So I Married a Sorcerer (The Embraced #2)

“We’re supposed to stay below,” Jeffrey muttered.

“I know.” She didn’t want to endanger anyone by being a distraction, but her strong sense of curiosity was compelling her. “Don’t ye want to know what’s happening?”

When he nodded, she peeked outside. Close to the wall of the quarterdeck and the portside railing, there were three large barrels for collecting rainwater.

“We can stay hidden.” She eased outside, staying low and close to the wall of the quarterdeck.

“Brigitta, no!” Sister Fallyn yelled.

Jeffrey followed her and shut the door. Together they scurried along the wall, then hunched down in the narrow space behind the barrels.

She peered over the railing and whispered, “I can see the pirate ships. They have their cannons ready.”

“Rupert will have to do something before we get into range,” Jeffrey whispered back.

She glanced up at the crow’s nest. Rupert was focused on the pirate ships. Slowly he lifted his arms. His fingers were splayed, his palms slightly cupped, his movements graceful and measured, as if he were conducting an orchestra. A whirlwind spun over his head, growing in intensity as he fed it more and more air.

Then suddenly, he struck his hands forward, and the whirlwind unfurled, shooting straight toward the pirate ships.

Brigitta peered over the railing. Two of the ships floundered and skidded toward the rocky shore. Screams sounded in the distance, then a series of loud cracks as the ships crashed against rocks and ground into the sand.

“He ran two of the ships onto the beach,” she whispered to Jeffrey.

He nodded. “He usually does that if we’re close to a shore. That way, most of the men can survive.”

She spotted men scrambling to get ashore. “What about the third ship? The big one?”

Jeffrey chuckled. “Rupert must want that one. Are they waving a white flag yet?”

She peeked over the railing. “Aye. That means they surrendered?”

“Yes.” Jeffrey grinned. “Now we’ll have ten ships!”

Brigitta glanced up at Rupert. “That’s how he increases his fleet?”

Jeffrey nodded. “Most of our ships were taken from the Tourinian navy or other pirate fleets.”

“But how can he trust them?”

“He doesn’t. He’ll make one of his own men the new captain and give the ship a new crew. The old crew will be divided up and spread among the other ships. If they work hard and follow the rules, they’ll be rewarded after four weeks with a gold coin. If they cause any trouble, they’ll be put ashore.”

“I see.”

Jeffrey glanced up at Rupert, his eyes gleaming. “He has a fleet as powerful as any navy. And he’s destroyed more bad pirates than anyone. No one can beat him.”

Brigitta suspected the boy had a huge case of hero worship where Rupert was concerned. But how could he not, she thought, as her gaze settled on the infamous pirate. He’d whisked the Eberoni navy safely out of the way so that he could take on the responsibility of protecting Danport and defeating the bad pirates. And he’d managed to do it all with the least amount of casualties. He was, simply put, an amazing man.

As he lifted his arms to gather more air and push his fleet closer to the lone surviving pirate ship, she noted for the first time how his plaits of black hair stirred with the breeze. Underneath the braids, she could see the red scarf tied around his head.

She blinked. Shouldn’t the scarf be on top of his hair instead of underneath? With a small gasp, she finally realized what had been nagging her. The black braids were off. And when she’d seen his whiskers up close, she’d noticed they were a light brown, even gleaming like gold in the sunlight. His chest hair had been brown.

She eyed the black plaits. “They’re fake.”

“Who?” Jeffrey asked.

“Never mind.” Brigitta smiled. Watch out, Rupert. She’d figure out all of his secrets, one by one.





Chapter Seven

After watching Rupert handle the three pirate ships, Brody flew in a southerly direction along the shore, searching for Nevis and his soldiers. In addition to being King Leofric’s best friend, Nevis was a captain in the Eberoni army. Leo had sent him with a few troops to guard the coastline and capture the Tourinian pirates who were raiding the villages there.

Nevis’s father, General Harden, was now Lord Protector of the Realm, which had been Leo’s job before he became king. General Harden and the bulk of the Eberoni army were currently guarding the northern and eastern borders of Eberon.

Brody glanced westward, where the sun was lowering toward the horizon. In another hour or so, it would fall beneath the Great Western Ocean, and the twin moons would rise in the east. For the past month, the paths of the two moons had been drawing closer and closer together. Tonight they would eclipse.

Any child born tonight would be Embraced. How many parents would be horrified when that happened? Brody had been fortunate that his family had loved him as he was. Until he’d lost them.

He shoved those thoughts aside, for he’d learned the hard way that he couldn’t afford to lose his concentration while flying. After a few minutes, he spotted the small army camp. He swooped down to land behind some bushes, then shifted into his usual canine form. As he trotted into camp, the guards, who were accustomed to seeing him, merely called out a greeting as he passed by.

He scratched at the closed flap of Nevis’s tent and gave a loud bark.

“Brody, is that you?” Nevis lifted the flap with one hand, his other hand holding a half-eaten pork chop.

Food. Brody dashed inside. The heavenly scent of freshly cooked meat led him straight to the desk, where a lit candlestick illuminated a tray filled with five different dishes. Nevis was having a huge dinner.

“What are you doing here? I thought you were supposed to be on a ship with—sheesh.” Nevis stopped talking when Brody shifted into human form and helped himself to a pork chop. “Put on some breeches, will you?” He tossed him a pair.

Brody caught them with one hand while he continued to eat the pork chop. After hours of swimming and flying, he was starving.

“If you’re here, you must have uncovered something important. What is it?” Nevis asked, but Brody kept eating. “Hey, you’re eating all my food!”

“And it’s delicious,” Brody mumbled with his mouth full.

Nevis snorted. “Fine. I’ll bring some more.”

In between bites, Brody pulled on Nevis’s breeches. They sagged around the waist, so he sat in Nevis’s chair to keep them from falling down. He was just finishing the last morsel of food when Nevis strode inside the tent with another tray and pitcher of wine.

“Here you go.” Nevis set the new tray next to the old one that was now stacked with empty dishes. “Damn, Brody. Are you sure you’re actually human and not a pig?”

With a pig-like snort, Brody pulled at the waist of Nevis’s breeches to show how loose they were. “I’m not the one carrying extra pounds.”