Myles grins. “Good. Ssso it’s all worked out then. We all get what we want and King Sedric’s none the wiser. Nice to think we had similar interestsss.”
Is he jesting? “You’re a traitor who tried to kill my friends and betray your own king.”
“Tsssk. I only threatened to kill them. And for the most part, those threats clearly didn’t work on you.”
“Threatened? You fed that orange-haired politician to Adora’s warhorses.”
“Well, that one, yesss. And you might’ve too if you’d known what he did in his private life.” His face twists as the airship lists and we all pitch forward.
“And,” he adds in a shaky tone, “your words sound a bit fickle for someone who hunted down every favor house in Faelen in the past week and threatened the owners with injury.”
How does he know? I didn’t tell any—
“Now”—he saunters a foot forward—“as lord protectorate I can order you to turn over those knives you’re holding, or I can be civil and tell you that the Bron guards will be bothered enough when I tell them you’re on this ship as my personal guest. But when they find you have weapons? Even my influence won’t prevent their wrath. They’ll see it as a threat to their new King Eogan.”
I actually laugh. “Not a chance in hulls you’re taking these. Especially since you’ve not answered what you’re really doing here.”
He spreads his hands out and looks insulted. “Why, achieving safety for all, same as you.”
“He’s here because he wants to rule the Hidden Lands,” Rasha says from the cot.
Ignoring her, Myles holds out a hand for my blades. “I’ll stow them away until we reach Bron.”
“I don’t think so.”
A loud thump overhead echoes through the room. Myles jumps, and Rasha gets up. “Nym, I’m going to make sure the other rooms along the hall are all empty, but then I should go. Whatever else the little roach intends to say or do . . .” She glares at Myles and her eyes are back to blazing illumination. “I can already see. And it’s all idiotic. I suggest we push him off the ship once we’re over the ocean.”
The ceiling bumps again. I nod. “I believe he was just leaving as well.”
She reaches out her hand to squeeze mine, but suddenly her gaze is softening and her pupils grow brighter. “Nym . . .” She studies me. “For what it’s worth, I’m sorry for the way things are. I’m sorry about Eogan.”
I shrug and return her squeeze and say nothing.
“Before I go, is there anything I can do?”
I shake my head. I don’t want her pity. I consider jesting, “Hey, I’m no longer a curse or a slave—so it’s not all bad, yes?” Only right now, I’d give anything to have both those things back if it meant saving Eogan.
“You’ve done enough,” I murmur. “I just need to hide and think a bit.”
From his spot, Myles clears his throat. As if even he knows I’m lying.
“Shut up,” I snap at him.
“Just stay in this room, okay?” Rasha says, turning to glare again at Myles. Then with one last compassionate glance at me, she sashays the four feet to the door.
Myles sniffs. “Whichever god decided to curse the world with that woman—”
I lunge for him.
He dodges from the room and, before I reach the door, jerks it shut behind him. Leaving me standing in front of it, shaking and half contemplating going after him or working my way through the entire airship with my knives.
Not that I’d get far.
With one last curse, I click the lock on the door before slipping over to plop down on the tiny metal cot that is little bigger than a coffin.
After a moment I lie back and pull the thin covers over my head like a lid.
CHAPTER 7
I HAVE NO IDEA HOW LONG I STAY IN THAT POSITION curled beneath the blankets. But I can feel it when they begin loading the other passengers onto the ship. Muffled voices and footsteps emerge and fade in the passageway right outside my door. I hold my breath and scoot against the wall as much as possible, but no one ever touches the lock or handle, and soon the sounds are taken over by a low humming that grows into odd vibrations. The tremors are so strong they seep into the walls and cot and every inch of air until my bones are rattling with them. At some point there’s a jolt and my stomach flips as the world around me feels like it’s lifting.
I ignore it and just lie there. Until eventually my mind drifts to what Eogan is doing right now—what Eogan is thinking right now.