Niya strode back across the veranda, ignoring the calls from Bree to join her and Green Pea, and waved away Therza asking her to get her more food. Niya felt like a hound in a fox hunt; there was only one person she cared to find.
And find him she did. Alōs stood on the other side of the balcony beside Kintra. They conversed with the queen and the princess. Callista still wore her gifted tiara from Alōs. Still smiled up at him like he was the rarest of gifts.
Alōs, however, seemed to have forgotten his charms this morning. Though he appeared engaged with the group, his posture was straight, tense. His gaze far away.
Still moping, thought Niya. Moping while I do all the work.
Charging past them, she made a point to meet Alōs’s gaze and inclined her head just so.
We need to talk.
Niya paced beside the doused fireplace within Alōs’s rooms, her magic churning with impatient energy in her veins. Move, it shouted. Get going!
She glanced to the sandglass on the mantel. Why wasn’t Alōs here already? Didn’t he know time was not on their side? Didn’t he know—?
The door to his chambers opened and closed.
“The old queen had a necklace made with the other part of the Prism Stone,” she blurted, striding toward Alōs.
He paused, hand still on the doorknob, an array of emotions running through his gaze. “What do you mean, had?”
“She lost it. Can’t remember where she put it. But—I know how to find where it might be.”
“How?”
Niya reached into her pocket and pulled out part of the queen’s braid.
Alōs scrunched his nose. “Is that . . . hair?”
“Yes,” said Niya. “But don’t you see? We can use this”—she shook the nub—“to find the answer in the Fountains of Forgotten Memories.”
“The Fountains of . . .” Alōs’s brows drew together. “In the Thief Kingdom?”
Niya nodded, a grin edging along her lips. “In the Thief Kingdom.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
No longer by days or grains through a sandglass, time was now measured by destinations.
After traveling back through the Mocking Mist and surviving the western storms yet again, the Crying Queen sailed endlessly over open waters. And Niya now knew why pirates were a surly lot.
Each day brought new weather, from ice rain to balmy sun to hailstorms that left dents in the deck the size of peach pits. Being at sea for so long, her sense of reality became reduced to sensations. Hunger, thirst, fatigue, boredom.
A deadly combination for a group that lacked strong morals.
The only thought that kept her sane was the promise of what was waiting for them at the end of their journey. The Thief Kingdom. Though this did nothing to stop her impatience to get there, her magic a continuous churn of mirrored eagerness in her veins.
Home, it crooned. Mischief, it begged.
My sisters, Niya added.
While she’d been unable to find Achak before they’d officially set off from the Valley of Giants, she only hoped the twins would be able to get word to her family of where the Crying Queen was sailing next.
Niya’s chest swelled with longing and uncontained excitement at the prospect of Larkyra and Arabessa being there when she arrived.
As land rose on the distant horizon, it appeared Niya was not the only desperate soul craving the kingdom or solid ground, for a dozen pirates rushed starboard, gripping the railing to take in the view.
There were a few ways of entering the Thief Kingdom, but Niya had never sailed in through one of the marina ports.
A small strip of beach sat in the middle of the sea. Not even a single palm tree marred its horizon. The only feature that rose up in glaring strangeness was a freestanding waterfall cutting through the middle. It rained down from some invisible source in the sky.
Niya looked up as the ship slipped through, the loud roar of water parting like a drape, none on board getting wet. And then the Crying Queen entered from wide-open sea into the dark cave of the Thief Kingdom.
Niya’s energy sang as she took in the spectacular hidden world. Cool mist rose from the waters, slowly revealing the twinkling lights of the dark city’s edge. Colorful puffs of smoke from chimneys curled around the massive stalactites and stalagmites, and hanging glowworms covered the cave’s ceiling, the stars of this world.
In the distance the imposing onyx castle loomed like a guardian in the center of the cave. Its pointed turrets gleamed like liquid ink in the night as spits of fire escaped their tips, beacons for the wicked to come play.
Niya breathed in deep, savoring the damp but sweet air, a cacophony of familiarity.
If she were one who easily cried, she would be now.
She was home.
Home.
Despite what still lay ahead, Niya felt a huge weight lift from her shoulders. Somewhere within this city might be her sisters, and within the castle, seated above a river of lava, was her father. Her magic tingled along her skin, desperate to be reunited.
“Oy, Red,” called Saffi. “Mind helping the rest of us?”
Niya jolted from her thoughts, turning from the view to join the crew as they rushed about, readying the ship for port. After settling into a tight spot among other vessels, they dropped anchor and lowered the sails before making their way below deck to put on their disguises.
Stopping by her bunk, Niya fished out a leather mask that Kintra had given her. It was worn, stained in odd places, and nothing like the disguises she was used to wearing here. But it would do.
“Coming?” asked Bree as she waited by the stairs. Her small bunkmate had on a red, feathered mask that was a bit too big for her face.
“Yes.” Niya slipped on her disguise. Though it was not hers, it still settled along her skin like a familiar hug. She was back in the kingdom where anyone could be anything. With a wide grin, she ascended topside, standing back as her crew members passed by, hauling heavy sacks on their shoulders, their collected bounty from past raids they’d be depositing at Stockpiled Treasure.
Despite the grueling journey, the mood of the pirates had instantly lifted when they’d entered the Thief Kingdom, and Niya understood why. There was much promise before them for the next few nights: spirits, gambling, reunions with lovers. Their responsibilities to this ship could be forgotten as they lost themselves in the promised debauchery of this caved world.
If only Niya could have been as lucky as they. Yes, she was back, but a part of her knew she would be tied to Alōs, committed to the duty of her binding bet. Still, her mood remained high, for she only hoped she could entertain a few grain falls away from him and with her sisters.
Finding Alōs and Kintra by the gangplank, where they exchanged quick words with various pirates as they left the ship, Niya went to their side. Per usual, Alōs wore no mask. His dark, devastating beauty on full display. Niya now understood the only place he truly feared being seen was in Esrom. That was where he hid, keeping to shadowed outlets or empty passageways. In the rest of Aadilor, Alōs stood confidently in the open, wanting to be known as the infamous pirate lord. The more cities and realms that knew him as his current role—thief, scoundrel, murderer—the better. It was easier to hide trails to a past when so many led away.
“I assume we are going straight there?” Niya asked Alōs as the last of the pirates descended to the docks below.
“You assume correctly,” he said as he set off down the gangplank himself, her following on his heels. “Kintra will meet us once the rest of the ship is secured.”
“Could we grab a bite first?” asked Niya. “The lines at the fountains are always horrid, and I can guarantee I am much more cooperative when I’m not starved.”
“You must be starved often, then,” he said before turning to have a quick word with the port master, who stood at the edge of their dock.
Niya huffed her impatience as she went to wait on the boardwalk for him to finish.