“All right,” he said slowly. “I only wanted to ask … are you sure? What if this fog is a sign? What if the god is speaking to you?”
He was wrong. He had to be. Pa said the day my fate came for me, I would know, but if anything, I felt more uncertain than ever.
“You don’t even believe in the gods,” I said.
“I’ve always believed in the gods. I just didn’t believe they speak to us.” Hands in his pockets, Markos scrutinized the fog. “Until now. You’re the one who made me reconsider. All that talk about your language of small things and your river god and your pig man. Why are you so reluctant to see that this fog is magic?”
I wished he would drop the subject. I’d been so close to accepting my fate, but now he was threatening to make me hope again. And I didn’t want to hope. Not when there was no point.
“I’ve tried and tried to hear the god.” My fingernails bit into my palm. “I can’t. Markos, you don’t know how it feels to think all your life that you’re meant for something special, and then find out you’re … not.”
He just looked at me.
“Oh,” I whispered, realizing what I’d said. “I didn’t mean—”
“Never mind.”
“Look, Markos,” I said. “You can’t fix this for me, but we can still put things right for you. We’ll get you and your sister to Valonikos. We’ll get your throne back.”
The moment the words were out of my mouth, I wanted to take them back. I hadn’t meant we. Perhaps someday he would raise an army and march on Akhaia. But I would not be there.
He gave me a half smile. “You think you can do just about anything, don’t you?”
If I did, it was only right. I was descended from blockade runners and explorers. Boldness was twice in my blood. I felt it singing through me as I stood on deck, the wind tangling my hair. We passed fishing boats and bobbing crab traps, until finally Fee steered us past the red buoy marking the entry to Casteria harbor.
Kenté let out a whoop. “We made it!”
I saw before they did.
My knees buckled and I swayed, reaching out to hold on to the forestay. It wasn’t fair. Not after we’d come all this way.
Tied up at the dock, her sails furled and stowed, was Victorianos.
CHAPTER
NINETEEN
“You know this is a trap, don’t you?” I watched Markos pace the cabin. “It’s a trap for you, and your sister’s the bait.”
His fingers flexed on his sword hilts. I knew from the stiffness of his face that he was barely containing his emotions. “I don’t care. I have to get her out.” He punched the locker. “Damn.”
“I understand, but—”
“Oh, excuse me.” He shook his fingers out. There was a red mark across his knuckles. “I wasn’t aware your entire family was recently murdered. Don’t you dare tell me you understand,” he said hoarsely. “She is all I have left.”
“Well, I wasn’t aware you had recently lost all your sense,” I snapped. “If you ever had any. What exactly do you plan to do?”
“Cleandros is a traitor.” He lifted his chin to stare ahead. My rage tended to boil hot, but his was ice cold. “I will challenge him to single combat.”
I’d suspected it was going to be something noble and stupid like that. I bit my lip to keep from making a sarcastic comment.
At my silence, he narrowed his eyes. “What?”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“You were thinking it,” he said. “Very loudly, I might add.”
“It’s just …” I hesitated. “If you think the shadowman or the Black Dogs are going to fight fair—”
He spun, gilt-trimmed coat swishing around his legs. “You think I’m naive.” His cheeks reddened. “Foolish.”
“Look, if we do things the way you want to do them, you’re going to be killed!” My throat suddenly ached. “And I don’t want you to be killed. Or am I not allowed to say that?”
When he spoke again, his voice was steady and quiet. “I have to go. If you don’t want to come with me, I understand. Thank you for everything.” He stuck out his hand. “I hope we can part as friends.”
I sighed. “As if I would just leave you.”
“And why shouldn’t you?” He swallowed. “I’ve brought nothing but trouble to you and your family.”
I paused, considering his words. I’d promised to take him to Casteria, and here we were. Why shouldn’t I cast off and turn Cormorant right around? Akhaia wasn’t my country. This didn’t have to be my fight. But as I looked at him, everything that had happened since we met came flashing back, starting with me opening the box and ending with his words on Nemertes Water. We’re stronger together than apart. Don’t you think?
I couldn’t leave him to face the Black Dogs alone.
Shrugging, I said, “Have it your way. Fee, let’s get the sails ready. Kenté, untie us.”
Markos’s voice wavered. “Really?”
“No, not really.” I swatted his outstretched hand away. “You can be thick sometimes. Did you think I would just shake hands and leave you to go up there alone? And get yourself killed, most likely,” I added.
Kenté glanced out the window, where amber rays of late afternoon sun slanted low over the city. “If we’re doing this, best make our move now.”
I knotted a scarf around my hair. “We’re doing this.”
“What’s the plan?” she asked.
“Not ending up dead.” The rest we could figure out on the way.
As we hurried up the dock, I examined the cutter out of the corner of my eye. She seemed deserted, which made me nervous. I looked back at Cormorant, my love for her plucking at my heart. I hated leaving her unattended. Maybe Fee should stay behind—but no. If there was trouble, we’d need all the help we could get.
“Tell me everything I need to know about the shadowman Cleandros’s magic,” I ordered Kenté, as we stepped off the dock. The busy street was dotted with market stalls and buckets of fresh fish.
“It’s still afternoon. We need to get to Markos’s sister before the sun goes down.”
“What happens after—Oh.” I realized what she meant. “You’re saying if it’s dark, he’ll know when we open the box. Can you tell if he’s already opened it?”
“It’s not like that.” She pursed her lips. “It’s not my magic. For him, it’s like—like a bubble popping in the back of his head. Markos, for example. He would have known the second Markos woke up.” She glanced at him. “You ought to be grateful. Caro probably saved your life when she opened that box. After the magic was broken, he couldn’t sense you anymore. He didn’t know where you were.”
“Can you feel every piece of magic you’ve ever made?” he asked.
“I daresay I can if I try. I’ve left them all over the place. There’s one right now in the corner of Bollard House’s best sitting room. I put it there to cover the shards of a vase I dropped last week. I might feel that when I’m strong enough.”
“Strong enough?” Markos asked.
“When it’s night. In the night, I can feel things around me. The shadows. People sleeping. Their dreams and fears. Sundown is when my powers start to come alive, but the darker it gets, the more everything … shifts into focus.”