley tensed up, shifted her weight against the railing. Should she grab Patch before Eryx decided they didn’t like a vermin getting so close to them and flung him into the water?

There was no sudden lashing out, though.

Just like Patch’s careful approach, Eryx reacted slowly.

Their eyes focused, gaze dragging from the water to the curious rat sniffing at them.

Cheek still pressed to the railing, Eryx reached a lazy finger to stroke along Patch’s nose.

The rat took that as an invitation to step across their draped arm–gentler than he’d ever been with Riley–and curl around Eryx’s neck.

With a full-body sigh, Patch closed his eyes and shifted his weight.

Getting comfortable. Apparently, he found just the place for his midday nap.

Riley’s lips twitched in amusement.

Eryx, slow and careful, unglued their cheek from the railing and cupped a hand around the now sleeping rat, keeping Patch comfortable against the crook of their neck as they stood properly. “Is he always this…” they seemed to search for a word, couldn’t find it, and settled on, “friendly?”

Riley scoffed. “No.” She shrugged, threw them a wink. “He must like you.”

Calla, and now Eryx. Patch kept an odd choice of company.

Eryx looked visibly pleased at that, and suddenly the small rush of jealousy was worth it.

They tilted their head. “What did you want to show me?”

Suppressing a smirk, Riley reached down and slipped the folded sketch out of her boot. She handed it to Eryx, still folded.

They took it, their eyes lit with a glint of curiosity as they unfolded the paper. Then they just stared. Blinked at it. Slowly traced the drawing with their fingertips, their hand flinching away before touching the paper once more. They didn’t speak.

Riley shifted on her feet, unsettled. “Well?” she asked once she couldn’t take the silence any longer.

Eryx startled, as if they hadn’t realized she was still there, watching them. “Where did you find this?” they asked, eyes flitting to hers before they got pulled back to the parchment.

If only a drawing got this kind of reaction, then the real thing must be worth a fortune. Maybe even more than the heap of gold Calla had promised them. And the secrecy could only mean one thing. The captain intended to keep this for herself. But why?

“An old book, or something.” Riley frowned, as if she didn’t quite remember, but all her show was for nothing. Eryx barely paid her any mind. “It looked important, but I never heard of it. Figured you might’ve. With all your…” she gestured vaguely to the sea, “and stuff.”

“The Heart of the Abyss,” Eryx mouthed the words, their voice a mere murmur. “Virelai was rumored to have it last.”

A deep, frustrated sigh rose in Riley’s chest. She locked it there. Thanks to Sable’s lessons, she already knew that much. It must be some kind of powerful artifact, yes, but what kind of powerful? What was it good for? What kind of price would it fetch? The name didn’t tell her any of that.

“Do you still have that book?”

Riley shook her head, but that too was in vain. Eryx wasn’t looking at her. “No.” When her crumbling patience got her nowhere, she pressed. “So? What is it?”

Eryx caressed the sketch reverently, their voice hushed as they said, “No one knows for sure. Some say it’s the ocean’s first heartbeat, forged in the chaos of creation.

A fragment of the sea’s fury, a prison, a key.

” Their eyes flicked back and forth, as if they were flipping memories.

“There are many stories, and many claims. Most search for the Heart because they say it’s able to rewrite the fabric of reality, reshape the world to the bearer’s will. ”

Riley’s eyes widened. Were they talking about… wish granting?

“The only thing all the legends agree on,” Eryx continued, “is that this…” They handed her back the sketch with a visible show of self-restraint. “Is something old. Something dangerous. An artifact this powerful can only bring ruin.”

Their voice sounded older, a vibration to it that triggered a full-body shiver. Riley blamed it on the sudden gust of wind flapping the sails above them. Her heart raced as she folded the sketch once more, hid it back inside her boot.

What did Calla want with this?

What would Riley wish for if she could get her hands on it?

She stepped away, not bothering to call Patch back to her. The rat would find her later, and Eryx seemed to need the comfort. Plus, Riley needed some quiet to think. Her mind swirled with possibilities.

But today nothing went according to plan.

“Riley! Eryx! Here you are, I’ve been searching for you all over!

” Kittredge popped out from behind some crates, loud and excited.

She pouted, all acted exaggeration. “I’m bored .

I wish I could’ve gone on the island too.

Getting off this ship to explore and hunt for clues sounded so exciting, but,” she gestured to her ankle, “I’m still healing and didn’t want to slow them down. ”

Riley raised her eyebrows. Exciting was one word for it. “Weren’t you freaked about your nightmare earlier?”

Kit laughed and nodded, sliding a hand through her blonde hair.

“So? Heights are scary and dangerous too, but climbing the rigging is still one of my favorite things to do.” She pouted again.

“And I can’t do that either for a few days still.

Haddock categorically forbade it, and Nyxen and Gadrielle have been watching me like hawks .

” She wrinkled her nose, then gave both of them a mischievous look.

“I just wanna do something fun. Other than juggling. So…” she trailed off, pulling into view a tankard of rum she’d had hidden at her back.

Her lips split into an easy grin. “How about we play some dice in the storage hold?”

Riley perked up at that. She didn’t even need to think about it. Without Nyxen and Sable around, pocketing some extra coin would be child’s play. “I’m in,” she said, trying not to look too eager.

They both looked at Eryx.

They shifted on their feet, uneasy. “ Someone should stay on deck. What if something happens?”

Kittredge rolled her eyes and wrapped an arm around Eryx’s shoulders, pulling them along. “Come on , I promise you all this mist and water will still be here by the time we’re back.”