I’ll be leaving. There is no point in it.
A squeeze to her heart.
“Listen, it’s obvious my presence offends you,” she said to Kintra. “But perhaps it has less to do with me and you and more to do with you and Alōs.”
Kintra glared down at her. “And what does that mean?”
“Well, it’s obvious that you two . . .” She waved a hand between them. “Share a history. As I am to leave soon, like you reminded all of us, it is not my intention to get in the way of past lovers.”
A thick silence filled the room. The trickling of the sandglass on Alōs’s desk the only reminder of time passing.
And then the quiet was drowned in laughter, from both Alōs and Kintra.
“Lovers?” Kintra held her side as the word gasped from her. “By the stars and sea, can you imagine?” She looked toward Alōs.
He had leaned back in his chair, regarding Niya with mirth and a strange spark of pleasure.
“What?” she said, irritation flaring.
“Niya,” began Alōs, “what in all of Aadilor gave you the impression Kintra and I were ever lovers?”
“Well . . .” She looked from one to the other. “You said . . . you said Kintra was the exception. And it’s obvious you are close. Closer than any others on board.”
“Because she is my second-in-command,” he said. “Kintra was one of the first to become a pirate aboard my ship. Our history runs long.”
“And?” Niya frowned, an unwanted spark of jealousy overtaking her as these facts only fueled her theory.
“And I like women, Red.”
Niya blinked over to the quartermaster. “So?” she said. “I like women too.”
Alōs tilted his head. “You do?”
“Sure. Women have warmed my bed as much as any man.”
“Well,” began Kintra, “I find many things not to like in a man. So many that I only take women to my bed.”
Niya let her words settle. “Oh.”
Kintra raised a brow. “Yes, oh. I am very fond of the captain, but not in the sense that, well, you might be.” She held Niya’s gaze. Yes, I know more than you think, the look seemed to say. “So no, my annoyance with you has nothing to do with my friendship with Alōs.”
“Then what does it have to do with?”
“Perhaps you’re just not that likable,” she challenged.
Niya snorted her disbelief. “That’s impossible. Everyone likes me.”
At this Kintra smiled. “Well, I am not like everyone. And you came aboard this ship with your own intentions, which were very different from all of ours. I would not be doing my duty if I became as charmed by you as everyone else.”
“Everyone is charmed by me?” Niya perked up.
Kintra rolled her eyes. “What I mean is, I’m the captain’s right-hand woman. I’m meant to distrust others for his best interest. You did not appear to be in his best interest.”
“Me?” Niya jutted her chin out. “I fear you forget it was you all who kidnapped me and started this entire mess of a journey, not the other way around.”
“Yes,” agreed Kintra. “But time has a funny way of changing intentions. And plans.”
“Careful,” warned Alōs.
His quartermaster met his hard stare, something passing between the two that Niya could not read.
“But I’ll leave you both to figure that part out,” she said, glancing back at Niya. “If you’ll excuse me, Captain, I’ll inform the crew we are to sail to Esrom presently?”
He gave her a nod, his eyes trained on her all the way out of his quarters.
A new tension filled the room as Niya now sat alone with Alōs.
She met his gaze, his contained power behind his desk palpable as he took her in.
“How do you feel?” he asked. “Now with your binding bet almost paid?”
The question stirred up a mixture of replies. Happy. Distraught. Proud. Confused.
Niya felt it all but instead said, “I’m sure close to how you feel with being so near to returning the stone.”
He watched her a long moment. “Yes,” he said. “Indeed.”
“You did it, Alōs.” She gave him a small smile. “You saved Esrom.”
“From a threat I created.”
His quick reply had her frowning. Would he not give himself any reprieve of responsibility? Of guilt?
“You did not create your brother’s sickness,” she said.
Alōs did not respond, merely looked into his glass, which now sat empty in his hands.
“What will you do after the Prism Stone is returned?”
He gave a shrug. “Whatever my pirates want to do, I suppose. I owe them much after they’ve followed me through this mess of a voyage.”
“Your actions may have served you, but they were always for another,” she reminded him. “You’re not as selfish as you might want others to believe, you know?”
His turquoise gaze met hers. “And what do you believe?”
That I care for you more than I want to.
“I believe that I might actually trust a pirate now.” She smiled. “Despite what trouble that might land me in later.”
His responding chuckle warmed her. “And it only took me nearly dying to finally convince you.”
“I am not a prize won by simple favors.” She arched a brow.
“No.” His features grew serious. “And even then, you are not a flame meant to be contained on anyone’s mantel but your own.”
If Niya had not been sitting, Alōs’s words would have set her back a step.
She held his stare, gooseflesh dancing along her arms.
Dangerous, her magic whispered.
This man was too dangerous.
She did not trust herself to remain alone with him any longer. After everything she had done today, survived, she needed a moment alone. She needed to collect herself, away from the all-consuming presence of this pirate. She needed to figure out what she wanted. And perhaps more importantly, how much she could afford to want.
“I should get cleaned up,” she said, standing abruptly. “And I’m sure you have to help Kintra get us to Esrom.”
Alōs watched her back away toward the door. “Niya—”
“I’ll see you topside,” she interrupted, nerves jumping to run, to flee, before he said anything to make their parting more painful.
But as Niya strode from his quarters into the dark hallway of the ship, she knew this man already held the power to break her heart again.
Yet this time, she also held the power to break his.
CHAPTER FORTY-SEVEN
Alōs knelt before his brother in the Hall of Starlight.
Guards surrounded him, blue-sparking spears aimed to kill. It had been the first time the Crying Queen had ever docked at Esrom’s main harbor. The first time in six years that Alōs had walked through the capital, Silver City, to enter the palace. Citizens had stared in disbelief; court members had thrown insults, many spitting at his feet. Alōs was the Betrayal Prince. The traitorous son who’d stolen their precious Prism Stone—a holy relic of the lost gods given upon their final parting. Had they known the true power it held, that it kept Esrom safely in its bubble under the sea, he no doubt would have been hanged as soon as he’d been seen placing boot to ground. Luckily that particular secret was kept tightly within the palace walls.
Now here he was, bowing to their new king in an attempt to reverse time.
His magic churned in anticipation, a cold veneer around his heart his last attempt to contain the coil of hope he dared allow slip in, the hope that all he had suffered would finally come to an end this day.
“You have created quite a stir, showing up as you have after so many years,” said Ariōn from his white coral throne. He was flanked on either side by the six High Surbs. Alōs noted with satisfaction that Ixō stood the closest. “As well as bringing pirates to our shores, no less. A bold move for the most wanted man in this kingdom.”
“My crew knows not to breach land, Your Grace. Though I cannot account for their actions if any of your guards attack first.”
“My guards are trained in peace,” said King Ariōn. “A novel concept, I’m sure, for your lot. Now tell me quickly why you have shown your face here. My High Surbs tell me you have returned in the hopes of a pardon for your treason.”